New Theory

As I get closer to my university graduation the big question on everyone's minds seems to be where I am going to live when I'm finished. They all want to know where I'm going to end up. I admit it's been frustrating me a lot. I don't KNOW. I have some ideas of the type of job I want to have but I'm lost as to where I should be. I like Ontario a lot but I don't feel like it's my forever home. BC will always be where I'm "from" and I know I would be welcomed back there any time with open arms but I don't really feel like it's where I need to be in the near future. I'm not sure where that leaves me and the idea of picking somewhere else to live hasn't been all that appealing lately either.

Recently I've realized something. I don't HAVE to decide. I don't have to live in one place. I can continue to be nomadic and live here and there for as long as I want. A few of the jobs I have in mind are shorter term opportunities which would entail moving a lot. I'm very much okay with this. I'm sure a lot of people aren't and won't be but I'm not living their life.

I had lunch today with a friend who is in the process of completing his Phd and starting to look at life after school. All he wants is a secure 9-5 job where he has guaranteed income on a bi-weekly basis. It was interesting to explain to him that I DON'T desire that. I had a secure job and I left it for this adventure. Financially it's probably not been the best decision I've ever made but I know it's been the right one for my mental stability and I honestly can say that I love my life and I'm ready to embrace the next adventure. Whether it makes people comfortable or not.

My Cup Overfloweth

The other night I was laying in bed and I couldn't sleep because I was just so overwhelmed and excited about my amazing life. I have just over a week left here in France and my time here has been everything I didn't allow myself to hope it would be. Meaning it sounded amazing before I got here so I talked myself down so I wouldn't be disappointed but everything I was promised was exactly how it was, and more. Yes it's been hard work. Yes living in someone else's home in a different culture can be stressful. Yes the kids were a handful when they came but I loved it all. And most importantly my French is way better than when I arrived and THAT is what this is all about.

Sunday I'm planning on going to Barcelona for a few days (I really need to book my ticket but I'm blogging instead :P) Spain wasn't even part of my original travel plans but I really feel like I want to go there. I'm not sure why but I'm very much looking forward to it.

My flight back to Canada leaves from Amsterdam at 8am on August 31st so I'll be flying between Barcelona and Amsterdam on Friday. That means I'll have a few hours to kill in Amsterdam as well which will be nice. It's where I started this adventure and I'm looking forward to wrapping it up there.

And then when I get home, I am moving in with a friend of mine which is going to be amazing and school starts soon and I'm super excited for my classes and to see my friends and well yes. Life just rocks.

That night when I couldn't sleep I ended up taking my pillow outside and laying on the balcony and looking up at the stars. You can't see all that many here but it was enough to just sort of center and ground me. I tried to pray but really all I could say was "Thank you" Thank you for this amazing life and these wonderful opportunities and for blessing me with more than I could ever dream of. Thank you. Thank you for it all.

My favourite moment of the week

My favourite moment of the week, this semester, is 3:45 on Wednesdays. Weird huh? Let me explain. Even though it's still two days before the weekend and I have classes on Thursday and Friday, I only have one class each day. The bulk of my week is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. As well on Wednesday's I don't have anything scheduled after that last class finishes at quarter to four so I feel all of a sudden like I have TIME. It's rather wonderful. It's no secret that I have a LOT of school work this semester. I'm plugging through it but I have to be very dedicated and spend a lot of time on it. My friends don't understand the sheer volume of reading that a history student has to do, never mind one who is taking five history classes.

Today that awesome moment came early, when I got the email saying class was cancelled. It was like a present. Class is less than two hours long but all of a sudden I had my whole afternoon free. That made today feel like Friday which was pretty nice. I finished up a project I've been working on all weekend and then took my time doing some things around the house. I baked cookies in the mid afternoon and while I was waiting for them to cook I flipped on the tv. I rarely watch tv but today I turned it on and flipped through the channels (that is even more rare for me. I usually just check three or four that I know I like and then turn it off if nothing appeals). It turns out that the moment I chose to turn on the tv and randomly flip through channels, the new pope was just walking on to the balcony to make his first address!!! How cool is that? I didn't even know that "the smoke had gone white" because I had been offline and mixing my cookie dough but somehow I managed to randomly turn the tv on at the exact moment that history was being made. I was pretty happy. I also go to tell my dad who the new pope was (he was working and hadn't heard). I love being able to beat him to big events like that ;)

So, for a Wednesday, today was a pretty great day. I got the gift of time, which I used quite constructively, and I got to see the new pope announced. Nice.

