Hey everyone!
I really have been quite bad at writing every week, just like I thought I might be. The good news is that I have lots of new news this way, and I don't have to struggle to think of things that might be of interest. The bad news is that I'm not sure when my last mass email was, so I don't know how far back to go. On the other hand, I've talked to most of you in the last two months, so I don't think I've left out the important bits in our conversations in person.
I suppose the biggest thing is that I'm still in school for the spring. I'm signed up for classes in the summer too, but I'm almost positive that I'll be dropping them to save money. I just got a job working at the Olive Garden as a busser, and had my first two days of training already. When I get my training done, I'll be able to earn some share of the tips. My trainer is Jose Luis from Ecuador, and I talked to him almost all in Spanish, because it's fun, and it's actually easier for me.
I also got the best single-semester GPA of my life last semester. I really stuck it to the man and just to spite my teachers I got Bs in biology and New Testament instead of Ds like they wanted to give me. I even got a B+ in religion, making it probably my best religion grade yet. I didn't quite get a 4.0 like I wanted before I started the semester, but this is the closest I've been since 4th grade. I got a 3.73 for the semester, which raised my cumulative GPA back above 3.0, which is good. It's nice to not be ashamed of my scholastic career anymore. And, just to make things even cooler, I'm officially a junior now, meaning that now I can finally find open spots in PE classes before everyone else does.
This spring I am only taking three classes: Beginning racquetball, English grammar, and a class whose name I never learned. It's IAS 360R, my prep course to help me think of and develop a research question, and become familiar with Mexico, particularly Irapuato, Guanajuato, where I will be living in the fall to gather data for my research. I will also get a chance to do lots of research here with an amazing library and other resources before I actually get to the field. It's a really interesting class, and we've learned a lot of basics about inter-cultural communication, and interviewing skills, et cetera. But it's also a very difficult class. The first day, we had 45 pages of reading and a paper due, the second day, it was only 29 pages and a paper. They promised me before I signed up for the class that it would be the hardest three-credit class I will ever take at BYU. So far, they have me convinced. It is my favorite class though. Grammar would be interesting if I didn't already know the difference between a verb and a noun. I'm sure it will get a little more complicated soon, but for now it seems like a waste of time to get up in the morning just for grammar. And racquetball is good too, but it's just racquetball. I don't feel like a better person after leaving class. I've learned a ton already in my field study course, just because I've put so much more time into it.
I'm going to South Jordan again tonight, making the third trip this week. I'm going up for my companion's (Michael Marks) wedding reception. This is the companion whose grandmother visit teaches my grandmother. With connections like that, how could we have gotten along less than well? He was one of my favorite companions, so I'm excited to see him.
That's about all I have time to write about in this semi-annual weekly newsletter. I predict a good summer for all, and I put money on it, so don't let me down. Just kidding, but seriously. HAGS! (that was for you, Julie and Scott)
Brian
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Brian's still alive part II
Hey everyone!
Again, I had a great week. I don't think I've had a bad week since school started. I really enjoy being in Provo, and everything that goes along with it. The good news for this week is that I took my tests, did well in Spanish and not so well in biology. And I did in fact finish my paper for international relations, just in time for a lunch group before class. It was pretty fun. I like writing, but I do wish that I didn't have to cite three pages of sources in the actual text. It's such a pain. It was pretty intense trying to expand on a very simple proposal and make it into a paper long enough to qualify for credit, but I managed to say the same thing in more ways than I thought were possible. I even found quotes from other people that said basically the same thing I was arguing, so I was able to use up a good half page with each of those, and ended up with a 13 page paper, which definitely clears the 7 page minimum limit.
My stake roadshow turned out great. We practiced a little bit more on Saturday morning, then we practiced in the afternoon and had the performance in the evening. I felt like we performed with more energy than we had practiced with, and the microphones decided to work for us. We were all a little nervous that they wouldn't after not being able to hear a word we were singing during the dress rehearsal. We got lots of noise from the audience, and a complete absence of rotten fruit, so I guess we did all right. It was a lot of fun, all in all.
