College

At first I thought this semester was going to be pretty hectic but then I thought back to last semester and decided that I'm better off. For a sample of my feelings on least semester, let's take a trip down memory lane by reading a choice excerpt from my journal in the first few days of classes:

Almost every class I have this semester is so full of work that I'm already starting to hyperventilate a little [...] I am completely, one hundred percent screwed. I'm going to look back on this semester as the Era of All-Nighters, I can just feel it.

I only pulled one all-nighter that semester, but still. It was bad. So this semester's going to be better, even though I'm not taking any Happy Fun Times classes like choir (was supposed to be Happy Fun Times, but wasn't actually).

The problem with French is going to be my speaking. I have fine comprehension, certainly better than many people in my class, but my speaking is horrible. It's interesting to realize how my different methods of learning Korean and French are affecting my aptitude - colloquial Korean isn't too hard for me to navigate and I can speak it fine for my level of study, but reading and writing it is a real struggle. But I don't even know what colloquial French is. I don't even know what words are okay to leave out if I want to abbreviate a sentence.

Gosh language is hard. But I love it to death. I'm going to have fun in this French class if it kills me. Even though the teacher is teaching the class in French, he talks pretty slowly and clearly so I didn't have any major embarrassing moments of uncomprehension. And I'll be darned if I'm outdone by the only guy in the class.

Freshmen are everywhere these days. I heard there are more freshman than ever this year because the president is trying to make up for lost state funding by increasing enrollment (read: accepting students the college would not normally have accepted and making them pay higher tuition), so I guess that would account for the dining halls being overrun by a den of thieves and scoundrels. I have been brainwashed into bemoaning the existence of freshmen, because that is what everyone does (but really, they can be pretty clueless sometimes). But it turns out that upperclassmen aren't all that great themselves. So far I've heard an inordinate number of people badmouthing our C.A. in the hallway, which is dumb because she's super sweet and only means well.

Basically college is the same rat race as ever. It is not really a rat race but it can seem pretty arbitrary a lot of the time. Last night at Campus Christian House I met the first person I have ever encountered who said all he wants is to get out of college and become a functioning, useful member of society. We high-fived over our common goals and went our separate ways to conquer the world. Strangely enough I have not met anyone else who has admitted to feeling the same way. I guess everyone else is taking advantage of their last years of low responsibility.

Amy

P.S. Korean phrases! Here is one that I was reminded of while sitting in Government class today:

이젠 위인들이 무섭지

We're afraid of greater men now