Euskera Outline!!!!

I finally have an outline I can work with. It's a very informal outline, in four different stages at different places.

I have raw outline (talk about this) which is mostly for the background information and inferences that have already been drawn so many times that I can tell them through quotes.

I have expanded outline, where I talk in choppier sentences about details I want to be sure to include.

I have semi-finished English drafting for important turning points in the essay.

And I have first draft finished Spanish for the introduction. :D

From here on out I think I'll be trying to compose directly in Spanish. We'll see. :D

Oh, and I just realized that I'll need to go through and add more references to Catalan, since I make it obvious in the introduction that I'm going to use it as my control. :D

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El euskera, la lengua aislada de los vascos, y catalán, la lengua romance que hablan los catalanes, son ambas lenguas minoritarias de España. Pero sus situaciones actuales son muy diferentes. El prestigio y el reconocimiento del catalán siguen creciendo, mientras el euskera no ha sido capaz de superar su reputación como idioma rústico y primitivo, por lo que sigue perdiendo hablantes. Los destinos de estas lenguas son inextricables de los de sus movimientos nacionalistas adjuntos. Desde el siglo XVII, tanto los catalanes como los vascos han luchado para no perderse en la dominante cultura castellana. Aunque ambas regiones permanecen hoy como partes de España, los catalanes han tenido mucho más éxito en obtener una medida de autonomía e independencia cultural que es evidente por el uso general del idioma catalán en esa región, mientras que el euskera permanece en declive y el movimiento separatista de los vascos esta hoy en día asociado con la amenaza del terrorismo. ¿Por qué estos dos movimientos, que se parecían tanto, han tenido resultados tan diferentes?

Hay muchos factores que contribuyen a la explicación de esta dicotomía, entre ellos diferencias geográficas, históricas, y económicas. En este ensayo, sin embargo, voy a enfocarme en los aspectos lingüísticos de este movimiento. Hay un proverbio vasco que dice “Izena duen guztiak izatea ere badauke” – que todo lo que tiene un nombre, existe. Pero hay otro proverbio, que parece ser diametralmente opuesto al primero: “Izenak ez du egiten izana” – un nombre no hace a una cosa real. La conexión entre el euskera y el movimiento separatista de los vascos es muy complicado y a veces aparentemente contradictorio, pero es de una importancia inmensa para explicar cualquiera de los dos.

Talk about how interconnected Basque identity is with Euskera ------

Talk about the persecution of Euskera --------

Talk about the Euskera myths ------

The persecution of the Basques and Euskera gave the language an almost mythic element, as evidenced by some actual myths that depict Euskera as a god-given language mystically barred from foreigners. These attitudes were meant to protect Basque. However, as the persecution of Basque has waned, such ideas about the purity of the Basque people and the unbearableness of foreign influence have actually been to the detriment of the language´s survival.

Talk about how not wanting foreign influence has hurt Basque culture and Euskera -----

Present day situation: the threat is gone. How do people feel about Euskera today? It is their culture. They support it fully in theory. But now that it isn´t in danger of going extinct, they also see other possible ways that they can support their culture other than learning such a difficult language, and are increasingly going to these other ways. Talk about Basque music and Bertsolaritza.

Conclusion: Euskera has existed for a really long time, but throughout all of recorded history it has been a threatened language, which has had a profound effect on its development. In the most recent of years, the threat of forcible extinction has lifted, and it has become apparent that the former suppression itself was one of the factors that sustained interest in the language. And, in some ways, the old myths about the impregnability of Euskera has come back to haunt it, as this is no longer a preservative stance, but maybe a self-destructive one. Where does Euskera go from here?

The First Breath of Winter

Today it was cold - really cold - for the first time. It was in the twenties and officially lower than both Trondheim and Turku, as it often is on colder days here. Spanish class was cancelled and we were just going to watch a movie I'd already seen in Anthro, so I slept in until around 11, showered and dressed leisurely, then sat down, started assembling my Basque research, and wrote an introduction. I didn't eat at Dobbs at all today and when we all left for Anthropology at 2:30 I realized it was my first time outside all day. I was shocked by how cold it was but it was only skin-cold and it didn't feel so bad when the sun was shining and we were all chatting and moving with purpose.

In the evening Jorge had a photo assignment and I went with him. To be honest I felt as if I needed to go. It didn't make any sense, but I just didn't want to send him alone to walk all the way across campus at night and in this weather... I went with just a sweatshirt over a shortsleeve shirt, and Jorge went with gloves and scarf and jacket. I laughed a bit at him, but I was intensely conscious of the space between my shrinking pants and my socks, and on the way back I folded my hands around the edges of my extra long sleeves to keep the warm air inside.

It seemed very dark and cold. The last leaves hanging on the trees caught the light of the huge lamps on Stankowski field, and they've never seemed so harsh or unnatural. The walk there was one thing but the walk back lasted forever. We were both tired and a bit cranky.

I need a winter coat. Mom just wrote me giving me permission to buy one - if I can get to the mall sometime this week I'll do just that. I'm okay until about 20 degrees without one, but I have to get creative (semi thick long sleeve shirt, covered by one of my sweaters, covered by a sweatshirt) and I don't have enough clothes to wear a ton of layers every day. :P

I think I'm joining a Bible Study of sorts. It's small, student run, and seems low-key and open-minded. In other words, the only sort of Bible Study I would even consider joining. They had free food today and David invited me so I went along with Linh (not a surprise) and Phil (not a surprise) and Johannes (??) and Tom and Jorge too, because they were randomly there. The two girls who run it seem nice, and they said they'd come back on Wednesday evenings and we could maybe have a food sharing schedule or something. :D

I've translated my Basque introduction into Spanish. If I can write two or three more paragraphs in Spanish, I think I'll have enough for Wednesday. I also have to rehearse my article and somehow drop off the extra copies tomorrow. I tried to set up another academic advising appointment at the international studies office but no reply yet.

I also got a call from the Big Brothers Big Sisters people asking me for days of the week and times that I'm available. I was confused about the number they left and finally called right as the common room got really loud, and I was sandwiched between a few different people on the couch and couldn't leave easily. They tried to quiet down, but anyway I hadn't prepared a list of dates and times, so I left a less than stellar phone message. If they haven't replied by tomorrow I might try again, actually, because I think I gave them some times that would be very difficult for me, whereas Thursdays and Fridays are quite easy compared to trying to walk to Lee in between classes. Oh well, we'll see. :P

I'm excited to get started with that. :D I need to be doing something like that... something not completely selfish, that I can pour part of myself into. And I do miss the children! :D I've always had so many children in my life, that it's strange to suddenly be so removed from them.

My family is coming up this weekend and Melissa is performing with the colour guard, so I'll get to see her do that for one of the first times. They're bringing Tidbit, if I remember correctly. :D And Grandma too. She wants to see my dorm, which means I'll have to clean it. Well. :S

What else?

I feel taller. No, that's not quite the right word. But straighter, perhaps? I feel as though I can walk with more confidence. The shape of my body feels more natural. I hate the feeling that my confidence hangs on something external, but it's just been so long...

A Beginning (Euskera Paper)

Okay, I think I have an introduction to my paper. Now I just have to... you know.... follow it up with a body and a conclusion, and translate it all into Spanish. XD Normally I'd compose it all in Spanish first - it's more time efficient that way, but this being my first University Paper, I want to do my best, and it's a bit easier for me to organize things and form a solid argument in English.

I think I need one more sentence at the end, but anyhow, this is pretty close. I'm also not entirely certain of the use of 'dichotomy'. I want to say that the situations had seemingly similar roots, but then diverged dramatically. Dichotomy makes it sound like they started as the same thing... one thing, not two very similar things. Or does it? Help? :D

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Euskera, the language isolate of the Basques, and Catalan, the romantic language spoken by the Catalonians, are both minority languages of Spain. Their current situations, however, are very different, as Catalan grows in prestige and recognition while Euskera has been unable to rise above its reputation as a rustic and primitive language, and continues losing speakers. The fate of these languages is inextricable from that of their accompanying nationalist movements. Since the mid seventeenth century, both the Basques and the Catalans have struggled to keep from being absorbed by and lost in the dominant Castilian culture. Although both regions remain part of Spain today, the Catalonians have been far more successful in gaining a measure of autonomy and cultural independence, as evidenced by the prevalence of the Catalan language in that region, while Euskera continues to decline, and the Basque separatist movement continues to be plagued by the threat of terrorism. What led these two movements, seemingly so similar, to such different outcomes?

