After 5 and a half months of serving popcorn and watching free movies, I finally had to say goodbye to my first real work family. The reason being because I was going to the UK to visit my brother, where he was teaching at the time, and we wanted to have one last hurrah before our new lives as accounting students. So for the next few weeks we embarked on a mini-Europe tour which included Lake Garda (largest lake in Italy), Venice, Verona (home of the tragic Romeo & Juliet), Brussels, and even Amsterdam! Each location had their own unique charm but all were scenic beyond description.
For the Italian portion of our trip, we had joined a tour group which, to our surprise, mainly consisted of middle-aged or older individuals. They were all a lovely bunch to be with, of course, but the age difference made it difficult to find common ground in conversation. Fortunately, there were also a pair of lovely sisters who happened to be near our age, and we quickly bonded during our trip. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner together almost every day and basically stuck together for the majority of the tour, and I came to see them as the little sisters I never had. Unfortunately, the tour had to end eventually, but it was fun while it lasted, and we still keep in touch on Facebook.
After returning from Europe, we still had one last adventure to look forward to: Hawaii. That's right, my family spent the last week of August in the virtual paradise of Waikiki! It was just as you'd imagine it, but better. Endless sunshine, friendly locals, and great food every day; we were in heaven. Of course, we weren't just there to enjoy the scenery. We explored a local zoo, visited the historic site of Pearl Harbor, and surfed til we were sore all over. We also fell from our surfboards a good number of times, so much so that we spent more time falling than actually surfing......it still counts.
Alas, September came too soon, as always, and my brother and I found ourselves back in academia. I was older and wiser, and I steeled myself as we entered this new chapter of our lives......
