Life.

It's funny how life turns out. When I first got to college I had no idea what would happen in the next 5 years. Even the idea of a study abroad terrified me, but not quite enough to stop me from dreaming about it. And here I am, after living in Paris, Guernsey, Prague, Ceské Budějovice, Brno and Plzeň, and now back in Provo at age 23. I would have never guessed that I would have the opportunity to travel the world so much. I thought that maybe I would major in English, become an editor, pursue my love of reading. Or perhaps History, although I didn't want to teach. But I was positive that I didn't want it to involve math or science.

A couple years later, I was an anthropology major, with no idea what I was going to do after I graduated. All I knew was that I loved cultures and history and travel and learning about different ways of life, and anthropology seemed like a good way to follow those passions. And then in Guernsey I realized, that while it was such an important experience for me to be there, that I really didn't want to be an anthropologist, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. I didn't want to be in academia, and I wanted to do something practical, something useful--to contribute to the world. 2 years ago I thought that I wanted to go into linguistics, perhaps grad school when I got back from the Czech Republic. Or maybe business anthropology. But I was lucky enough to be able to put those vague plans aside and concentrate on other people, on serving.

2 months ago, finally back in the U.S, I was back to square one. I didn't really want to do linguistics anymore. I didn't think I was cut out for the business world, and I was still tired of being in school, even after such a long break. So grad school didn't sound too appealing either. One day while visiting family in Montana I went on a walk/run with my dad. In the middle of big sky country, we were talking about the future, hashing out what kind of career I might be interested in, trying to narrow it down. And I made a list on my phone of my dream job, laughing to myself that there is no way that a job like that even existed:

one on one work, no committees
practical, applicable skills
focused on ideas
sense of accomplishment
about macro human behavior
involves research
opportunities to write
involves teaching, talking to a group
flexible hours, but good pay
evolving, stays interesting

After a whirlwind two weeks at home/travelling I was back in Provo, back at college, trying to transition back into real life. I missed my mission so much it hurt, and was trying to find purpose in my life as a student again. I had decided to take a genealogy/family history class because my mom had gotten really into it, and she had a feeling that I would like it. So I dropped some of those linguistic classes that I wasn't that into anyway and signed up. And--

I loved it.

I had no idea that a major like that even existed. Or that an entire career field--one of the fastest-growing career fields--existed. That I could use my research skills, love of history, languages, and writing to help people with something they really cared about AND get paid for it. It was amazing.

But I was an anthropology major.

I had two classes left. I was about to graduate. I didn't know hardly anything about genealogy, at least not compared to these people. There was no way I could do that.

But I felt so good about it. I had finally figured out what I wanted to do with my life--a question that had been hanging over my head since I was 5, when people started asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up--and I didn't have an answer. I was so relieved.

That was my first week back at school. The next few weeks were just as miraculous. I got a job as a research assistant at BYU's Family History Center, despite being an anthropology major with little experience. The 3rd week I turned down a job to work at the MTC as a Czech teacher--the dream job I had thought I wanted--because I knew that my current job at the center was where I needed to be.

The last month I've been waiting to hear back about my application to be a family history minor, knowing that there was such a slim chance of them approving it. I'm already in my 8th semester, about to graduate, why would they let me stay an extra year?? I waited and waited, and then last week I finally got the email.



"Your petition to add the family history minor has been approved."



...as long as I graduate in December 2015. So I'm here for another year! As much as I would like to be out of school, I know that this is the best path for me, and I'm so grateful that everything worked out the way it did. I will have a whole year of job experience, classes and internships before I start applying for full-time positions. I couldn't have planned it better if I had tried. So while I'm still not quite sure why I needed to take such a round-about path through anthropology to get here--I'm excited to see how it all turns out. Here's to the next 5 years! Who knows where I'll be.