There are a number of factors that explain this dichotomy, not least among them differences in geography, history, economics, and at times, sheer coincidence. In this essay, however, I would like to focus on the linguistic aspects of the movement. There is a Basque proverb that claims, “Izena duen guztiak izatea ere badauke” – that everything that has a name, exists. But there is another, seemingly diametrically opposed, that states, just as confidently, “Izenak ez du egiten izana” – a name does not make something true. The connection between Euskera and the Basque separatist movement is complicated, at times seemingly contradictory, but of immense importance in attempting to explain either.

I love it!

I love cold floors and the walk down the hall to shower.

I love having to be creative and make things in my microwave.

I love how when Tabitha drops her sphereplay ball I can hear it well enough to know what she's doing.

I love that most mornings, I wake up to the sound of Japanese.

I love forgetting what an accent is.

I love spur of the moment walks to subway or the columns.

I love how Laws is under siege during football games...

I love that when we're under siege, we have a tunnel to the dining hall.

I love making crouton fiesta at Dobbs when there's nothing else worth eating.

I love Pocky and Microwave Shrimp Pasta.

I love how I see the shrimp in said pasta even though Jorge doesn't.

I love that it's a twenty minute walk to Plaza, and we go anyway.

I love watching winter come to a botanical garden.

I love falling leaves and the bright blue skies of late autumn.

I love how we carved pumpkins and had to keep them in the trash room for two weeks as they rotted, because we didn't have a porch.

I love that Denisse thought she was going to freeze to death when it was sixty degrees out.

I love hearing the fire alarm goes off while you can smell the burnt popcorn.

I love the overheated laundry room, and the pathetic hall kitchen with barely enough room for two.

I love how Dobbs can be empty except for the long lines.

I love sharing spoons and knives and rice cookers.

I love the dry erase boards covered in Korean, Japanese, and Spanish.

I love that the 'cooked to order' line at Dobbs is anything but.

I love how the library not only has books about foreign languages, but books about anything in foreign languages!

I love being able to say that I'm attending the oldest and best journalism school in the country.

I love Tim's cat in heat.... noise, rediculous risque English mistakes, and how he walks across the campus alone in the rain to go to his favourite dining hall.

I love that Jorge and I tried to slay the mess in my room with the sword I keep hidden in my closet. XD

I love Peter missing Texas and asking how 'we people' survive the winter here.

I love watching Laura Thal enforce Peter and Tom's political-joke and jew-joke quotas.

I love how we have enough instruments in Laws to make a band, and that at any given moment, you can hear a guitar, a piano, a clarinet, a violin, an ocarina, or at least someone's computer or iPod turned up too high.

I love that a joke spreads through the hall like wildfire.


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I hate that we're watching some people turn into alcoholics.

I hate how when someone is in pain, everybody pretends not to hear it.

Basque Proverbs

All of the information is remarkably interesting.

But putting it all together is proving very difficult.

The situation of Basque is enormously complicated, see, a web of circular logic and seeming paradoxes.

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The symbolic and emotional value of the language and the practical value of the language not only need not coexist… in certain situations, they may actually be dichotomous. As the practical value decreases, the emotional value increases.

The Basque language fuels the nationalist movement. And the nationalist movement, likewise, has a strong effect on the language itself...

“It was claimed increasingly that pre-Christian Basques already professed a monotheistic religion and even worshipped the cross, and that Euskera was the language of paradise. Different authors subsequently incorporated new elements into the myth, which eventually regarded Basques as connected to the people of God (through Noah) but that, unlike the Jews, did not break this bond by crucifying Christ..” (Atienza 33)

“Juan Bautista de Erro, for example, in El Mundo Primitivo, attempted to demonstrate ‘the primacy and antiquity of Euskera over the other languages on earth.’ He further argued that this ancient language was transferred directly from God to humankind and not created by the latter, and that the early language created by God and spoken in Paradise was Euskera, preserved after the confusion of Babel, saved from the universal flood by Noah, and brought to the Basque country by Tubal.” (Atienza 33)

Religion was very important… maybe they made up their crazy myths so that they wouldn’t have to concede that such an important part of their lives was a foreign influence of the sort they so despised?

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And what am I to make of this?




Izena duen guztiak izatea ere bdauke
Everything that has a name, exists.


Izenak ez du egiten izana.
A name does not make something true.


-Basque Proverbs

The Case of the Bad Camembert

Laurence came in screaming that her Camembert wasn't Camembert. Certainly wasn't French. Wasn't EVEN cheese.

Not that this is anything new or surprising. Among the Frenchies here it seems common practice to describe something that is less than optimum as simply 'not' whatever it claims to be.

Ex: This is NOT a cigarette! (It is, in fact, a cigarette, if a bad one)
Ex: This is NOT a magazine! (It is, in fact, a magazine, if a bad one)

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But she seemed especially distressed by the non-Camembert. She opened up the container for our inspection and continued nearly hysterically. Oh, it was horrible! Oh, it wasn't cheese! Oh, it wasn't supposed to be this colour... this texture... this smell!

She managed to cut out a wedge. It looked darker than I thought Camembert generally was, but who was I to pass judgment on French cheese? Tim offered to try it. Laurence begged him not to, telling him he would surely die. While she pled with him, Jorge managed to grab a snatch of it and consume it before anyone could stop him.

They're all convinced that he's going to die now, though he merely said, "Well, it's not my favourite taste, but it is endurable".

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Some time later, we found Laurence on the balcony smoking.

Jorge: "Enjoying your cancer?"

Laurence: "Actually, yes, I had to get that terrible cheese taste out of my mouth!"

Miranda: "Oh, so now it /is/ cheese?"

Jorge: "Yeah, I brushed my teeth."

Miranda: "Hmm, I love the dichotomy between Laurence and Jorge's methods of dealing with the bad taste... which one is healthier?"

Euskera (For Spanish Class)

I know that I want my topic to be Euskera, the situation today... how it is used in education, how people feel about it, what connection does it have with the seperatist politics of the region, etc... and why its situation varies so much from that of, for example, Galician and Catalan.

But it has been remarkably difficult for me to put this in a logical topic form. My chicken scratches:

Outline:

The situation of Euskera and its relationship with the Basque separatist movement, especially as compared with other such partly linguistically motivated nationalist movements.

- Introduction: Questions and Statements

- Description and historical overview of the situation of Euskera, The Relationship between the Basque Language and the cultural identity of the Basque people.

- Basque Nationalism vs. Catalan Nationalism

- Today… for example, Education: Euskera (vs. Galician, Catalan)

Introduction:

Why has the success of Basque been less than that of Catalan? Why is Basque separatism so different from Catalan separatism? What connection is there between them?

- Euskera affects the nationalist movement… AND the nationalist movement affects Euskera.

- The strong linguistic connection between Catalan and Spanish has aided in the survival of the former: When political pressures have, at various times, tried to eradicate non standard languages, Euskera has received the full brunt of these movements, while Catalan has managed to be viewed as a dialect, and endured.

Description of Euskera:

Historical Overview:

The Relationship between the Basque Langauge and the cultural identity of the Basque People:

Basque Nationalism vs. Catalan Nationalism:

The Current Situation: For example, number of speakers, and education:

One Of These Books...

One of these books is not like the others, one of these books just doesn't belong...

These are the books I got from the library today. See if you can guess which one isn't for my project on Basque...