WARNING: PMS and Midterms don't mix

This post won't be very characteristic of me, and may not even get published but I feel like typing it out anyway. The important thing to remember is that I am pmsing and in the middle of midterms and this is not aimed AT anyone, it's just an observation. PMS always makes me a bit homesick because my horomones are out of whack and it makes me less tolerant of things that wouldn't normally bug me. Today I've hit a wall on American Nationalism. I am tired of the narrow view that no one else (namely Canada) had any impact on world events. This approach doesn't surprise me and in a lot of ways I understand it. The US has a lot of history to cover without getting into what other countries were doing but I guess I'm feeling a bit homesick and I'm missing the broad inclusive approach that my courses at Laurier usually take. At home I do "North American Studies" which incorporates BOTH Canada and the US (and Mexico when applicable). Here it's ONLY about the US. And Britain, Russia, France and China but no reference is made to Canada at all. Even the Quebec Conference during World War 2. If you listen to my prof or read the text book Prime Minister WLM King wasn't even there. No wonder Americans don't have any awareness of Canadian involvement on the world stage. They aren't TAUGHT it.

The other thing I'm getting sick of hearing about is "states rights". Canada has this too but it's not fought as bitterly as it is down here. Half the cases we are studying in the Supreme Court (for my Constitutional History course) are about who has the most power, the individual states or the federal government, and it's exhausting...and we're only JUST hitting the Civil War. I don't know if it will get better!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to my trip to Europe because I will be visiting monuments and sites dedicated to remembering the CANADIAN contribution to the wars. I'm looking forward to that if only because I feel like my Canadian pride is being battered here in the face of so much American patriotism. I need to get past these midterms and start writing my essay on the burning of Washington. That should bring it back :D

Class Breakdown...or are they giving me a breakdown?

Wow. Two weeks since I blogged last. Well, that feels about right. That's when classes started and I have been BUSY. This is my first time actually trying to juggle five classes and I am so incredibly thankful that I'm not working on top of it. A part of me misses it like crazy and I almost applied to the Starbucks on campus but then common sense prevailed and I realized how crazy of a move that would be. The weather has been a bit cooler so I've mostly just been going to classes, coming home and doing readings and then hanging out with friends. Here's a quick review of what I'm studying.

The US as a Young Republic 

I have this class M/W/F from 9:05-9:55. It kind of stinks to have an early class like that but so far it's kept me on track with getting to bed at a decent hour which is nice. It's also my only class on Friday's so that isn't too bad. The prof is pretty cool. Extremely knowledgeable and enjoyable to listen to except he is LOUD. I'm not sure if he's used to lecturing to survey classes or what but in our small 20ish student class, sometimes he just hurts my ears. He's interesting though and I really like this time period so I'm glad I'm taking the class. I have one major research paper due for this class and I'm still debating my topic. I have a few ideas though.

US Constitutional History

M/W 2:30-3:35 This prof is hilarious. Foul mouthed but not in a particularly offensive way. We just sit there and laugh all class. It is an incredible amount of information because I'm learning the Constitution from scratch but we have a good text book and his lectures are easy to follow. We have two case briefs for this class. I haven't even looked at the topics of mine yet.

Georgia History

T/T 12:30-1:45 This class is a massive amount of work. We have online and text book readings assigned for each class and we're tested in class to confirm that we've done the readings. We have a MASSIVE primary source research project and paper as well. The class is fascinating though. The prof (my only female one) is fiercely loyal to Georgia and specifically Savannah at the expense of Atlanta and all other states. It's a lot of fun. 

US as a Global Power

This class is just once a week, on Tuesdays from 6:30-9:15pm. It's long but the prof gets off topic a lot with little stories and anecdotes so it's not like he's lecturing the entire time. He is really funny as well. I make a point of bringing a handkerchief to class because I'm often wiping away tears from laughing. This is class is probably my most intense as far as course work. Three book reviews as well as a major research paper. I haven't even begun to think about what I'm going to write about so that is a bit scary. This class focuses on the 20th century and I took a similar one from a Canadian view point so it's really interesting. It's the most contemporary time period so it's a nice change. 

