Homeostasis Reached. Next Stop, ... ?

My recent forced absence from Facebook (I deactivated my account due to addiction:/) has led to talking-to-the-internet withdrawals. I like having things to say, and I like saying them in a place where people can see them. I mean, I keep a journal. But this is different. That's just way too much like talking to myself and we already know how close to insane I am!

So, I have revisited my blog. Hello blog, nice to see you. 

Well, it's the second semester of college and I am both technically and emotionally no longer a freshman.
My floormates were gathered in the floor lounge to discuss who was moving out and which beds were going to be empty at the start of the new semester. The list of people moving out included me, for which my roommates (and even I, a little) were very sad. When it was mentioned that we would probably be getting some new students i.e. people who waited a semester or graduated high school early, one girl exclaimed, "Wait - we're getting new freshmen? Ugh!" 
But we are all still freshmen. So what's the difference? The difference is, I don't think I've ever grown up so quickly as I did last semester, Germany excluded. The first semester of college will kick your trash if you don't kick it back and nothing can make you stronger, if you let it. Or a freshman can just ride the current until finals week—and then they can grow up REALLY fast, if you know what I mean.
So even though I'm in my first year, I no longer feel like a freshman. I've started my major, I've moved off campus and have my own kitchen, and I haven't needed a map to find anything in ages. I'm an asset to any class I'm in, and I write pretty dang good papers. Usually. 
Another way that I'm no longer a freshman is that, last semester I took a test to earn back-credits of German. The test is mostly for return missionaries to give them credit for their language learned abroad. I wasn't gone for 2 years and I had no crash-course MTC or handbook, but I still wrestled 12 credits of A and 4 credits of A- out if that little test. Hah! Anyway, now the registrar says I'm a sophomore. So that's legit.

I love my major. 

I really do. This semester I have two classes that are related to linguistics, Intro to Linguistics and Phonetics of German. And I love what I'm learning in both of these classes. We get to delve deeply into what makes up a word, and do fun things like draw syntax trees and label morphological units. I have a scientific mind and love to look at things logically, but I really hate math. I really do. There's nothing I can do to make it make more sense to me. Linguistics, on the other hand, is definitely a science, but instead of numbers I get to play with sounds and spelling and sentences.

Like today for example, we talked about ambiguous sentences. 

"One morning, I shot an elephant in my pajamas. I don't know where he got them."

This is a joke based off an ambiguity.  The mind groups words together in a way that is subconscious and natural, at least for a native speaker. But is the prepositional phrase [in my pajamas] modifying [an elephant] or saying something about the verb, in that the subject was the one wearing the pajamas? Logic tells us that the subject was the wearer, as we all know elephants don't wear pajamas. 

As I don't know of any other linguists who read my blog, I probably lost you all a whole paragraph ago. Suffice it to say that I love my major. 

Also, I've decided to take one introductory language class a semester until I graduate. Or more.

So far the languages on my To Do list are:

• Malay
• Persian
• Navajo
• Turkish
• Thai
• Swedish
• Italian

I know. I'm nuts. But that's what we linguists do, and anyway they say the second language is the hardest and I've already got three! So there it is. 

This morning I woke up to snow and donned a coat that was too thin to wear in November, when it was 20º warmer. It was perfectly sufficient and I was quite warm by the time I got to class (although the hill's probably to blame for that). 

I guess my point is, we humans may like our homeostasis but part of that means that we can adjust to anything. I really like it here and I know I'm doing the right thing with my life.

I'm not saying I don't still want to move to New York, or Germany, or Turkey, or Jerusalem. 

*mischievous grin*

P.S. I'm so excited for Beth to come soon! We're going to have a marvelous rampaging-good time.


P.P.S. PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS MY 50th POST. WIN.

Utah.

Is anyone quite as surprised as me? I'm in Utah - in the same country - and I think I'm experiencing more culture shock than I did in Germany.
See, I'm a mormon. I've always been a mormon. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I would recommend it, I really would. But the Mormon Church and mormon culture are two totally different things. Seriously.

On a happier note, this is my library. It is awesome. We call him Harold.

Abschluss der Schule

This is it!
Graduation.
Honestly, I'm not all that excited to walk across a stage and be all, hey guess what the state says I don't have to show up next year!!!!
But I am excited to walk across the same stage that all of my oldest friends are walking across. There's something to be said for growing up in a class like mine. Most of the boys are idiots, and obviously I've never found any of them particularly dateable. But then, I guess most boys are idiots in general. :) There's very little separation between friend circles - all of us are friendly acquaintances of all the others. I speak generally; yet, I have always felt at home and comfortable in any classroom filled with those in my grade. I guess having been there when we were learning how to hold scissors lends a sense of camaraderie that I'm very very grateful for, and that I respect for the rare and precious thing it is.

My countdown to graduation is not one of anticipation, but one of an impending deadline. So much to do!

• Schoolwise, 4 of my 6 classes are required for graduation. It's not as if I'm afraid I won't pass, but they're legit classes. They're not filler senior classes. The other two are pre-calc and band, and those are no slacker classes either. Accelerated Government - the whole second half of the trimester is a project. Lots and lots of cut-and-pasting, and of course I'm way too much of a perfectionist. 
• Graduation itself is too much to do! A party to plan, invitations to mail out, I need some sort of graduation outfit. I need to figure out my dumb printer. I need to call a list of people for various things. 
• I need to say goodbye to my home of 4 years. Sure, last year I was pretty AWOL. Nevertheless, Jefferson - Scranton High School is my hometurf. I know it like my own house, and feel equally comfortable. After graduation, I'll have to get a big yellow sticker from the office just to visit. That's alright - I'm an advocate for moving on. I may never get one of those stickers. But the option being closed to me ... sad. Awkward.
• I owe Greiner $10 for that box of reeds.
• Time for college stuff! Thinkin' college, shoppin' college, plannin' college, anticipating BYU. My new home, moreso than any other building has ever been. I mean, my bed will literally be there; I can hang my hats wherever I want. 

And to top it all off? I'm doing terribly at getting to bed on time. 

Case in point.