April showers bring spring quarters. And Frenchie things.

Dang I am really getting bad at the whole keeping up a blog thing aren't I? Sheesh. I think I went from like 10ish posts per month to like...three. Wow. Where are my priorities? No, just kidding. But seriously, I am sorry, my life has just been hectic upon hectic recently, what with school, work, and choir back in full swing again. To make things fun, however, I will tell you that I am currently writing this post while sitting on a train, on my way home to Eugene for this coming Easter weekend. I probably won't finish the post before I get to Eugene though, because we just passed our stop at Albany (which those of you Oregonians would know is only about 30-40 miles north) and I don't think the ride will last too much longer since trains travel pretty quickly. HA, what a concept, since your typical train ride from Seattle to Eugene will take about 6 hours; quick my ass. Anyway, so I am starting this post on a train, and will most likely finish it in the comfort of my own room (complete with a large black dog sitting next to me, but that's just an assumption).

Hmm...let's see, what has been going on in my life lately that's of any interest? Well, I started my spring quarter classes. So far so good, I'd say, and for those of you who don't know, here's what I'm taking:

FREN 235 - French Language VI (Milan) MWF 10:55am-12:20pm
ENGL 120 - Literature, Music, and Social Change (Roth) MWF 2:00-3:30pm
THRS (Theology and Religious Studies) 201 - Catholic Traditions (Punsalan-Manlimos) TTh 8:00-10:05am
And then choirs. Duh.
And just for the record, I am taking a 100-level course for two reasons. 1. I was too lazy to get it out of the way last year (but not really it just didn't fit in my schedule), and 2. After taking a 300-level research seminar along with 200-level philosophy last quarter, this is a nice break.

Let's just reflect a little on this quarter so far, shall we. For starters, I got a new French professor, Paul Milan. For the last two quarters here at SU my professor has been Holly Waddell, aka. the greatest person you will ever meet. However, this term the French department decided to throw a monkey wrench into the works and not have her teach the level I am at this quarter, soooo I am taking the class with Paul instead. On a side note, Paul is also my academic advisor, since French is now my major...yeah, and I really miss Holly. Honestly, he is one of the nicest guys I have ever met, and a good professor. Even though I've only been in his class for two weeks, I feel like I have learned so much, not to mention a whole new style of retaining a foreign language. There are a lot of things that are different in his class, for instance instead of having large exams over each chapter in the textbook, like we did with Holly, we have little quizzes over small things within the chapters, like vocabulary, pronouns (which are a huge bitch, just by the way...), subjunctive verbs, verb tenses, etc etc etc. Granted it is less stressful not having those giant exams anymore, but it is also more stressful having little quizzes every other day, so I guess it actually balances out. Never mind, forget I said anything. It's a cool class; hard, but so rewarding. And yes, more on that later.

Engllish. Okay, let me just say that I have the most adorable professor in the world. She's in her mid-30s, and is super into music, (which I find very awesome since I am too), hence the title of the course, Literature, Music, and Social Change. Ha. Anyway, I guess what I like the most about her is that she talks to us more like we're her friends, instead of her students. And she always makes you feel really good about yourself when you have the courage to speak in class. Also, she has a four-year-old son who is ridiculously adorable, and she talks about him allllll the time. For those of you who know me, you would know that I love little kids to death, (...I work in a preschool for crying out loud...), so that is also pretty cool.
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There marks the line between where I stopped writing (because I had to get off the train), and where I started writing again once I got to the comfort of my own room. Except there isn't actually a dog sitting beside me - she's pacing outside my parents' bedroom door. Anywho.

My English prof./class. Umm...I guess the only other exciting thing is that we only have one exam throughout the entire term. Yes that's right, one exam. asjdshgdfjn. You have no idea how happy that makes me; exams are my nemesis. Unless of course you count pop quizzes as exams, because she has a tendency to give us a lot of those (over the readings), but I mean they're not that hard so whatever. Finally, theology. I. LOVE. IT. Well, maybe not the subject matter so much as my amazing professor and just the class in general. No, okay the subject matter isn't that bad, it's basically what the title says, the study of Catholic traditions. You know, like the Eucharist, Baptism, etc etc. and also things like Catholic immigration from Europe and how that shaped religion throughout early America, and then how Protestantism came to be as a result of Catholicism. But just by the way, everything I just mentioned above about what we learn in that class we have to learn at 8:00 in the freaking morning, so regardless of how interesting it might be, it's about 15 times harder to retain since the class is so damn early. Surprisingly enough, I am not a morning person. Seriously, it's like the one trait my roommates and I don't have in common; they like to have their classes at the butt-crack of dawn, whereas I prefer to sleep 'til 11am and then take my sweet time in facing the day. But uhh yeah theology. It's great. And the professor, she's great (I really lucked out with teachers this term, minus Holly WAAAHHHH). She kind of reminds me of my roommate Arielle, except like 25 years older - bubbly, a liberal Catholic, and a little spunky :)