Hombre, raza, nacionalidad, universalidad, presente y futuro del pueblo vasco. (Arana)

Basque Nationalism (Payne)

The Social Roots of Basque Nationalism (Perez-Agote)

The Basques, the Catalans, and Spain (Conversi)

The Basques (Collins)

Arctic Languages.- An Awakening

The Basque Country (Woodworth)

The Basque Country (Aldecoa)

El Pais Vasco (Pio Baroja)

The Coyote Papers

The Origins, Ideology, and Organization of Basque Nationalism…. (Atienza)

Important Basque Phrases?

The following phrases were listed under the 'important phrases' category of the Wikipedia article on Basque. :D

# Bizi gara!! = We are alive!!
# Bagarela!! = So we are!! (Answer to the above)

Stolen Afternoon

The homecoming festivities were last night, and Laws - what remained of it - was under siege. The river of black and gold flowed by as Jorge and I, in what is already half a tradition - watched a movie. This time it was "When Harry Met Sally" and Denisse watched some of it with us. She wore a nice dress and she was cutting an apple with a little knife.

I decided I wanted food right after the kitchen closed, so we made do as best we could with my pantry and microwave. I made Dal Fry with Chickpeas and we ate it with some Tandoori Nan on my lap desk, propped up by a pillow in the center of the room.

Jorge: "So, if we are eating Arab style, we ought to start behaving Arab style. That means... my god, where is your scarf and why are you eating with men?"

Me: "Well, if I'm eating with men, then we're not exactly eating Arab style, now are we?"

Jorge: "..."

This while the majority of the populace was out indulging in various forms of drunken revelry.

And today the weather was amazing. Probably the best weather since coming to Mizzou. It was warm in the sun with a cold breeze and there were thousands of golden leaves dancing in the wind, moving over the streets like something alive and swirling against the blue sky.

I felt that it was somehow a bonus for those of us who weren't too hung over to enjoy it. XD Jorge and I went to the library and I got the books I needed to begin my project about Euskera. Then he went to Chipotle and it was so nice that we decided to take a walk. We went to the edge of campus, to a horse farm and some agricultural buildings until the road seemed to go on indefinitely and we turned back. We ate at Baja Grill for the first time and it was lovely.

It actually was a relief to not have all you can eat food... I finished the whole thing! :D And it was delicious. I had Tilapia Tacos and a Chocolate-Banana Quesadilla.

A really nice day. :D

A Dream

I dreamed last night. This morning, actually, in between my instinctual 8 o'clock glance at the clock and my alarm ringing at 11 so I would wake up in time for brunch. (pathetic, I know).

I've never had a dream force me to evaluate my feelings at this one did. I suspect it was at least partially lucid: I remember it too well, and despite the usual dream mainstays (random people, in this case Srta. O'Toole and Elvina), random off topic interludes... it stayed remarkably focused and I expressed myself realistically and clearly.

What does the dream mean? I don't spend a lot of time looking for meaning in my dreams, but a dream like this tells me that I'm still thinking about something that I hoped I wasn't. In my subconscious, I have a bit of a lag in my emotional progress...

But must it rule everything? Even in my dream, I forced myself to tell the truth, to say what I had to say, even though it killed me. And today it no longer kills me. So my subconscious had better just catch up, because I'm not going back...

Death and Mere Separation

Once I wrote about death and the inability of the mind to fully comprehend it...

I think that finality is the underlying issue.

People seek closure. But how much does it really matter? The mind goes on...



It's like leaving a friend. You can't imagine that you'll never see them again, however unlikely it seems that you would meet sometime in the future.

Your mind keeps insisting that there's something between a miraculous or hard-worked for reunion and... an ending. Because such an ending is unthinkable.

The Eveny avoid the finality of farewell. Don't expect a goodbye from them... in the same way, the thought of never seeing Lucía, or Stephanie, or Liisa again... it's unthinkable. Stephanie I will see for a while, as long as we both have roots in St. Louis. And Lucía I will see at Thanksgiving. And maybe... maybe... at Winter Break. And maybe next summer too. But nothing is certain.

After that... For Lucía, for Stephanie, for Liisa... For them I will make an effort. We will probably see each other again. But of course there must be a last time. And this goes both ways. There will even be a last time we see those nearest to us. And then again, what about those lesser friends? The ones we won't fly halfway around the world to see, and must therefore never see them, but we keep believing... that of course we'll meet again, however unlikely it may be. And even the smallest people, who we wouldn't even call on the phone, but who were part of our lives...

But the dear friends are the hardest.

Because how do you close the book on relationships that keep living in hearts and minds?

It's literally, simply unthinkable.

Dobbs and Bobbs

Tim couldn't pronounce "Pause".

He said "Pows". So I said, "it's just like Laws (the name of our dorm)... but with a P. You don't spell it that way, but that's how you say it. Paws."

He says, "Yeah, that's how I remember how to say Bobbs. Because of Dobbs. (Our dining hall)."

"... Bobbs?"

"Like Dobbs, but with a B.... B. O. B. B. S."

"That's not, that's not a word."

"It's not a word? But... but... what about breasts? Titties?!"

... XD

Journalism School Update

On Wednesday I decided to become a cultural journalist. On Thursday I met with my primary academic adviser and she gave me the journalism phone number. After some bureaucratic nonsense I set up an appointment and recieved some paperwork. On Friday I turned in the paperwork and met my journalism adviser.

So now I'm in the journalism school! :D

And I'm triple majoring. :O

I spent a few long hours with the course guide last night, and I sort of have a semblance of a plan. But the fight is long from over. I now have 4 advisers - one for each major and then one for studying abroad. I need to figure out how to balance the honors college.

And I've already found a schedule conflict: I absolutely have to take Career Exploration in Journalism - a puny, 8 week, pass or fail course. Conveniently, they only offer one lecture of it. And it's the same time as the only offered lecture for Spanish Phonetics. :( I guess I could take Spanish Phonetics next year if I have to... and it looks as though that may be the case, but there was such brilliant symmetry in finishing all the normal Spanish by the end of this year, so I could start in on literature next year. :(

But alas, it's only the beginning of this kind of stuff if I am going to triple major...

Everything Is Just So Perfect

Because of what is happening now - not the noun but the verb, to remind me that it happens...

It's as if a great weight has been lifted.

And the world seems filled with an almost painful beauty.

Status Update

I like:
Anthropology
Linguistics
Languages
Writing
Photography
and Psychology...

I have decided that I would like to be an anthropological journalist.

What? It incorporates everything except for psychology. And even that if you stretch it. XD

I can still be a Spanish teacher as a back up, and a job to have after my kids are born and then... at least until they are 12 or so. At that point I can go back to the journalism... or not.

I suspect I'll have to triple major in Spanish, some form of Journalism, and then... Anthropology or something. I'll see what my academic adviser recommends. I think I can triple major. I'm willing to take a full course load every semester, and attend school for five years. I do want to study abroad a lot, but Spanish would definitely allow it (if I did a lot of my Spanish work while studying abroad, that would free up other times too)... and Journalism and Anthropology, while not really... encouraging it, would certainly see the value of such an experience.


:D I am serious about this.

On Request from Lucía XD

An Unnecessary Case of Exclusion: The Merits of Walking Alone

The sidewalk here is, on average, wide enough for three people. So if you're walking in a group of four, the logical thing would seem to me to be to walk two by two, leaving enough room on the sidewalk so that passing people wasn't so difficult.

But for some reason my friends always walk with three in a row, taking up the whole sidewalk and leaving one rather awkwardly in front or behind. Today, leaving Geography, it was quite natural to be chatting with Laura, next to me, while the other Laura and Clint were immediately behind. But Laura slowed and shifted and I followed her, and suddenly, dropping our conversation almost mid sentence, she was walking in line with them and I was walking in the street.

I finally asked the question frequently on my mind - why not walk the more logical way? Well, Laura explained, she would be missing out on the other conversation if she did that. :S Well, that's true, and it's lovely when we can all walk in a tight group, but when it's crowded or when we're on the small sidewalk, it's just not possible. So it seems to me just to be a case of unnecessary exclusion.