Grateful

I absolutely love Sundays, I think they are my favorite day of the week. Truly a day of rest. It's funny that I manage to forget how much I need that during the rest of the week. Church today was just amazing--everything I needed to hear and to be reminded of. I am so grateful for the blessings I have. This semester has been so great in so many ways--I honestly can say I've never been happier, especially in college. Just having the assurance that I'm doing exactly what God wants me to do right now is the best feeling in the world. I feel like I've finally grown into myself--I know who I am and who I want to be, and I am so so grateful for that. I've been thinking of this quote all day:

I just love the attitude that it captures. I'm optimistic about the future. I know some days will be really hard--that's life. But I also know that I am so blessed, and those blessings will only increase. Aaaah I just love life right now. I get to go home for Thanksgiving in 2 days and I can't wait. First of all I love that holiday, and I haven't seen my family since summer, and I get to go through the Portland Temple on Friday, which I've only been looking forward to for my entire life. So excited to see everybody, and it will be an awesome break from school. Oh and also I get to go shopping for missionary clothes, which will be so fun. Annica needs them too, and her mission call should get there while we are home! Which is so crazy, but awesome. 

Since I never have pictures on here anymore--I never take any during the school year--I thought I would post some pictures of the Czech Republic. They are gorgeous and it makes me so excited to live there!

Fall, Life, and Czech

I can't believe it's already October, time flies by so fast! School is in full swing of course. And I do love autumn weather. Time to pull out my scarves and hats and boots. I think fall might be my favorite season, although it's in pretty close competition with summer. Here's what I've been up to:

• I filled out all my visa forms for the Czech Republic and sent them on their way, so glad that's done!
• Some things I've learned about Czech:
• they are very reserved until you prove yourself trustworthy, then they treat you like one of the family.
• you have to take your shoes off before entering a home
• Prague is beautiful
• My pronunciation is awful. But that's fine, I'm sure I'll get better.
• ahoj (said like ahoy) is goodbye and hello. It's going to remind of me of pirates every time. 
• also I have a French accent whenever I speak another language. So that's going to be fun. 
• oh and I really want a trenchcoat to take with me. Just saying. 
• and I'm kind of stressing out about selling my contract for winter, since I'm leaving. So hopefully that all works out. 
• I'm pretty sure I think about how I'm going to the Czech Republic every single day, wondering what my life going to be like at this time next year. It's really hard to picture. 
• Got an A on my French midterm. I was super excited about this because I studied foreeever and my grade went up A LOT. 
• I'm in a dinner group this semester which was a brilliant idea. I get a free home-cooked meal 4 days a week and only have to cook every 3 weeks. It's great. I'm cooking on Tuesday and I think I might make pumpkin apple stew. It's sooo good. 
• Speaking of pumpkin, I love anything pumpkin in the fall. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin shakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin carving...so excited. 
• I have a pretty solid group of friends, which is really fun. Oh and did I mention most of them are guys? love it.
• School's pretty hard. But I've started my thesis, so that's coming along. Progress. That's what I have to keep telling myself. Any progress is good. 
• I'm TAing again this semester, for the 4th time. But I like it--I have almost all freshmen who've never had to write a college paper before. So that's fun, and it's pretty awesome to give examples from my own fieldwork when we talk about how to do anthropology, it makes me feel so legit. 
• I also got to go to the Brigham City Temple Open House which was amazing--so beautiful and peaceful. They even had peach blossoms on the floor tiles, the detail was so pretty. We stopped at Peach City and got shakes on the way home--seriously the best shake I've ever had. And my grandparents grew up there so it was pretty cool to see it again. Also I'm so excited to go to the Portland Temple at Thanksgiving! 
• It's General Conference weekend. Which is awesome, and one of favorite weekends of the year. I'm always so uplifted and come away with more hope and a better perspective on life. If you are curious about what Mormons believe, you can watch it on lds.org for free! 

• Also, the Church just changed the age of missionaries to 18 for boys and 19 for girls, which means my sister could be serving at the same time as me now! Pretty crazy, and exciting. 
•  I can't believe I leave in January! At this rate the time is going to go by soooo quickly. 4 months! aaaaaaahh

So basically life is a little crazy, and little stressful, but that's pretty normal. But there are always the days when you laugh so hard your cheeks hurt to make it all worth it :)

Senior

Well I'm officially a senior at BYU. Weird. This is my 7th semester (not counting study abroad or my field study) so I think it's safe to say I have the whole college thing down! My Anthro lab this semester that I'm teaching is full of freshmen, and I definitely feel a lot older than them (they look so little!). One boy came up to me after class and said...um I was just wondering, what's the SWKT? So I explained it was the tallest building on campus, and that I was sure he could find it on the map...etc. haha, oh lost little freshmen... It should be good though, freshmen usually care about their grades, so they might actually participate and do the readings this semester. Oh, the joys of being a TA, haha. But as much as I fake-complain about it I really do like my job! I miss all my fellow TA's who have graduated though, we have so many new ones.

