The holiday break started off with a bang, hitting up allllll the Christmasy things. We started off in London for a night, and tour guide extraordinaire, Rebecca led us to all the fabulous lights that London has to offer.
One of our favorite"Brandon take a picture of us with the crown"
Gold macaroons on sale
The best
Can't leave Cambridge if we tried
The next day Rebecca and I explored some more of London before hopping on the Eurostar to make our way to Brussels - Team Mozart was complete.
What could have been at Imperial College
We only had ~24 hours in Brussels so we made the most of them. We accidentally stumbled upon the light show in the main square, which turned out to be lovely with all the lights on! Hit up Delirium Cafe and ended the night in McDonald's where we learned about the toilet scheme in Belgium...but luckily $2 bills were available.
The next day we found all the peeing statues in the city, ate some mussels, and some waffles!
Brandon left and the remaining crew made our way to Koln to hit up some Christmas markets. Y'all, Germany just does Christmas better. We arrived in Cologne very late in the evening but HAD to get a doner to end the night. We soon learned about the 'bletzeis' in Germany...basically the ground is icy and you slip and slide wherever you go. Magically made it to the doner shop with no incidence, but on the way back to the hotel we were not as lucky. Trying to walk made us laugh so hard we were crying, and one of us may or may not have fallen on their bum in the process...
The next day we met up with one of Rebecca's friends who lives in Cologne and spotted some space in the Cologne Cathedral, drank gluhwein, and had perhaps the best doner ever. It always helps to have a local show you around!
The next day we all parted ways - I went back to Cambridge and Rebecca and Cody went to Spain.
After a long day of travel, made it back stateside to Texas - and it was the same temperature there as it had been in Europe.
Even if it's below freezing, holiday traditions must still occur, so a group of us made our annual trip to River Oaks to see the holiday lights in Houston. It was cold.
One of the best parts of being home is reconnecting with friends. From people I've known since I was two, to high school, college, and work - I'm very fortunate.
High School Heroes - Annual 2010 Reunion
The Denver Crew <3
Emerge Reunion
Tendies
Engineering 112
Cupcakes <333
Being home also meant spending time with my beloved pup, Auggie, and my favorite parents.
Before I knew it, New Year's Eve was here and it was time to say goodbye to a whirlwind of a year! We rang in 2023 at my home away from home, the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Cambridge has really changed me, I don't think I'll ever not wear trainers to events like these now...
The last trip of the break took me to Denver, Colorado - although, for less time than originally planned. I was able to catch up with old co-workers turned friends, my dear roommates, and even got in a company site visit while I was there. Created another Colin the Caterpillar convert too :)
The rest of the break was in Houston, where I tried to get some rest, but filled every minute I could catching up with folks. I won't be back stateside till the Fall and that's a long way away. I did squeeze in another company site visit in Texas and had a chance to catch up with some old NASA coworkers which was heartwarming.
Being back in Cambridge feels wonderful. Have had two nights to catch up with friends, and Emily and I even squeezed in one last day trip...to Oxford! You can't deny that the other place has a charm to it as well :)
It's hard to believe that Lent Term starts tomorrow and it's back to the grind. This term is shorter, so I'm sure it will be more of a whirlwind, but I'm really excited about it!
The goal for this term is to just say yes to more things to try to squeeze as much goodness out of this. So dearest classmates who read this blog (and made it to the end of this long post) please hold me accountable on this one.
I have avoided writing this blog post because it is the end of a chapter in many ways, and quite frankly, I am not ready to turn the page. For once, I find myself at a loss for words...I'm just as surprised as you are. As always, thank you for reading, and please bear with me one last time as I reflect on my Cambridge experience. As I look back on my time at Cambridge, I can't help but smile. This program, this place, and these people have changed my life in ways I still can't possibly know or appreciate. How can I find the words to express what this programme means to me? As much as I've tried to find an eloquent and succinct way to summarize it, I have realized I can't. But, I have documented it - here. This blog details the experiences, the emotions, and the incredible people that made this something I don't want to say goodbye to quite yet. They say don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. I say that's a grand trivialization. B...
I wasn’t sure if I would ever pop on here again, but here I am. Funemployment is a term that has risen in the past few years to refer to the unemployed time frame for people who choose to enjoy it. I’m over here still trying to find the fun part. Kidding, kinda. Of course, it’s nice to sleep in and see where the day takes me. But, I miss a steady paycheck, and even more so the fulfillment I have had when working. A popular question has been asking me what it’s like to be back ‘home’. (Avid blog readers will know that home is a bigger word for me nowadays.) But, I’ve responded that it’s like putting on a pair of jeans for the first time after wearing shorts for months, or wearing heels after wearing trainers. Everything fits, but it just feels weird for a bit. There’s an adjustment period to get your body used to those things again. Coming back to Texas has felt like that. In so many ways, I don’t feel different, but I know I am after the past year of experiences. Similarly, ...
What is a legacy? In the Hamilton musical, Lin Manuel Miranda said that it's 'planting seeds in a garden that you never get to see.' Visiting Egypt for the first time, I couldn't help but marvel at what a legacy these people made. Could they have known that their structures would have stood the test of time and made people question everything. Seeing these marvels, I wonder, what are we leaving behind for the next generations. What lasts? What survives? Are we just playing a really long game of telephone? I still remember a conversation with my best friend from college talking about our goals in life and mine was to be in a history book one day, I said I would even take just being an author of one. I realize there’s a lot of ego in that statement. But I don’t think it’s bad to want my time on this earth to be impactful. But truly, you look at what the Egyptians left behind and talk about being remembered in the history books. Many Egyptians would stop us and ask us w...
I’ve had too much travel time this week, either on a bus around Kangaroo Island or on a plane to Japan. My mind wanders during my free time and what you read next is the consequence of that. If you remember, last week I mentioned how Australia was the farthest place I had ever been from home, yet was also the place that reminded me the most of home. From that inference, I’ve been thinking a lot about what home is. There are the typical idioms that you hear, home is where the heart is, a house is not a home, home is where you hang your hat, there’s no place like home …you get it. Is home a place? Is home a feeling? Is home where your people are? For me, I have always considered Houston home. It’s where I was raised, it’s where my family is, heck it’s where I’ve spent the majority of my life, surely that must be home. But, I’ve also started to consider the UK home. I have no roots there, but I feel like I’ve truly come into myself there in many ways. Could that be home? Oddly enough, Den...
Well, this post is coming out later than expected due to the ridiculousness of trying to get back to Cambridge from Stansted airport...I could not get transportation back to Cam on Sunday night, so I ended up booking a hotel room by the airport and setting an alarm to take the 6:12am train back home. Naturally, that train was canceled so they put on a different train that would require a transfer to Cambridge. That transfer never came :) so I ended up making friends with three other stranded souls and we split a cab back to Cambridge. It's been an eventful 10 hours. back to regularly scheduled programming This was an odd week, after having spent the weekend at Judge learning how to code in Python, I didn’t have another class at Judge until Friday! Monday started with a chat with a potential future Judge student who’s interested in pivoting into the space sector, always happy to chat with folks who are interested in space! Later in the day, we had a career event with a deep tech V...
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