Two More Weeks Until Freedom!

Well, everyone, I'm drawing really close to the end of the semester here.  To tell you all the truth, I couldn't be anymore excited for this semester to be over because 1) I'm so ready to be done with classes, 2) I'm excited to see my favorite cousin of all times for whom I haven't seen in a year and 5 months, and 3) I super duper and extremly stoked to visit Ireland and London.  I finish finals on the 16th of December and the next day, Glenna and I will fly out of Munich to Dublin. I'm going to have three weeks of complete freedom to do and see whatever I want in Europe and not have to think about writing papers or studying for tests.  Since I have my so called "three weeks of freedom,"  I thought it would make the most sense to travel to places that are farther away from Salzburg (i.e. Ireland, England, and Spain- which are the places I will be traveling to!).  Glenna and I will spend 5 days in Dublin and hopefully tour the southern countryside of Irealnd.  Then on December 22, we will fly to London and meet up to spend a week (including Christmas Day!) with her mom Ann (who is also my cousin) and my Aunt Marge (her grandma).  It is going to be a Christmas to remember and I couldn't be any happier, although I do wish my parents could come spend this wonderful oppurtunity with us!  But I'm just so thankful that I will be able to be with family during the holidays! 
Before I embark on this wonderful two week Christmas vacation in the United Kingdom, I have a few obtacles to jump through.  I have text book chapters I still need to read, projects to finish, and LOTS of studying to do!   Next week is our last week of classses, which in college terms is called "DEAD WEEK."  I've adjusted to the cultural and social difference here in Austria just fine, but the classes taught here and living and going to school  with the same 40 people has been a really big challenge for me.  I think these are to two major things that all of us have been struggling with here.  But, unlike everyone else here, I'm not homesick!  Don't get me wrong.  I really do miss my parents, friends at UP, some special people at St. Pauls, and of course my cat, but most of you will understand that I really needed to get out of  PT and actually experience the real world, which I have been doing.  I have totally been learning more outside of the classroom since I've been here, no duh.  To be honest, now that it's been a year and half since I graduated high school and all of my friends have moved away, I don't have anything left there except my family, St. Pauls, and precious childhood memories-that's all.  Yes, these are the roots of my life and I love my real blood-related family and St. Paul's family, but seriously, this is a time for me to experience living differnent places and meeting new people.  The longer I live away from Port Townsend, the more I will be able to appreciate it.  Will I ever come back? Maybe I will or maybe I won't.   It all depends on where life will choose to take me after my 8 months here in Salzburg. Port Townsend is the place where I was born and raised and it will always be a part of me, but now it's time to leave it all behind and go out and experience the real world, which I have absolutely been doing over here!
So please wish me best wishes and luck as I go through these next two (stressful and tiring) weeks of  the semester.  Before I know it I will be looking at the beautiful green fields of Ireland and I will not have school on my mind!