North American Public Policy Issues

This is a directed studies class which means we only meet a few times during the semester. I have an academic advisor though and I'm checking in with him regularly on the research paper I am writing. This is hands down the class I am most excited about. I could talk about it for forever but, as my Global Power prof says, to make a short story long, this prof is currently developing a Masters program in Public History and is working really hard to try to convince me to apply. I'm not convinced yet (and that wouldn't be for two years anyway) but this man totally gets me. I feel like I've finally found a title for what it is I want to do and he completely understands my goals. It's awesome. A part of this class is my volunteer placement which is it's own bundle of awesomeness but I'll save that for another entry.

So there, that's my five classes. Four major research papers. Three book reviews. Two case studies. Midterms and finals in the first four. I can do this. Gulp!

Welcome to Year Three

Summer's gone and I hardly blogged at all. It's not even like it was all that busy, I just never got around to it. Anyway, instead of burdening myself with trying to recap it all, I'm going to start with today. My first day back at school. I'm in my "third year" but I'm technically a half credit short of being a "third year" student which is why I titled this "year three". It's confusing. I know. It will get more confusing as time goes on. The bottom line is, after this year, I still have two full more years to go to complete my undergrad. It's all good.

So, first day back. I have four classes again this semester (hence why a four year program is taking me five years, because I'm only doing four classes at a time instead of five). This semester my classes are all on Tuesdays and Thursdays with one tutorial on Friday. I start on Tuesday (today) at 10am with African History. I took this class for two reasons. 1) I know nothing about Africa and I think it will be interesting. 2) I heard the prof speak at a History Students Association conference a few years back and I loved him. After the first class, I still love him and I'm super excited for this class, although not so much the readings that go with it (they look depressing, I'm sure they'll be interesting though).

That class runs for an hour and a half (well, 80 minutes but for arguments sake, 1.5 hours) and then I have a 1.5 hour break. At 1pm I go to my "Canada Before Confederation" history course. Again I took it for two reasons. 1) I love the topic and think I want to pursue this era. 2) I haven't heard great things about the prof and I want to form my own opinions because there is a chance I'd have her for upper level courses in the future.

Then I have a 1.5 hour break (are we seeing a pattern here?) and at 4pm I start what might be my favourite class. It's officially called "War and Memory in North America" but it deals specifically with the War of 1812 followed by World War One. We have some really cool projects to do and we've planned a field trip to the battlefields at Niagara! Oh, and this prof is amazing. I haven't had him but I've heard fantastic things and judging from the first class, they're right.

After that class I have a short 30 minute break and then I head off to Quebec Culture IN FRENCH for three hours. I have been apprehensive about this class, even after talking to the prof. I'm happy to report that I understood a lot more than I had anticipated. After hardly doing any French over the summer I managed to understand the majority of what the prof said tonight. Granted she has a pretty anglicized accent but she still speaks fairly quickly so I was a bit worried. I'm going to have to work hard but I have easily a dozen friends in that class so we're planning weekly study sessions and I think we'll do well.

Thursday is the same as Tuesday minus the three hour class. Also, the middle one (Canadian History) doesn't have a lecture on Thursday's but sometimes there are what she calls "remedial classes" which are essentially tips on how to do the assignments or what to study for the final. So that's what I'm up to! The other day's I have open for working and for my campus club activities. I'm very active in French Club again, a general member in the History Students Association and, most scarily, a Co-President of NASSA (North American Studies Students Association) eek! And speaking of, I have work to do. Wish me luck!

Hell Week is Over

I don't guarantee that I'll be posting more but maybe. I call last week Hell Week because I worked roughly 30 hours at Headstart and well over 20 at Starbucks. Headstart is a program on campus for incoming first years. It runs on random days in May, June and July but last week it was five days in a row (I worked four of them). My roll was largely directing traffic and making people parked in the proper lot. I did that morning and afternoon for two-ish hours each time. In between I helped students with online registration for classes and then led tours in the late afternoon. It was exhausting but a lot of fun. It has helped to break up the summer but I am sure glad it's over. Being on your feet for eight hours at a time at Starbucks is one thing because you're generally always moving and doing things. Being outside in the HOT sun and standing mostly in one place is a different kind of exhausting. It it has been HOT. And humid. It makes me question my sanity regarding moving to Georgia. I keep reminding myself that I'm going in January though. Hopefully it won't be too hot.

