Literature, Television, and Java...

Mmm...French roast...

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed dark roasted coffee.

Also, I know people say that coffee makes you more alert, or whatever...but for some reason, caffeine seems to have the opposite effect on me and I end up wanting to take a nap. I'm not sleep deprived...I just want a nap after my three cups of coffee.

Teaching is going well. I'm enjoying it a lot. Their first test comes up on Friday. In a way I feel that it's not really just a test of their knowledge and understanding but also a test of my skills as a teacher and if they have learned anything from me this semester or not. I guess I'll find out this weekend while grading.

I've been watching a lot of random television on the internet. Northern Exposure is actually a cool show and makes me long for random conversations about physics and religion with Micah and Michael. It makes me want to live in a cabin in Washington or Montana (I think Alaska might be a bit much). Somewhere cool and green. I've also been watching a fair bit of this French TV show called "Un gars, une fille" (A guy, a girl)...it's basically short little snippets of this married couple's life together which are generally hilarious for various reasons.

I changed my schedule (again). After finding out that I had two intense literature classes requiring me to read fourteen novels this semester (that's one per week, on average) including handouts, and two research papers ON TOP OF my teaching and my other class on linguistics (the class that I actually find MORE interesting)...I couldn't do it. I'm not a literature person; I like reading, but required reading with analyses and in depth discussions on symbolism doesn't interest me. So I dropped one of them and am taking a class on cinema. Granted, it's a lot of work too, but it only has two books and I get to see some cool films. I guess I should get started reading Proust now....

Drink Coffee: Do Stupid Things Faster With More Energy!

So, I'm back from the Northwest. It was awesome.

I flew over to Phoenix and then up to Spokane to meet Jamie and Nick. I then went to the bustling town of Airway Heights just outside of Spokane where Pastor Paul lives. Pastor Paul and I had some very interesting conversation...he is quite an interesting man with some very...interesting beliefs. Yes, I realise that I used the word interesting a tad too much....but seriously, that's what he is; he is the embodiment of 'interesting'.



I got the grand tour of Spokane which is actually a lot cooler than I realised. I mean, it's not this huge cosmopolitain metropolis, but it's definitely better than some other cities I've been to. It also has some really cool architecture around the town. Went around the Spokane River and got to see the falls and some nature walks and some cool vista points. The next day when Maggie and Meghan were back, we all decided to have a fancy dinner/cocktail party thing. It was good. I got to meet these two ladies that I have heard so much about and just get to hang around with cool people. It was a lot of fun.

The next day we started the road trip to Seattle and stopped on the way at the Lake Wanapum along the Columbia River at this really large Gorge. 'Twas cool. Also got to drive in Seattle and do all the great things there like see the Space Needle, UW, EMP, Eat seafood on the pier, take a ferry ride, try on a Utilikilt, and take vast amounts of photos. I'm also not bitter at all about not going to UW next fall. Nope. Not one bit.

Nope.

Anyway, so that was really cool. I got to get to know these people even better--you learn alot when you spend literally 24 hours of every day with people. And I also got to visit a family that my family has known for ages but hasn't seen in over 15 years. It was great to catch up and just to keep a friendship going.

Later we headed to Walla Walla and I got to see Washington Wine Country (and try it out some too, yum :) ). I also got to meet a cool family--Jim & Debi--and sing in a presbyterian choir. No, I'm not normal, it's understandable. I also got to go to Idaho (woohoo! now, only seven states to go until I've been to all 50!) where I got to chat with Maggie in a little coffee shop in Coeur d'Alêne that was run by this couple from Florida who met on Match.com and who were really nice.

Went back to Cheney and it's deathly coldness...had a good final dinner with everybody and got to see some of the EWU campus while I was there. I really loved the PNW and it's really a shame it's probably going to be a while until I go back there. Although, I'm fairly certain that it's better than I'm going to Florida next year...not because I like Florida better...but because I think that's probably where God wants me at this moment in time.

Anyway, I had an awesome time and am paying for it as I have a LOT of stuff to do and to make up while I was gone. I am going to be working a lot over this Easter weekend. I graduate in exactly one month. It's really freaking insane. But I'm so happy about it. I just have to make sure I cross all my i's and dot my t's so everything goes smoothly and I don't screw up and have to take another semester or something. Oi! Could you imagine? I don't even want to think about it.

Hodgepodge

It's Friday of my last Spring Break of college. Craziness. I have seven more weeks until I have an undergraduate degree. I'm looking forward to this summer and the coming year. I think I might actually go to graduate school. I've been wavering about my decision, but I'm kinda leaning toward graduate school now. The idea of more classes is not very interesting, but the idea of being paid to teach college students while simultaneously learning cool stuff seems fun to me. I'm insane, I know.

So far I have been accepted to the Universities of Texas, Georgia, and Florida; waitlisted at Illinois, and will find out next week about Washington. I'm pretty much decided I'm going to Florida of Illinois or Washington don't work out. If I get accepted to Illinois (which the graduate director said probably would happen) I'm not sure which I would choose. But Washington would trump all and I'd be going there over any of the five.

I'm also hoping I will hear back from Nintendo and the Localization job that I applied for a month or so ago. I know that most companies are not the most quick at responding, but I really think that would be an amazing job and an amazing opportunity for me.

I spent last night and a lot of today looking around at the job market for someone with my skills. I don't know how in the world people who just graduate out of college get jobs. I have found very few companies that accept recent college graduates, and even fewer who accept those who get a BA in the Humanities. :: sigh :: oh well.

On a much happier note, I am going to visit Seattle in a little over a week. I will get to visit the Pacific Northwest (which I've never done) meet some new friends (again, something new) and see Jamie (which I haven't done in over three years). I'm looking forward to that week and a half very very much. :D