When I explained this, Laura got quite defensive and said that she had to walk behind just as often as I did. But I didn't feel that that made it any better! For my part, I've usually tried to walk behind if I notice someone else doing it. I won't say I always notice, but I try to. And then Laura jumped into Clint and other Laura's conversation as quickly as she could, ignoring me.

We stopped to steal a poster off of some bulletin board. They were talking about some music that I know very little about. Then we started walking again and I was in the back, letting my thoughts wander, wanting to be back in Laws, catching only the most distracting details of the conversation in front of me.

I'm okay with being alone.

I really am.

I'd prefer to be with people, but I've spent enough of my life alone that I'm quite okay with it.

I'm not okay with dragging, hanging on, being that outcast that it's clear no one wants around. I've received mixed signals from my friends here. As long as I steer very clear of anything serious, they seem great and friendly. But anytime anything serious comes up, they avoid me like the plague. I don't even think they're being hypocritical. They're just... somehow... dodging seriousness, dodging deeper relationships. I don't feel great about it but that's the way it is.

I'm okay with being alone.

I'm not okay with walking behind. I hadn't exchanged a word with them for about two minutes. The road forked and one way, the way we never take, was blanketed in sunshine. I travel faster by myself, and being outside of the conversation, I preferred to have my thoughts to myself. I doubted anyone would notice, so I turned at the fork and walked that way alone.

After several long seconds I thought I might have heard a voice, maybe.

I didn't even really mean to make a statement. I don't want to be angry at anyone or have them angry at me.

But I'm okay with being alone.

And I'm really, really not okay with walking behind. Even if, as they claim, they all have to take turns doing it. Not when it's avoidable. I don't like the feeling. I'd rather be alone.

German and Japanese

I love the sound of German. For some reason it seems so warm to me. It might be my favourite language to just hear... to just have in the ambience. I don't rightfully understand why - it's not my favourite language to speak, though it's not bad! :D It's just that hearing it makes me feel warm and cozy. At home.

On the way back from Political Science I was walking with Mayumi and the two German Phillips were behind us, deutsching away. :D I was so happy! After a moment Mayumi turns to be and says,

"Doitsu-go!" And I understood... because, when you're thinking the exact same thing, sometimes you think it in every-language.

She started laughing half a moment later and apologized, was about to translate and I said, "No, no, it's okay... I understand."

"Oh, anata wa nihonjin desu!" She said.

"Hai, soo desu. Watashi wa nihonjin desu, doitsu go kara!"

Faroese Sentences

This is the last set of sentences I'm going to make with this _____ has ____ pattern. I've pretty much exhausted the verb "Hava"... to have. I even know that the past participle version is Havt, and that the present participle is Havandi. I could use them, except it doesn't often make sense to do so, and I didn't really know enough Faroese to come up with one of the weird sentences that would allow it. :)

I am also getting fairly familiar with bending masculine nouns, though I decided not to use Class 2 in these sentences for some reason... Not really sure why as they're pretty similar to Class 1. :D Well, next time. I also tackled the most irregular feminine class, class 4. Next time I'm going to learn 2 or 3 new verbs and write some sentences using those and perhaps the other feminine classes. I should probably get Masculine Class 2 out of the way as well, and then I'll just have Neuter nouns before I conquer the world of nouns completely! Muahahah. Okay, here they are.

Practicing:

At Hava

Masculine Class 1

Masculine Class 3

Feminine Class 4

Týsdagur, 21. Oktober 2008

1. Rósan hevur broddar.

2. Presturin hevði eina syklu.

3. Bankarnir hava pengarnar.

4. Eg havi fingrar.

5. Dómarin hevur eina byrðu.

6. Læknarnir hava stivlar.

7. Danskarin hevði gávuna.

8. Onglendingurin hevur ein arm.

9. Elsuba hevði eina dukku.

10. Fíggindin hevur ein kjallara.

11. Mánan hevur eina søgu.

12. Gentur hava dukkur.

13. Konur hava byrður.

14. Lundin hevði ein hala.

15. Jødin hevur eina tungu.

16. Vikingurin hevði ein knív.

17. Føroyingurin hevur ein næmingur.

18. Ein snigil hevði ein brunn.

19. Býttlingurin hevur ein bólt.

20. Gud hevur ein buss.

21. Kirkjan hevði eina gøtu.

22. Maðurin hevur ein stól.

23. Svenskarin hevur ein ring.

24. Hundurin hevur ein gaffil.

25. Ólavur hevur ein bil.

26. Hetjurnar høvdu fíggindar.

27. Hevur tú ein garð?

Don't Decline Nouns... Let Them Bend.

In Faroese, and, I suspect, Norwegian, you don't decline nouns. You bend them.

Well. Of course it's the same thing: changing a word in order to show it's case or number or whether it's definite or indefinite... all of that lovely stuff. :)

But they call it bending and no force on earth will compel them to use 'decline' instead when they speak English. And at first I resisted this. Oh, I never really pretended not to understand their talk of bending. But I considered it quaint. Foreign. Below me. I myself always said decline and made a point of saying it soon enough after they said bend that it almost stood as a correction - but not quite.

And to what purpose? Yes, decline is more correct. And who could think of bending Latin words... the very idea is ludicrous. Decline and it's lovely wife Declension are well suited to that language. They're all part of the same exclusive club. But why not bend Faroese? Declining is formal and distant. Faroese is living.

Abstract ruminations aside... it occurs to me that bend really does fit with Faroese, and decline with Latin, in a clear and incontrovertible way: namely, they're part of the same language family. And this line of thinking brings me somewhere I've been before - to the very nature of percieved linguistic superiority, and the making of compound words.

In English, compound words, especially once we move past the most basic and utilitarian of them (doorknob and bedpost seldom attract attention), are relegated to a somewhat lower level of speech than their more showy, or, shall we say, ostentatious counterparts. Firearm, for example, seems amusing if we pause to break it apart. And let no man combine two words to form anything more important, unless he doesn't intend to be taken seriously. It simply isn't done in English. The equivalent, a loquacious circumlocution, is almost as bad, though technically correct.

Which sounds more impressive, after all, which sounds better: To say something moved like a wave, or to say it undulated?

Put your finger on why. Obviously knowing the word undulated puts the speaker into a certain rank by merit of education. But is it so fundamentally superior to say undulate than to use some normal, Anglo-Saxon English counterpart? Precision, one may argue, gives it the edge - why say in four words what one can say in one? This argument holds some reason. But in this case we can simply say wave, using it as a verb.

And consider the case of the ultra sophisticated Optometrist and the utterly pedestrian Eye Doctor. Or the acceptable Dentist and the laughably ignorant Tooth Doctor. Here we only have two words instead of one, and imagine that, to further close the distance, it were acceptable in English as in German or Norwegian to form a compound word of Anglo-Saxon roots. Here: Toothdoctor.

But Dentist is only: Dent- (Tooth-), and -Ist (-Er) (Shows Agency). So with the mist pushed aside, we have only... Toother. Toothperson. Is it really so superior to Toothdoctor?

Well, yes, for two reasons - one definitively based on a long defunct hierarchy, the other merely snobbish.

The first is that French Based Words, and through them Latin based words, were brought to England by conquerers, and so through force perceived as the dialect of the more educated and higher class. Speech filled with Anglo-Saxon roots could hardly be anything but common. A lovely legacy to carry with us to this day, but there it is.

The second is that Toothdoctor or Eyedoctor would be immediately recognizable to anyone, whereas we don't speak Latin or Greek nowadays, nor even a language directly derived from them, so we don't recognize the roots behind words that are. It requires a base amount of education, and indeed, a completely separate morpheme, to learn Dentist or Optometrist, so they can serve as indicators of status.

I am not making a call towards any movement. (:D As if I could inspire such things) In my mind, as in many others, the variety that the Norman invasion, among other influences, has lent to the English language is more than payment for any strange or unfair hierarchy of roots that it may have introduced. But merely consider the reasoning, and the history, before you judge... Why force the subject, and decline a noun, when you could simply let it bend?