Okay, now onto the more Frenchie-type things. First off, let me just say that I GOT ACCEPTED INTO SEATTLE UNIVERSITY'S FRENCH IN FRANCE PROGRAM. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Sorry, had to get that off my chest; it's been sitting there for a few hours. No really. When I first found out I got in, I was sitting on the train I mentioned earlier in this post. I was just sitting in my seat, messing with my phone and minding my own business, when all the sudden I have this desire to check my SU email. So I did, and lo and behold there is an email from my French professor notifying me of my acceptance into the program. Well, being on public transportation, I had to hold in a lot of my excitement, so instead of completely freaking out and screaming and jumping up and down, I merely took out my excitement by posting an impulsive Facebook status and texting my best friends. Oh, and then I started shaking uncontrollably, due to the amount of adrenaline that was pulsing through my body, (I'll admit that part was a little freaky). So yeah, I got in, and if I decide to go, I will be living in Grenoble, France for the months of January through June of 2013. And for those of you unformed masses, here's a picture/article of the place:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenoble

Woooo go Wikipedia! It should answer most of your questions. But right off the bat I'll tell you that it's about three hours southeast of Paris (closer to Italy and Switzerland), so no I won't be able to just go there on a whim. Ah well, France is France! It's still exciting. Now, I just have a choice to make. Is this SU French in France program how I want to spend my junior year of college? Of course getting to study abroad in France (or anywhere in Europe really) is incredibly exciting and I feel so blessed to have been chosen to participate in this program, but there are always lots of things to consider. And that's what I will do. Consider. But believe me, I won't forget how amazing this opportunity would be, no matter what.

Welp, that's about it. I guess if you want to know the more mundane aspects of my life, I could tell you that I now have a plant, named Herb (the creativity there ought to just sweep you off your feet...), thanks to the wonderful people who put on this year's Chapel Choir retreat:

Herb!

Aaaaaand I got a hair cut:

Note: This is the last time one of my head shots will ever end up on here. Gah. I am not photogenic at all.

Hmm...I have recently developed an obsession over The Hunger Games. Oh my gosh, so amazing. Seriously, if you have not read the book and/or seen the movie, READ IT. Or WATCH IT. I am currently reading the second book in the trilogy, Catching Fire, and so far so good on that one too. Katniss has become somewhat of my spirit animal, me thinks...tell me, is it weird that I kind of like that name? Like, I would consider naming my daughter Katniss, even though it's a plant. Ha. Anyway yeah, Catching Fire is technically supposed to be taking the back seat to all of the reading I have to do for lit and theology, but that's not really happening...whoops.

1

2 (The one I'm currently reading)

3

The entire trilogy in numerical order; READ ZEM! IN THAT ACCENT!

And then see this just for kicks, but read the books first like a decent human being. Just kidding!:

(Let me just say that the movie theatre I saw this in was AMAZING. The Cinerama in Seattle; if you're ever in town, go there! It's huuuuge, and the screen is huge, and it's pretty cheap considering how expensive movies are these days...the popcorn was only $3, AND IT WAS CHOCOLATE FLAVORED. You know, like caramel corn, only it was chocolate instead of caramel...)

Oh, and you should know that Skittles are my new best friend. I bought this giant ass bag on the train earlier, and now I can't stop eating them, which is bad because it's like 2am. Wow. BUT, I have lost four lbs, because I've developed this strange love of going to the gym several times a week and like, working out. And it's kind of working me. So, run, Erin, run! 

Run, Erin, run! To bed! Bye people :)

~Erin

P.S. I can't stop listening to this song: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYVm0qbWIZU
Going Under - Evanescence

What is this, angst-fest a la 2003? Nah, I just like the song. And by the way, I was going to post the YouTube link to it that had the music video, but it was freaking me the eff out, so I decided not to. You can watch that on your own terms. Ha.