Bringing you the news as it happens.

This guy has been hanging outside my bedroom window for over a week now, and has been christened 'the baby glacier' in some of my letters home. As I type, however, the entire house is shaking, as my landlord, sat on the roof with some sort of pick, attempts to dislodge the mega-icicle. I'm guessing because tomorrow it's predicted to get above zero for the first time in a long while, and even in these sub-zero temperatures Pu very narrowly avoided icicle-related death.

I must say, though, that the glacicle (or, as Jaap called it, the "ice stalactite;" how he knows stalactite and not icicle is beyond me) will be missed- it's been fun to get up every morning and check on its progress. I always knew that when it was bigger, it would take me three times as long to get on to campus. Rip, glac.

In other news, I almost, almost, actually-put-them-in-the-bin almost, threw away my collection of guitar music. And no, I don't know how. And yes, I am a moron.

About snow.

So yes, this is a delayed blog post. And yes, it is snowing. The two are only connected in that I spent most of yesterday feeling rather ill, and am blaming it on the extraordinary amounts of snow currently abounding Hartford. And when I say extraordinary, I mean up to 3 feet's worth.

It's no secret that I love the snow. Last Friday's trip to the park found me literally up to my neck in the stuff when I decided to make a snow angel and sank through the layers like a stone. Even after being back for over 3 weeks, I still run my hands through the piles lining the sidewalk, and make snow balls and minuscule snowmen, and write little messages for those who might follow me. My walk to school is simply breathtaking, through streets of big, old, distinctly American houses, covered in snow and fringed with icicles.
There are downsides, of course, the main one being the freezing. Noon today got up to 1C, the highest temperature we've had in a long time. As I write, it's approximately -8C outside, and that is comparatively quite warm. This freezing has meant that the piles lining the sidewalk are now very clearly composed of layers of ice, snow, more ice, and snow again. Hence why the pictures of the park trip are mostly of me on my knees: when there's an inch of ice underneath 5 inches of snow, which is itself covering another 2 foot of snow, walking becomes surprisingly difficult. Which is fine when you're out to play in the park, but less fun when walking to school. Even less fun were the few days when the temperature stayed stubbernly around -10C, and no one cleared the sidewalks: Pu and I made a video of our desperate attempts to get from the Law School, to the pharmacy, and back to our house. This normal 20 minute trip took us over an hour.

Yet I still love the snow: an obvious give-away of the fact that I don't have to shovel my own driveway yet. There's this little stretch on my walk to school where the world seems to change to black and white- even when the sky is clear. The trees are striking contrasts of black and white, with the snow collected on their dark limbs or in clumps in the higher branches of the pines. The houses look like they've stepped out of It's a Wonderful Life, and the Law School in the distance is grey. Other than that, the world is a great expanse of white, reaching up to the sky. There's a washed out traffic sign of some description there, which works to reinforce the illusion. At night, the Law Campus looks like Narnia, especially with its penchant for Victorian-style street lamps and high, gothic windows. The light really does shine out yellow, especially when it snows, and the whole place looks nothing more than the painted backdrop for some fantastical romance movie. Maybe that's why I love the snow so much: it really does transport you into another world.


JJ

This is the land of the ice and snow. But mostly ice. Lots of ice.

A short-, and picture-less- update this week, because yours truly is in the library computer lab, on someone else's profile, trying to kill time until class at 15.30. Yours truly has also just received an email containing the assignment for the 15.30 class, and is somewhat annoyed.

First in the order of business- Wednesday may become the new blog day, depending on how the new timetable works out. Tuesday is now dissected by a 2hr Law and Literature seminar, which makes it less appealing...

Anyways, here is the summary of the last week, in nice, easy on the eye bullet points:

- I returned to Hartford, without problem, and it is snowy! Pictures will follow, trust me.

