I'm a little irked. So one of my pet peeves happened today in class. We were going over some answers of an assignment, and the prof was calling on random people to answer. He called on this one guy in the class, and he didn't know the answer. No big deal. But this one lady in the class says, "What? Come on, this is so easy. So easy." She continues on about how easy it was. I can't stand this. When my students do this, I always have to tell them that what is easy for one person may not necessarily be easy for another person. I discourage those kind of comments. It can make the poor person feel stupid. Then it was my turn in class, and I happened to not know part of the answer. Of course, the same woman has to make a big deal about how easy it is, "Oh come on now, Julee. Just think. Try thinking." Wow. I'm sorry I'm not as intelligent as you are. You're 44. Grow up. And then came one word that I happened to think was easy, but this lady didn't know the answer. I could have said, "Oh wow, that one was sooooo easy....blah blah." But I refrained from such a childish act.
I think I'm ready to be done....one more day of lectures.....
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Last week
I can’t believe the last week of classes has come already. I knew it would all fly by though. I’m excited to be done with the class part and then have fun for the next week or so with Jordan and friends. Here’s an update.
Friday was a tough day. My body knew that it was Friday, and I was having a hard time concentrating in class. After my last class of the day had finished I realized that I hadn’t heard a single word that the professor said after our break. Like, I really couldn’t tell you what we talked about. I had been daydreaming the whole time. But I at least pretended that I was paying attention by looking at her and nodding my head. Anyway, that night we went to this place where a bunch of the students were going for karaoke. Only two songs were sung because it was a playstation karaoke thing, and the bartender was the only one who knew how to run it, but he was really busy. That stunk, but we had fun just talking and playing darts. Anyway, a neighbor that lives above the bar ended up calling the police because it was too “noisy”. Apparently he does that all the time. The cops came and didn’t do anything. They just stood and talked to some people and smoked. But it’s like, if you don’t want it to be noisy where you live, don’t choose to live above a bar, duh. It’s not like it was really noisy anyway. It was just the normal noise that happens when there are 35 people talking at once. There wasn’t even any music. Esther and I left earlier than the rest because they had the doors closed, and most of the people in there were smoking. It hurt our eyes and lungs. You should have seen the place. You would have thought it was on fire. My hair actually still smells like stale smoke after three showers. Oh, and we took a taxi there and back and it cost 5 Euros (like $7-ish). We only went 1.5 kilometers, which is just under a mile. What a rip-off.
Saturday I went with a small group of girls to a Gitano market nearby. Wow, it was crazy. It kind of reminded me of the Mexican market in downtown LA, but with an even narrower pathway. The vendors were all yelling about their amazing prices and clapping their hands. “Brand name, only 4 euros, high quality!” Wow, isn’t that unbelievable for a REAL Coach purse?! Why go to a Coach store when you can get it for 99% less at a Gitano market? Besides the fake stuff they sell, there are some vendors that actually sell some real brand-name things. And you can tell who those people are because they only have like 10 items at their stand. Everybody here thinks/knows that they steal things from boutiques and re-sell them. How sad. The Gitano culture is pretty interesting. I was watching a tv show about them the other week. They get married extremely young (like between 13 and 16) and the weddings are crazy. Many don’t work but they have lots of money (can we say drugs?). You should research them in your spare time.
After the market I went to the “beach” here with some friends. The beach is by the icky river. It was hotttttt. I was soaking wet without going in the water. I came home early. Then I was bored. I didn’t feel like studying, so I went to the park by the school to use the internet. Of course, it didn’t work. And it still doesn’t work. I don’t know what happened.
Sunday, Esther went to Santander up north, and I was all alone. I went for a long walk and then I stopped at this hamburger place because I just really wanted a hamburger. I had one and some decaf. coffee. The dude asked me if I wanted milk with my coffee and I said yes. So he filled my cup up completely with warm milk and gave me an instant coffee pack. Wow, I thought he was asking if I wanted a little milk with my coffee, not a little coffee with my milk. It was actually really good though.