Eskimo Words for Snow

I've heard both sides of this argument before, but this article was really interesting:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7671137.stm

Yup'ik Eskimo Grant Kashatok speaks about his life on ice in Newtok, Alaska

By Stephen Chittenden BBC News, Newtok, Alaska

The number of Eskimo words for snow has long been a point of debate.

In the Yup'ik Eskimo Dictionary published by the Native Language Centre at the University of Alaska, and found in schools throughout Alaska's Yukon Delta, there are 37 ways of referring to it.

When snow falls from the sky, an Eskimo can say "it's snowing" in four different ways: aniu, cellallir, ganir or qanunge.

Once the snow is on the ground, things can get more complicated. Light snow is kannevvluk, soft and deep snow is muruaneq and drifting snow is called natquik.

Crusted snow, corniced snow and fresh snow all have their own word too.

Safety

Grant Kashatok, the principal at Newtok school, explains one reason there are so many words for snow.

"When we say a word, instead of saying 'That is not safe snow!' we say one word and people know if it's safe or not."

Cold is very good because it means we will have safe conditions... to cross the rivers Grant Kashatok, Newtok School

If you are out hiking and an Eskimo shouts "Mingqutnguaq!" you should stop immediately. It means "rotten ice", and you could be about to fall through the ice.

For the same reasons, Eskimos like Grant Kashatok prefer the cold to warm weather,

"Cold is very good because it means we will have safe conditions...to cross the rivers," he says.

Autumn can be a dangerous time in Alaska. While they wait for the ice to harden, children can be tempted to play on frozen pools before it is thick enough to bear their weight.

Winter activity

Once winter takes grip on Alaska, the land, rivers and seas all freeze, opening up the interior and allowing ice roads to be built across the tundra which gives access for hunting.

Stanley Tom, the tribal leader in Newtok, says it is an essential part of their livelihood.

"We have to have ice", he says. "We are called Qaluyarmiut, the dip-net people. We do under-ice netting, catching whitefish."

The winter season has been given human characteristics and a harsh winter is male, or angun, and if it is milder it is described as arnaq, the Yup'ik word for female.

Yup'ik has three dialects: Central, Siberian and Alutiiqthere.

There are also two other Eskimo languages apart from Yup'ik: Inupiat and Aleut, and that means plenty of ways of referring to snow and ice.

Very Interesting

http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/reprints/weber/rep-weber.htm

This ranks languages based on their prestige in the world, which takes into account number of native and secondary speakers, economic power, etc. It also organizes them by family, alphabet, etc, talks about the history of the languages prestige and makes predictions about the future. Very interesting!

New Helen Trevillion Music!

This is mostly for you, Jashen. XD

Hadn't checked in a while, but Helen Trevillion has a ton of new stuff up, and it sounds like she's selling CDs too. May buy one, one of these days. For now I've downloaded all of her new stuff.

Bit O' Faroese Conversation

I received this message on facebook today:

Halló..
Nú tá tú dugir so væl føroyskt, so tonkti eg, at eg skuldi skriva tær eitt føroyskt bræv. Eg veit ikki rættiliga, hvat eg skal skriva, men okkurt stendur her..
Nú kanst tú stríðast við orðabók og øllum.. ella tímir tú kanska ikki tað, og spyrt bara meg, hvat eg havi skrivað til tín..

Alt tað besta,
Uni Johannesen ;)

And, to my utter shock and amazement, I understood it! :O
So I intelligently replied:

Halló!

Nú kan eg skriva okkurt til tín! Eg kan skriva...

at eg havi ertrar í livurin mín. XD

His Response:
Hahahahhahaha!!!!

So tú hevur ertrar í livur tíni?
Eg veit ikki rættiliga hvat eg skal svara tær.. men.. her er rímiliga óáhugavert at vera. Lítli beiggi mín, vinur hansara, og Senita, ein genta onkra aðrastaðni frá, hon er adopterað, sita í eina horninum, og hyggja í fartelefon Ariar... Senita leitar eftir sangum á telefonini, sum eg segði, ógvuliga óáhugavert.. Men hvussu nógv ritminni og hvussu stóran gerðil hevur telda tín?

(eg havi ertrar í livur míni)**

My Response:

Tað veit eg ikki. :(

Eg har pengar í stivla mìni. Eg tonkti, at tað var týðandi, at hava pengar í stivlum sínum. ;_;

Thank you for helping me, Uni! :D

We Are What We Know

In psychology today they told us that who we were and how we saw the world was shaped about 25%-50% by genetics, and the rest of it was what we had learned...

I by no means have the perfect combination of knowledge, but it strikes me that my knowledge base is indeed very important to me, and I do feel that it sort of defines me. It's fairly well rounded, with a few quirky areas of more depth. And I'm grateful for it. :D

Today I had a big argument with Peter about gay marriage. I admit he beats me as far as knowledge of history and government go, but in this case that was less important, and I was a step ahead of him on knowledge of science in this instance and knowledge of the Bible, and I knew the fundamentals of a logical debate A LOT better than he did.

And it struck me how strange and random the sources of these knowledge bases are.

What I know of science in this case... and by that I mean the scientific evidence of homosexual activity among animals... I can attribute to wandering around Trondheim and into the University Museum there, which happened to have a special and immensely interesting exhibit on the subject. So I can prater on at some length about the homosexual practices of dolphins and giraffes and seabirds, and the way that the scientists researching some things were pressured to ignore their findings, in such cases that they themselves admitted to what they were seeing. For example, in one study of giraffes, researchers tagged every instance of a male sniffing a female as sexual interest, but categorized all intercourse between males including ejaculation as 'fighting'. :S But I digress.

What I know from the Bible comes mainly from being Catholic. I was bored to tears in mass, and was allowed only one entertainment - reading the Bible. For some reason I was fascinated by Deuteronomy, so I know that section better than almost anyone I've ever spoken to about it. On the other sections - well, I know all my cutesy 'bible stories' because I have a very good memory for such things, and I did do a Bible Study once through my church that was quite useful. I'm quick to note my limitations in this area - I would be completely hopeless at interpreting the Bible, for example, as that's really hard and requires training. XD But if you want to throw random quotes or facts around in a discussion or morals or something, I'm your girl. I'm also a master of Bible Trivia. Seriously. I won my church's competition two years in a row.

What I know about the fundamentals of logical debate comes from the month or so we spent studying it in middle school gifted education. I'll never forget Mrs. Reenstjerna and I's debate about what the statement "either a tiger is in this room or a lady is in the other room" signifies when false. :D And I always loved that sort of puzzle when I was little, too. The most important source of my knowledge on this subject, however, is the fact that we are currently studying 30 tools of critical thinking in Psychology right now, and every point I made against Peter came almost directly from these.

And all of these things, for better or for worse, make me who I am.

Walking home I realized I could identify the leaves falling at my feet. Pin Oak, Gingko, Crabapple... Why? Because my father always did love trees, and sometimes on our hikes or even our walks around the block he would point out their names...

College Planning

Plan:
Major in Spanish, Second Major in (Linguistics, Business, Anthropology, Psychology)
Minor in (German, and/or Linguistics, Business, Anthropology, Psychology)
And Graduate! ;) (Required Courses)

High School:
Spanish 1100 (Elementary Spanish 1)
Spanish 1200 (Elementary Spanish 2)
Spanish 2100 (Elementary Spanish 3)
Spanish 2160 (Intermediate Conversation and Composition)
Political Science 2700 (Comparative Political Systems)
Art History 1110 (History of Western Art 1)
Math 1100 (College Algebra)
English 1000
Humanity Elective

Freshman Year
First Semester:
Anthropology 1000 (General Anthropology)
Geography 1100 (Regions and Nations of the World 1)
Political Science 1400 (International Relations)
Spanish 3150 (Advanced Conversation)
Psychology 1000H (Intro to Psychology)

Winter Break:
Romance Languages 2001 (Introduction to Catalan)

Second Semester:
Spanish 3721 (Phonetics)
Spanish 3160 (Advanced Composition)


Sophomore Year
First Semester:
Spanish 3420 (Intro to Hisp. Lit. 1)

Second Semester:
Spanish 3430 (Into to Hisp. Lit 2)
Lab Science

Junior Year
First Semester: If Not Super Senior, then Study in Spain

Second Semester: Study in Norway


Senior Year:
First Semester: If Super Senior, then Study in Spain

Second Semester: If Super Senior, then Study in Spain (or Germany (if Minor))


Super Senior Year:
First Semester: If Super Senior!

