Do excuse the lack of blog posting lately; as most people are aware, I’m taking 18 credits this semester, which is currently translating into piles and piles of reading every weekend, supplemented by other assignments and lots and lots of test prep in various forms (like right now; I’m recovering from a 75-minute in-class-essay exam for my history class while prepping for the 5 other tests that I have coming up next week in all of my other classes). And I’m in Aikido 3 times a week (my rolls are getting better!), still keeping up my karate practice, and trying to leave myself at least a day or so of chill time every weekend if possible, so my schedule can get a bit jam-packed.

In news not in the “why oh why did I take on this workload” category, my birthday is fast approaching, as is Spring Break, so yay! I’m going out Friday and Saturday for the birthday with friends, so pictures should certainly by forthcoming, and I will be home (more accurately, I’ll probably be at home a little and at the dojo as much as they’re willing to have me, sorry Mom!) for the first week of March. It will definitely be nice to have a chance to unwind for more than 2 days, and to get to see as many of my NY and NH people as possible, before I come back to school and do my best to power through the post-midterm crunch season that will be the rest of March and April. And back to the semi-caffeine-fueled study sessions

Just another brief entry, as I’ve not got anything new and earth-shattering to report. Aikido is still going well; my rolls are starting to look a bit more roll-y and a bit less like a collection of sharp edges hitting the floor, so that’s good. I’ve got a semi-ridiculous amount of homework to contend with at the moment (we’re talking 3 papers plus reading and problem sets due next week alone), but I’m managing it all OK.

I’ve got classes all next week, and am then heading up to New York on Thursday for the weekend (yes, my weekends start on Thursday—I love my schedule!). I’m looking forward to the elections, even though I (obnoxiously) can’t vote; I’ll definitely be needing some coffee before my Wednesday morning 9 AM class, because I’m sure to be up pretty late on that Tuesday. And 3 weeks after that, it’s Thanksgiving break in NY, immediately followed by winter break in NH (I’ll be home starting December 4th, for anyone that didn’t know), which, considering how much work my professors seem intent on piling on us in the last month of the semester, I am definitely looking forward to. Hope everyone’s doing well!

I’ve officially done my first full week of Aikido: class Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. It’s been good, I’ve met some really nice people, and I’m starting to get a feel for the rhythyms of the dojo, although I’ve still got a long way to go before it begins to feel really comfortable for me. But I’m worked out and happily sore (the “ow” would be referring to my knees, my back, my shoulders … no, that’s not a bad thing, that’s a good workout), so it’s good.

As a reminder, I will be gone this weekend, Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. This means no cell phone availability (shock! horror!), so if you call or text, expect a response no earlier than Monday afternoon. And next weekend, assuming everything works out, Daddy should be coming down to visit me, so yay! Then it’s less than two months to Thanksgiving break, which I am looking forward to; it’s not like I don’t like school, not at all, but I can tell that I’ll be somewhat burned out by November, and will welcome the time off. In other news, this week and next week is MIDTERMS oh boy! Most of my teachers aren’t doing actual midterms, but many of them are taking the opportunity apparently presented by there being midterms to start handing out assignments like they’re afraid we’ll float away if we’re not weighed down by 5-foot stacks of paper. Thus, having just finished 2 papers, about 30 pages of reading, and 2 assignments for my geography class, I still have homework left. I’m just determined not to get bogged down and burned out on this schedule; if I can manage to keep my head up, I think I can maintain the really good grades I’ve been managing to garner so far. That’s all for now, wish me luck as I go off to brave the wilds of West VA

I just got confirmation today that I will be participating in the Global Jubilee Village, which will hopefully be fun and interesting! Practically, this means that I will be gone and without phone/email/etc, October 3-5.