Ok, my little “rant” for the day…not an angry one though. Don’t you hate it when you know that you’re right about something for a fact, but the person you’re talking to thinks that they are right? It’s really awkward and it’s usually about little things that I don’t want to argue about. Many times it’s about grammar points. It’s happened a few times to me since I’ve been here. Like, I really feel like I know that I’m right…I even go online to verify to myself that I’m right, but I would never go back to that person and say, “Well, I just looked online, and it turns out that I was right after all.” But let me just make it clear that I don’t think that I’m always right…but I usually am :).
Last thing. A little random poll: When you hear the words “France” or “French” what are the first things that come to your mind? (like culture, food, historical things).
Friday was a tough day. My body knew that it was Friday, and I was having a hard time concentrating in class. After my last class of the day had finished I realized that I hadn’t heard a single word that the professor said after our break. Like, I really couldn’t tell you what we talked about. I had been daydreaming the whole time. But I at least pretended that I was paying attention by looking at her and nodding my head. Anyway, that night we went to this place where a bunch of the students were going for karaoke. Only two songs were sung because it was a playstation karaoke thing, and the bartender was the only one who knew how to run it, but he was really busy. That stunk, but we had fun just talking and playing darts. Anyway, a neighbor that lives above the bar ended up calling the police because it was too “noisy”. Apparently he does that all the time. The cops came and didn’t do anything. They just stood and talked to some people and smoked. But it’s like, if you don’t want it to be noisy where you live, don’t choose to live above a bar, duh. It’s not like it was really noisy anyway. It was just the normal noise that happens when there are 35 people talking at once. There wasn’t even any music. Esther and I left earlier than the rest because they had the doors closed, and most of the people in there were smoking. It hurt our eyes and lungs. You should have seen the place. You would have thought it was on fire. My hair actually still smells like stale smoke after three showers. Oh, and we took a taxi there and back and it cost 5 Euros (like $7-ish). We only went 1.5 kilometers, which is just under a mile. What a rip-off.
Saturday I went with a small group of girls to a Gitano market nearby. Wow, it was crazy. It kind of reminded me of the Mexican market in downtown LA, but with an even narrower pathway. The vendors were all yelling about their amazing prices and clapping their hands. “Brand name, only 4 euros, high quality!” Wow, isn’t that unbelievable for a REAL Coach purse?! Why go to a Coach store when you can get it for 99% less at a Gitano market? Besides the fake stuff they sell, there are some vendors that actually sell some real brand-name things. And you can tell who those people are because they only have like 10 items at their stand. Everybody here thinks/knows that they steal things from boutiques and re-sell them. How sad. The Gitano culture is pretty interesting. I was watching a tv show about them the other week. They get married extremely young (like between 13 and 16) and the weddings are crazy. Many don’t work but they have lots of money (can we say drugs?). You should research them in your spare time.
After the market I went to the “beach” here with some friends. The beach is by the icky river. It was hotttttt. I was soaking wet without going in the water. I came home early. Then I was bored. I didn’t feel like studying, so I went to the park by the school to use the internet. Of course, it didn’t work. And it still doesn’t work. I don’t know what happened.
Sunday, Esther went to Santander up north, and I was all alone. I went for a long walk and then I stopped at this hamburger place because I just really wanted a hamburger. I had one and some decaf. coffee. The dude asked me if I wanted milk with my coffee and I said yes. So he filled my cup up completely with warm milk and gave me an instant coffee pack. Wow, I thought he was asking if I wanted a little milk with my coffee, not a little coffee with my milk. It was actually really good though.
Ok, my little “rant” for the day…not an angry one though. Don’t you hate it when you know that you’re right about something for a fact, but the person you’re talking to thinks that they are right? It’s really awkward and it’s usually about little things that I don’t want to argue about. Many times it’s about grammar points. It’s happened a few times to me since I’ve been here. Like, I really feel like I know that I’m right…I even go online to verify to myself that I’m right, but I would never go back to that person and say, “Well, I just looked online, and it turns out that I was right after all.” But let me just make it clear that I don’t think that I’m always right…but I usually am :).
Last thing. A little random poll: When you hear the words “France” or “French” what are the first things that come to your mind? (like culture, food, historical things).
