~ ANNE! ~

The closer it gets to Christmas, the more I wish I would be home for it. Pia left for Germany last night, and Keri, Shannon and Jen leave for Prince Edward Island (well, they're flying into Halifax actually) next week. So not only do I not get to go, but three quarters of my social life is climbing onto planes to go away for a month...

However, Edinburgh is trying to compensate by being breathtakingly beautiful. It's been a little colder lately, and we keep getting these fogs made of ice particles. It puts everything into soft focus and gives all the lights a crystalline halo. I should just start taking my camera everywhere, because Edinburgh is always posing for a photo op. Last night I looked up and saw a velvety blue sky streaked with clouds outlining a backlit steeple rising out of the fog... I keep seeing these amazing things out of nowhere, and the weather is definitely cooperating this week.

Pia had a dinner party on Monday for her friends. It was a really good time - her Italian friends made lasagna and Pia made apple crumble and custard. She's developed a huge addiction to crumble since Craig told her the theory of it and rang his mum for the recipe. One girl, Rosella, is very Italian and she kept doing things that seemed straight out of the Italian mama stereotype - like telling us to "eat more, eat more", and asking Pia if she cooked Craig's meals for him! (She gave him the drop-dead German look and growled, "He can cook his own meals.")

We went out last night because it was Pia's last night in town. Angela brought her flatmate Oscar, who is from the Central Africa Republic. He was pretty entertaining - kept trying to get me to speak French to him (which is his first language) and demonstrating his African fertility dances! Also along was Samuel, from France, who invited me to a party next week. I'm hoping this means my social life won't entirely fade away through December.

Craig and Pia also gave me a gorgeous necklace for Christmas, which was really nice of them. Normally I love Christmas, so I will just have to try and enjoy the novelty of an Edinburgh/Dutch Christmas and not get depressed about not going home.