It's been a while. I've been busy/lazy with classes and whatnot. Nothing of serious interest has occurred, and I lost the habit of writing for my blog. As it's been so long, I won't be going over the past weeks in detail, just skimming over anything of import.

First off, I dropped one of my classes: Coding Theory. I didn't have the background required, and after discussing it with several people (including my professor) I decided that it was best that I stopped participating in the course. It was a serious relief to not have to worry about that class anymore, but dropping it requires me to take a course at CofC over the summer so that I can keep all my scholarships. It's an unfortunate extra expense, but my scholarships are obviously important, so I've already signed up for geology 105. On the bright side, I'll get to spend the rest of my summer in Charleston, closer to all of my friends!

Next item of interest was dinner at an Italian restaurant here in Tartu. I went with Sarah and Ariail, and if I recall correctly it was called "La Dolche Vita". The food was absolutely excellent; Ariail and I ended up getting pizzas, while Sarah got a seafood/pasta dish. The portions were huge, and I took home half my pizza for later. (As I don't have a microwave I ended up eating cold pizza. I was truly living the college dream.)

Back on academics, I completed my Cloud Computing course and took the final exam. I received my grade yesterday and was pleased to discover that I managed a B in the course! It's what I was aiming for, but I was nonetheless surprised as I usually have trouble with exams when I'm not used to a particular format/don't know what to expect. Anyway, that was great news and I hope that I can do just as well, if not better, in my other classes.

Since cloud computing is done, I only have 3 classes right now. My schedule is very spaced out and I'm not particularly fond of it. I honestly feel like I have too much free time. On the other hand, I'm starting to get excited now that I'm approaching the end of my semester. I only need complete a paper for Religion and Politics, polish a paper for Secure Software Design and take my final exams for both Crypto and SSD. I've also decided that I'm going to fly home on June 6th. When I arranged my flight here initially, I thought it would be wise to purchase a round-trip ticket without really knowing when I would be able to come home. Therefore my flight is currently arranged for June 29th, but that is seriously late and I would have weeks and weeks with nothing to do. Everyone is pretty much gone or travelling Europe at that point, and I don't have the funds to do any big travelling, nor do I wish to travel alone. So I'm just coming home right after exams! I really do miss Charleston and everyone back home, so it works out for the best.

I've also been to the movies here. A few weeks ago I saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier with Sarah. We went to the movie theater in the Tasku mall. I had to get some popcorn, as it's an obvious requirement for any movie-goer. I noted that there was significantly less butter on the popcorn here than back in America. It was also my first movie in 3d since I was little (still not a fan, it adds nothing and only tends to give me a headache). The theater itself was rather large, with nice comfy seats. The movie was in English, but had both Estonian and Russian subtitles. The film itself was fantastic, I really enjoyed it once I got over the annoyance of the 3d glasses.

Last point of interest: the weather! It's been getting steadily warmer here, and the past couple of days have been absolutely perfect. 70°F and sunny, not too windy and not too humid. Let me tell you, I thought that the snow was magical, but it's nothing short of enchanting the way this town comes alive in the warm weather. People were absolutely everywhere, lounging in the parks, on the riverbank or just walking about. In addition, the town square was positively bustling with life. All of the restaurants that line the central area were setting up platforms for outdoor seating, I'd never seen anything like it. The entire atmosphere of the town just seemed uplifted and cheerful, and I firmly believe that if you really want to experience Tartu, you need to see the transformation from Winter to Spring. It's honestly hard to capture it in words, I was seriously surprised (in a good way) when I walked through the town on my way to class. Also I was almost giddy with happiness to be able to wear a t-shirt without a jacket. It may seem like something small but after living in the cold for all those months it was an incredible feeling. I actually wish that I'd brought shorts and sandals with me, something I never thought I'd be saying. As it stands, I might have to buy some sandals at the very least, because it's gotten seriously warm. (Well, it's back down in the 50s for now, but it will get warmer again.)

No promises on the frequency of future blog updates, but I'll attempt to keep at least a general commentary going. I'm a bit burnt out on the daily play-by-play, as I'm sure is obvious by the lack of updates for the last month.