Thursday, July 23, 2009
B+
Soooooo, I didn’t get the A+ that I would have given myself, but I did get a good grade on the test: an 87%. I’m happy with that because apparently this professor’s tests are the most difficult. I think only 2 people got an A. I still think I’m awesome though.
I don’t know if any of you have experienced this in class, but does anybody else get annoyed when another student answers all of the questions directed toward the professor? I do. There’s this one lady in that class who ALWAYS tries to answer another student’s question that is asked to the professor. Most of the time she’s answering the question while the professor is answering as well, so you can’t even hear the answer since they’re talking at the same time. She always has commentary for everything. She really is a genius, but maybe she should wait until she has her master’s degree to play “professor.” This is unfortunate also because I really like the lady. She’s really nice. I hate it when nice people get on my nerves.
I have been faithfully going to the gym each morning. Yes, I miss a day here and there, but I’m pretty surprised that I’ve been this dedicated. Where’s my prize? There are only two elliptical machines there, and everybody wants to use them. I swear there is going to be a fight one day. If you’re on the machine you get at least 2 people asking you if there’s anybody waiting after you. Then they call their spot. This one old lady that I see there every day is really impatient with it. She had called her spot after me, and at one point she yelled all the way across the gym to ask how much longer I would be on the machine. Geeze, I only had 3 minutes left. I can only go on there for 20 minutes, or I think I would get beat up. It’s kind of an unspoken rule. Anyway, I like the gym. Everybody knows each other (except for me). There’s no air conditioning of course, so when I leave it looks like I’ve been standing in the rain for an hour, but I don’t really care. Oh, and the greatest is when I wear my maroon shorts and do the bicycle because when I get off, I have two enormous dark circles on each butt cheek. Sorry…graphic. I save that for last because that’s when I leave the gym.
The end for today.
I don’t know if any of you have experienced this in class, but does anybody else get annoyed when another student answers all of the questions directed toward the professor? I do. There’s this one lady in that class who ALWAYS tries to answer another student’s question that is asked to the professor. Most of the time she’s answering the question while the professor is answering as well, so you can’t even hear the answer since they’re talking at the same time. She always has commentary for everything. She really is a genius, but maybe she should wait until she has her master’s degree to play “professor.” This is unfortunate also because I really like the lady. She’s really nice. I hate it when nice people get on my nerves.
I have been faithfully going to the gym each morning. Yes, I miss a day here and there, but I’m pretty surprised that I’ve been this dedicated. Where’s my prize? There are only two elliptical machines there, and everybody wants to use them. I swear there is going to be a fight one day. If you’re on the machine you get at least 2 people asking you if there’s anybody waiting after you. Then they call their spot. This one old lady that I see there every day is really impatient with it. She had called her spot after me, and at one point she yelled all the way across the gym to ask how much longer I would be on the machine. Geeze, I only had 3 minutes left. I can only go on there for 20 minutes, or I think I would get beat up. It’s kind of an unspoken rule. Anyway, I like the gym. Everybody knows each other (except for me). There’s no air conditioning of course, so when I leave it looks like I’ve been standing in the rain for an hour, but I don’t really care. Oh, and the greatest is when I wear my maroon shorts and do the bicycle because when I get off, I have two enormous dark circles on each butt cheek. Sorry…graphic. I save that for last because that’s when I leave the gym.
The end for today.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
A++++++++++
Not to be too confident, but I think I may have gotten an A on my linguistics exam yesterday. I mean, I would give myself an A+. I think I pretty much killed the exam. It was crying after I took it. I studied so hard and it took my the whole 2 hours. It was not easy, but I think I studied the right things. Now watch, my next entry will be titled "F...I failed the exam." Let's hope not.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Dinner
I would just like to announce what was prepared for dinner last night at 10:30. We had chocolate cake, and the best homemade hot chocolate ever. Yes, that was dinner, not dessert.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Salamander
We took a trip to Salamanca on Saturday. For once we didn’t have a guide, and we had the whole day free to wander about the city! It’s really pretty there. The buildings are cool. Pictures will be on Facebook (if not already there).