Anyway, Headstart is done and I'm back to just working my 30ish hours a week at Starbucks. It's almost like being on vacation! LOL

Good Timing

(I wrote this post on my Blackberry today while I was killing time. So if it's a bit choppy, that's why. Hopefully it's okay to read because it's about something rather exciting for me.) First a bit of background because I can't remember if I've blogged this before and if I have, I don't expect my readers to remember it. Rewind to first semester of first year. Following the advice of the history undergrad advisor I took a course called "North American Studies 101". The prof and I hit it off extremely well. Out of a class of 200, I participated a lot and often stayed after class to chat. She's also from BC and we found we had a lot in common. As I worked through my first year homesickness, I found I could often turn to her as proof that it would all turn out okay.  Our final exam was on December 22nd. As I was leaving we chatted a bit about our plans for the holidays (both of us were going back to BC) and she asked if I had heard of her NO202 course called "North American Narrative Place and Identity". I was aware of it but, because it was a second year course, I hadn't thought about it much. Well, she invited me to take it with her in the winter semester since the following year (my actual second year) she was scheduled to be on sabbatical and wouldn't be teaching it. It didn't take me long to realize that when a prof invites you to take a course, it's a good thing, so I enrolled. To keep the story short, it was one of my favourite classes ever. The paper I wrote was called "The Representation of the Senorita in Contemporary Country Music" and I got 93% on it (!). I got an A+ overall in that class (the only one I've received so far). So by the end of that year, because of her and how much I enjoyed North American Studies, I declared myself a double major in History and NAS.  So second year goes by. She was on sabbatical and I've taken three other NAS classes (none of which were taught by her anyway). As I was building my third year schedule I realized that the only course that I could take with her is a French course (she's cross listed as a prof in NAS and French). This is a course I was planning on taking for my French minor anyway. It's on Quebec Culture and can be double counted as credits for both French and NAS. But, it's IN FRENCH! I have to admit I was pretty nervous about having to participate and write in French. The content isn't too bad, I mean we study Quebec a lot in NAS, especially in contrast to English Canada and, when I was in Montreal I learned that history really is the same in French as in English (for the most part). Anyway, I talked to a few of my coworkers who have had this prof, in French, and asked what their experience was. In general it was a pretty favourable review but one of them did caution that she seems to pick favourites. This is criticism of her that I've heard before and I admit I laughed it off because we all know where I stand that way ;) the thing that concerned me was possibly losing that status over my less than stellar language skills. Keep in mind that I see her as someone who could be a fourth year seminar advisor and a very good contact for future opportunities so maintaining this status is important to me. I decided to be proactive and go talk to her before classes start in September. Just be really upfront and explain that while I am looking forward to this class, I have some concerns. I figured honesty is the best policy and that way I don't feel like I'm hiding anything and that I can go to her for extra assistance when I need it. Okay, now to the point of our story. So I'm psyching myself up to talk to her in September and guess who comes in to Starbucks on Monday? Just as I'm about to go on my lunch break too. I almost didn't recognize her since it's been a year since I saw her last but I recognized her voice. I said hi, welcome back, etc and we started chatting like no time had passed (except that we had a year of stuff to catch up on!) She ended up staying in the store while I had my lunch and we talked about everything. My experience with Explore and living in Quebec (she did the program 20 years ago), my trip out East, the 2011 playoff run (she's a huge Canucks fan), me going to Georgia, my review of the French profs I've had this year AND the WHOLE structure of this course that I'm taking with her. She was happy to hear that I am going to be in it and I was really upfront with my feelings. I told her why I'm nervous and she told me why, for what I want out of it, I shouldn't be. Apparently when this course was first designed there were only 30 seats. That allowed for a lot of interaction and participation and people wrote papers that were graded with feedback. Now the class has expanded to 80 seats with no marking support. 80 people means there's a wide range of language ability and it makes in class discussion difficult and grading papers a monumental task. She kind of apologized for that and said that from a "French language improvement point of view", the class would be a disappointment. It's mostly listening and reading. There will be weekly readings with short answer "homework" assignments which are mostly completion marks, two multiple choice mid-terms and a final that will require writing but not a lot and it will be graded on content rather than grammar. So for anyone looking to improve their speaking or writing skills (which I am not really) the class wouldn't be good. But for anyone looking to learn about culture (which I am) it will be fine. So there. I was prepared to worry for another three months and now I don't have to! Plus she has emailed me some of our readings so I can get a headstart on the more difficult ones. Talk about good timing and how everything works out for the best. I need to keep believing that!