As for my classes, I am taking my last ever French class, Literary Analysis (340) . I'm actually pretty excited about it, my French isn't as rusty as I thought, and my professor seems pretty cool. Plus we get to read Voltaire and Molière! I'm also taking data analysis and thesis of course, and it's kind of weird that those are my only Anthro classes. What else....oh marriage prep. Before you laugh, it's actually an awesome class. Dance 380, which is going to be a challenge, but really fun...and an Honors class. So not bad. The most work will be my thesis, but I planned accordingly, so I'm not really worried about it. Surprisingly enough I'm excited to finally start writing it.

In other news, my mission papers are officially in!! I should get my call either this week or next, and I can't wait. I really want to know where I'm going to be for the next year and a half of my life. Any guesses?

Other things... my ward is awesome, I love it. I've made so many new friends in the first week and I can already tell this semester is going to be so fun. My new roommates are cool, they love to travel too, so we are going to put up a map and mark everywhere we've been, plus take a trip to Ikea once we all get our paychecks on Friday haha. Oh and my freshman ward is having a reunion this next weekend, so it will be good to see everybody after 2 years!

Life is good.

Friends

Today I got to go to one of my freshman friend's mission homecomings. He's engaged and they're adorable and it was awesome seeing everybody. (Don't worry they've been dating for years). I'm super excited to see everyone else in the Fall, even though we'll probably only see each other once, other than running into each other on campus. We are planning a reunion party, so that's happening for sure. But I'm still super excited about it--I can't really explain why, only that's it's just great to see old friends. It's fun to see how much they've changed and how much I've changed yet we're still the same people, just a little more grown up. 2 years somehow manages to be a ridiculously long time, and at the same time go by really fast. Time is weird sometimes. I feel so different from my freshman year self, but I'm the same person. I can't imagine what's it's like to look back at yourself 20 years later.

Time is going by super slowly right now for me, since I'm currently the only one living in my apartment and waiting to move upstairs on Wednesday. I'm also waiting to go to Montana in a week, waiting for school to start, waiting for most of my friends to get back in town and going crazy waiting to turn in my mission papers because they are completely finished (except uploading a picture of myself) but I still have to wait like 2 weeks to submit them. Gah. I'm feeling very impatient about it, I really really want to know where I'm going so I have something in my head to picture where I'll be for the next year and a half. Plus it will make it official, which means I can't panic and back out of it. But I'm determined that won't happen because I'm really excited about going. But since I've done everything but submit them time has slowed down considerably. Oh well. Hopefully finishing up my research and buying books and things this week will distract me!

On the bright side, I've halfway packed up my apartment, had an awesome 3 hour conversation with my sis last night (one of those oops-it's-1-in-the-morning-and-I-didn't-notice conversations), I'm running a lot which I'm actually enjoying, my research is almost finished, and it's still summer, which means I'm not working or swamped with homework yet, and I have time to read for fun. Oh and I have internet when I thought I wasn't going to for a week, which was a really great surprise. So I'm trying to enjoy all the extra time I have instead of being bored, because I know as soon as school starts I'll be crazy busy. Ah well, c'est la vie.

3 day weekends and other fun things

Last weekend was basically the closest thing BYU has to a spring break. It's the last break until April...usually. Good thing I'm making my own spring break to go to Guatemala! Only 4 weeks, I can't wait. For some reason winter semester in Provo is just hard. It's cold and long and...winter.

Anyways, my mom came down to visit for 4 days, and it was awesome. Since I don't have any class on Fridays, just work, she got to come to the class I teach and hang out. We went out to eat, loaded up on food at Costco, went to Ikea, and hung out at Annica's dorm. Super fun.

In other news it's been really sunny lately and I am so ready for spring. I can't wait until summer on Guernsey! It's going to be awesome. I got a letter from the IRB approving my research so I can officially go. That's a relief, I thought I was going to have to wait a month or two to hear back, and that proposal was a beast to fill out. But it's done!! I have my plane ticket even. It's official.

Also I've had 3 crepe parties in the last two weeks. That is the life!

My new goal for the semester is to be more social. I've been a total homebody lately, but I want to start going to more stuff and enjoy the rest of the semester, not just wait it out until May. So we'll see how that goes.