Aside from that, I went to my Aikido trial lesson last night, which went pretty well, and I’ll be starting classes there next week—there are some areas where it’s pretty different from karate, so I’ve got some adjusting to do, but hopefully training there will be a positive experience nonetheless! I’m also somewhat buried in homework at the moment, and am still missing home quite a bit, but I should be fine. More verbiage to come at some later point

So, I’ve now been at college for a little over a month, which means a couple of things. The first is that I’ve now settled in academically and have started getting grades back, which is the more positive note. Unless everything suddenly goes way south for some reason, I am apparently not destined to have a suckish GPA – I got an A on my geography paper and a 9.5 (out of 10) on my communication journal this morning, a 10 out of 10 on my math quiz last week, and a comment on my critical reading journal by my professor that included the phrase “well done!,” so I think I’m doing pretty well so far.

The second is that I am now very, very, desperately homesick, and am generally feeling like I’ve thrown myself out of whack in every possible way. It’s hard, because school itself isn’t going badly for me, and socially I’m doing fine here. But I would be lying if I said that I was really doing OK, because I am honestly having a really hard time with being away from home. I was truly thriving at home, with my stable, stress-free, karate-filled life, and I’m having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that I have essentially forsaken that in favor of what my life is now, which I have not yet managed to construct in such a way as to have it make me even remotely as happy as I was before. Yeah, homesickness is normal, it’ll (probably) pass eventually, etc etc. It still sucks.

So, on balance, I’m doing fine, I’m getting by. Yes mom and daddy, I am eating. No, I have not just fallen apart and given up here. But for the record, I am not currently content with my life, and I am not going to be really, on-balance happy until I am.

In other news, I’m meeting up with my cousin Raina tomorrow for coffee, and headed to see Romeo and Juliet with my friend Aracely next Tuesday, as facilitated by my fabulous aunt, who works for the Shakespeare theater, both of which should be fun. I also put in a registration form today for a Global Jubilee Village, which would be pretty cool if I got to go; I’m not sure yet if I’ll get in, but it would be October 3-5 if I did.

I’m headed up to NYC for a visit with my dad and (some of) the rest of the family … leaving Thursday (the 11th) afternoon, coming back to DC on Sunday (14th) afternoon. I can taste the bagels already School is going pretty well, it’s super hot here but most of the classrooms are well air conditioned so we’re getting stuff done. Annnd that about covers everything!

Apparently all of the school calendars got changed since the last time I really looked at them: I’ll be home for the summer starting May 2, not June 2. Which I’m happy about … I never thought I’d miss home the way I’m starting to. I’m of course hoping to be happy down here, but I’m starting to develop a new appreciation for where I grew up, so being at home for 4 months is fully welcome.

Just went to my first floor meeting. Apparently because we’re freshmen, we don’t get visitation until the beginning of October. So, I can leave campus and see people who are in town, but I can’t have people in my room til October. And I’m kinda lonely and I know nobody here, so that sucks.

My course info for my first semester came in the mail this week (yay!). My class schedule (to commence on August 27, after a week of orientation-y things):

Monday/Wednesday
9:00 – 10:15 INAF 252 – Geography Of Africa And Asia
10:30 – 11:45 COM 110 – Communication For Academic Success
1:30 – 2:45 CRS 101 – Critical Reading Seminar

Tuesday/Thursday
10:30 – 11:45 ENGL 105 – Intro To College Writing
12:00 – 1:15 MATH 109 – Foundations Of Math

I’m pretty happy with the schedule. I could do without a 9 AM class, especially being as I’ll probably be getting home late from karate on Tuesday nights. But that is the class that I’m most excited about taking, so at least I’ll be getting myself up for something really interesting. On the upside, my last class of the week ending at 1:15 on Thursday is awesomely convenient, for the sake of visits home and such.

Thoughts on the relative awesomeness of courses:

Geography Of Africa And Asia – Very cool, very interesting stuff. Also get to see what the International Affairs department is like.

Communication For Academic Success – I’m not actually sure what we’re doing in this class, the description is very vague (to wit, “Students will learn to participate in varied communication contexts that involve both formal and more interactive formats”). Will probably involve a lot of talking, which I’m pretty fond of, so no problems there.

Critical Reading Seminar – The one subject I have perfect test scores in, is the one thing every TU freshman has to take. Woo.

Intro To College Writing – Useful, happy to take it.

Foundations Of Math – I have gotten extremely good at not studying math over the last 3 or 4 years, so this should be … interesting.