Attitude of Gratitude V4#18 - Good Days

Today was just an all around good day. Let's see if I can remember all the wonderful things that happened. I guess the big one is that I finished my last paper of the term. I probably could have still worked on it for awhile but it was due at midnight so around 6pm I just decided it was done and submitted it.

I also talked to my landlord. She has been STRESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSING out over renting the other room in my basement suite. I can't remember if I've posted about this but the current tenant had decided that she wanted to move because she thought it was too expensive. Well she looked around and realized that it's actually pretty middle of the road (especially considering everything is included, heat, hot water, laundry, parking, internet, tv, etc) Plus she didn't want to deal with the hassle of moving so she's decided to stay. She managed to talk our landlord down on the rent though and since we both pay the same amount, it means my rent will now be $35 cheaper for the next few months. Not a huge savings but every little bit counts right now so I am thankful. Plus this chick is pretty easy to live with so that is nice. My landlord had been considering renting to some of the guys that have inquired and the last person that looked at the place was a guy with a girlfriend so there would have been three of us here. I'd prefer to not live with a strange guy so this really is an answer to prayer.

Let's see, oh yeah, I also managed to change a tutorial I have next term to a better time slot. It was at 10:30am on Monday mornings when my next class isn't until 2:30pm. Now I have it on Wednesday with a bunch of other classes which is much better for my attendance potential.

I also realized that with my current grade in French, if I don't write the final exam AT ALL, I'll still pass the course (not by much, but I'd pass). Of course I will write so it's almost like bonus marks!

And then to end it all, I found out that my friends Angela and Matthew got engaged last night. It was their three year anniversary and the engagement isn't a surprise to anyone but it's still exciting. That makes five weddings for friends and family so far next year. We'll see how many I'm actually able to attend!

Attitude of Gratitude V4#14 - Farmers Markets

One of the things I loved about living in my apartment in BC was that the local Farmers Market was within walking distance of my apartment. There was nothing better than walking downtown on a sunny Saturday morning and loading up with fresh veggies.

One of the reasons I chose to move to Waterloo, Ontario was that it is close to the little town of St. Jacobs is so close. St. Jacobs has a huge Farmers Market that runs throughout the year on Saturdays and on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the summer. Unfortunately between school and work I can't always get out there so this year I was super excited to get involved in the student run Farmers Market on campus! There is a group of students (mostly in Geography interestingly enough) who work together to source local food (not always "organic" but definitely local) and sell it in the Concourse once a week. Local means seasonal so this time of year it's a lot of root vegetables (beets, turnips, sweet potatoes) which I have been having fun eating. They sell each item piece by piece. For example, 25 cents for a potato or apple, 1.25 for broccoli, etc. and focus on small amounts. One of the issues with the bigger Farmers Markets is that you often get massive amounts of food. Like two pounds of green beans or ten apples. Well that is great if you are feeding a family but for a student, on a budget, buying huge amounts of food doesn't make sense because it goes bad before you can eat it. This way you only really have to buy for the week and you can load up again next week!

I was able to volunteer for an hour and a half between classes for about a month and a half. I got off track when I got sick but I'll be back next year for sure. I stopped by the last market booth on Wednesday and they gave me a little bag of chocolates as a thank you which I immediately devoured :)

I look forward to next year and in the mean time, I'll try and take a trip out to St. Jacobs again. It's only about 15 minutes from my house so it makes a nice little trip.

Attitude of Gratitude V4#11 - Remembrance Day

You may remember last year how annoyed I was that I couldn't attend a proper Remembrance Day ceremony because I had class. This year I figured out where the one on campus was held (it helps to be friends with the History Students Association now) and I just skipped my French tutorial in order to attend. It was very nice. Totally student run and quite simple. Barry (top left) the president of the HSA spoke about the student's role in remembering, the president of the Student's Union spoke, a girl who had done a battle fields tour shared a bit about her experience and the Dean of Students not only read "In Flanders Fields" but also gave a bit of the story around when John McCrae wrote it and what it was like for him. Brendan (right) was the MC. He was really nervous but he did a really good job.

