~ ANNE! ~

Coming to visit Rem and Steph was the best idea ever. I didn't quite grasp the enormity of how bad December has been, but it's on to the good stuff now! No more working every single day, no more being stuck in my flat by myself with no one to talk to (unless Craig pokes his head out of his room for some tea). Steph and Remkes have a Christmas tree and decorations and many, many Christmas cookies, and a stocking for me! (Steph made it - in U of A colours. It's quite something).

Got here yesterday after a relatively stress-free journey - figured out the trains in Dutch just fine, thank you, and Rem met me at the station. I was amused to note that he is STILL wearing his sandals (complete with white socks, of course) in the middle of December. Trust Remkes.

I was happy to see that I still remember the layout of Utrecht, more or less. The weather here is exactly as described: icky. Flat, heavy grey sky as far as the eye can see, and lots of rain. Note to self: Edinburgh is a pretty great place to live! Kind of glad I didn't move to Holland after all.

Got a text message from Bee yesterday, and she may be in Utrecht tomorrow to meet up. Sure hope so - I've barely heard a word from her since she left and would like to hear what's been going on!

Other than that, made black bean soup with Rem yesterday (well, I put my hard-earned vegetable-chopping skills to good use, while he did the actual cooking), listened to as much great music as possible, and started reading a trashy romance novel of Steph's. Pretty much an ideal day, really. Today Rem and I biked to the University to check email (they've moved flats and their internet is still not connected). I managed to more or less keep up on the bike, but I suspect Rem was going slow for me. Biking through the rain: how Dutch. We're going shopping this afternoon to get yet more food. I like Christmas, even if it's as weird a Christmas as this.