A mini update.

So I have been neglecting this little blog of mine pretty solidly the last week or two. Oops! I have just been busy with classes, pub trips, a few impromptu trips to London with a few of my flat mates, etc. I have also been devouring novels like it is my job lately. This past week I have read The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye and Slaughterhouse 5. Yeah I have been really into reading classic novels lately for some reason soo if anyone wants to send me a novel or two for Valentines day I would love you to pieces :) I can send you a few in return! I adore my classes this semester! I am taking The Monsters of Geography, Climate, Environment and Society Interactions, Living Natures and Animal Geographies. The latter two are my favorites! Plus we are going on a field trip to the zoo where my good friend Alex works soon which is going to be so fun(Universities in England are huge on field trips, I have already been on three). In other news that beautiful little sister of mine is all booked in to head this way for her March break! We are going to hang around England for a few days then head to Paris and I am sosososo excited! For those of you who don't know my sister is really cool so naturally we are going to have an awesome time! Thats it for now but I have plans for a few more posts this week so I will do my best, happy Monday everyone!

Into The Wild.

Well I just finished reading Into the Wild, I have never seen the movie but have heard good things about it so I figured that book would probably be good as well. For those of you who don't know its a book based on the life of Chris McCandless. After graduating from university he donated his entire savings (around $30,000) to charity, changed his name to 'Alex Supertramp' and began a nomadic life. He spent a few years travelling around America mostly hitch hiking meeting other people living similar lifestyles and picking up odd jobs when necessary. His dream was to go on a "Great Alaskan Odessy' as he called it which he did in April 1992. He hitched his way to Alaska and made his way into the wilderness with only a 10 pound bag of rice, a rifle, some books and a bit of gear. His remains were found 5 months later in an old bus used by hunters and the autopsy reports revealed he had starved to death nearly a month before his body was found. The novel is very well written but reads like an essay of which the authors main thesis is to prove that Chris McCandless was not mentally ill but instead noble for this daring act. Obviously this is a controversial topic it seems that people either respect McCandless for what he did or think of him as an ignorant and ill prepared young man who got what he deserved. I'm not going to tell you what I think because I think you should read the book yourself and form an opinion (then we can have discussions about it ;) ). My main problem with the book was how the author spent more then a few chapters going on about trips he himself had taken to Alaska trying to compare himself and his adventures to that of McCandless. He went on and on about how much alike they were (even though they had never even met in real life), he even compared their relationships with their fathers. I almost got the sense that the author was using McCandless life and death as a way to bring attention to himself because a big part of the book was about himself which kind of annoyed me. There's so much more I have to say about this book but I am hoping someone will read it first then we can compare notes! Let me know if you do or if you have already read it! :)

Exeter Castle.

I don't have class on Wednesdays (yay, hooray, yippee!!) So I decided to spend part of today exploring the Exeter Castle, its literally 2 seconds away from the city center but it feels like your walking into another world! The castle is huge and built out of beautiful old stones covered in bright green moss, so lovely! And its surrounded by beautiful lush gardens and hidden walking paths. It is certainly my new favorite place in Exeter. Also the weather lately has been unbelievable! So bright and sunny, the air is still cool and crisp but I have to remind myself its January, this would be April or May weather in Canada! Anyway here are a few pictures I put some on facebook as well.

Got me a bike!

I know what you're thinking..that looks like it belongs to a 12 year old girl well this is even more true is you saw it in real life. But I think maybe that will come in handy I mean no one is going to want to steal a 12 year olds bike especially one with purple flowers all over it..also it was the cheapest one I could find and I didn't know it looked like that till I bought it! Oh well its already making my life sooo much easier (Exeter buses are the worst and walking everywhere blows) so I can handle looking a little dorky on my purple bike. Yay bikes!