Been spending most of the day working over my new laptop; finding all my old papers and articles, moving all my music onto the hard drive,organizing things, deciding what to take..

http://www.saintbernards-school.org/l...rmike.aspx

Saint Bernard's High School was created around 1967. The school itself had been operating as a grade school since before the turn of the 20th century. Originally founded to provide quality education to the many Catholic German immigrants in the area, it and other similar schools (Saint Luke's, now Saint Thomas Moore; my old grade school) have long been a part of Saint Paul's education system.

Snug and cozy, curled up in an overstuffed chair with a laptop, things now seem the way they were from before I began this short adventure of mine. It feels that perhaps I never left home, with snow beginning to swirl outside and the temperature dropping steadily towards zero, and soft Tschakovsky on the stereo. Mother is in the other room, grading papers and occasionally phoning colleagues, whilst father drove to work three hours before. The house is warm, and I am safe.

I've been to all the countries on my list, visited several cities and many smaller towns, celebrated a few holidays in Europe, made some new contacts, and generally have had a good time.

It is, however, starting to get a bit wearysome. I admit that I don't have the same wanderlust as I used to; I feel like I have completed what I wanted to do on this trip, with about a month to spare (I am going to have to wait for my new glasses to arrive on the 30th, which means I would be taking a flight home sometime in early december, weather and money permitting.); that is, go to several countries and figure out food, lodging, and money on my own. A test of manhood, if you will. Granted, it hasnt gone all honey and flowers, I've said that much on this blog here.

Besides that, I wanted to meet new people, see a bit of Europe I have not seen before, and prove to myself that I could do this.

I usually take out a good chunk of money whenever I come to a city or move to a new country. Sometimes its enough to get me by for a week, other times I have to keep getting money every few days.

Nearly two months, now.

The climate is definaetly changing. When I arrived in Europe, in Frankfurt, things stayed steadily sunny for a while; there were brief thundershowers in the montains around Innsbruck, but by and large things were generally pleasant.

Prague and other parts of the Czech Republic, though, started to bring slightly cloudier weather. I began taking my jacket with me whenever I went out, and abandoned my cap in exchange for my scarf. Things remained smply cloudly until my last days in Olomouc, when things began to get decidedly chilly. My brief stops in Hungary and Romania have convinced me to do some rearranging of my baggage.

For one, I have picked up some woolen undergarments for the nights that are starting to turn nasty, and a heavier, knee length coat for the icy wind and snow that I expect. When I was living in Saint Paul one of my biggest problems with trying to keep warm was the fact that my torso and arms were fairly snug but my extremities were not. I have made out a certain arrangement for the legs though, with the coat and multiple layers of pants. I exchange, however, I have sent some stuff back to my family, in particular my other, torso only coat and some books that were taking up space.

Poland is out. As is Slovakia.

What I had hoped to do and thought I could do are being re-evaluated, and I think 'tis best to stick to my chosen path.

So my time in Olomouc is wrapping up. Havnt done much, relaxed, wrote some things, been to a few bars. Nothing special, really. Will be taking a few daytrips in the next few days, and by tuesday I hope to be on my way north, towards Poland.

Hmph.

Well, Austerlitz was kindof a waste of time. The so called battlefield is nothing but a mess of fields and dirt patches. Nothing to see, and I was walking in the rain and the mud too.

The hotel I stayed at was the cheapest that I could find, but it wasnt all that great, they did have breakfast but I think it wasnt worth it. I was sick for the past week as well, nothing much just a minor cold, but that plus everything else made sure that my trip down to Austerlitz was not much fun.

Ah well, you cant win em all, right .questionmark.

It has been a day since Prague, and some time since the incident of which I am writing about here.

Since that time I've attempted to put what i've been feeling into words. At poetry I've failed miserably, but perhaps a short essay, and a song from The Beatles, will clarify things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbKGsEK_T9g