Breathe a sigh of relief!

I feel like I've been home for ages, brain hurts (well, head's been hurting a lot recently) but I'm almost done! I just have one exam and one project left and I'll be able to say oficially good bye to this first semester! *giggles... dies* Really, I've been sleeping super bad these days, last Wednesday I was studying for my Asian Philosphy exam and I fell asleep twice lol~ First time Marion woke me up with a text message, and second mom opened the door and saw me completely passed out using my notes as a pollow lol~ She felt super bad about it, so after going to the supermarket she passed by the bakery and bought me a piece of walnut&choclate cake ;_;~ Thanks mommy!

(It says "Thanks mom" in Korean btw~)

I don't have more classes this week so I'll be downloading some anime and well, procastinating a little bit because I DESERVE IT ;A; Just as a starter, Raquel and I went to the movies to watch Django yesterday.

It's funnay because my eyes are like "PLZ STAPH IT WITH THE FLASH ALREADY X___X"

It was one of the movies I wanted to see, and probably I'll convince my parents to go watch another one this weekend lol~ I'll probably mt Luckie for a coffee tomorrow, he's gonna be my producer for my "Sh*t people ask to Spaniards" video so we need to talk 8DDDD (???)

So what I've been doing today? I'm still on my pj's tbh and no regrets, but I still have to go to English class so I'll take a shower and get ready soon. Speaking of snail mail, I still have to show you guys what I received last week (and this week too!). Now that I have time I'll start catching up with everything so, there we go! :)

We're gonna start with one of my penpal besties hehehe~ Anna <3

 Anna sent me some handmade stationary along with a loooooong letter and three vintage postcards she sent me last time ;_______; <3 She knows I love those ones,  thanks soooo much! I'm so glad we're snail mail pals, we talk about politics, about how we're going, movies & series, derp stuff, travelling... Hope she can finally come over and see me, she's going to Madrid on spring break with a friend!

I finally got Judy's letter. She sent it the 7th Nov and it arrived like... One week ago o_o'' Sometimes I'm surprised how slow Chinese mail can be! I was afraid it got lost but no, I finally got it ^_^ She sent me a postcard of the Guangzhou Tower, looks beautiful ^_^ I'm in love with the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, but this one looks great too. She also send me a pic of her and her friends, she's the second from the right! 

I got Mary Kay's first letter not so long aso. She sent me a stamp from Up, a movie I still need to check btw XD 

I also got Olivia's first letter. She used a card from Tiger as a letter paper (I used to do that too, haha XD) It seems we're both tea & chocolate lovers, I sent her a Spicy Chai tea bag in return (one of my favourites, yum~). Hope she tells me more things from where she comes from (Norway), she's my first Norwegian penpal ^^

Finally I got Seunghyeon's first letter. She used a very thin paper so the letter arrived really damaged and broken >_< It's a pity! However, the letter paper was fine. She told me she knows a girl who studies Spanish in HUFS, hope we're able to meet when I go to Korea ^_^

And this is all for today :) Now I'll get ready to go to English class and back home again! Ugh yeah, I spent the whole day at home, I also translated a song in Japanese for Japanese class (yay me, I DID IT! No checking on youtube 8D I failed at some parts but well... Japanese can be so ambiguous... x_x)! It's Planetarium from Ai Otsuka. That reminded me, it's been a long time I don't listen to JPop. I started listening to it when I was 13 or so, but I kind of switched to KPOP when I was 15. So today I started listening to JPop only. It brought me nice memories I have to say, and I'm proud I can (partly) understand songs already! <3

Anyway, I wish you guys a great weekend! We all deserve a weekend to rest after all we've been through, we definitely do! Now it'll be time to meet friends again and go out, yay c:

Love,

CL

Hello, future student from HUFS talking! (∩_∩)

I survived to my first week of exams! Ugh God, I feel soooo tired... I barely touched the laptop this past week T_T'' Worse things are coming though, I have Japanese & Chinese Thinking on Tuesday and an International Relations project to do!

My To Do list til the semester ends (4th Feb) D':

However, I had a really nice day today: I slept till late (I felt so fresh in the morning haha! Really, I needed some extra sleep hours!). Then I did some housework, went to granny's + post office (I had to send some letters + Nadya&Nicki's packages) and then I texted Luckie. He invited me to his place and we chilled a little bit together. We had some iced tea+chips and we talked bout our stuff~

I love that man, and I'm so sad he's leaving soon too D: I'm gonna miss him so bad *cries* but hey! Good news this week! And omg guys... This is going to be epic...

Next September I'm gonna be an exchange student in Korea!ヾ(＠^∇^＠)ノ

Haha yeah, I can't believe it either! I'm super excited about it! I applied not so long ago (14th Dec) and I got the results yesterday! The results aren't 100% sure, it may vary, but it's quite unlikely to happen. My university it's known as HUFS (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies), so remember the name alright, coz I'll be repeating it so many times from now on! ;) The campus is in Seoul, and it looks pretty cool from what I saw on the website!

