a (month old) new year

I ought to update this thing more often. I suppose it would be less interesting now that I've come home from France, but whatevs.


I'm still having culture shock sometimes. Just today, I was walking down the street on the way to school and I saw some tall structure out of the corner of my eye. I whipped around, half expecting to see the Eiffel tower, but no such luck. I was just a really tall... something. I'm not even sure what it was.

So I ought to tell you what's been going on. Well, first off, I'm preparing for my mission. I have my papers in and everything. Been waiting for the call to come since January 6th. So many people have told me that it'll come on a Wednesday or Thursday, so when I got home today, I was so sure that it would be in the mailbox! I even had it recorded and everything - but no such luck. Week 3 and no call. I don't know how much longer I can wait!

Or, perhaps I can wait for just a bit longer. It might come on my birthday (it's next Thursday!) What a glorious birthday present that would be!

This semester is extremely busy. I've been coddled last semester - it was a cakewalk! The classes we'd had were very easy considering most of them were upper level. It was 3 months of vacation! (Very inexpensive vacation, mind you. Study abroad for other schools are very, very expensive. I'm rather lucky to be here at BYU.)

In any case, last semester was designed so that we could look around the city since being there was a once in a lifetime opportunity for us. This semester, though, is chock full of upper division courses (I must be finally getting into my major, if that is the case). I'm busy almost 24-7, studying and reading and the like-not. 15 credits. Fifteen! I didn't expect the workload for 15 credits feel like 20! I love it, though. The classes are amazing. I'm taking Shakespeare, Writing Literary Criticism, Mission Prep, French Grammar, Tolkien, and Orchestra. I wish my Shakespeare professor would talk more about Shakespeare, though. I mean, the topics are interesting and all, but for the past few classes, we were supposed to be discussing Hamlet. Instead, we've been talking about psychological brain works and whatnot. It's still the beginning of the semester, though. I ought to give her more of a chance.

I think my favorite class is Tolkien. Ha, I don't think; I know. In fact, Tolkien helped me discover my new passion in life: myths, legends, and folklore. Maybe Mom knew about this passion, too, because she bought me a Grimm fairytale book, and on our drive up to Utah, she had a copy of an ancient Babylonian text (it's an amazing story, and I hope to study it soon). I mean, I always loved myths and legends (I've read my Greek mythology book about seven times, now), but I had never really considered studying it until I started Tolkien. Thank you, Tolkien!

I'm rambling now. I ought to wrap this up, and go to bed. In fact, I have French in the morning, and I need to get up early so I can do some studying. I also have several things to look forward to (maybe there was a fluke in the mail today and my call is coming tomorrow?)