But, for the most part, it's been super interesting. Which is good, because not only do almost all of my classes have to do with it (even French lately), but my job does too. So I thought I would list the fascinating things I've had on my mind lately:
- Field work is so cool. I have to do a mini-field research project for my Anthro of religion class this semester, which basically consists of going to a Lutheran church (we got to pick a religion we wanted to study--my ancestors were Lutheran so I thought I'd try that) and observing/talking to them/learning about their rituals and beliefs.
- It's been great so far! I've only been there once so far, but everyone was so friendly and helpful. I definitely had to draw on all of my reserves of courage to show up--I really don't like being among strangers and didn't want to come across as disrespectful or anything. But of course everything was fine. Better than fine, really.
- It was really interesting to look at a religion from an anthropological perspective, it's making me think about my life in a different way. For example, I was looking at the way the Lutheran faith incorporates rites of passage to bridge transitions and how symbols have a functional meaning. Cool stuff.
- So overall I am slightly less terrified to do my field work. (Only slightly though.)
- I love learning about different cultures.
- I find it fascinating. It really broadens your approach to life to be aware of the way other people do things. It's not that they are wrong, just different.
- It allows you to look at your own life differently. For example, we read a study on middle-school girls in my 430 class. It argued that they are rowdy and harder to handle than elementary schoolers because they lack a rite of passage. They are no longer "kids" because they are in middle school now. But they aren't quite teenagers yet either. So they are in a sort of limbo, and all they can do is to act the opposite of what they were before. It's the same sort of thing with college freshmen. You are an "adult" but not really. No car, still sort of dependent on your parents but not living with them, so it's a time to go a little crazy.
- That's a super condensed explanation, but having a sister in both middle school and a college freshmen it made total sense to me.
- Helvetica is EVERYWHERE
- We've been talking about fonts and writing in my French history class, and how most fonts connect back to the Romans--pretty much everything in Euro-American culture goes back to the Romans and Greeks. Anyways, we watched this trailer for a documentary called Helvetica, and it's all about the font.
- Apparently after WWII they (not sure who exactly) decided that fonts had become too nationalized (Times New Roman for America, Gothic for Germany, etc.) and that the world should have a neutral, global font. So who better to create it? Switzerland. And now EVERYTHING is Helvetica. The logos for almost all companies, signs and even the new Blogger = Helvetica. I'm seeing it everywhere now. Apparently the whole movie is on Netflix, so I'm thinking about signing up for my free month, cause it's fascinating.
- I miss Paris. A lot.
- Luckily most of my friends are in Provo, so I still get to hang out with them. But I do miss Europe. Badly.
- Internet is essential to life.
- sounds pathetic doesn't it?
- But it really is nowadays. I didn't have it at home for the first couple of weeks, and I couldn't do anything.
- No work, no homework, no talking to people, no tv....it was pretty sad.
- Needless to say, I appreciate it a lot more now.
- Also, I'm really enjoying learning again.
- It is a lot of reading, and sometimes it gets tedious...
- But I love it.
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