Operation 2010

I just felt the need to inform my travel blog that I have just sent off the forms that I hope will make 2010 even better than 2008. While my initial instinct at the start of the year was to hang the expense, jump straight back on a plane, and finish off my Arts degree back in Bologna, this has obviously not come to pass. In fact I still think I would have been better off if I had done this as this semester at uni has possibly been my most uneventful, unsociable and uninspiring to date. I did take a few steps to try and remedy my lack of social events, but as the semester dragged on it all petered out and I am back to approximately one real life conversation with someone outside of my household per week. In the meantime I set about plotting ways to get back to Europe, which for the moment I deem to have a far superior lifestyle, even if we do have a minimum wage and consistent sunshine here. Phase 1 of plotting: another one to two month trip in European summer. If I had more funds I would still have done this, but the necessary acquisition of a car in this expansive city of mine put that to rest. I would like to thank the world for leaving my country so expensively connected to the rest of it. Great work. It seems we are forced to spend our lives in this insular society unless we are lucky enough, or work hard enough to have significant funds at our disposal. Phase 2: Germany. I set about undertaking a beginner's course in German, in an attempt to learn a language that would get me out of the Mediterranean lifestyle. It's very interesting and all, but right now I think I am due to visit a country that can actually run on time. Just for something crazy and different, y'know. I was psyched up to spend the year learning as much German as possible, then go on exchange next year. Unfortunately I can only do this through the law part of my degree, and all partner universities in Germany only offer law in German. I do not think that I could have my German up to law-study level in just one year. Thus with much hesitation I put Phase 2 to rest, however I will work out some way to live in Germany in the future. Phase 3: Locate a non-Mediterranean European country that offers Law in English. Potentials included the Netherlands (but it's so flat and grey), Ireland (only offer certain law options which did not fit), and Sweden (but the partner universities were off in the wilderness). However I did find a few potentials, and consequently... Phase 4: I found myself intrigued by Bergen in Norway. It offers lots of courses in English, in somewhere that I might never otherwise visit, but looks amazingly beautiful. As far as I can tell any European university life has got to be more rewarding than Sydney university life, so with relatively little consideration I selected Bergen for half my law electives starting from (European) Spring Semester 2010. Phase 5: While I had initially planned to spend one semester in Norway and then extend my stay if I particularly enjoyed it, at some point I got to thinking about many students I had met in Bologna who were undertaking a year-long exchange in two separate locations. For reasons even less explicable than my selection of Bergen in Norway, I then started looking into Brno in the Czech Republic, purely on the information from the Exchange Coordinator that another law student had said it was a fantastic place. After checking out their website, exchanging a few emails with the other student, and noting the city's proximity to many places I want to visit such as Prague and Vienna, I spontaneously decided to go there too. At the end of this procrastinatory (is that a word?) ramble, I therefore announce to myself that I will be using up all of my Law electives in 2010, first in Bergen, Norway, and second in Brno, Czech Republic. I hope to visit Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Denmark (in conjunction with visiting other friends on exchange) during Spring, spending summer on another one to two month trip around the likes of Germany (always more manageable when it is not -10 degrees), and then spend weekends in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Austria, as well as whatever else takes my fancy. I also hope to visit more of the UK, perhaps take another obligatory trip down to Italy, and maybe even squeeze in my childhood dream of Egypt somewhere along the line. I hope Ryanair can hold onto its insanity for another year or so. I should now return to finishing my research on the Cross-Influences of English and Italian. This has been a pleasant distraction.