The trees all have flowers on them now, but it's a little cloudy. So it looks a lot more like spring, but it doesn't at the same time because it got cloudy today too. I heard that it's supposed to rain/snow(?) this week. I'm looking forward to a sunny weekend though, I'm supposed to go camping and I want to not wash down the mountain in the night.
It was also great to see so many of my family at grandma and grandpa's house in South Jordan. It was a blast, our family rocks. And for those of you not in my family, I encourage you to consider joining and pick up an application. The induction process does involve some fairly serious commitment, but you'll have a good time.
I worked in the dish room yesterday. I don't recommend it to anyone. I usually work on the grill, but it was closed yesterday and I had to be reassigned. I heard that being a "cook's help" is the easiest job, and least taxing, and that the dish room is by far the most miserable. I can't speak for the "cook's help" but I would be willing to put money on dishes as the worst job available anywhere on campus. I think working at the grill tonight is going to seem a lot nicer now after having gone through yesterday. Tonight's shift will be shorter too, only four hours instead of six. Four is nice, grill is nice, Monday is nice.
Again, I had a great week. I don't think I've had a bad week since school started. I really enjoy being in Provo, and everything that goes along with it. The good news for this week is that I took my tests, did well in Spanish and not so well in biology. And I did in fact finish my paper for international relations, just in time for a lunch group before class. It was pretty fun. I like writing, but I do wish that I didn't have to cite three pages of sources in the actual text. It's such a pain. It was pretty intense trying to expand on a very simple proposal and make it into a paper long enough to qualify for credit, but I managed to say the same thing in more ways than I thought were possible. I even found quotes from other people that said basically the same thing I was arguing, so I was able to use up a good half page with each of those, and ended up with a 13 page paper, which definitely clears the 7 page minimum limit.
My stake roadshow turned out great. We practiced a little bit more on Saturday morning, then we practiced in the afternoon and had the performance in the evening. I felt like we performed with more energy than we had practiced with, and the microphones decided to work for us. We were all a little nervous that they wouldn't after not being able to hear a word we were singing during the dress rehearsal. We got lots of noise from the audience, and a complete absence of rotten fruit, so I guess we did all right. It was a lot of fun, all in all.
The trees all have flowers on them now, but it's a little cloudy. So it looks a lot more like spring, but it doesn't at the same time because it got cloudy today too. I heard that it's supposed to rain/snow(?) this week. I'm looking forward to a sunny weekend though, I'm supposed to go camping and I want to not wash down the mountain in the night.
It was also great to see so many of my family at grandma and grandpa's house in South Jordan. It was a blast, our family rocks. And for those of you not in my family, I encourage you to consider joining and pick up an application. The induction process does involve some fairly serious commitment, but you'll have a good time.
I worked in the dish room yesterday. I don't recommend it to anyone. I usually work on the grill, but it was closed yesterday and I had to be reassigned. I heard that being a "cook's help" is the easiest job, and least taxing, and that the dish room is by far the most miserable. I can't speak for the "cook's help" but I would be willing to put money on dishes as the worst job available anywhere on campus. I think working at the grill tonight is going to seem a lot nicer now after having gone through yesterday. Tonight's shift will be shorter too, only four hours instead of six. Four is nice, grill is nice, Monday is nice.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Brian's still alive
Dear Family and Friends,
Well, It's been another week. I've done nothing but play in the last couple of days, and it's been a blast. Since Friday I have gone running, bowling, camping, and played racquetball once and ultimate Frisbee three times, and danced for two hours on Saturday. I also had a little root beer and ginger ale drinking party with some wardies out by the pool wearing green on St. Patrick's Day. I also saw three movies. What I didn't do is homework, and I feel totally fine with that.