- The return to Hartford heralded saying goodbye to old friends (Annemeike, Els, and Nico are missed already), which was hard, but also saying HALO to 4 new students. Welcome to the family, Svenja, Audrey, Sjamira, and Carolin- they fit in already, and it is definitely fun to play to big sister.

- The return has also found myself and Pu in our brand new apartment. Fantastic just about sums it up. I've not been here a week, and I've already started baking. Plus, there are little things- like being able to make coffee in the morning and prepare my own lunch...

- I have a raft of new courses, and am apparently doing nothing except HR this term: 2 First Amendment course, a Slavery course, and the ECHR according to America. I am actually looking forward to it- Freedom of Speech was fantastic. I was in the line up to also take the LGT clinic, but I ultimately chose against it- it's not wholly relevant to my dissertation project, it will take over 16 hours of my time a week, and I can't afford the travel expenses.

- Grades from last semester are coming in. Enough said.

- I'm still feeling disorganised, but am trying to self-medicate with calendars and diaries...

- There are birthdays all over the place- and we Hartford girls throw a mean surprise party!

- And for my closing point: weird point of law for the week was my ECHR book talking at length about Jefferson and the Founding Fathers. As you do....

JJ

Imagine this is a blog post.

Jessica and Joshua present : I will make you gullible : 6 easy steps for complete freedom from material evils.

1. Transfer all of your property into our names. Our legal team will help to dissolve any connection between you and this property, thereby freeing you of the lingering chains of materialism

2. Quit your job. Jobs, by their nature, bring in money, and money leads to materialism.

3. Cut ties with all family members. This is a simple preventative step to stop misguided relations attempting to come to your aid and tainting you with wealth.

4. Distance yourself from any remaining friends. HANDY HINT- insulting their taste, spouse, or personal appearance helps to break the ice when first starting out.

5. Transfer all your remaining wealth into our personal account, set up especially to protect you from temptation. This penultimate step is the hardest, but once completed will leave you feeling lighter than air, and finally free from material hardships.

6. Remember this helpful exercise to keep you on track. For at least ten minutes a day, find a quiet corner of the park and there stand on one leg, beat yourself over the head with this book, and chant: "I do not need material assets. Material assets kick puppies," until your confidence is reaffirmed. If, due to a build up of negative energy, this does not work, find a heavier book until it does.

Redundant phrasing is redundant

Past two posts have both had interesting phrasing issues. Resolved now, but it will be interesting to see whether this continues past the season of overeating and OD-ing on caffeine. Speaking of which, here's a picture.


Worth a thousand words, right?

Things that are different.

- People walk on the other side here. And drive on the other side. Every now and then, when driving through residential streets, I'll freak out when a car comes down on the left side of the road. And I go the wrong way when trying to avoid fellow pedestrians.

- The small coin is worth 5 again. And the one that looks like a quarter isn't. And pound coins are heavy.

- People look at you funny if you tell them to have a nice day in the supermarket.

- There are things to do within walking / busing distance. Shame I've now got this appalling Glee addiction going on.

- Things are more expensive, and there is a significant dearth of giant pretzels when I go shopping.

- The food is heavier, and fattier. But still yummy.

- If I put 'OMG TEA' here, will it make sense?

- People don't like it when you tell them all about the law of lex loci and the ECHR's equivalent, and the similarities and differences between the two, and the verdict of Perry, and why you don't like Scallia, and Israel's constitution. Apparently these aren't normal-people conversation topics. Hence more fuel to my 'segregating lawyers is wrong' fire.

- There is a distinct difference in attitudes. The British are more humour-driven, they do moan more, and they are a lot more uptight. I tried to start up a conversation with the check-out girl in Waterstones, and got a funny look for my troubles.

- The coffee is stronger. Much stronger. I'm trying to avoid it.

- The cheese is better.

- I hate to say it, but it is wetter here.

- I'm texting a lot more since I've been back. Which is difficult, because my UK phone has a subtly different layout to my US one, and I've been deleting texts like crazy...

JJ