Second Semester: If Second Semester!

I also have to take:
Five 4000-level Spanish courses
Three Credits of Writing Intensive Courses
Three Credits of Writing Intensive Courses at or above the 3000 level in Spanish or other major.
Math Reasoning Proficiency Course (Statistics?)
American History or Government (4220: U.S. Society Between the Wars 1918 - 1945?)
Nine Hours Each Of:

1. Social and Behavioral Sciences. Not a Problem
   
2. Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences and/or Math Sciences. All students must include at least one laboratory science course in their program. STAT 1200 or STAT 1300 will count toward the nine hours of biological, mathematical or physical sciences required. Problem. Take Statistics... and Biology?
   
3. Humanities and/or Fine Arts. Not a Problem
   

I would really like to take:
Anthro 1060 (Human Language)
Anthro 2030 (Cultural Anthropology)
Anthro 2040 (Anthropological Linguistics)
German 1200 (Elementary German 2)
Romance Languages 4730 (Linguistic Theory and Language Acquisition)

I would like to take:
Anthro 3650 Aztec, Maya, and Inca Civilization
Anthro 3700 Cultures of Europe
German 1300 (Elementary German 3)
German 2160 (Intermediate German)
Any Other Language Courses

Faroese Progress

New Sentences:

When I get discouraged by my sometimes sporadic and almost always random practice, I remind myself that I started out my Norwegian studies with a ten word vocabulary that included 'pen', 'whalepenis', and two different words for speak. And that the first grammatical structure I mastered was *.... is better than....*

Fewer sentences this time, and I have yet to check some of them with a native speaker. But I think I'm getting a bit better. For some reason these are all grusome. I partially blame the vocabulary the book gives, and partially the fact that I only know four verbs*: has, had, saw, and is. XD

Mikudagur, 15. Oktober 2008
1.) Eg havi ein stein.
2.) Eg havi ein hund.
3.) Hevur tú ein hund?
4.) Ápostulin hevði ein húk í tumli sínum.... og nú er hann ein krypil.
5.) Fiskimaðurin hevði tuberklar.
6.) Snigilin hevði ein húk í skel síni.
7.) At hava ein bát er at vera týðandi.

1.) I have a stone.
2.) I have a dog.
3.) Do you have a dog?
4.) The apostle had a fishhook in his thumb... and now he is a cripple.
5.) The fisherman had tuberculosis.
6.) The snail had a fishhook in his shell.
7.) To have a boat is to be important.

* I'm aware I'm taking some liberties using the word like that.

Faroese Progress

So I haven't made much progress yet. :P Mostly because I've been busy, but also partly because... this stuff is hard! XD

Here are my first sentences.

Mánadagur, 13. Oktober 2008
1.) Tú ert fiskimaður.
2.) Eg eri fiskimaður.
3.) Hann er fiskimaður.
4.) Fiskimaðurin er týðandi og álítandi.
5.) Eg veit at fiskimaðurin er týðandi.
6.) Hvar i Ameriku býrt tú?
7.) Eg skilji teg.
8.) Hvat er so stuttligt?
9.) Hvat er so týðandi?
10.) Kanst tú vera ein fiskimaður?
11.) Kanst tú vera álítandi?
12.) Hvat sást tú?
13.) Eg skilji nú!
14.) Hvar i Føroyum býrt tú?
15.) Eg veit at tú býrt í Føroyum.
16.) Sást tu hundin?
17.) Eg sá hundin.
18.) Eg sá vikingin.
19.) Vikingurin sá hundin!
20.) Vikingurin sá ikki ein bát.
21.) Eg eri tín næmingur nú.
22.) Ert tú mín næmingur?
23.) Maðurin hevði ein stein.
24.) Vikingurin hevði ein bát.
25.) Hundurin sá vikingin.

1.) You are (a) fisherman.
2.) I am (a) fisherman.
3.) He is (a) fisherman.
4.) The fisherman is important and reliable.
5.) I know that the fisherman is reliable.
6.) Where do you live in America?
7.) I understand you.
8.) What is so funny?
9.) What is so important?
10.) Can you be a fisherman?
11.) Can you be reliable?
12.) What did you see?
13.) I understand now!
14.) Where in the Faroe Islands do you live?
15.) I know that you live in the Faroe Islands.
16.) Did you see the dog?
17.) I saw the dog.
18.) I saw the viking.
19.) The viking saw the dog!
20.) The viking didn't see a boat.
21.) I am your student now.
22.) Are you my student?
23.) The man had a stone.
24.) The viking had a boat.
25.) The dog saw the viking.

Better

Things are significantly improved since the last day. I actually sort of talked to people about my issues and it helped.

I'm still not going to be best friends with them and it's for the best, really. :) But I feel better now.

Translations about Trondheim

I got this book from the library that talks about Trondheim in Norwegian, English, German, and French. So I've been copying-studying-comparing those three by typing them into word, and then making a Spanish translation for them. :D

Trondheim

Trondheim er den tusenårige byen i nord.
Trondheim is the thousand year old town of the North.
Trondheim ist die tausendjährige Stadt im Norden.
Trondheim es la ciudad de los mil años en el norte.

Kanskje skulle man ikke vente å finne en så ærverdig by i en så frodig natur på disse breddegrader.
At this latitude you would not expect to find such an impressive town in such lush surroundings.
Veilleicht sollte man nicht erwarten, auf diesen Breitegraden, eine so ehrwürdige Stadt in einer so üppigen Landschaft zu finden.
A esta latitud no esperaría encontrar una ciudad tan impresionante y con naturaleza tan exuberante.

Men byen på den lave halvøya mellom Nidelva og fjorden har fra førsta stund hatt en beundringsverdig livskraft og evne til å leve med i europeisk sammeneheng.
However, from its earliest beginnings the town, situated on the peninsula between the Nidelv river and the fjord, has shown remarkable vitality and an ability to absorb European culture and make it its own.
Aber die Stadt auf der flachen Hablinsel zwischen der Nidelva und dem Fjord besitzt seit der Gründung eine bewundernswerte Lebenskraft und die Fähigkeit, am Leben Europas teil zu haben.
Pero desde sus principios, esta ciudad en la península entre el rio Nidelva y el fiordo ha demonstrado una vitalidad excepcional y una habilidad para asimilar y ser parte de la cultura europea.


Her lever historien og minnesmerkene videre I et modern bysamfunn.
Its atmosphere is still permeated by its historic past and its many historical monuments are integrated into the modern town.
Hier leben die Geschichte und ihre Hinterlassen-schaften In einer modernen Stadt weiter.
Aquí conviven todavía la historia y los monumentos históricos en una ciudad moderna.

De hedenske Ladejarler hadde makten her i Norges mest betydningsfulle landsdeler da kristne kongesønner vendte hjem som tronkrevere.
In the days of the Vikings, the heathen Earls of Lade ruled this powerful region of Norway and tried to stem the tide of Christianity brought to the country by a succession of royal pretenders to the throne of Norway.
Die heidnischen Ladejarls besaßen in diesen damals bedeutendsten Teilen Norwegens die Macht, als die christlichen Königssöhne zurückkehrten und auf den Thron Anspurch erhoben.
En los días de los Vikingos, los condes paganos de Lade gobernaban esta poderosa región de Noruega y trataron de parar la marea del cristianismo que trajeron los que creyeron que el trono debia ser suyo.