I did make myself slightly injured in the end. By Saturday afternoon my right hip was hurting (possibly from sleeping on a rock the night before?) and whatever muscle is found in my right shin was aching pretty badly from all the running. And I woke up Sunday morning with a headache that even ibuprofen couldn't relieve, which still hasn't gone away, and might not until this Thursday. Why Thursday, you ask? Well, the truth is that I get out of class at 1:20 pm on Thursday, and don't have to go back until Monday morning at 9. And on top of that, I will have taken three tests and written one final draft of a 7 page paper, so I won't even have those classes hanging over my head like a guillotine like I do this week. The rope looks a little frayed at the moment.
I have to confess that I only got a 63% on my New Testament test this morning. I studied for it yesterday by reading in the Bible Dictionary, and I studied my notes and handouts from class this morning right before I went into the testing center. And guess what, it was really really ridiculously hard. I don't know how someone can even think of questions that hard. I studied everything I could think to study, and yet, there was more. I hate religion classes at BYU. This is my third one, and the third one I've been slaughtered by. I haven't missed class yet, you'd think I would have picked something up from lecture.
But my other tests are looking good. I got one back today from Hispanic Linguistics, and I got another 96%, which dropped my average in the class about a third of a percent. I have another Spanish test this week, which shouldn't be too bad, and a biology test which just might dig my grave and put me in it all at once. I tried studying a little bit this morning and I asked the girl next to me in lecture if DNA and chromosomes are the same thing. She laughed at me and offered me a quarter to ask it in front of the class. I take that as a no? I'm getting really close to understanding what a cell actually IS while the rest of the class is diagramming the Krebs Cycle and cellular respiration. I honestly wish I could drop the class and try again when I'm a senior in hopes that I will have picked up some brains on the way to graduation. Also, I petition that genetics should be changed to allelics, because I have a diagram in my book that labels the same yellow and green segments of the chromosome (apparently NOT also known as DNA) as both genes and alleles. I'm not sure why. I blame the artist's rendition of real life for all misunderstandings related to biology.
I guess my real point in these last two paragraphs is that Bio 100 and New Testament are neck and neck for the "Worst Course Offered at BYU EVER Award". Shannon and Andrew, I have the feeling that biology might actually move up on my list that I made last week, and take second-to-last. Does that make you feel any better.... ? :)
I watched Oliver Twist on Saturday night. It's a creepy movie to watch by yourself in the dark. It wasn't the nice musical that I remember as a child, but rather the version that emits evil with ever flicker of light through the film. Well, ok, it wasn't that bad, but it did make me pretty happy that I grew up in the days of child labor laws and adoption agencies. At least in the northern hemisphere. And I'm darn glad I live in the northern hemisphere.
I'm sort of in a weird mood today, it's been a long day, filled with pleasantness, some laughter in the morning, as well as bad news in the afternoon, generic brand mac & cheese (I don't recommend it), and lots of sun, that I really haven't seen much of. I don't really know how to describe today, other than just plain odd. But I hope that everyone who reads this is well and enjoying themselves immensely. Have a great week!
Well, It's been another week. I've done nothing but play in the last couple of days, and it's been a blast. Since Friday I have gone running, bowling, camping, and played racquetball once and ultimate Frisbee three times, and danced for two hours on Saturday. I also had a little root beer and ginger ale drinking party with some wardies out by the pool wearing green on St. Patrick's Day. I also saw three movies. What I didn't do is homework, and I feel totally fine with that.
I did make myself slightly injured in the end. By Saturday afternoon my right hip was hurting (possibly from sleeping on a rock the night before?) and whatever muscle is found in my right shin was aching pretty badly from all the running. And I woke up Sunday morning with a headache that even ibuprofen couldn't relieve, which still hasn't gone away, and might not until this Thursday. Why Thursday, you ask? Well, the truth is that I get out of class at 1:20 pm on Thursday, and don't have to go back until Monday morning at 9. And on top of that, I will have taken three tests and written one final draft of a 7 page paper, so I won't even have those classes hanging over my head like a guillotine like I do this week. The rope looks a little frayed at the moment.
