Back in the Groove.

I have been in class for over a week now, and I am starting to get back in the groove of everything. My schedule is a bit different from last semester, and I have the luxury of sleeping in until 9 or later every day of the week. Here is a my class schedule:
Monday: 10:40-12:15 - Avant Garde
Tuesday: 12:30-2:15 - Phonetics and Phonology
6:00-7:45 - Spanish Cinema
Wednesday: 12:30-2:15 - Spanish Literature
6:00-7:45 - Spanish Cinema
Thursday: 10:40-12:15 - Avant Garde
12:30-2:15 - Phonetics and Phonology
Friday: 12:30-2:15 - Spanish Literature

My conclusion about my classes is still the same...Avant Garde and Phonetics will be my favorites. They are the most interesting classes for me.

Recently, I have started thinking about my senior year at Luther this fall, and I have been thinking about senior paper topics, if I do my senior paper in Spanish. I need to do some emailing to figure out if I have to do my paper in my Spanish major or my Management major. In general, I have been thinking a lot about the future. I noticed this morning that I have 100 days until I go home. It does not seem like a lot of time to me. I cannot fathom that in 16 months I will be graduating from college and being plunged into the real world. I still am trying to decide what to do with my life. There are a lot of options out there for me, and I am afraid of failing. I want to live up to my own expectations, and I want to live up to my potential. Some days I wish I could just look into a crystal ball and know what I am supposed to do with my life. In whatever I end up doing, I want to be happy. Currently, I am working on applying for internships this summer, and I hope I will receive an internship that will give me some sort of direction of what I should do. People always tell me "You´re a Spanish and Business major?? You can do anything with that!"---my only question is what. If I can do anything with that major, then what can I do. It gives me limitless options...from starting my own business to working in a cubicle to translating to working abroad....plus there is the grad school option, going for an MBA or furthering my Spanish education. I really enjoy linguistics, and I would enjoy studying that, but I do not know if I like it enough to make it my career.

When you think about it, language is fascinating--how it has developed from the start of time. The way words have transitioned from one language to another. Spanish comes from vulgar Latin with many Germanic and Arabic influences. It is also neat that because I know Spanish, I can read menus and signs in Italian and French, just because they are all Romance languages. It is interesting to think of the first people who translated something like Chinese into English. Looking at Arabic writing in Morocco mystified me. A language that is read and written from right to left. It is something that is ever evolving, and I really believe that people should try to learn another language in their lives. It opens you up to another way of thinking, a different culture, a different life. The different pronunciations and feeling accomplished when you say something, and you know that it is right. I still am mystified sometimes when I am sitting in class, and I realize that I am listening to someone speaking Spanish, and I just understand. I do not have to think about it or translate it...it just makes sense the way it comes out of the speaker´s mouth.

That´s enough of my little language schpeel. Everything is else is good. I am still meeting all the new people, but I am getting used to seeing them here, rather than the kids from last semester. It is starting to become normal, and I am falling back into the groove of class and homework and enjoying my time here. All for now.