A bout of campus cabin fever

By Jane Muhlstein

Waking up to a constant drizzle and walking to class in torrential downpours have, I'm sure, dampened many Santa Clara spirits this week. After last week's brief, but glorious, stint of summer heat, the onset of fall is hitting hard.

With a four-month hibernation ruled out for obvious academic reasons, there is no choice but to face the fact that I will be spending much of the coming months under a winter-inflicted house arrest.

I tried to remember what I usually do at this time of year, when just working up the motivation to get out of bed to greet the gloomy day seems to be an impossible task. Then I opened an e-mail about study abroad week, and remembered that this time last year, I wasn't here at all. I was spending a delightful little weekend in Paris, before returning to London for class on Monday.

Until now, I'd been able to put out of my mind how much I miss England and the adventures of last fall. The excitement of getting home in December, spending Christmas with the family, reuniting with friends Winter Quarter and enjoying the spring and summer was enough to keep me occupied. But now that a year has gone by, it's hard to stop wishing I was still far across the Atlantic.

No offense to Santa Clara, but there is nothing quite like going to school in Europe. Two hours from Paris by train and short flights to Amsterdam, Dublin and Rome, it felt like I had the world at my disposal. I spent every weekend from late September until early November in a different country.

And on those days I did stay in town, there was never time to be bored. Living six blocks from both Westminster Abby and Buckingham Palace (and several blocks from Gwyneth Paltrow), I could drop by world-renowned museums on the way home from school and party at clubs with B-list British celebrities at night.

I'm sure it rained there, as many of my pictures show me holding a terrible fake Burberry umbrella. It was cold, but I don't remember it keeping me inside.

Like everyone who goes abroad, I swear I'll go back, and I'm sure I will. But until that day, I will spend my winters consoling myself with Hugh Grant movies and online British tabloids.

This weekend, I'm back to my jet-setting ways with a weekend jaunt home to visit my mom and brother for their birthdays. Sadly, the forecast in Seattle calls for at least 10 straight days of rain.

*Contact Jane Muhlstein at (408) 554-4546 or jmuhlstein@scu.edu.