2005-06-30
On an IC to the Pretty City
2005.VI.30 – Not much news here recently. But big news overseas! Birgit
started her new job at Macalester College in St. Paul and is loving it.
And I just found out I am going to be teaching a European Geography
course at the University of Minnesota this fall! Finally, something
other than being a TA. Though I have loved TA-ing, I have to admit that
after four consecutive semesters, it was getting a bit tiresome to teach
“Introduction to Maps and Geographic Information Systems,” etc. Plus,
this is a topic that I’m really enthusiastic about, so I think it will
be a blast! A lot of work too, but some tangential, three day a week
responsibility will probably be good for me.
Classes have been going well. I’m beginning to realize just how much
I’ve as the first three week section comes to a close. Three more weeks
to go! I took a test today just so the school can gauge my progress. I
think it went well, but it was fill in the blank, and I often bomb such
tests. Luckily a good chunk of the exam was essay, which is normally
where I can let my imagination do the talking for me.
Yesterday I was just working like a mad dog. Today as well, but I spent
a good chunk of the day walking to the Eastern Train Station (Keleti)
and standing in line waiting to buy my tickets to Wien. I’m off to
Vienna this weekend to visit my old Hungarian language classmate from
1998, Sissi. She and I were the only two students in the class for much
of the year, and we became good friends. I can’t wait to just hang out
and chat about life. Plus, Wien is by far my favorite city in Europe, if
not the world, so I’m just happy to be visiting it again.
It is the end of the month and in many ways this terrifies me. I had so
many plans, many probably grandiose, for the summer. I have only
completed a few of them and I’ve decided to just complete a few of my
initial plans well and worry about the others later. My Hungarian is
really coming along well. I feel in the groove again this week now that
I’m forced to only speak Hungarian again. As for my research, I’ve
attempted contacting a few of the smaller political parties that I
initially wanted to contact, but I haven’t heard anything back yet. I am
going to keep trying and keep my fingers crossed! As for my preliminary
exam, I have begun reading again after a bit of a hiatus due to
exhaustion from the semester and foreign language learning. It feels
good to be reading academic texts again, which actually scares me somehow.
That’s all for now. I’m off to Wien!
