Train Thoughts
I’m sitting in the train home to my parents to spend the long weekend there (well, when I post this I won’t be in the train anymore :P) and to hang out. I’m rather looking forward to the break and the being served (and to the cats, yay!). It’s nice not to have to do anything, though I did take some work with me, because I can’t afford to not do crap for five days this semester (more on that later). Sadly the weather is supposed to be bad, so we won’t get to do a barbeque like we wanted.
Holy shit I’ve got intermediate exams this semester. They sort of divide your college time in basic studies and main studies here (2 semesters late for me because of Latin…) and you’re only allowed to move on when you’ve passed them (although I don’t think the classes are much different, you just have to write 20 pages instead of 10 for papers). I don’t think the English exam is toooo bad - it’s translating a text and answering some grammatical questions (piece of cake), and then half an hour talking to two teachers. I got a reading list for preparation and also get to pick topics myself. The people questioning me are my two favorite teachers, so I’m not too scared about it. It’ll be a lot of studying of course, but I love linguistics. The ethnology exam, on the other hand… The teacher is ok, but rather strict, and I don’t know crap about ethnology. I haven’t taken any classes in it since 3 semesters ago and I hardly care about it. I used to want to do it as my major, but it’s just not what I expected at all and I’m so very glad I went with linguistics right from the beginning. It’s nice enough as a side interest, but having to do an exam? Uugh. Well, I’ll focus on linguistics and just do what I can in ethnology, and then at least I know what to expect if I have to retake it next semester. The dates for both the exams can be from mid July to mid October, and I’m looking at last week of July for English right now (these exams are pure luxury really, you get to pick the dates, the teachers, and part of the topics) since the teachers have summer vacations later and I too would rather have it over with and get to visit imwithrebel and my parents without exams on my mind. So, two months to study and to WRITE THE DAMN ALICE PAPER (yeah the one I said I’d do after I had passed Latin) because a grade in that class is a requirement to be allowed to take the intermediate exams in the first place. Argh. Papers are the death of me.
Whee, it’s nice weather! Riding a train when the weather is good is so nice. Everything’s green and pretty, except for the sky, which is blue and pretty.
I think I may have finally found a job I want to do. I love linguistics, but up till now when it came to a particular career in it, I was always just like “uh, research”. Which sucks because it requires writing, possibly teaching, is very vague and thus dissatisfying as a goal for myself and everyone around me, and the practical part of me always goes “It’s nice and interesting, but what actual use is it?” Well, now I’m sort of thinking about lexicography. It just kind of struck me during class on Tuesday; we were talking about the Oxford English Dictionary and I thought “Hey, researching the history of words and revising entries doesn’t sound so bad.” I looked up job descriptions and it’s mainly checking and editing entries, reading corpora to find new words or meanings, writing entries (putting a lot of meaning in as little words as possible is totally a talent of mine, it’s why writing papers is so hard for me), the chief etymologist gets to read old texts to find out the etymologies and when and how words first occurred in the language, and I think writing dictionaries is very useful. I get really rather excited thinking about it. It might just be because I never had a job goal before and that uncertainty was weighing on my mind a lot, so I’m cautious and trying not to shout “I’m going to be a lexicographer!” at the world, but… yeah, I’m a bit excited. And once I have the job, I will add “snarktastic” to the dictionary.
So of course now I want to go on that excursion to Oxford. I had already decided before my epiphany that I wanted to go, because the experiences and knowledge to be gained from it outweigh my potential discomfort with the other students. Then in class I overheard a few people talking about it, and I know from fleeting first impressions that they seem pretty nice and open. Especially the guy I talked to a bit more seemed alright, so if they get to go it might not be so bad. My letter of motivation for the application is done, though not all that long… Teacher said it should be about a page, and mine is a little under 3/4 of a page, but I’ve said everything I could think of. That my major is linguistics, that I’m interested in etymology in particular, that I’m thinking about becoming a lexicographer, and that I’ve never been to England. Well, maybe Mom can think of something to add (and I’m gonna show it to you for proofreading, Rebecca). I really want to go, so this letter needs to be perfect. Cross your fingers for me, everyone.
I just bought lunch at the train station in Nuremburg. Subway! Praise the American food industry for flooding every country and giving me my occasional America fix. I just wish they also had Starbucks… Gosh, I don’t even remember how it tasted (except wonderful), it’s a tragedy. Hold on, what does it say here on the cup? Trademark of Doctor’s Associates Inc? Well, wow. Didn’t think the Doctor was in the fast food industry. And with that I’m gonna stop ranting and go listen to music for the rest of my trip. Allow me to play you out with this delightful steampunk Doctor Who belly dancing vid that imwithrebel showed me the other day.
ETA after getting home: Lalala, using teh icon because I like looking at it. Mom and I are gonna go shopping for exam clothes tomorrow, and on Sunday we're going out to eat because this week was Dad's birthday. I got to give my parents a lesson on the history of the word "deer" and then my Mom showed me a German/English dictionary from the 1850s that they had lying around, and we geeked out over it. They seem to think the lexicographer job thing isn't a bad idea, though Mom did say that it might prevent me from working in an English speaking country because they'd prefer people with English as their first language. She might have a point... I'll have to ask my teacher or possibly the Oxford people about this. Hmph.