Happy Sunday!

Lists

Things I've done recently:

• Taught another batch of students
• bought my plane ticket for Guernsey
• lots and lots of reading (not the fun kind)
• zumba
• dreamed about Europe
• saw Sherlock Holmes 2

Classes I'm taking:

• French 362 (2nd half of history of France)
• Anthro 439 (psych anthro)
• Anthro 442 (field study prep)
• channel islands prep
• Honors film
• Mission prep

Things I'm looking forward to:

• Mom coming to visit in 2 weeks
• Guatemala in March (my fabricated spring break)
• The Hunger Games movie
• Field Study in Guernsey from May-July
• Being home in July
• Going to Montana
• The Hobbit
• Les Miserables
• not being in school anymore
• having time to read for fun

Things I've discovered recently:

• Downton Abbey
• how cool my phone is 
• pinterest
• noisetrade.com
• Thompson Square
• the gym
• some unexpected friends
• braided hairstyles
• Wensleydale cheese
• I understand a lot more spanish than I thought I did
• i have senioritis as a junior 
• I'm excited to go on a mission

Places I've been:

• France
• Canada
• Mexico
• England
• Costa Rica
• Spain
• Monaco
• Switzerland
• Italy

Places I'll go this year:

• France
• UK
• Guatemala

Things I love:

• chocolate
• a really good conversation
• good music
• clever story lines
• BBC
• comfy clothes
• rain
• beautiful photos
• laughter
• getting the mail barefoot
• summers 

January

Today is just one of those days where I feel blue. For some reason January gets to me like this, maybe it's because it's cold and dark, maybe because it's hard to get back into school, maybe because my family is far away, maybe because it's a Friday night, maybe because I can't wait until summer... Maybe it's the promise (or specter) of the coming year...Maybe it's just January. I even have a playlist called January from last year with wistful songs.

These are the days when I go back and look over all of my pictures from France and remember how happy I was. Europe really is the best. The freedom of roaming the streets of Paris--I can't even describe how happy that made me. The history, the language, the culture, the accordions playing on the streets, the sounds of cafés, the metro, the food, the lights, the friends....it's definitely not overrated. I really can't say enough about it. While I was there I tried so hard to soak it up, to appreciate each moment. I could honestly go to France every year and never tire of it. And there are so many parts I haven't seen yet! I don't know what it is about France--I've been to other countries that were really cool, and I loved visiting them. But France trumps them all.

Sometimes I just get tired of everyday life. But everyday life is life. These mundane days...they are the bread-and-butter of a life. Sometimes not too exciting, not too memorable. But character is built on these days, not the ones where everything is easy. The adventures--they are once-in-a-lifetime, and I get 2! How lucky am I!? It's just hard to prepare and wait for them to come, like everything I suppose. Patience is a virtue, and I am getting plenty of practice! I'm reading all about the history of the Channel Islands, and it's just making me want to be there right now. To be distracted, doing something I love, in a place so beautiful. It's 43 degrees there right now and cloudy (yes I looked up the weather) it sounds exactly like Eugene, and I want to be there. It's mockingly beautiful here--sunny and freezing. A mon avis, winter shouldn't camouflage as summer. It should be cloudy and grey, and cold. Maybe that's just my love for home influencing me...I miss it already. But I don't really believe in self-pity (that's probably my mom's influence coming out :) It's okay to be sad, but then you have to pick yourself up and find all of the reasons why life is worth living.

I'm even going to Guatemala in March! My professors have all been so gracious in letting me skip a week and a half of school--they all said go for it, we can make arrangements. I love being an upperclassman. And my major is amazing. It's a little stressful trying to narrow my topic, but soooo INTERESTING. I'm reading these books about how to do research, and it makes me so excited! And they are so helpful. I'm sure my students are probably going to hear more about the Channel Islands than they want to, but hey, they'll live. And hopefully my enthusiasm will teach them something about anthropology that they can't get from reading books.

I still haven't made peace with Utah...I definitely love BYU, but Utah in general? Not so much. I just can't get over the lack of trees. I miss GREEN. At least Arizona's landscape is beautiful in a desert sort-of way. But Utah is just brown. No cactus, no sequoia, no creosote to smell when it finally rains. The things that make Arizona beautiful. It probably helps that I have family there. Utah is lonely.