Fancy, huh 8DDDDD

There's a noraebang (karaoke) right next to it ;AAAAAAA; *happiness* (???)

I still don't know what kind of subjects am I going to take there, I guess it depends on how many they're gonna validate me. The website it's full of cool things and undergraduate programs, but honestly I'm still pretty confused about it x_x Also there are some tips like, how much money it's gonna cost you (average), how to get a Korean phone... Good news are (COMPLETELY RANDOM LOL) the standard voltage it's the same as in Spain (220 volts), and the power sockets too! So I won't need a power adaptor, yay! I'll bring one just in case, if I travel elsewhere in Asia.

Some of my friends were also chosen to the university they wanted: Raquel and Mariona are going to NTU in Taipei, Àngel is going to Sophia University in Tokyo, Jordi is going to Ryukyus University in Kyoto, Lisa and Marina going to Beida in Beijing, Carla is going to SNU in Seoul too... And oh, my friend Saru is cmong with me to HUFS ;_;!!! Hope she can finally convince her parents!

Well, as you all see, I'm pretty excited about it ^_^ Now it's time to save money so I can make my dreams come true! I can't wait to see my Korean friends again, I really miss Cho oppa, Sunjung, Suhyun, Yiseul, Jiyheon, Jieun (she's in Vietnam though)... And I made many new friends I wanna meet in person too! :) I don't know... I really feel like I need to start over. I love uni life and honestly I think I'm in the best moment of my life but... A re-start somewhere else wouldn't be too bad. I'm twenty and I want to get used to live on my own. I need to live this experience! And plus, I want to travel around Asia too! I found some budget flight websites with really nice deals! Flights aren't as cheap as budget flights in Europe, but i want to explore the continent when I'm there :) My main destinations will be Taipei, Japan and Singapore. But we'll see how things work out!

I got some mail this week but honestly I prefer waiting for next week to do a real mail post :) I just wanted to shout out loud how happy I am, and how busy I've been (and I'll be) for the next two weeks. I'm tired but happy though, I have a big reason to smile. I'll spend a great summer with Peter and then... Fly to Seoul! Yesssss...! ^^

THINGS TO DO ONCE I FINISH EXAMS

-Go to the movies (I wanna watch Django, Wrek-It Ralph, Les Misérables, The Sessions, Argo... OMG so many things to watch x_x)

-Meeting my Esther&Raquel bishezz

-Going out & partyyyyyyyyyyyyyy 8D

-Catch up with series and anime (Start Breaking Bad's 4th season, start Homeland&Weeds, Toradora...)

-Bake

-Go to Chen Ji (aka the best Chinese restaurant in the city)

-Meeting Marion for Korean food

-Keep saving money

-SLEEP!

Well, time to start reviewing my Asian Thinking notes! I don't think it's difficult, but there's no much I need to review, so I want to start with it asap!Good luck everyone, just a few weeks left and we'll be done! February, here I go! <3

Love,

CL

February, please come quickly!

I got super excited when I got Peter's package yesterday morning! ^_^ I was scrapbooking a little bit in my room when I suddenly heard the bell. I assumed he was my friend the mailman, he said "Ms. Claudia? You have a package" and I went like OMG SIR YOU WANT TO COME IN, YOU WANT A CUP OF TEA, YOU WANT TO BE MY BEST FRIEND FROM NOW ON? lol haha~Honestly I just wanted to open my Xmas package my deary sent me <3

Chocolates (M&M's, Reeses.... REESES lol) my orange dress I forgot in Peter's closet when I was there (haha), cheese seasoning for popcorn and... A letter <3

The orange dress made me think though... It's been half a year since I came back from the States, and feels like yesterday! I hope time passes as quickly as it passed now, can't wait for summer to come and see Peter again. We're gonna have so much fun together, we're probably visiting Paris together this time, it's super cheap from Spain, just a 1h flight and we can spend two or three days for a reasonable price. God bless budget flights in Europe! <3


Now it's time to present my incoming this week:

 I finally got Kassi's first letter! Kassi is from Hong Kong and she knows I love photography, so she sent me two printed photos of HK. Thanks for the letter! <3

From Australia, Flick sent me the cuttest envelope I have ever received! <3 Thanks sososososo much! I'm considering designing my blog header with one of these photos :)

First letter from Aina too! Aina comes from Kuching in Malaysia, and she sent me a 4 pages letter! I love when people take their time to introduce themselves, I've always prefered long letters over short ones <3 Oh, she loves Murakami too!

