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Back in Britain now after a long 3 week holiday. This trip back to the States was simply amazing for me. I was much more relaxed about coming back since it was my second trip back and I didn't worry about all the silly little things as much as I did the first time. I still continued to notice them (the escalator directions are different), but was able to mentally note it and move on.

Someone asked me what I missed most about the US. I think he was expecting things like baseball, a multitude of choices in the supermarket, or cheesy sitcoms. But I instead provided the fantastically disappointing answer that I missed my friends. How typical. But also so incredibly true. Nearly everyone I saw when I was home these three weeks gave me a big smile and we were able to slip right back to the friendship as if no time had passed at all. That trait is one thing that Americans beat the rest of the world at hands down. I have the greatest friends.



So the whole trip started with a fun weekend in NY and then a train ride back to my parents house. It's always fun heading back home in the winter because as you move north the snow gradually covers more and more of the ground until all you see is a winter wonderland. It makes all the houses look old and welcoming.



That's a pic of my house (for those who haven't had the pleasure of visiting).

After getting home, I went to the local bar to meet up with high school friends of mine in a mini-reunion that Rob (class president and joker in the pic above) put together. It worked out great except having to move bars a few times (electrical problems?). I even had a guy I was friends with in 3rd grade come up to me as I was leaving and yell in my face, "You dunked in high school!" Yikes.

The family Christmas was also fantastic and I got to spend quality time with my Dad, who I hadn't seen in 8 months -- he was away when I was home last, and my Grandmother, who is still really cool and a lot of fun to just sit and chat with. After that and a bit of skiing at Windham, we headed back to New York for New Year's.

This turned out to be quite an event because I somehow got invited to a party at a penthouse apartment on 44th between Broadway and 6th Ave. We were very worried about getting to Times Square, but the NYPD opened the barricaded street for us and since all the Times Square people were funneled through other streets, we were able to approach on a street nearly all by ourselves. It was pretty amazing to be standing there on one side of the barricade with just my friends and on the other side were almost a million people. The party turned out to be lots of fun and we could go onto the roof and watch the ball drop.





Incredible! Plus the firemen came up to make sure we were ok and ended up just hanging around while the ball dropped. Nice guys.



So I'm actually finishing this post now from Tristan's apartment in Geneva. I flew down for the weekend and we got to do some more skiing. Geneva is great, but I'll save that for next post!

Thanks again to everyone for making my trip home such a joy. I feel very lucky to be in Europe, but even more lucky to be able to return and spend time with the people who I love.

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Cheers,
Dan