De kom tilbake som krigsvante hødinger etter mange år i det norrøne vikingeveldet i vest.
These pretenders, though Christian, were seasoned vikings leading bands of battle scarred troops.
Sie kehrten nach vielen Jahren Aufenthalt in Wikingreiche im Westen als kriegserfahrene Häuptlinge zurück.
Despues de muchos años en los dominios de los vikingos en el oeste, regresaron como señores experimentados en la guerra.


For dem var det gunstig å sette seg fast i Trøndelags beste elvehavn der Nidelve renner ut i fjorden.
The mouth of the Nidelva river was for them strategically the most advantageous harbour in Trøndelag.
Es war für sie vorteilhaft, sich in dem besten Binnehafen des Trøndelag, an der Mündung der Nidelva eine Stadt gründete.
La desembocadura del rio Nidelva era estratégicamente el puerto más importante para ellos.

Herfra kunne de vokte jarlesetet på Lade like ved.
From here they could control the fief of the Earls of Lade.
Von hier aus konnten sie den Sitz des Jarls in dem benachbarten Ort lade überwachen.
Desde aqui podían controlar el feudo de los condes de Lade.

A Rough Spot

We're settling in and I'm starting to feel like I know everyone. In some ways, the euphoria has passed. Laura says, "Now we feel like we have the right to get pissed at each other".

There is certainly more conflict. And the lines that were drawn in sand before are beginning to fossilize. The first roommate spats have happened. The first near fight has near-broken out. We still, by all accounts, have the best community feeling on campus, but it's starting to feel worn. I think we'll settle into this too, though.

But it hurts me, because I'd like to associate the passage of time with a stronger community feeling, deeper relationships... people don't seem as interested in making those. I don't think it's exclusively with me, either. Ethan said that he didn't care anymore about what other people did - after all, college is about finding yourself.

But I want to support, and be able to depend, to be trusted, to be able to trust... We're moving from all the fun of getting to know each other to the pains of cohabitation with little of the camaraderie that should mirror it.

But there are things I enjoy. Although we haven't advanced much emotionally, we all know more about each other now, so the conversations we have are a bit deeper. And by the same token, we're less likely to stumble in forgetting who is a republican or a democrat or gay or a drunkie or a christian or a jew. (Spell check tells me Jew should be capitalized and Christian shouldn't. Um?)

And I'm getting more involved with various things, and it looks like I have a possibility at a wisp of a job (and a very appropriate one) for next year.

And cooking... I really enjoy that so far. ^^ Even the long bus rides and the crappy kitchen... I'm taking a perverse kind of pride and enjoyment in living in the most distant and rundown dorm, without a car. Jorge brings his wooden spoon and we cook random things to stave off death by Dobbs. I've stuffed the kitchen freezer with frozen pizzas for when I lack the time to cook something more elaborate, and even my spice collection is slowly and steadily growing.

And now Jorge is moving into Laws! :D And the Renaissance Festival is this weekend! And I happen to have a 96% or better in all of my classes. So things are going to be okay... ^^ Maybe this is just a rough spot...

A Don't Massage

Mimi comes in with a question. She has recieved a text message inviting her to give some guy a don't massage, and she doesn't know what that is. Unfortunately, this isn't a problem with her English - there's not such thing as a Don't Massage. ^^ Though I could make some funny guesses if it turned out to be some new slang term. I think for a moment. He means Foot, I say. How do you know? She asks, surprised. Ah, you see, he's using the T9 texting language on his phone, and the letters in don't occupy the same keys as those in foot... sometimes it guesses wrong, you have to check it. ^^

How It Happened

This is how it happened.

We escorted Mayumi to the library, laughing. And then we walked to Peace Park. We sat on those same rocks that Laura and I sat on the other day.

The reflection of the lamp in the stream could almost have been moonlight.

It happened once, and then, rewind... it happened again.

Thanks Guys

So today most of my American friends went out to hang out. They didn't invite me. I made it fairly obvious that I would be interested and there's no way they 'just forgot'. I had my fill of forcing my way in in middle school and I'm not planning to start that again any time soon, but what I'm wondering is... why?

In class they're very friendly. We walk together a lot, and talk. I know a lot about them. I do stuff with them. I take an interest in their hobbies. But I feel as if they don't think about me unless I walk straight into their paths, if that. So why?

It could be something that they generally don't like about me. I'm willing to admit that. But why, then, do they come find me as their second choice, and why are they more than happy to sit with me in class and talk and all that? And if I invite them to something, they often come. I tend to avoid people who bother me. :S

It's more like they like me, but they just don't see me as part of their group. Which is killing me. I have a personality where I like to be friends with lots of people in different groups. AND, I don't care much for hanging around doing very, very little and just every once in a while saying something, which is what they do a significant portion of the time that I see them. It is during these periods, I think, that they plan the things I miss out on.

And so I keep missing their events, and I'm falling further and further away from them. At first when I, for example, found out about their movie nights, I made an effort to come to one or two. But they haven't seen fit to tell me about any of them since. If I outright ask if I can do anything, they always let me, and fairly happily. But why am I so out of the loop?

I think two things.

1.) They're fairly exclusive. One actually said that he had found a small group of friends and was happy with that and not planning to expand it. Um... yeah, kind of conflicts radically with my view of friends. I continue interacting with people, because you never know when a cool friendship might come up. But it's not just that, because this one guy who hangs out with a lot of other people is usually included.

2.) Again, this sitting around and doing nothing. I really can't stand it. The only situation where it's even remotely bearable is if I'm studying\reading while they do that, and then I'm left out of it partly anyway, and to be honest I'd rather be in my room. See, I like to have some alone time. And when I'm with friends, I prefer it to be slightly more high intensity. Interesting conversations, etc. And by interesting conversations I don't mean making sexual jokes (unless they're actually being clever, see, being sexual does not automatically make things funny, let's grow up, kids) or planning to get drunk.


Given these two things, and their behaviour, (I'm trying really hard not to be bitter despite remembering that most of the times they invite me (not all, but most) it's as a second choice or something. Like hey, I'm going to the rec center and want company. And the fact that half the time they call\text\see me it's wanting something.), I don't think any of them are really best friend material for me. Friend material, though, should be possible. Because I do like them and I think we get along well. We laugh and have fun walking around and going to classes.

Linh told me that college friends are different from high school friends. You're not supposed to be able to count on them... just hang out with them. I'd honestly rather not have friends if that's the case. :( If that makes me not fun, then so be it. And I miss Stephanie and Lucía and even Liisa, short as was our physical time together. I trust them all and feel like I can totally be myself around them. And like they feel the same way with me.

I know I have to give things time, but why does it seem to be moving faster for everyone else? And I'm just trying to be nice. ;_; I don't know what I'm doing so wrong. Another interesting thing is that I'm getting along quite well with a large number of the foreign students. Such as my roommate, Mayumi, and Jorge. :D But they're only here for a year, so I need to branch out beyond them as well.

Let's say it's just this group. (...) You don't meet people in classes... they're too big. I've met a few people I'm friendly with and partner with in my two smallest classes, but we're light years away from hanging out outside of class.

Clubs? I looked for culture clubs, language clubs, or outdoorsy clubs. None, really. And religious clubs, to be honest, make me a bit uncomfortable... religion is an intensely private thing for me, and I feel strange when my beliefs don't precisely correspond with a given doctrine.

I HAVE gotten involved with student government, which I'm sure will look good on resumes and all that. But you don't meet friends there either... it's all work so far. :S And I'm trying to get involved with a mentoring program. But there we're talking about little kids, so however good it will make me feel, it's not really a friend making opportunity. And with those two things I'm actually running out of abundant free time to try to join a social type club.

Bah humbug. How can I be failing when there are so many interesting people?

Sweatshirts and Tall, Tall Peter

Today the school was flooded with Mizzou Sweatshirts. Laura was briefly surprised that she, Peter, and I were all matching, but all things* considered, it's almost expected.

* Whereas, the weather today is quite chilly, enough that the most comfortable clothing choice for most is a sweatshirt.