That's not quite fair. I have really good friends. The kind that become almost family. The kind that will drop everything to make sure you are ok. The kind that bring you ice cream or leave notes of encouragement. The kind that I'm comfortable saying anything around and it doesn't matter. The kind I can laugh with for hours. The kind that like me anyway, no matter what. The kind that want to hang out just because.

Take that January!

I only have 3 semesters left....what?

Wow I haven't blogged in forever...I guess I just got really caught up in the busy-ness of life!
This week was finals week, which is crazy. It was actually the least stressful finals week I've ever had, which was soooo nice. I can't believe the semester is over already! And I only have 3 left...so weird.

A quick update on life:

• I went home for Thanksgiving, which was so so nice. I got to catch up with some really good friends that I hadn't seen in a long time, and I really didn't want to come back to Provo. But the last couple of weeks have been unexpectedly fun, so it worked out. In fact for the first time I have a reason to want to stay in Utah longer...

• I go home for Christmas tomorrow morning!! We have to be at the airport way too early, because we forgot to book our flight until a couple of weeks ago...oops. But it's all good because we will be home by noon. My brother's skipping school so he can come get us--he's so cute. I can't wait!

•  My lovely roommate Miriam just got engaged last weekend, they are adorable together, I'm so happy for them. Totally called it, but that's probably because I live with her :)

• I'm really excited to go down to Arizona for New Years and see all my family. Our last family reunion was so fun! I can't wait to see everybody.  

• I survived another semester TA-ing!! I really like it for the most part, although the grading does get old (I'm looking at the huge stack I have to do over the break as I write this.) For the most part my students seem to like me--I really hope I make a difference in some of their lives, and that they aren't bored out of their mind. If they remember anything I really hope that they come away with a deeper appreciation for other cultures, and that they will have more of an open mind in learning about other cultures' ways of life. 

• Things I'm excited about for the break: Home cooking, sleeping in, having time to read books for fun, family, friends and Christmas of course.  Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday. 

Also: 

I figured out how to do this the other day--well actually Jake showed me. But it's awesome!!! This is our front door in Paris! cue nostalgia....  I miss it so much!

And, because it's Christmas time: 

I love this painting. I think I saw it for the first time when I was 12, and for some reason it really resonated with me. The lighting is just beautiful. 

Well I'm off to help Annica move into the new dorms....

Happy Christmas!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

Have you read this book? If you haven't you should, because it's absolutely adorable and hilarious. If you have, then you know how awesome it is, and this makes my announcement that more exciting:

I'm going to the Channel Islands for my field study!!!!

No, they are not in the South Pacific. They are in the English Channel, hence the name. I'm going to be specifically on Guernsey = the same place as the book. (If they are really this pretty that makes me even more excited)







This also means....I'M GOING BACK TO EUROPE!!!!! Obviously I'm excited. The Channel Islands are only 32 km from Normandy, France and only 60-something km from England which means I will almost certainly be visiting at least France! How did I get so lucky??

Somehow everything has fallen into place in the last couple weeks--I would say it's a coincidence, but I think it's more of a blessing--I was really worried about what to do with my life this summer, and had been praying about it.

If you've talked to me about my major at all, you know that I've had absolutely no idea what to do for my field study and it was sort of freaking me out. I had pretty much decided I wasn't going to do it this summer because I didn't have any ideas. I'm kind of unusual for an anthropology major--I had no desire to do my fieldwork in Africa or India, which is where most people go. I wanted to study a culture like my own, because I think it's super interesting to look at it from a different perspective. But there were no field studies for Europe.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. As I was walking out of one of my Anthro classes, one of my fellow TA's mentioned that she had figured out her field study. And then she mentioned in passing that they were changing the field study program, and the options were now: India, Africa, Thailand, and the Channel Islands. I think I literally stopped in my tracks. Channel Islands?? She didn't know too much about it, because she was going to Thailand, but I was super excited. I haven't ever been excited about a field study, so that was a big deal. And she mentioned that the Channel Islands one would be mentored by one of my favorite professors.

A couple days later: we spent half of our anthro of religion class discussing/arguing about the changes to the program. I learned more about it: they are changing it so that you have to go with a professor and a group to a specific location that is offered for that year, instead of doing individual ones. Some people were really upset, but I thought it was awesome. I didn't really like the idea of going to a city all alone and trying to figure out how to do ethnography with only email to communicate with your mentor. Having a professor there, who has lots of experience and contacts in the area you will be working in will be soooo nice.

