4.24 pm

My internet is back, after a brief hiatus where the modem was on "standby." I kept waiting for it to turn itself back on, tried resetting it a few times, and finally went into the rental company's office this morning to ask them to call for me since I don't have a phone. Turns out I'd accidentally hit the "standby" button on the top of the modem, and that was why my internet was out. Why there would be a standby button on a cable modem is beyond me, but the internet is back up and running again. Which is most wonderful, since that means I don't have to sit on the floor in the hallway to try and find a wireless signal.

I seem to be living in a party house. Meaning that there are loud parties in the common room, which shares a wall with my apartment, every night until 4, 5, 7 in the morning. On the upside, the building is dead quiet between 8am and about 11 pm. I'm rather curious as to how any of them actually manage to attend class. I asked the rental agency if they had any apartments in a quieter building that I could move to, but they said they're booked full and they'll send a letter to the other tenants reminding them that parties are not allowed in the building. I feel rather like Arthur Dent, at the moment the party smacked him in the back. As I recall, that party didn't go away, either. There's always the wear headphones all night and make sure they're connected to something with an alarm solution.

4.31

It is another cold, rainy day. Despite my utter loathing for cold weather, it's not so bad as I thought it would be. I put on three layers of shirts, a coat, a scarf, a hat, and gloves. The cold isn't so bad if I walk fast, and once I warm up a little I stop feeling it so much. The hard part is after I come out of a store - and they turn the heat in the stores way up. It's only a fifteen minute walk to work, and there's a tram line on the way. Although unless the tram comes exactly as I'm passing the stop, it's quicker to go ahead and walk. The really nice thing about the tram is that it goes right by the embassy - so I can't get lost going to work if I follow the tracks. And for a girl who couldn't find her way out of a paper bag if there were glowing neon signs pointing the way, that's quite a relief.