Holy shit I’ve got intermediate exams this semester. They sort of divide your college time in basic studies and main studies here (2 semesters late for me because of Latin…) and you’re only allowed to move on when you’ve passed them (although I don’t think the classes are much different, you just have to write 20 pages instead of 10 for papers). I don’t think the English exam is toooo bad - it’s translating a text and answering some grammatical questions (piece of cake), and then half an hour talking to two teachers. I got a reading list for preparation and also get to pick topics myself. The people questioning me are my two favorite teachers, so I’m not too scared about it. It’ll be a lot of studying of course, but I love linguistics. The ethnology exam, on the other hand… The teacher is ok, but rather strict, and I don’t know crap about ethnology. I haven’t taken any classes in it since 3 semesters ago and I hardly care about it. I used to want to do it as my major, but it’s just not what I expected at all and I’m so very glad I went with linguistics right from the beginning. It’s nice enough as a side interest, but having to do an exam? Uugh. Well, I’ll focus on linguistics and just do what I can in ethnology, and then at least I know what to expect if I have to retake it next semester. The dates for both the exams can be from mid July to mid October, and I’m looking at last week of July for English right now (these exams are pure luxury really, you get to pick the dates, the teachers, and part of the topics) since the teachers have summer vacations later and I too would rather have it over with and get to visit imwithrebel and my parents without exams on my mind. So, two months to study and to WRITE THE DAMN ALICE PAPER (yeah the one I said I’d do after I had passed Latin) because a grade in that class is a requirement to be allowed to take the intermediate exams in the first place. Argh. Papers are the death of me.
Whee, it’s nice weather! Riding a train when the weather is good is so nice. Everything’s green and pretty, except for the sky, which is blue and pretty.
I think I may have finally found a job I want to do. I love linguistics, but up till now when it came to a particular career in it, I was always just like “uh, research”. Which sucks because it requires writing, possibly teaching, is very vague and thus dissatisfying as a goal for myself and everyone around me, and the practical part of me always goes “It’s nice and interesting, but what actual use is it?” Well, now I’m sort of thinking about lexicography. It just kind of struck me during class on Tuesday; we were talking about the Oxford English Dictionary and I thought “Hey, researching the history of words and revising entries doesn’t sound so bad.” I looked up job descriptions and it’s mainly checking and editing entries, reading corpora to find new words or meanings, writing entries (putting a lot of meaning in as little words as possible is totally a talent of mine, it’s why writing papers is so hard for me), the chief etymologist gets to read old texts to find out the etymologies and when and how words first occurred in the language, and I think writing dictionaries is very useful. I get really rather excited thinking about it. It might just be because I never had a job goal before and that uncertainty was weighing on my mind a lot, so I’m cautious and trying not to shout “I’m going to be a lexicographer!” at the world, but… yeah, I’m a bit excited. And once I have the job, I will add “snarktastic” to the dictionary.
So of course now I want to go on that excursion to Oxford. I had already decided before my epiphany that I wanted to go, because the experiences and knowledge to be gained from it outweigh my potential discomfort with the other students. Then in class I overheard a few people talking about it, and I know from fleeting first impressions that they seem pretty nice and open. Especially the guy I talked to a bit more seemed alright, so if they get to go it might not be so bad. My letter of motivation for the application is done, though not all that long… Teacher said it should be about a page, and mine is a little under 3/4 of a page, but I’ve said everything I could think of. That my major is linguistics, that I’m interested in etymology in particular, that I’m thinking about becoming a lexicographer, and that I’ve never been to England. Well, maybe Mom can think of something to add (and I’m gonna show it to you for proofreading, Rebecca). I really want to go, so this letter needs to be perfect. Cross your fingers for me, everyone.
I just bought lunch at the train station in Nuremburg. Subway! Praise the American food industry for flooding every country and giving me my occasional America fix. I just wish they also had Starbucks… Gosh, I don’t even remember how it tasted (except wonderful), it’s a tragedy. Hold on, what does it say here on the cup? Trademark of Doctor’s Associates Inc? Well, wow. Didn’t think the Doctor was in the fast food industry. And with that I’m gonna stop ranting and go listen to music for the rest of my trip. Allow me to play you out with this delightful steampunk Doctor Who belly dancing vid that imwithrebel showed me the other day.
Click to viewETA after getting home: Lalala, using teh icon because I like looking at it. Mom and I are gonna go shopping for exam clothes tomorrow, and on Sunday we're going out to eat because this week was Dad's birthday. I got to give my parents a lesson on the history of the word "deer" and then my Mom showed me a German/English dictionary from the 1850s that they had lying around, and we geeked out over it. They seem to think the lexicographer job thing isn't a bad idea, though Mom did say that it might prevent me from working in an English speaking country because they'd prefer people with English as their first language. She might have a point... I'll have to ask my teacher or possibly the Oxford people about this. Hmph.