It is said that when you go to Salamanca you must see “the frog”. This frog is on top of a skull on one of the university buildings (it’s part of the wall sculpture). By seeing this frog, you are supposed to pass an exam that you are about to take and graduate successfully or something like that. Let’s hope it will work for my exam on Tuesday. If you’ve already graduated, then you are supposed to get married soon after seeing the frog. I don’t know if there’s anything else after that.
I never thought I would say this, but I miss Los Angeles. Yes, I said before that I’m Miss America…oops, I mean I miss America in general, but now it’s more specific to LA. I always say how much I miss Michigan, and that hasn’t changed (I’m sad I won’t be home for the Cheeseburger fest), but maybe LA is starting to feel more like home for me? I don’t know. I’ve just kind of been on a downward spiral. My Spanish-speaking skills have gone backwards. I feel like I’m worse than ever. English keeps popping out of my mouth randomly, and it just shouldn’t be like that. I should be thinking in Spanish at this point and feel comfortable speaking it. Maybe my frustration is getting in the way of me moving forward.
My host mom is really funny. I learn a lot from her for sure. I’m glad that she likes to talk because that does help a lot. She was telling my roommate and me how we need to go out and experience the nightlife here. We’re so young and blah blah. I told her that I already went out last Saturday, but she said that’s not considered “going out” when you come back at 1:00 am. You need to stay up all night long. You go out around 1:00 and come back around 7:00 am. And that’s seriously what everyone does here. They just hang out on the streets talking and dancing if there is music around. It’s the culture of all of Spain. I told her that I just couldn’t get used to that. I neeeeeeeeed sleep or I don’t function. Plus, these last two Saturdays, we’ve gone on excursions all day. That’s really tiring. We are done with the excursions now though, so we’ll see about this Saturday. I like hanging out with the 30+ crowd in our group because they are a lot more chill. I tell you what, there are some people in this program who are a little out of control…like you would think they passed this phase at 23, but at ages 26, 27, 28 they’re still partying constantly.
Ummm, I think that’s all. Bye.
It is said that when you go to Salamanca you must see “the frog”. This frog is on top of a skull on one of the university buildings (it’s part of the wall sculpture). By seeing this frog, you are supposed to pass an exam that you are about to take and graduate successfully or something like that. Let’s hope it will work for my exam on Tuesday. If you’ve already graduated, then you are supposed to get married soon after seeing the frog. I don’t know if there’s anything else after that.
I never thought I would say this, but I miss Los Angeles. Yes, I said before that I’m Miss America…oops, I mean I miss America in general, but now it’s more specific to LA. I always say how much I miss Michigan, and that hasn’t changed (I’m sad I won’t be home for the Cheeseburger fest), but maybe LA is starting to feel more like home for me? I don’t know. I’ve just kind of been on a downward spiral. My Spanish-speaking skills have gone backwards. I feel like I’m worse than ever. English keeps popping out of my mouth randomly, and it just shouldn’t be like that. I should be thinking in Spanish at this point and feel comfortable speaking it. Maybe my frustration is getting in the way of me moving forward.
My host mom is really funny. I learn a lot from her for sure. I’m glad that she likes to talk because that does help a lot. She was telling my roommate and me how we need to go out and experience the nightlife here. We’re so young and blah blah. I told her that I already went out last Saturday, but she said that’s not considered “going out” when you come back at 1:00 am. You need to stay up all night long. You go out around 1:00 and come back around 7:00 am. And that’s seriously what everyone does here. They just hang out on the streets talking and dancing if there is music around. It’s the culture of all of Spain. I told her that I just couldn’t get used to that. I neeeeeeeeed sleep or I don’t function. Plus, these last two Saturdays, we’ve gone on excursions all day. That’s really tiring. We are done with the excursions now though, so we’ll see about this Saturday. I like hanging out with the 30+ crowd in our group because they are a lot more chill. I tell you what, there are some people in this program who are a little out of control…like you would think they passed this phase at 23, but at ages 26, 27, 28 they’re still partying constantly.
Ummm, I think that’s all. Bye.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Clarification
For those of you who didn't scroll all the way down on my "I Like America" post....ahem, Nikki......I'm not really pregs. It was just supposed to be an ironic ending. If I were preggy, I probably wouldn't tell anybody until I had the babe and then gave it up for adoption (once again...kidding).
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