Spring Break!! March 22, 2009

Yay! Sorry I didn’t post anything last week… It was the last week of classes before Spring break, and there were mid-terms and lots to be done….  Now I’m home and enjoying my time relaxing, sleeping, reading, and, of course, inflicting love upon the adorable puppies. ^_^

Yesterday, Sarah, Elaine, and I went to get pho (Vietnamese noodle soup thing… DELICIOUS!) and bubble tea at the Great Wall Mall.  It’s become a bit of a tradition…  I was sad that Kenna couldn’t join us, though… She had to fly back to Wisconsin today and her mom wanted to have lunch with her on her last day…   Last night, Dad and I went to see Duplicity, starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen.  It was good, I liked it.  It’s one of those movies where you don’t know what’s going on for a large portion of the movie, though, so it’d be nice to see it again just to try to catch everything.

Tomorrow I need to get started on my homework…  I have another mid-term on the Monday after break (Really?! Who does that?) as well as the second draft of an essay.  Some friends and I will be leaving for Montana on Thursday (and coming back Sunday… short trip…) to visit a friend for his birthday, so I need to get my work done now so I don’t have to think about it in Montana (or in the car on the way to/from…).  It should be a fun trip, though.  I’m excited.

Religion and Oppression March 12, 2009

Tonight I went to a lecture/discussion thing on Religion and Oppression which was really interesting.   There were three panelists, one from the religion department, one from the history department, and one from the English department.  It was really interesting getting each of their perspectives on why people oppress others, how institutions, such as religion, can be oppressive or complicit in it, and how to combat the sense of futility and feelings of never doing enough.  I loved hearing the different perspectives and the different aspects that go into addressing the question, such as philosophies, religions, and history, and how they all work to cause oppression or resistance to it.

After the discussion, Dr. Peterson, the panelist from the religion department and also an IHON teacher this semester, came over to talk to some of the people I was sitting next to, and continued the discussion with us for a while after everyone else had left.  I loved hearing what he had to say; I can tell that he’s very, very smart and knowledgeable about so many things.  It made me really sad that I’m not in his IHON class.  He seems like Dr. Ihssen in his knowledge and ability to engage his students or those who he’s talking to.  He made me want to hear more about what he had to say, on this and other topics.  No one should ever underestimate the importance of having a good teacher- one who encourages you and inspires you to learn…

Let’s Go Outback Tonight! March 6, 2009

If you’ve never had a steak from Outback, go.  Eat.  Enjoy.  Experience heaven.  lol  Really… It’s SOOOOO good!  That and the freshly steamed broccoli, which is always cooked PERFECTLY.  Mmmmm… Plus a lovely pomegranate lemonade, mashed potatos, and the delicious bread…. There’s really not much better.

I’m a terrible person… :( March 5, 2009

Ok, maybe not, but I’ve been very bad about updating my blog recently… Sorry about that. 

Classes this semester are….. not as enjoyable as last semester.  I’m taking French 202 (eh, ok, whatever), IHON 112 (DEFINITELY not as fun/interesting as last semester), Writing 101: Gender and Globalization (Actually kinda interesting…), PE 100 (Ewwww…..), Choir (Yay!), and my lessons (voice: ; harp: …. :/).  Yeah…  So my IHON class…. Last semester it was lecture on history + readings as supplements to the history we were learning and as a 1st-person account of events.  This semester I feel like I haven’t learned anything.  We’ve done no history, and the readings don’t really seem to have a logical, cohesive link.  My teacher speaks very… softly?  gently?  It’s really weird… And he’s very scattered in his thinking, and therefore his teaching.  Sometimes he takes 20 minutes to finish a sentence/idea because he goes on really long tangents…  :(   I’m starting to like my Writing class more… We just started reading some articles in our book, so now I actually feel like I’m learning something.  My teacher’s really cool, too… Very laid back and fun.

This semester I’m also a lot more social… Instead of just doing my homework by myself in my room every night, I go study with my friends or hang out with them if I don’t have any work to do.  It’s nice not to be by myself all the time…   

Well… I have a French essay that I have to get back to…  I’ll try to post again sometime reasonably soon…