We had five of the music students play a couple of selections including "Last Post" (which gave me chills like it normally does) and Amazing Grace. At one point the friend I was sitting beside nuged me and pointed behind us. There were about 100 chairs filled with students and faculty but behind that it was standing room only and it was PACKED. So many people stopping and standing silently was pretty cool.

Afterwards there was a reception on one of the upper levels of the Student Centre. I ended up, somewhat randomly, talking to an older gentleman who turned out to be the past Dean of Students (and now the student centre is named after him). I had heard that he still worked on campus so I was excited to meet him. We chatted for a bit and I learned that he had actually fought for the American's in the Korean War and then went to West Virginia University where he got his degree. He came to Canada in 1968 and has been at the university ever since. I'm pretty sure most of the people in the room didn't realize that he was a veteran so that was cool plus, around campus, he's a living legend so it was extra special.

Attitude of Gratitude V4#9 - Libraries

I am thankful for libraries. These are some of the books I used for the paper I wrote for my Russian History class called "The Expansion of the Russian Empire into the South Under Catherine the Great". For my other papers I have used a lot of online articles and even some online books which are a neat option. I can access them all through my school library, even when I am off campus which is nice.

I have to admit though, as thankful as I was to have these books as sources, I was EXTRA happy to be able to return them when the paper was done!!! :)

Attitude of Gratitude V4#7 - QWERTY Typing

As I sit here and procrastinate on writing a paper, that I would really like to be finished with, I can't help but be thankful that, when the inspiration strikes, I CAN type, fully, properly. With both hands and without looking at the keyboard. (Although apparently I can't form sentences. That first one is atrocious. Sorry.) I blogged about my Keyboard 11 class memories in 2008 so I won't repeat them. I will say that I am very thankful that I took that class though. When I'm writing a research paper, my method is to retype the relevant sections from my sources. Especially when they are library books that I can't mark up. That would take forever if I was doing the "hunt n' peck" style of typing. I know there are debates going around about teaching kids cursive writing versus keyboarding in school. I think they should get them both. They're both invaluable and I'm grateful that I have both skills.

Attitude of Gratitude V4#6 - A Job I Love

I originally uploaded these pictures at the end of August but somehow never got around to finishing the entry. The drinks on the left are old news now. They are the Salted Caramel Mocha and Pumpkin Spice Latte. I opened one morning and made them as test beverages. They were so cute and little (they're in short cups) that I had to take a picture. It was around that time that I got this MUG award from our assistant manager. He has since transferred to another store but it was nice to be recognized.

It has been just over a year since my original hire date at Starbucks. Because of my two month hiatus to go to Quebec in May/June, I am considered a "re-hire" but I can still tell people that I've been around for a year. There have been changes, in addition to the ASM moving we also had the manager who hired me move to another store and the original ASM was promoted to manager. It's been a good change. Jon is young, as are most of the partners at this store. In fact, I am actually the oldest! It's a weird feeling. I'm used to being the youngest! Jon does a good job of managing though and, most important for me, he listens. We're kind of understaffed right now, so it makes scheduling difficult. From the day he took on scheduling duties he has been fantastic about not scheduling me at all on Sunday's or Wednesday's (both days I have church or classes and church so there's just no time to work). Recently he's been putting me down for four shifts a week amounting to 24 hours a week. I don't mind working over 20 hours but I need it to be only three shifts a week. I know it doesn't sound like much of a difference but mentally, having two days were I don't have to go in to work at all (not to mention Sunday and Wednesday) does a huge amount for my mental well being.

As for the job itself, I really do enjoy it. I can't see myself doing it for years on end, but I do hope to do it for a few more years. It can be stressful and very physically exhausting but it's such a change from school work that I look forward to going in. Plus it's just a fun place to be :) I am grateful to have a job I love at a company I am passionate about!

Attitude of Gratitude V4#5 - Sleep

(And yes, I realize this is following a post about pillows ;))

Between work, school and church I typically put in some long days. This last week was a crazy example, and definitely explains why I'm under the weather now.

Sunday morning I went to church and the out for lunch with my friend Jess. Normally I attend the potluck that the church hosts but I knew I needed to get home and do some school work so Sunday evening was relatively quiet.

Monday I was up and at the school by 9:30 in order to meet with one of my profs about one of my papers. I only have one actual class on Monday's (French) so I went to that from 12:30-1:20 and then hit the library for a bit. From there I headed home, ate a late lunch and then got ready and headed out for the church Harvest Party. It was a blast, I posted a bit about it on my first Attitude of Gratitude post. I was home by 11ish that night.

