Vita activa
Well, it would seem that I'm finding myself in a monthly update pattern. That feels odd. This has been one long, eventful month, but at the same time, I can't believe it's over so quickly. You can't deny what you see, though. It's officially winter now - the first snow came today. Not the kind that lasts, of course, but still, I suppose that's a sure sign there. It feels like it's too soon, like I hadn't been able to enjoy this autumn long enough.
To say that I have been busy is an understatement. While my classes have been numerous, laborous and plentiful in homework, the final nail on the coffin of what you might refer to as my "free time" has been my duties as a tutor and one of the appointees in the archaeologists' student guild. That has been an odd, frustrating venue for me; it involves entirely too much management, calling people, keeping tabs that everyone is doing what they should be. Now it would seem that I am cabable of arranging a party between five different university guilds - this simply causes me little satisfaction. I could do without the anxiety and uncertainty over all the loose ends. Me and my fellow tutor used to joke that it's not so much that we're in the archaeology student guild, we are the guild. The more true that has gotten, the less funny it's become.
"Tired" is what I suppose one could call my current state. In principle, the week previous to this was supposed to be a break from university, but it drifted past without my even really even noticing. Professor Parpola clearly does not believe in breaks, I had my internship to finish that week, and on top of everything, I still had an exam on Ishtar's Descent on Monday this week. You know how it is when you have a vacation before an exam - you can't relax enough to do anything actually fun, because you'd be guilty of not using that time to prepare for the exam. The worst is when you lack the energy to genuinely do much studying, so you end up doing nothing instead.
These past two weeks can be thought of as all the things I just now described piled up on me. It's difficult to concentrate on planning a party while you're meant to be studying for an exam, and it's no more easy to concentrate on running one in the knowledge that the next day you have eight hours of lectures straight starting from eight in the morning. But there is a moral to this story. As exhausting as this kind of thing is, that old adage about hard work paying off? On top of all my plans eventually resolving smoothly, it transpires I got the top grade on Ishtar's Descent, which is crazy. Crazy - I'm a second-year minor subject student doing an advanced dead language course that normally I wouldn't even take.
How's that for positive reinforcement? I guess this is my necessary annual nerdy shonen passion moment. Ultimately for me that is enough. Honestly, I'd like to say that the next couple of weeks will be less stretonous, but that's no exact guarantee - it would seem that I actually have more classes in this starting period. Also, there's one other thing that will necessarily force me to stay on the top of my game the next month, but I like to save the best for last. So, besides continuing classes, it would seem I'm studying gems such as this:
The Theory and Methods of Archaeology
Introduction to the History of Ancient Egypt
The Anciency of Finno-Ugric Peoples
The Many Lives of Objects
And that other thing? As it turns out, I was accepted for a ten-day course on the history of the neo-Assyrian empire, taking place this December - in Damascus, Syria, and assorted other locations. This is going to be good.
To say that I have been busy is an understatement. While my classes have been numerous, laborous and plentiful in homework, the final nail on the coffin of what you might refer to as my "free time" has been my duties as a tutor and one of the appointees in the archaeologists' student guild. That has been an odd, frustrating venue for me; it involves entirely too much management, calling people, keeping tabs that everyone is doing what they should be. Now it would seem that I am cabable of arranging a party between five different university guilds - this simply causes me little satisfaction. I could do without the anxiety and uncertainty over all the loose ends. Me and my fellow tutor used to joke that it's not so much that we're in the archaeology student guild, we are the guild. The more true that has gotten, the less funny it's become.
"Tired" is what I suppose one could call my current state. In principle, the week previous to this was supposed to be a break from university, but it drifted past without my even really even noticing. Professor Parpola clearly does not believe in breaks, I had my internship to finish that week, and on top of everything, I still had an exam on Ishtar's Descent on Monday this week. You know how it is when you have a vacation before an exam - you can't relax enough to do anything actually fun, because you'd be guilty of not using that time to prepare for the exam. The worst is when you lack the energy to genuinely do much studying, so you end up doing nothing instead.
These past two weeks can be thought of as all the things I just now described piled up on me. It's difficult to concentrate on planning a party while you're meant to be studying for an exam, and it's no more easy to concentrate on running one in the knowledge that the next day you have eight hours of lectures straight starting from eight in the morning. But there is a moral to this story. As exhausting as this kind of thing is, that old adage about hard work paying off? On top of all my plans eventually resolving smoothly, it transpires I got the top grade on Ishtar's Descent, which is crazy. Crazy - I'm a second-year minor subject student doing an advanced dead language course that normally I wouldn't even take.
How's that for positive reinforcement? I guess this is my necessary annual nerdy shonen passion moment. Ultimately for me that is enough. Honestly, I'd like to say that the next couple of weeks will be less stretonous, but that's no exact guarantee - it would seem that I actually have more classes in this starting period. Also, there's one other thing that will necessarily force me to stay on the top of my game the next month, but I like to save the best for last. So, besides continuing classes, it would seem I'm studying gems such as this:
The Theory and Methods of Archaeology
Introduction to the History of Ancient Egypt
The Anciency of Finno-Ugric Peoples
The Many Lives of Objects
And that other thing? As it turns out, I was accepted for a ten-day course on the history of the neo-Assyrian empire, taking place this December - in Damascus, Syria, and assorted other locations. This is going to be good.