jaded?

a week or so ago before i left for europe, my mom commented how excited she was getting to come to europe next month, and couldn't imagine how much i was jumping up and down.

i responded, "frankly, i'm not jumping. this is old hat for me. i'm content, but not bouncing."

she told me "oh i forgot, you've done this so much you're jaded"

i wouldn't say jaded, but...

this europe trip is a bit different for me than before. budapest is a special case in and of itself, but other than budapest and the states, cities i've been to out of the US have definitely been for short touristy visits, even if they're primarily for a conference or whatever too.

with so much time spent in prague last summer (2.5 weeks), and with having visited it 4 years ago as well, i've seen all the major touristy stuff at least once, probably twice, possibly even more times. i know my way around town decently well. sure, i think it's gorgeous and i enjoy wandering... but i don't have a major list of things to do on the agenda, and i don't feel the need to run myself ragged. i have a desire to wander and avoid tourists and take it easy, and that's about it. last year i had a bunch of things to knock of my list... this year, i page through my tourist book and go "seen that, seen that too, ride past that every morning on the way to campus for math lecture,... "... not jaded, just... it's different.

tonight is a copy from last year: we're taking the REUers to see don giovanni in the estates theater (the theater that mozart directed the original performance of it in years and years ago)... last year's students weren't as into arts and went and had a good time... this year's students are major excited about it, so it'll be even more fun. :) i'm looking forward to it.

not jaded, not unappreciative, just taking it easy and being thankful for the chances that my job gets me for immersing myself in other cultures beyond the point of being one of the tourist mob :-P

happy weekend y'all!