Katerina from Greece finally wrote me back :) She speaks Spanish perfectly, I wish I could speak Greek too! But omg, it's so difficult >_<

Samantha from Michigan (USA) replied me as well! Yay, I got my 3rd postcard  from Michigan! (parties hard) haha~~ It's one of the penpals I exchanged more letters, hope we're this close for a long long time :)

Speaking of this last week, yesterday Raquel finally came back from Galicia! I wanted to see her as soon as possible, so I begged her to meet today (even though she's super busy studying and all ><)~ So, we finally met this morning, we went to have breakfast together and chit chat a little bit :) 

I had a butter croissant, some Pu Erh with milk and we splitted a chocolate doughnut. 

Later she came to my aunt's restaurant to have lunch and we took a selca because we're this flawless lol

I have a rather "I watch you while you sleep" face but lol who cares, she looks stunning c:


Oh! And she also brought me the washi tape we bought together rtyukijuhygtfdsdfg can't wait to get rid of my exams and catch up with my letters! c:

Before to go (lots of work to do for next week!), I'd like to show you guys some pictures I took last month, before Tyler left to the US again. We went to Santa Maria del Mar, one of the most famous cathedrals in the city. Lucas came with us, and I honestly realized I should pay more attention to my city...  Isn't Barcelona beautiful? :) I took really nice shots!

Time to work now, my dear readers ;_; I have three exams for this upcoming week (Japanese, Art & Culture and Japanese Literature), so I should get down to business asap: Time to work and start some projects! Ugh, I just finished my winter vacation but I can't wait for my Feb break to come already x_x Someone give me free time! <3

Good luck to you all! ;) Have a Happy January!

CL

Sales, Mail + Reading list

Today I took my first exam in 2013: International Relations! It went well I think. Going back to school hasn't been a big trauma lol I kind of missed my routine too. Yesteday I promised myself not to touch my laptop until I was done with this exam, so now I DESERVE THIS! Haha~ I had a really nice day today, I picked up mom from work and we went shopping, sales started the 7th and I really REALLY wanted to go, but I had the moral duty of staying at home preparing this exam... Now I even feel I'm a good student lol c:

Alright, I'm gonna show you guys what I bought today! I'm really proud of it haha, it's been a long time I hadn't bought this much!

Rainbow Pony t-shirt

Electric blue skinny jeans

Beige beanie

Lace bra

Lace panties (I -LO-V-E lace ;_;)

Black miniskirt
(H&M)

Handkerchief

Wool short dress

(Stradivarius)

I didn't spend much though! I thought I would waste all my money but no... I controlled myself haha, I think I'm developing some sense of saving or something! :__D I tried not to pick anything from new collections, stores always trick you like that ù__u But no! I found really nice deals, I also wanted a pair of lace tights but I forgot to pick them when I was paying, orz~ 

Anyway, I got some nice mail this last week ^_^

Anneli, she's my new penpal! <3 She's Swedish but her parents are Chinese, and we have a pretty similar music taste! She's studying Spansih  too, so I didn't hesitate to send her a message :)

News from Grace in Taiwan :) She's doing great, and as alwatys, I loved her letter paper! Happy Belated New Year's you too! <3 

Mardhi from Malaysia sent me this bracelet, some cute stickers and Malaysian tea <33333 I love this girl hahaha <3 Thanks so much deary! I'm teaching her some Spanish and I want to learn some greetings in Malay too :) 

I finally got Ploi's letter from Thailand! We started snail mailing in summer and this is my second letter from her! So yeah, it seems mail it's really slow between out countries :\ 

This is Vivien's first letter, from Singapore :) She's a new penpal too, she sent me this cute bracelet and taught me some things in Singlish! I'd love to know more expressions in Singlish, I find it really curious ^^ 

I got Corey's letter along with a Christmas card <3 Thanks so much sweetheart! And oh, she checked and commented my last post so THIS IS A SOUTOUT FOR YOU! <3 Thanks for being such an amazing penpal! :')

Masha from Russia is a new penpal too! She's 26 and she sent me a really nice Chritmas card along with the letter :) I loved the floral stationery!

This letter comes from Jennifer from the Netherlands! <3 She's a really nice blogger, you can check her out here! She sounds like a cool girl to talk to and we both love posstcards so, we're swapping them too! I went to Amsterdam 2 years ago and I didn't buy any, so I'm so glad she sent me one :)

I got a stationery pack for Reyes (with stamps included), so I could catch up with all the letters I had to send ^_^ I'll keep going tomorrow afternoon! Oh and btw, Raquel's back to Barcelona on Friday night! Can't wait to see her on Saturday, I reaaaally miss that chubby cutie Galician (even though we haven't seen each other for what... 2 or 3 weeks only? XD) <3~ We're going shopping too hah, let's see if I finally buy myself those tights!



