In 48 hours I will already be in Barcelona. I wonder where the time went… The past few days have been busy. I finally finished my termpaper, and sent it to my professor in the mail today. I will be able to get my Zwischenprüfung on time. I was worried for a moment because my professor told me she might not be able to grade it before October but she told me, as long as the date on the certificate is from this semester, the Zwischenprüfung will get the same date. (And the date on the certificate is the date I handed it my termpaper, i.e. today’s date.)

I have been trying to get everything done before I leave, and right now it’s all looking very good. I still have some errands to run today (one being buying a a suitcase and a carry-on sized trolley), but nothing major. I will be packing tomorrow, and then I should be done with everything on time. I have to leave for the airport on Wednesday at 0500. My flight leaves at 0735, and I will be in Barcelona about two hours later. I am still debating whether to go to bed at all tomorrow night, as I am often up until 0300 anyway, and that would be around the time I have to get up on Wednesday. And since I will be at home by myself, I have to rely on my alarm clock to wake me, not sure if I want to risk that.

My parents left on a week-long retreat yesterday, so I already had to say goodbye to them. I won’t see them any more until Christmas. It is kind of sad, and so weird being at home without them here. I am fine being in Heidelberg or other places without them, but in their house is just a bit strange. The house is so quiet and I feel a bit lonely.

Anyway, I have been working on my fitness a bit lately as well. I took up running again Sunday a week ago, and I am about to finish the third week of my program tonight. I did not run for a few weeks because I twisted my ankle a few weeks ago, and then had no time because I moved out of my apartment and spent a week in London. Yesterday I went for a walk in the Englischer Garten (English Garden) with a friend, and it was just gorgeous. The weather was beautiful and the park is amazing anyway.

I have also been hanging out with my friends as much as I can. Saturday Eva joined me for my run, and it was nice to run with company for a change. Last night I went to the Escobar with Julia, we had dinner there (Mexican food, mmmm!) and I also had a Mojito. It was a good time. Tonight I am meeting up with Aleks, and tomorrow afternoon with Tanja. I wasn’t able to see Tina at all since I have been in Munich, because she is doing an internship in another city right now so she hasn’t been home, but the plan is that she will be visiting me in Barcelona in a few weeks.

Anyway, I will end this here. I am going to write a review of my London trip later, but other than that, this will be my last post from Germany. I will hopefully find a place to live within the next week though, and then I will be able to post again. Until then…

I started running a few weeks ago. I am still working on the couch to 5K plan (which is an excellent program if you want to start running, by the way), and I am still closer to couch than 5k, nothing exciting just yet.

But a good friend of mine, Kirsten, is training for her first marathon right now. Not just any marathon, but it is for the Leukemia & Lymphoma society. She is doing a fundraiser right now and she will be running to help put an end to leukemia. She will also be running in honor of a friend of mine who has leukemia.

She is a great inspiration to me - she is who got me interested in starting to run actually, and she is working so hard to reach her goal.

You can read her running blog here: http://runforlife.vox.com/. Just from reading it you can tell how much she loves running, how motivated she is, and how much she would like to participate in this marathon.

It would be great if you could help her reach her goal of CAD 4,500 by donating some money to the Leukemia & Lymphoma society through her site. Any small amount would help. To donate & for more information, visit her donation site: http://www.active.com/donate/tntvan/kirsten

Thank you!