I have to confess that I only got a 63% on my New Testament test this morning. I studied for it yesterday by reading in the Bible Dictionary, and I studied my notes and handouts from class this morning right before I went into the testing center. And guess what, it was really really ridiculously hard. I don't know how someone can even think of questions that hard. I studied everything I could think to study, and yet, there was more. I hate religion classes at BYU. This is my third one, and the third one I've been slaughtered by. I haven't missed class yet, you'd think I would have picked something up from lecture.
But my other tests are looking good. I got one back today from Hispanic Linguistics, and I got another 96%, which dropped my average in the class about a third of a percent. I have another Spanish test this week, which shouldn't be too bad, and a biology test which just might dig my grave and put me in it all at once. I tried studying a little bit this morning and I asked the girl next to me in lecture if DNA and chromosomes are the same thing. She laughed at me and offered me a quarter to ask it in front of the class. I take that as a no? I'm getting really close to understanding what a cell actually IS while the rest of the class is diagramming the Krebs Cycle and cellular respiration. I honestly wish I could drop the class and try again when I'm a senior in hopes that I will have picked up some brains on the way to graduation. Also, I petition that genetics should be changed to allelics, because I have a diagram in my book that labels the same yellow and green segments of the chromosome (apparently NOT also known as DNA) as both genes and alleles. I'm not sure why. I blame the artist's rendition of real life for all misunderstandings related to biology.
I guess my real point in these last two paragraphs is that Bio 100 and New Testament are neck and neck for the "Worst Course Offered at BYU EVER Award". Shannon and Andrew, I have the feeling that biology might actually move up on my list that I made last week, and take second-to-last. Does that make you feel any better.... ? :)
I watched Oliver Twist on Saturday night. It's a creepy movie to watch by yourself in the dark. It wasn't the nice musical that I remember as a child, but rather the version that emits evil with ever flicker of light through the film. Well, ok, it wasn't that bad, but it did make me pretty happy that I grew up in the days of child labor laws and adoption agencies. At least in the northern hemisphere. And I'm darn glad I live in the northern hemisphere.
I'm sort of in a weird mood today, it's been a long day, filled with pleasantness, some laughter in the morning, as well as bad news in the afternoon, generic brand mac & cheese (I don't recommend it), and lots of sun, that I really haven't seen much of. I don't really know how to describe today, other than just plain odd. But I hope that everyone who reads this is well and enjoying themselves immensely. Have a great week!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Brian's 1st email update!
Hola familia!
I've decided that an email is now long past due. I don't even know where to start, so I'll try to recap everything that has happened to me at BYU. I got here and started classes on January 8th, which seems like forever ago now. I'm taking Biology 100 in the same lab section that Andy is in, New Testament (The Gospels), Intro to International Relations, Spanish Grammar and Composition, and Hispanic Linguistics. I put those in order of preference, starting with the ones that I am least fond of. I'm in the BYU 138th ward, and I like my ward a lot.
When I first got here, it was extremely cold. I remember walking across campus on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and it was the coldest air I had felt in several years. I got all the way to the opposite corner only to discover that the person I was looking for had that day off. So I walked all the way back. In total I was outside for over 40 minutes. I'm really glad it's spring now. It was warm enough this weekend to play frisbee and have a picnic outside without even having to wear a jacket. It was sunny and slightly breezy. It didn't last today, but we're making progress.
I decided to change my unofficial and undeclared major a few weeks ago. I have been telling people that I was majoring in Linguistics for about 4 years, which prompted lots of questions like, "so what does that even mean." Well, basically it's the scientific study of the structure and usage of language. It doesn't mean that I will be learning 7 languages, although that would be fun too. But now instead of questions about my major, I get a bunch of false assumptions about what I'm studying. I officially declared myself and English Language major. It's not what you think. I don't have to take a single class on poetry, writing, literature, or anything like that. The English Language degree isn't even in the English Department, it's actually part of the Linguistics Department. I will give you a rough breakdown of the classes I'll be taking.