The next day, I went and talked to Professor Bibb. She is awesome, and British (which is so cool), and super helpful. I only had a couple questions, but she gave me a ton of ideas and direction and everything I needed to get started, even though I didn't know what I was doing. I'm so excited to be working with her.

So the last 2 weeks, I have been doing background research for my ORCA grant proposal, which is due this Friday. If I get funded, it will pay for my plane ticket! This means I have been reading everything I can find as background and figuring out how to describe what I will be studying. I'm loving it! Everything I've read makes me more excited and fascinated by their culture.

My project as of now will be studying their cultural identity through the native language, guernésiais. But that means that I pretty much get to tie everything I read and learn about into it, because identity is made up of so many things. My emphasis might change when I get there (it almost definitely will) as I learn more about it, but that's okay!

This also means I'll be graduating next April, after completing my thesis on my research from my field study. Kind of freaky, but still over a year away. I know something will work out though, it always does. 3 weeks ago, I didn't even know this field study was an option, and now I'm getting ready for it. I'll keep you all updated, I can't wait!

On a side note, aaaah I just realized I sign up for next semester's classes at midnight tonight!!! I probably should figure out my schedule...

Also, we took pictures in the leaves today, I love fall! Perfect weather. And I'm making pumpkin pancakes with some friends tonight yummm.

This was right when we almost dropped her haha. 

In front of our apartment :)

Anthropology (no not the store)

Although I do love that store (I'm going to the one in Salt Lake on Saturday! Purely for browsing purposes of course), I am actually talking about my major. Lately things have been up and down with me and good old Anthro. Certain days I absolutely love it and am so glad it's my major. And others...well, you can only discuss the social construction of reality for too long before going a little crazy.

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.

Junior.

After a not-very-exciting-summer compared to the spring, I am back at BYU! I helped out with New Student Orientation, which was fun. It's cool to be one of those upperclassmen who is always running into people they know and knows the ins and outs of campus. It feels so good to be back! I'm pretty excited about all of my classes so far. Here is the rundown:

• D&C-first half (with a really cool teacher who's been doing it for 40 years!) He spent the first class period correcting our pronunciation and spelling of church words. I know that sounds boring but it was actually hilarious.
• Anthropology 206-contemporary theory. I'm actually super excited about this. We get to read theorists from the 20th and 21st centuries and it's fascinating! And there is no tests, only one paper. My kind of class.
• our first reading was about the paradox between how man creates society but has to follow it's rules as if it was a separate being. It was awesome. 
• Anthropology 309-Language, Culture and Society. 
• I'm excited about this one too! We are going to be talking a lot about linguisitics. 
• French 361
• Super excited about this one. Half the class (and the professor) was on my study abroad so it's like a mini reunion! Plus I love French. And History. I was so happy to hear french again.
• Anthropology 430-Moral and Ritual Institutions, a.k.a Religion
• this should be interesting, studying how religion is impacted by culture and vice versa.  
• Dance 185-Samba and Rhumba
• I love dance. This one's up next.
• Honors Lecture Class
• This is only once a week and we have a guest lecturer each time. It starts Thursday, so I'm looking forward to it.

In other news, I am once again TA-ing for Anthropology 101, I meet my students on Friday and I'm really excited for it. I actually have a computer this semester, and I'm getting paid. Woo hoo!

I'm going to be a volunteer at the Museum of Peoples and Cultures too, and hopefully working in Collections or Education, which means I get to handle priceless artifacts or teach the public about how cool they are. It's going to be awesome. 

As of this last week, I have no internet in my apartment which is super annoying. I never realized how dependent I really am on it, for everything. Talking to people, t.v., news, homework, work, you name it, and I probably need the internet for it. Hopefully we'll get that sorted out today, we need to call a phone company...bleh. 

I think this year is going to be a lot different. I only have one roommate and she's pretty busy and the other one is graduated but hasn't moved in yet. So I'm going to really have to make an effort to be social...it'll be interesting. Plus everyone I know is getting married/just got married and it's super weird.   Well anyways, we'll see what happens!

Here's some pictures from the summer:

Harry Potter 7! (the last one)

Beautiful Oregon

Snow

Snowball fight during our hike. Felt sooo good

My birthday hike

love the wildflowers