Whereas, sweatshirts are bulky and most students do not have an extensive wardrobe of them.

Whereas, it's considered in good taste to advertise your school spirit, even within said school, by wearing clothing branded with the name of your university.


Laura and I were joking about Peter and how tall he is. He's significantly over 6 foot, dunno the exact figure. Anyway, Laura and I are both five foot even, and we hardly notice it talking to him. I mean, everyone is taller than us, so we almost don't notice when someone is significantly taller or just quite a bit taller. But when we see ourselves in reflections walking next to him, we realize how silly it looks. And of our main friend group, all of us except for Peter are shorter than average.

And Peter always marches straight ahead. Quickly although it isn't quick for him, with his long legs and his calves easily 6 or 7 times the width of our bedposts. So he quickly leaves Laura and I behind. We see Jorge walking past Brady Commons. I smile. And then it turns to laughter as he runs into Peter and the two of them stand and talk... and we realize that Peter turns even normal sized people into children.

If only he didn't labour under the delusion that his height, encyclopedic knowledge of the news (going back about 300 years), and guns make him a superior human being. Of the three, I actually admire the second. But it's also the one he's the most annoying about rubbing in everyone's faces.

Oh Peter... :P

Japanese

So I've been having a lot of fun with Japanese lately. :D I haven't had more than a few hours of actually studying since the year started. It's amazing how time flies when you live with all your friends, right? Still, somehow the basic structure is coming to me. The trick seems to be letting your preconception of grammar fly away, and replace it with... I don't know. It's odd. But today I managed a short something in a formula I'd never memorized, and which was utterly different from English. And Mayumi actually said it was 100% correct. :P

Kyo wa Finansu desu ka?

Lit: Today - is it finance?

Fig: So do you have Finance first today?


So here's the closest I can get to describing what I'm starting to understand about Japanese:

1.) The particals function a bit like cases. But don't try to cookie cut them to match the cases you know. They're more often about the importance a word has in expressing the meaning, or some other such, than the word's strict grammatical function.

2.) If it is implied, don't say it. Seriously. If you're not worried about being polite, one word will sometimes work fine for a sentence. Be polite and you've got two, one essentially meaningless. And this is OK. Let is go... :P

I can't wait to see Mrs. Hirayoshi and tell her about Mayumi and how much I like Miso soup now and that I can finally read about 95% of the Kana and even a few very useful Kanji and I'm putting together real original sentences and it's seeming less impossible with every minute.

And a special thanks to Finnish for proving that one can draw blood from a stone - even a seemingly impenetrable language begins to give up it's secrets. That's about where I am with Finnish - oh, it's still foreign, oh I can't read anything... maybe with pictures too I get a main idea... but it's no longer impossible. I see eye to eye with it and I could take it if I had the time and desire both. If I can get to that point with Japanese, I'll be thrilled. And I've just taken a significant step in that direction.

Closer

The Rennaissance Faire is this weekend. I'm excited about going. It will be Tabitha, Laura, and I along with Nikola, Clint, and Jorge. The girls are lucky because we can stay at Laura's mom's house for free. The boys will stay in a nearby hotel - they were welcome to pitch a tent in the backyard, but we don't really have a tent, and besides, the nights are getting colder.

But I find... the bite in the autumn air is really quite pleasant. And actually I very much enjoyed our short walk.

I felt his cheek against my ear, and his lips brush my temple. Would you believe how close that is for me? Don't think poorly of me. Actually I'm moving rather fast, and I want to move a little closer. It's just a greater distance for me...

I'm nervous but happy, too. :) Let's wait and see...

/Random

Today I went to this RHA meeting in Memorial Union. I told Ben about it. Oh yeah, I'm so cool, sometimes I study, sometimes I go to student government meetings. He agreed that I'm quite badass. Anyhow, this meeting was unusual in that it touted real live government people, but none of them were that famous, because we didn't recognize any of them. There were also little vegetable, cheese and sausage trays in the center of each table, but these were for me rendered unneeded and indeed unwanted by an utter lack of any bread or crackers. :P

Laws also had a "Cup Party" today, which was basically a mockery of alcohol and stuff. We had jello shots that were just jello and sherbert punch that was sherbert and soda, etc... if they had had some food I might have stayed but instead it was just crowded and lame. I asked Steven if he was getting steamed, as a joke, you know, because he's always walking around bragging about how steamed he is/has been/is going to be. He just looks at me like I'm the stupidest person he's ever had to explain anything to and says, "No, see, I can't get steamed because there's no alcohol here". No shite. :P

Tashlikh

Yesterday I went with Laura and Clint down to peace park. Laura brought two slices of white bread, and Clint brought one of those eternally stale 'foccaccia' monstrosities. All of this bread, was of course, stolen from Dobbs.

Laura and I arrived first and we went the length of the little stream. Laura was quite critical of it, and there was some truth to her assessment of the stream as a sewer. We could, after all, make out a red bull can and some other garbage at the bottom, and in most places it was so still and shallow that you could almost walk across with shoes on and not get your feet wet.

Still, the weather was a perfect crisp autumn with blue sky and golden sunlight filtering through the trees which have just begun to change colour. We sat and talked about love, of all things. And then Clint came and we found a deeper spot near the bridge and threw in our bread, a few crumbs at a time, saying...

Pride, Arrogance, Greed, Pettiness...

And perhaps thinking other darker things that we did not say out loud.

For a few minutes it was very peaceful. And then there was the dog.

A huge yellow lab came bounding over and started eating all the bread we had on us, catching it in the air, and then, as his owners came bounding over calling his name, he waded into the water itself and ate the bread we had tossed there. The tranquility was a bit disturbed, but we all laughed until the wet dog came bounding towards us. Laura threw her last piece of bread in a tree after the dog had gone. Later it came back for that piece as well.

What does this mean for the forgiveness of our sins, is what I'd like to know. Clint and I decided that, to be sure, we would fast with Laura next week. :) That's not going to be easy for me. But I figure that I should fast once in my life, at least.

1/24th Done

I'm about 1/24th done with University, so I'm going to evaluate my progress.

So far I have credit for: (24+)
Basic Math (Up to Calculus) - N/A
English Composition and Literature Requirements - 6?
Political Science II (Comparative Governments)- 3
Art History I (Prehistory - Rennaisance) - 3
Beginning and Intermediate Spanish - 9+
German I - 3

I am currently earning credit for: (16)
Advanced Spanish Conversation - 3
Introduction to Anthropology - 3
Introduction to Geography - 3
Introduction to Psychology (Honors) - 3
Political Science I (International Relations)- 3
FIG (Introductory Seminar - Preparation for Study Abroad)- 1


So Far: I've been taking elementary courses. I'm burning up a lot of electives, which isn't nice, but I want to be sure about my second major. I know I'm going to have one major in Spanish and one in something else, which I should know by the end of the year. At any rate, things are easy so far. I'm establishing a nice GPA that might help later. :)

Future Plans: Next semester I need to continue with Spanish. I'm also going to take an introductory course in Linguistics, one in Economics, and one in Journalism. After this I should know whether I want to have my second major in Psychology, Business, Journalism, Anthropology, or Linguistics (They're actually all possibilities). I should be left with a little more room in my schedule, so if it turns out that I need a lab science, I'll get that out of the way. Otherwise, I don't think I can get into Japanese or Chinese second semester, so I might take another German class. I'd like to at least take one or two semesters of German in college to build on what I did in High School. Italian is also a possibility. As is Russian. ;_; I love everything!
After next semester I'll have decided what I want to do. After that my schedule should become more specialized. I also need to start seriously thinking about when/where to do my study abroad. I have about three semesters to work with... and at the very least I have to go to a Spanish speaking country for a semester, and Norway for a semester. I could do a year in either one of these, and a semester in the other. Or I could do a semester in each and do one semester in a totally random country (Japan, Finland, Italy?) which is also very appealing. :) Germany is also a candidate for this third, especially if I do a business major.