1. Empirical Methods in English Linguistics (There's that word again! I'm not a traitor to myself!)
2. Modern American Usage
3. History of the English Language (I'm taking that this spring)
4. The Grammar of English (not like your high school grammar class, we're going to dig DEEP!)
5. English Semantics and Pragmatics
6. English Phonetics and Phonology (this is guaranteed to be one of my favorite classes, I love phonetics)
7. "The Senior Course" (I think this is the class they make us take to help us figure out what kind of career we want to pursue, but I'm not sure. I'd like a little more clarification myself.)
8. Sociolinguistics
9. My choice of Old English (Anglo-Saxon), Middle English (Chaucer's time period), or Early Middle English (think Shakespeare and Johnson)
10. Varieties in English (I finally get to let my Southern shine)
11. History of the Book
12. Psycholinguistics
Basically it's exactly the same as the Linguistics major, with one major difference. In the Linguistics program they require a foreign language that is not descended from Indo-European (this means German and Scandinavian languages, Romance languages like Spanish and Romanian, and Indian languages like Hindi don't count). In the English Language major, they have a foreign language requirement, but it allows me to count my 16 credits of Spanish to fill the requirement. So now I'm studying the exact same thing, but now people assume that I'm an English major and it's really hard to explain the difference between English and English Language because, let's face it, we all know that English IS a language, and if you study English, you're also studying the language, right? Well, it's a little tricky. I still haven't found the right way to phrase it so that people understand that I'm still a linguist. I'm a Linguistics major emphasizing in English. Which goes back to the whole "you don't have to speak a million languages to be a linguist. That would only make me a philologist or a polyglot" statement that I have to make sometimes, without using the words philologist or polyglot, of course, that would not make explaining any easier.
I'm also going to add Spanish (or possible Spanish Teaching) as a second major as soon as I do some more prerequisites for the program. And I'm going to get a minor in TESOL, or in English, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. I figure with English Language and Spanish, I should be able to teach people either language, and that sounds like so much fun to me.
My social life is sometimes a little overactive. Since I started dating again, (I took a short break because I overloaded my system) I've been averaging I think about 4 dates a week. Sometimes I go on more, but rarely do I have less than 3 dates in a week. I went on two dates yesterday, which was fun, but exhausting, since I'm already getting sick. I think everyone is getting sick these days, it's another sign that it's almost spring.
I also got a job working in the Morris Center, the cafeteria by Deseret Towers. I'm not actually working in the cafeteria part of the building, I'm in the "Cougar Cove" which stays open later, and is home to the grill, the wok, the soft serve ice cream, and the Subway franchise. I mostly just do the grill, but I have to make a lot of shakes too, and we have to fry the chicken in the deep fryer before the wok worker can make sweet and sour chicken. So I stay busy, and I get a decent paycheck, and I only have to work 12 hours a week. I work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8pm until closing, which can be anywhere from 11:15 (our current speed record) and 11:45. I usually walk to and from, but sometimes I drive on Fridays because the risk of not finding a parking space is usually not as bad on Friday nights when people are all out on dates, and I can find a good spot to park closer than two blocks away from my apartment.
Well, that's about all I have time to write right now. But I'm having a great time at BYU, watching the basketball teams whenever I get the chance. Go Cougars! I hope to remember to write another email before too long so I can fill in some of the finer details. Finer as in more excellent and more detailed. Have a great week!
I've decided that an email is now long past due. I don't even know where to start, so I'll try to recap everything that has happened to me at BYU. I got here and started classes on January 8th, which seems like forever ago now. I'm taking Biology 100 in the same lab section that Andy is in, New Testament (The Gospels), Intro to International Relations, Spanish Grammar and Composition, and Hispanic Linguistics. I put those in order of preference, starting with the ones that I am least fond of. I'm in the BYU 138th ward, and I like my ward a lot.
When I first got here, it was extremely cold. I remember walking across campus on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and it was the coldest air I had felt in several years. I got all the way to the opposite corner only to discover that the person I was looking for had that day off. So I walked all the way back. In total I was outside for over 40 minutes. I'm really glad it's spring now. It was warm enough this weekend to play frisbee and have a picnic outside without even having to wear a jacket. It was sunny and slightly breezy. It didn't last today, but we're making progress.
