Sunday 29 December 2013

Between the Years

It is my favourite time, these days that are somehow in between the years when it is still Christmas but the merry part of it is over and the past year is quickly fading. I cannot help wondering how on earth it is possible that this time is here again.

Yes, it is a cliché, but it really feels like yesterday that I was sitting here thinking about what 2013 would bring. Incredily, the whole year seems to have passed in the blink of an eye, although it was challenging, exciting, difficult and exhausting.
I stopped blogging in March, not because I made a conscious decision to do so, but because it simply did not fit the pace of my life at the time.
Looking back, I moved through the year at breakneck speed.

After the death of my grandfather ("the first grave that had opened in my road of life", as Dickens would say) I thought 2013 could only get worse. I was wrong. I can't remember any year that was as ambivalent as this.
For several weeks in spring I was ill before being invited as Vice-President to a Session of the Model European Parliament in Norwich, where I suddenly realised that there was one thing I wanted to study above all else: Politics. Consequently, my summer was spent almost entirely between college prospectuses.
I started my senior year at school and had my graduation ball, which is a very important event in Austria (all the girls wear white dresses and dance terribly complicated formal waltzes which we had to practise for six weeks). And finally, on the 10th of December 2013, something that I had both the sweetest dreams and the most horrible nightmares about happened: I had an interview at Clare College, Cambridge for Human Social and Political Science. It was a fantastic experience and I enjoyed it a lot, even though I was so nervous that I  once forgot what I was talking about in the middle of a sentence. By the way, I managed to talk about both To Kill a Mockingbird and Les Misérables during my interview for Politics.

Which brings me to the main content of this blog: reading. I did read a lot in 2013, but hardly anything I really enjoyed. For months I spent every free minute stuffing my brain with knowledge through academic reading about politics, International Relations, sociology etc., and although it was interesting I am now famished for real books. For literature. For the classics.
So, I am starting blogging again, but here and not at my old blog, because it is time for a fresh start.
But above all it is high time I started reading again!

13 comments:

  1. Welcome back! So happy to see you blogging again :)

    This is my favourite time of year as well :)

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    1. Thanks! I'm glad to be back... and that I haven't been forgotten :)

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  2. Welcome back, Cassandra - I used to follow your previous blog. I hope the next year will bring some more pleasant reads for you :)

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    1. Thank you, and an official welcome to my blog!

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  3. Hooray, I'm so glad to see you back! I look forward to your books and your college news. :-) and I think you should post a picture of yourself at the ball!

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    1. Thank you Jean! Mmh, I could do that... Austrian balls are really spledid and my dress was beautiful, but I have a tendency to look like a complete moron in photographs. Perhaps if I find a decent one :)

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    2. Yes! I need a picture of a splendid Austrian ball. Definitely. I have had a very boring day on the couch with an upset tummy and I need cheering up. :D

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  4. Hello, you! I followed your former blog. I've popped over a couple times to check in and am glad to hear you're well. Welcome back. :-)

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    1. I'm so happy that people have actually remembered me :)
      Thank you!

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  5. Welcome back! I was wondering just the other day how you were doing. Senior years are always so busy, I understand how you've been unable to blog. And it certainly sounds like you've had some exciting times. I hope you are able to find time for more fun reading soon!

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    1. Again, it's so good to see I haven't been forgotten :D
      Thanks a lot!

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  6. Just wanted to add my voice to the welcome back! Wishing you all the best for 2014 and looking forward to reading your thoughts on books.

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  7. Cassandra I've missed you!!! What a delight when I got back from visiting my family over the holidays to find that you are blogging once more and doing such wonderfully exciting things in your life. Bravo, my friend!

    With love, respect, and my fingers crossed for you for Cambridge,

    Melanie

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