Last but not least, I'd like to finish this post with a new reading section. One of my hobbies is obviously, reading. Unfortunately, my daily life and my studies don't give me much time for that, and when they do, they're books I have to read for university >_< So yeah, I'd like to present a few reading lists I just wrote (thanks Penny for the idea!) :)

Books I read in 2012

1Q84 (1 & 2), Haruki Murakami

The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

"Los Santos Inocentes"/ the Holy Innocents, Miguel Delibes

Red Mandarin Dress, Qiu Xiaolong

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

The House of the Sleeping Beauties, Yasunari Kawabata

Please Look After Moom, Shin Kyung Sook

Books I quitted reading for a while

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kessey

A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire saga), George R. R. Martin

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami

Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins

Books I started reading in 2013

Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi

Books I want to read in 2013

The Garden of Evening Mists, Tan Twan Eng

Dance Dance, Haruki Murakami

Kokoro, Soseki Natsume

Grave of the Fireflies, Akiyuki Nosaka

Take me Home, Brian Leung (in English)

I should go read some lectures I have for Japanese Literature tomorrow :) I still have to write about our last Christmas tradition in Spain the 6th Jan, the King's Day! I'll try to update this as soon as I can, in the meantime, hope you enjoy this new post! <3 I heard it'll be chilly next week so, prepare your blankets and hot cocoas/teas!

Love you all :)

CL

Cavalcade of Magi, Indian Food & Night walk around the city

On January the 6th we have a special tradition in Spain known as "The Three Wise Men", "The Three Kings" or, as we say in Spanish "Los Reyes Magos" (because of the Epiphany). In a nutshell, kids get presents again! Well, kids and not-so-young adults hehe :) Families also gather for exchanging presents and all. Before that day, we have a parade the 5th in the afternoon where kids see the Three Kings and give their wishlists to the King's assistants:

Part of the parade 

My cousin Alex was waiting for the third king to give him his wishlist :) 

The first king Melchior arrived! He's the king twho comes from Persia (although it is said in Spain he's European lol)

Then the second king arrived: Caspar, from India (but we've been told he's just Asian...) 

Balthazar, the third but not least king from Africa :) That's Alex's favourite one! 

During the parade the king's assistants throw candy to children, it's really nice seeing all those kids looking forward to their special king and catching sweets! Hah well, kids and some adults too XD I usually go with my family and we all bring plastic bags to put all the candy! We used to gather around 400 sweets ages ago, but these past few years the number has decreased a lot...>_<

After the parade I went with my parents to go for a walk to Gran Via. Gran Via is one of the most famous avenues in Barcelona, and the 5th at night there's a last minute night market for parents to buy presents. While my dad was looking for a garage I took some pictures of the city... :)

I'm impressed they all look decent, I took them from the car XD

It was kind of late, so before going to the night market we stopped in an Indian restaurant to have dinner. I was so excited to find an Indian restaurant here, last time I ate was in London in 2010 x_x Everything looked (and was) delicious, yumyum :) 

Lamb rolls with spices, coriander and onion 

Two kinds of Naan :) 

Basmati rice with spices and vegetables 

Yumyumyumyum, butter chicken was the best! <3 I saw it in the Spanish version of Hell's Kithen and from that moment I wanted to order it next time I went to an Indian Restaurant :) I wanted to order some Chai later, but I was super full after this awesome dinner!

Then we went straight to the night market :) 

University of Barcelona in Plaça Universitat 

There was a "churrería" (Churros stand) in EVERY corner :) it's super typical having "churros" with hot chocolate these days. I wanted some too, but I was still full haha

FC Barcelona merchandising 8D *Barça pride* 

Chocolate candy 

It's super typical in Spain to give sweet (edible) charcoal to kids as a present if they "misbehaved" last year ;) 

Custard & Chocolate filled big "churros" ^_^ 

Gifts from Catalonia. My land, my country, the territory I'm proud to be born & live in! 

Catalan and the European Union flags together :') 

Cotton candy! 

How they make & fry "churros" 

Three guys dressed up as kings and said hi to the crowd who was shopping 

Apples dipped in caramel, yummy! 

I fell in love with these tiny packpacks ;_; <3 gthyjkjhgfdsdfghjk

I'll be pretty buys these days, so this is just a quick update before the King's Day update :) I really really want you guys to see how was my 6th Jan, but I have an International Relations exam on Wed! >_< Arghhh this is so furstrating! Also I want to go on Sales as soon as possible but I'm too busy now! Luckily I'll go once I finish my exam on Wed WAHAHAHAHA~ I need going shopping, really! Mom made me give to charity all the clothes I didn't wear so I see my closet almost empty now! (Even though it's not...). Well, good news! Peter's package will be here in a week or so! 

Oh, I almost forget! Before I say goodbye, this is a shoutout to a special person called Lynn, thanks for reading! Cảm ơn rất nhiều ^_^ *bow* Hope you keep reading my posts!

See you guys soon! Good luck on your exams and do your best! I'll try to do the same :)

Love,

CL