I decided to change my unofficial and undeclared major a few weeks ago. I have been telling people that I was majoring in Linguistics for about 4 years, which prompted lots of questions like, "so what does that even mean." Well, basically it's the scientific study of the structure and usage of language. It doesn't mean that I will be learning 7 languages, although that would be fun too. But now instead of questions about my major, I get a bunch of false assumptions about what I'm studying. I officially declared myself and English Language major. It's not what you think. I don't have to take a single class on poetry, writing, literature, or anything like that. The English Language degree isn't even in the English Department, it's actually part of the Linguistics Department. I will give you a rough breakdown of the classes I'll be taking.
1. Empirical Methods in English Linguistics (There's that word again! I'm not a traitor to myself!)
2. Modern American Usage
3. History of the English Language (I'm taking that this spring)
4. The Grammar of English (not like your high school grammar class, we're going to dig DEEP!)
5. English Semantics and Pragmatics
6. English Phonetics and Phonology (this is guaranteed to be one of my favorite classes, I love phonetics)
7. "The Senior Course" (I think this is the class they make us take to help us figure out what kind of career we want to pursue, but I'm not sure. I'd like a little more clarification myself.)
8. Sociolinguistics
9. My choice of Old English (Anglo-Saxon), Middle English (Chaucer's time period), or Early Middle English (think Shakespeare and Johnson)
10. Varieties in English (I finally get to let my Southern shine)
11. History of the Book
12. Psycholinguistics
Basically it's exactly the same as the Linguistics major, with one major difference. In the Linguistics program they require a foreign language that is not descended from Indo-European (this means German and Scandinavian languages, Romance languages like Spanish and Romanian, and Indian languages like Hindi don't count). In the English Language major, they have a foreign language requirement, but it allows me to count my 16 credits of Spanish to fill the requirement. So now I'm studying the exact same thing, but now people assume that I'm an English major and it's really hard to explain the difference between English and English Language because, let's face it, we all know that English IS a language, and if you study English, you're also studying the language, right? Well, it's a little tricky. I still haven't found the right way to phrase it so that people understand that I'm still a linguist. I'm a Linguistics major emphasizing in English. Which goes back to the whole "you don't have to speak a million languages to be a linguist. That would only make me a philologist or a polyglot" statement that I have to make sometimes, without using the words philologist or polyglot, of course, that would not make explaining any easier.
I'm also going to add Spanish (or possible Spanish Teaching) as a second major as soon as I do some more prerequisites for the program. And I'm going to get a minor in TESOL, or in English, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. I figure with English Language and Spanish, I should be able to teach people either language, and that sounds like so much fun to me.
My social life is sometimes a little overactive. Since I started dating again, (I took a short break because I overloaded my system) I've been averaging I think about 4 dates a week. Sometimes I go on more, but rarely do I have less than 3 dates in a week. I went on two dates yesterday, which was fun, but exhausting, since I'm already getting sick. I think everyone is getting sick these days, it's another sign that it's almost spring.
I also got a job working in the Morris Center, the cafeteria by Deseret Towers. I'm not actually working in the cafeteria part of the building, I'm in the "Cougar Cove" which stays open later, and is home to the grill, the wok, the soft serve ice cream, and the Subway franchise. I mostly just do the grill, but I have to make a lot of shakes too, and we have to fry the chicken in the deep fryer before the wok worker can make sweet and sour chicken. So I stay busy, and I get a decent paycheck, and I only have to work 12 hours a week. I work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8pm until closing, which can be anywhere from 11:15 (our current speed record) and 11:45. I usually walk to and from, but sometimes I drive on Fridays because the risk of not finding a parking space is usually not as bad on Friday nights when people are all out on dates, and I can find a good spot to park closer than two blocks away from my apartment.
Well, that's about all I have time to write right now. But I'm having a great time at BYU, watching the basketball teams whenever I get the chance. Go Cougars! I hope to remember to write another email before too long so I can fill in some of the finer details. Finer as in more excellent and more detailed. Have a great week!
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