Somebody pinch me…
June 10, 2009 by kwalker10
Seriously. Life can’t be this good, and I feel like I’m overdue for some seriously bad news. I’m in the middle of my internship at NATO (the Claremont Colleges’ connection to NATO is one of the reasons I chose CMC), and I love it. All of my studies have been devoted to foreign relations and diplomacy. I’ve read my fair share of communiques. And now I get to be a fly on the wall as these documents get drafted. I come home (always leaving the office late, always after a long commute), and I’m simultaneously exhausted and totally pumped to keep going. (Which is why I’m having this huge internal debate about whether or not the foreign service is right for me, but that’s for another post.)
I love Brussels. The city is so charming and there’s always something going on. And since these festivals (museum openings, parades, food fests, designer exhibitions) are open to everyone and locals go too, I don’t feel like a tourist but like someone who actually lives in Belgium. AND my French is improving! And the people who stop me on the street to ask me out are polite and typically ask me to dinner rather than their apartment. In any case, I wasn’t so sure I could live in France but I could see myself in Brussels.
I booked my dream trip to Thailand. I’ve seriously wanted this trip since middle school, and suddenly a funding source opened up, and airfare went down (thank goodness for a drop in oil prices…), and it became possible. I’m going with my boyfriend, and things are still good for us despite all the time we spend apart while I’m off trotting through Europe. This makes me happy. So now we get to do a jungle trek together! Elephant rides! Hanging out on beaches with clear water and white sand! Cheap cheap cheap massages! Eek!
I got the job of RA and couldn’t be with a better group of people. I’m about to head to Mexico for the first time, and I get some quality time with one of my best friends for the first time in years. I am about to get my wisdom teeth pulled, maybe that’s my bad news. I just hope it’s not something terrible like a year from now complaining that no one hires me, no grad school accepts me, and I have no source of income.