These are the hardest days of the Semester. The end is in
sight, we have three weeks until our time here ends and I say goodbye to George
Mason, a little over a month until I leave the States and my Year Abroad comes
to an end. It would be wrong to say it’s gone quickly because those first few
weeks in sunny Virginia feel like a lifetime ago. But time goes by quicker as
you reach the end of the journey, and although all we’d like to do at this
point is enjoy each other’s company and see more of D.C. before we depart,
there’s the small matter of studying. The assignments and research that have
been piling up and been put aside to sort out other issues are almost due, ad
not long after they are done its exam time. I have two big papers due Monday
and Tuesday, lots of research to complete to help me for my dissertation next
year, and three exams in 2 days in my last week just before I fly out… and my
schedule’s probably one of the lighter ones. 
Cherry Blossom with Kazuki and Joo Hyun
Still, we’ve kept busy as the sun has well and truly come
out and Spring is definitely here at last. For Washington D.C. that means the
Cherry Blossom festival, when the trees around and near the Tidal Basin bloom
into a beautiful sight that has to be witnessed. If you ever consider visiting
D.C. this time of the year is the right moment. We’d been waiting to go for a
while, as snowstorms and rain kept postponing the peak bloom, but when it
finally came it was worth the wait. Spring is the best season for the capital
by far, even if there are tourists everywhere!
Through our Global Crossings class and with other International groups on campus, a decades party was held to celebrate the 90s around the world. I wasn't involved with this and didn't see much of it, but I was there long enough to see what a great job everyone did and making a great night. I also now know that Alexandre is the dancing king, and Yusuke makes a great Kate Winslet!
Representing Europe!
The never-ending dancer
"Nothing on earth could come between them..."
Benjamin's mad skills
In my freshers year at Leicester they didn’t organise many
events but one they did was to Alton Towers, and 2 years since my last theme
park trip I went to Kings Dominion as Mason organised a cheap trip there. I don’t
care how old you get, these rides and kind of places will always be fun- I saw
an older couple with some serious road rage on the bumper cars. There were some
intense rides which left a headache, although that might have been Joe elbowing
me in the face as he put his hands up on the rollercoaster… and if we thought
the rapids wouldn’t get us too wet, we were wrong on that front! The rest of
the day in wet jeans was not comfortable, but otherwise it was a nice break
away from campus.
"Are you anxious?"
Then here at Mason they put on probably their best event of
its kind since being here, a ‘Wizarding World of Aquia’ Harry Potter themed thing
where you could make a wand, drink ‘butterbeer’, get a t-shirt and play
Quidditch with the Mason Quidditch team (it’s really a thing!). The poor guy
acting as the snitch notwithstanding, it was a fun break which we need at this
point.
I get that people play it as a proper sport, but really?
Loving that butterbeer
There’s a lot of study-related stress going round at the
moment and coupled with the fact we have so little time left here and nobody
wants to leave just yet, it’s tough going sometimes. But then I remember how
lucky I am to be here and to meet these people, and you realise that it isn’t
so bad, and I’m still enjoying my time here at Mason and will through to its end.
If I can just get past these assignments…
A
