Back to School!

Someday I'll have time to write a real blog post. I hope.

Classes started last week. I am taking:

Victorian literature - with one of my favorite professors. It seems pretty good so far. Lots of reading.

Literary History (the earliest one, though, so pre-1660, I think) - Pretty boring so far. It's with the professor that is probably the most popular in the department. I was really looking forward to taking this class with him, but a week into the class I haven't figured out why he has such a great reputation. He seems to know his stuff.

Advanced Seminar (which is on Kafka) - The professor's name is Anne Jamison, and I had heard great things about her, too. She looks so much like Anne (Roger's wife), that every class I try to decide whether they look enough alike to be closely related or not.

She's great! She said the bookstore on campus operates on some kind of ponzi scheme, and that they're not a real bookstore anyway, they're a sweatshirt and teddy bear store, so she ordered our books through a local bookshop in Salt Lake somewhere. And gave us the ISBNs for our books so that we can order them online if we prefer. And, so that we're not using WebCT (which is very regulated and sucks), she set up a LiveJournal group for our class. So we have discussions there.

International Tourism - Meets my international requirement (which my AA did not, since I didn't get it in UT). I am taking it online. It sounded SUPER when I read the syllabus, but so far I am totally disappointed--it is so much about fixing poverty and sustainability.

Thanks, I'm not really interested in that. I am heartless, and I don't want one world community. I don't think everyone's opinions are valid, and I don't think we should make economic decisions based on spiritual and emotional values. Our text actually suggested that. (I do think sex trafficking is wrong, so at least when we get to that chapter I'll be on the same page as everyone else.)

So far, we've had to watch little videos where they show the world spinning from space and have us listen to quotes about how there are no boundaries and because we all evolved together since the Big Bang, we need to love each other. And not increase global warming. We have readings and lectures, and movies, and discussions, and quizzes, and projects, and it just seems like an awful lot of work. I hope the tone of the class changes a little! Half of the last lesson was actually about knowing ourselves so that we can be aware of how we act other places. It seemed more interesting and more practical, so we'll see.

I still have my Folklore class, which I started last semester. I am transcribing my interview that I did with J's dad, and I'll be preparing the manuscript for publication. So. That will be fun.

On Friday I finally got the results for my Italian test. I needed a 120/190 to demonstrate "advanced proficiency" and buy credits instead of taking another Italian class for the language requirement. I got a 172/190! So I'll be buying that class instead of taking it.

This semester I am trying to take TRAX instead of driving up. (It's already been pretty exciting; TRAX always is, right?) The idea is that this way I will avoid buying a parking permit and lots of gas, and also have extra time to study (/work on whatever!) during my commutes. My classes are all on Tues/Thurs, so it's working out pretty well so far. The disadvantages are: less Glenn, and less Dr. Laura. I can live with that, I guess.