good news!

To begin first let me say MY PERMIT IS FINALLY READY TO BE PICKED UP!

oh my goodness I am so so happy about this.  Finally, I can settle into a dorm and have a space of my own :)  I only learned of this by going to the International Office at the University and asking them to directly contact the Slovenian Embassy.  For the past few weeks I've been trying to email or contact those in charge of my case and either I get no response online or the server kicks back my emails! Ugh.  I went in today and apparently my permit had been in Zagreb for quite a while, but no one thought of contacting me!?  Whatever.  At least now I know it's there and I'm planning on going to Croatia next week to snatch it up!  My friend Tom from the UK is also going so hopefully we can be travelmates once again.  I can't wait to see Zagreb, both for business and pleasure.

My day has been quite good since I got that news!  It's also really nice and sunny today, I'm hoping that this means Spring is coming soon.  I need to plan a ski trip before it gets too hot and the snow melts.

I am still recovering from the crazy weekend trip to Kranskja Gora.  It was just how I expected.  Lots of drinking but it was also really fun and interesting.  There were about two busloads of people, we got bussed out Friday evening, only about an hour away.  Anyway the place we were staying at was simply beautiful.  I've never seen mountains so close up and they surrounded the town on all sides.  Our hostel was right next to a small river and you could hear the water going across the rocks the whole time.  Coincidentally this weekend was also the World Cup of snow slalom racing.  The town was quite full and you could even see the skiers on the mountains from far away!  This is one of the most beautiful places I've seen so far in Slovenia.  Anywho, we started off the weekend with a bunch of workshops, traditional stuff like a slovenian hat dance and learning the national anthem, they also gave us shots of schnapps and then had us dance the polka, hahaha quite entertaining.  After the workshops we all had a party in the hostel.  Lots of techno and crazy dancing.  I went to bed at about 2, when I woke up at 9 there were people still drinking! It was pretty funny being greeted the next day by those who never stopped partying, and continued to party throughout the day!

That day turned out to be nice too.  I played volleyball with some people and then I took a nice walk with 2 girls from Poland and one girl from Hungary to the small lake in the mountains.  We took a lot of pictures and had some good conversation.  After our walk we had some lunch and everyone got off into groups and we began a long scavenger hunt around Kranjska Gora.  We had to do silly things like get an autograph from skis and find some hot water to make a cup of instant soup.  The locals thought we were crazy but oh well.
After a quick nap it was yet again time to party, costumes this time!  We were all up till about 6 a.m. and a few people did indeed have to get carried up the stairs but it was a good time overall.  After we all had a nap, we woke up early and headed off to Lake Bled.  This is another gorgeous place in the country.  Too bad everyone was feeling like death to properly enjoy it and all its beauty.  The majority of us got off the bus, took a few pictures and walked to a pizzaria to get greasy hangover food.  I will have to go back soon when I can take a decent hike and actually have a good time there. :P

Overall it was a great trip.  I was really having a good time wandering around and talking/meeting other people.  I've been realizing that I don't enjoy staying with one group of people for an extended period of time.  I think I took full advantage of the "get to know each other" aspect of the trip by doing my best to meet new people and not just hang with those I already knew.  I think it really paid off, I've made a bunch of new friends, always good to have.  This is a quality I hope to continue to have in life, going with the flow and meeting people along the way seems like it is the best way to be less stressful and more rewarding.  Woohoo!

Well another week has started, I don't have class tomorrow till 6 so I think I'll be going out to Roxly Club to do a bit of mingling with my peers.  Classes are still going good, work is still minimal.  The hardest thing about my classes is that they are all politically based as opposed to sociology!  I have already been trained to see things from a sociological perspective on a smaller and detailed scale compared to a broader global view.  This is quite a challenge for me but it's all part of the learning experience.  Hopefully I can integrate it into my thought process instead of confusing myself hehe.

Oh and one last thing. If anyone has any opinions/experience on Ibiza I would love to hear them.  Erasmus has planned a huge trip to this party island and I'm debating whether or not to go.  Here's a link to let you see a bit. Ibiza  It looks gorgeous but all my roommates have advised me that its trashy and tacky.  But who could resist a dancefloor that turns into a swimming pool!? haha