Tuesday morning I opened at work. That means working from 5am to 9:30am and classes from 10-11:30am and 2:30-4pm. You do the math. That's not a lot of sleep. I did manage to go home and get in an hour long nap between classes and then I was in bed around 11pm again.

Wednesday I have classes at 8:30am but, no surprise, I was late by just over a half an hour. I just couldn't get out of bed. Wednesday night I was again at church and then Jess and I went to Tim Horton's (all the local Starbucks close too early ;)) There was a massive crash on the 401 so I had to re-route on the way home and it was close to 1am by the time I got in bed.

Thursday and Friday I left the house around 9am in the morning and didn't return until after work at 11pm. Long. Looooong days. I won't go into details but suffice to say I was pretty much moving non-stop. By the time I finally fell into bed on Friday night I was EXHAUSTED. Thankfully, Saturday morning I was able to sleep in, and I did, till after 11am. When I finally woke up I had a leisurely couple of hours before heading in to work again. Even though I had an eight hour shift I felt a million times better after actually getting some sleep.

Yesterday was Sunday, the first Sunday in the month so we had a late service. That meant that I got to sleep in again. With the time change it wasn't as late as Saturday but it still felt good. Sleep is awesome, and you really, really appreciated it when you don't get it!

BRB

Writing papers and studying for midterms (already!)

I'll be back soon, I promise.

Making French Personal

I figured out a fabulous new way to study French. Actually, I came up with it a few months back but lately I've actually been putting it into practice. It's even better than watching Disney movies in French, which I still do, frequently. So what is it? Reading the bible in French! When I was in Quebec I bought a little New Testament for two bucks from a church that we passed every day (pictured at right). I am now at a point where I am comfortable enough with the language, and with my existing knowledge of how the verses read in English, to muddle my way through. I'm focusing on individual verses right now, although I have passively read full passages. Passively meaning I haven't focused on identifying each word, just the big ones - aka nouns - so I get the general gist of what it's saying. I'm finding that, not only am I practicing my new language and reinforcing both vocabulary and verb tenses but it's also making the words in the bible come alive because I'm examining them so closely. I think if I had, had the option to do this in Latin I would have enjoyed it more.

Here's a great one for practicing relative time - Hebrews 13:8 Jésus Christ est la meme hier, aujourd’hi et pour toujours.

School Update

So we’re officially twelve days into the new school year. I have four classes again this semester.

French 230 – I get flashbacks to Quebec all the time, which makes sense. That’s where I learned a lot. My prof is kind of annoying. She’s new to this school and still finding her way. Her voice is odd too. Kind of grating and quiet. It’s hard to want to emulate her when you want her to go away. The great thing about that class is my friend Tyanah is in it. She was in French 102 with me and we got along so well. We did a lot of group work together and had a blast. She makes it worth it. I’ve only had one tutorial (a fourth hour of class that focuses more on conversation than teaching grammar). I was late for that class so I don’t actually know the TA’s name but she seems really nice. She’s on exchange from France and very gentle and patient.

North American Studies 201: Transborder Regions – Again I have a prof who is new to the school. She’s a PhD candidate from McGill. The first few days she annoyed me but I’m loving the course material even more than I thought I would so she’s growing on me. This is a required course for my major in North American Studies but it’s really, really interesting. Proof that the double major thing is a good idea. In this class I sit with a girl who was roommates in first year with a girl who was in my Latin class. Mercedes and I bonded over the fact that we were both from BC. Unfortunately after one year she decided to go back to BC. When I walked into 201 Lisa was sitting there and greeted me by name (even though it took me a little while to place who she was). She lived in BC till she was 9 and then moved to Ontario so we have a fair bit in common too. Lisa is also with me in…

North American Studies 211: Canadian Identities and Cultures – (she’s doing the double major in History and North American Studies as well). This class is only once a week, on Wednesday mornings. We’ve only met twice so far but it’s already one of my favourites. It’s taught by the head of the NA department and he’s really fun.

