Two Days Down

Two days down and only what seems like a million more to go.... Yesterday was the first day of classes for spring semester, and I've definitely got my work cut out for me this time around. I don't know why I always do this to myself - I schedule way too many credits and then virtually kill myself with work and stress overload. What's different this time around? Well, this time I'm already freaking out, right off the bat; usually it takes a couple weeks. This time around? Only a few hours.

I figured I would wait until today to post about my classes so that way I would have actually attended at least session of each one. So let me break it down for you:

HIST 175: History of Modern East Asia (3 Credits) - this class is going to be the absolute death of me, like I might legitimately commit suicide because of this class. I have it three days a week from 9:05-10:05 AM. I'm absolutely terrible at Asian history, but I have to take it to fulfill a non-Western history requirement! I wish the history department didn't hate me so much... First impressions: I'm terrified already. The professor scares the shit out of me, the syllabus is ridiculously long, there are only three grades for the entire semester, and there is so much reading I might as well be a literature major. But I'm going to stick with it, and hopefully I'll do well on the three things that we're actually getting graded on AKA the midterm, the final, and the one paper we have to write. Sweet, hope I don't fail one thing or I'm screwed.

FR 112: Intermediate French (6 Credits) - yes, that's right: my French class is really worth six credits. It's the second half of the six credit class I took in the Fall. And once again I'm going to love it. I already know exactly what to expect - the work load is exactly the same, with the same kids in the class, and the same exact instructor. I'm stoked that Solange is teaching us again, I love her; she is absolutely insane and has the greatest accent of my life. We had to write a small composition yesterday in the past tense as a small review so we could jump right into the new stuff today, and luckily I still remember some things. Maybe a French minor is actually going to work out for me after all!

HIST 021: History of American Civilization Since 1877 (3 Credits) - I take back what I said about HIST 174; this class will be the absolute death of me. I absolutely HATE United States history, it's so dull and boring. Like who honestly wants to learn about a bunch of old white guys arguing constantly, because that's pretty much all there is to learn about. Well, that a little something called slavery, which is actually one of the most important aspects of American history and it isn't little at all. In fact it was quite large and involved a lot of people... but that's besides the point - I can't stand the class and I'll kill myself in the process if I have to. It's taught by a relatively good-looking, young professor, but he's way too nervous and his jaw is massive. I caught myself sitting in lecture yesterday just staring at his jaw and not paying attention to what he had to say at all. That might be a bad thing....

MATH 021: College Algebra I (3 Credits) - so somehow last Spring I lost any inkling of intelligence that I had left and failed Calculus II, so I had to downgrade myself all the way to college algebra. And let me tell you, it sucks. I am absolutely terrible at algebra (probably since we never took a whole year of algebra in school back in New York; I used to just learn everything I need for the tests and then would forget it) and now I have to take a whole semester of it. The worst part? The instructor is Chinese. And I can't understand him. Shit, I might fail this math class too. But nothing has really happened yet, so I don't know. All we did was go to a 15-minute long explanation of the syllabus, as in we sat down, he passed out the syllabus, read the syllabus (in barely-audible English) and wrote it all down on the chalkboard, and then we left. Sweet, I hate this class already too!

ENGL 245: Introduction to Gay & Lesbian Studies (3 Credits) - I absolutely love this class so far - my professor is a five-foot tall, 50-year-old gay man from New Jersey and the people in the class are all bat-shit crazy. Aside from the reading one novel every week and the massive amounts of lesbians in the class (which is a whole other story I could tell...) the class is really laid back and the people in it actually participate. It's amazing. I've never been in a class where people actually enjoyed the class and participated freely and openly and there was actually discussion. Maybe because I've never taken a 200-level course before? I don't know, we'll see, but so far I'm in love with this class and can't wait for lecture on Thursday.

So in a nutshell - I love French and English, and hate all my other classes. Perfect. This semester is already going smoothly... not. I just need to make sure I can keep up on all my readings, which hasn't proven too difficult yet, but I start working at the Gap in the mall next week, which might change everything entirely. We'll see how it all goes, because I fall behind on my work I'll just have to change my availability. Either way, I'm definitely in a little it of a low slump right now. I just need it to be the weekend already because (1) I get a three-day weekend since it's MLK Jr. Day Monday and because (2) I get to see The Lovely Bones on Friday, which is going to be an amazing movie. Hopefully. Whether or not it's actually amazing doesn't matter right now, because I just need something positive to look forward to, and that's what I'm picking!