History 205: History of Imperial Russia – I don’t actually have any friends in this class, yet but I’m really enjoying it. Even though I’m doing Canadian History there are breadth requirements and this course qualifies as “pre-modern” (or something like that). It’s very different for me because, while I’m not totally ignorant when it comes to Russia, there is a lot to learn. The prof for this course is fantastic. Knowledgeable and funny. We were all scrambling on the first few days to write down everything on the slides and he quipped “the important stuff (on the slides) is posted online, everything else I just make up”. The research essay for this class scares me but I just need to keep narrowing down my field and getting more sources. I’m sure I’ll be fine.
So that’s the start of this year. I’ll check back in, in December to let you know how it all went :)

French Update

Classes don't start again until September 12th, so over a month still. I am so happy about that. I'm looking forward to going back and I'm excited about my classes but I am not ready yet. I'm still enjoying my summer! That said, there are certain things that have started already, like French Club. We had our first "summer meet up" on the evening of Sunday, July 24th. We met at the school and walked downtown for gelato (which we realize isn't French but all the "French" places were too far away). It was nice. It was a good mix of English and really rusty French but at least we tried.

The following Tuesday was the first meeting of the Directorate of French Club, of which I am one "Directrice". Unfortunately there weren't a lot of other people there so we just discussed what NEEDS to be done and didn't really make any decisions. We did nominate two new people (Kerri and Jeff) as co-presidents though. The person who has been our president for the past few years is just finishing her degree so she won't be around for the full year. The other "senior member" (aka person who has been on the directorate for a year or more) is going to France for half the year so these two are the only other logical candidates. They both decided that they'd take in on in a shared position. We sent the nomination out by email after the meeting and it looks like most people agree.

We met again last Friday and there were a few more people there. We also held the meeting in our regular spot in the Language Lounge at the school and the chair of the French Department joined us for a bit and shared an update from the Departmental level which was great. As of that meeting it looks like I'll be sharing the treasurer position with Kerri because I have a bit of a background in that area. Aka - when the budget worksheet was reviewed I was the only one who's eyes didn't glaze over and didn't freak out. I'm pretty comfortable with that kind of thing so I figure I may as well put my work experience to good use.

We're just working on coordinating schedules for the next meeting but it will be soon. I'm looking forward to it. I enjoy this kind of thing :)

One last "French thing". I met with the French advisor. I do get credit, for my time in Quebec but it's a "Junior" credit. Meaning 100 level which means it won't count towards my French minor. I'm okay with that though. She agreed that I need to take 230 (the next class that I would have taken if I hadn't gone to Quebec, and one that IS required for a minor) and said that I'm probably a lot more prepared for 230 now because there is quite a jump between 102 and 230. I'm happy with that. I'm taking French because I want to know it and want to be able to use it. If she had decided that Quebec equaled 230 I would have been hooped. I NEED the practice. The other good thing is, since I only took four classes each semester last year I'm technically a bit short on credits for my first year so this means I'm not as far behind. And I did GET a credit. Honestly, by about week four in Quebec I didn't really care if I got ANYTHING so this is nice.

So there, that's what's going on for the French side of my life :)

What's up?

So, what have I been doing since I got home two weeks ago? Honestly? Not much. It's been great :) I worked briefly last Saturday and then did a six hour shift on the 16th. This week I'm scheduled for 24 hours (four, six hour shifts). I went to a bridal shower, I went to the beach with a friend and her two kids, and I went out for dinner with some school friends. The picture is Kinsey and Heather, who were in my French 102 class, Kinsey's roommate Kirsten and I. Other than that, I've just been hanging out in my air-conditioned basement suite scrapbooking a bit, reading, uploading photos and generally taking it easy.

I did do a bit more genealogy research and figured out that the James Madden on the cemetery marker that I found IS my great-great-great-grandfather. Note to self: don't rely on transcripts done by volunteers. Use your own eyes and you'll see that the date IS 1866 not 1886. Duh. Anyways, I also found a marriage record for James and Amarilla (his second wife) and that lists his parents names (my great-great-great-great-grandparents) which I can in turn cross reference with census records and finally link James to another large family of Maddens that I kept running into. Turns out it's his brother! So the search continues but it's fun.

I've also been watching a lot of movies. My List has "watch all the movies on the AFI Top 100 list" and I'm slowly working through it. I estimate that I have about 72 to go so it will take awhile.

Now it's actually feeling like summer. I know my big trip was "vacation" but now I am actually relaxing and recuperating. Which is good, because school starts again in eight weeks. Eeek!!!