I'm Really Starting to Feel Like an Overworked TA Now...

WELL... there's so much to write about I'm just going to focus on the 2nd half of the week's adventures.

Wednesday we had our customary early morning temple trip, naturally very enjoyable. I did my first grading for German 330 - some music reports. It took me forever (2.5 hrs for abt. 20 papers), but somehow I got through it. My German Professor invited me to spend an evening at the German house next weekend so I can check it out and see if I might want to live there next fall. I barely had time to breath on Thursday. We workshoped my critical anaylsis paper in English, and that went really well. I met with Lillian to do some research for German and am having trouble finding resources on the Erlkoenig poem I'm doing. After Chem. I went to Book of Mormon, which seems really long (1hr 40min. of listening to a lecture is kind of hard sometimes). Immediately following I went to a fireside on education which was good, just long again. Ward devotional was right after that as well. Homework dragged out long into the night.

It's kind of sad that I have my longest school day on Fridays... this one was positively chalk full. I taught a part of the German 330 class for the first time. It went all right, I thought I talked a little to fast, but Professor Kelling said I had done a good job... high praise from him. As soon as that was over I picked up the German 330 exams from the testing center and headed back to the Wilkenson center to start grading before dance. At 1:30 I realized that I had forgotten that my time card for German was due at 1 and that it was at my dorm. Frantically I crammed everything back into my bag and rushed back to the dorms, arriving back at the wilk in the nick of time for dance. After dance (3:00, so my card was already 2 hours overdue) I got Professor Kelling's signature on the card and handed it in. The lady at the desk was very nice and accepted it despite the lateness. My last class of the day was a voice lesson, which went really well. I'm really excited to start some belting this semester.

Before I knew it it was time to get ready for my date. Outfit selection took longer than expected, so my dinner was rather rushed. It didn't matter. Michael took me to see a BYU production of Midsummer Night's Dream, which is one of the best plays ever written. Who is Michael? Well, I met him the first week of the first semester when he randomly started talking to me. We both live in Helaman halls, and so we run into each other in the cafeteria a lot. Our discussions are extremely random - they range from politics to gospel doctrine etc, but are quite entertaining.

5 hours of my Saturday I spent grading exams. I barely finished my homework for Monday. There was a good fun reward at the end though, so it didn't matter. My Chem study partner invited me to come get a milkshake with him. It was fun, a really nice break from the draining exams.

Anyway, that was my week...

Hope you are all doing well and hope to hear from you soon!!

Love,

Margaret

Fun, Fun, Fun!!

Yay! This week did go by faster than the last one! Only 14 weeks to go :-).
Monday I met my new FHE group, which wasn't to bad. We played duck duck goose with names so we could learn them, then signs. I was only in the middle for short periods of time, so it was fun.
Tuesday and Wednesday were both bitterly cold. In dance class we are moving through the cha cha quick as lightning. In one week we learned 3 of the most complicated steps I've ever attempted - grape vine surprise, ronde swivel step, and back spot turn. I actually had to go home and practice them on my own till I got them down.
In our writing class we've been reading several interesting short stories; "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner was particularly fascinating and gruesome all at once. I've gotten most of the 2nd draft of my critical analysis done, and that's good because I have to post it online tomorrow morning. I'm doing it on the symbolism of color in Joel Schumacher's production of Phantom of the Opera... really quite interesting and enjoyable to write about.
Friday I met with two girls from my German 330 class who had just added the class. I explained the assignments and told them if they had any questions to contact me. After my first voice lesson of the semester and some homework it was time for a break; Cami, Merit and I watched a movie, which was fun.
Saturday I worked on my critical analysis and took a much needed trip to Walmart to stock up on some food, soap, notebooks etc. That evening I went on my first second date with Jonathan Northrup, the really short RM who took me to a musical last semester. I was going to turn him down, but couldn't think up an excuse fast enough (drat!). I guess I had fun anyway... we went bowling and I'm horrible at it. The most common scores for the others were strikes and spares, while I had a good number of gutter balls. I always twist the ball to much before I release it, so that dooms everything. When I got home Natalie had switched our beds around so they are now in an "L" shape, much more conducive to large audiences when we're trying to watch a movie. She had invited 6 or 7 girls over, and we had a girls night. Chocolate fondue, popcorn, hot chocolate, a good chickflick - what more could you want on a Saturday night??
Yep, that's life right now. Hope you are doing well and hope to hear from you soon!!!!
Love,
Margaret

First Week of Winter Semester, Here I Come!!!

Wow, this first week has just dragged by for some reason. I really hope it won't continue, or this will be the longest 15 weeks of my life. Classes are good, but its sure going to be a lot of work this semester.
Chemistry isn't bad yet, but from all I've heard it'll be only a matter of days till it gets really hard. My German literature class (442) is full of really smart people, two of them graduate students. Although we don't have any tests we have a lot of reading/research to do for the class. Its sure to be a learning experience since I'm not very experienced in researching. The German 330 class I'm TAing for hasn't been much work yet - I haven't taught yet either though.

Dance is really fun, more of the guys in the class know what they're doing and the teacher's pretty good too. He's more focused on good technique, which I enjoy. I'm surprised at how much reading is required for our writing class... I'm pretty sure its going to keep me busy. I've already got my first draft for a critical analysis of the film Phantom of the Opera done.

I ended up attending 3 different religion classes before I could decide on one I liked. Its still not ideal, but not to bad. Friday night was really fun - Erin, Cami, Merrit and I went to a dance in the WSC which was a party... I was surprised at how many faces I recognized, even after a single semester. Saturday Rachel and I went to see a proformance by the BYU ambassadors which was amazing of course, and I wrote my first draft for my critical analysis paper.

That would be it for now - its late, and the week's going to be long...

Love,

Margaret

Happy New Year!!

The last few days of break proved to be a bit more relaxing than the first ones. New Year's Eve we spent some time with the Ebelings watching the new National Treasure movie, playing basketball at the church, and finally watching Its a Wonderful Life (one of my favorite movies!!).

Grandma and Robert left early Tuesday morning, which was sad. Mom decided it was time to divest the house of its holiday splendor, which was also sad. The afternoon was quiet for once, which provided me with some coveted time to read some novels and do a little German.

Wednesday morning school started again for my siblings. I called Anna Joyce to see if I could persuade her to take a little trip to the high school just to say hi to some of our favorite teachers and revel in our freedom and independence. She wasn't very hard to persuade. It was so good to see her again and talk to some of my teachers. After that small escapade Anna and I enjoyed a few hours at Salad works talking and catching up.

Thursday was a shock - my last day of being at home. I made a beautiful apple pie for the occasion, did some last minute shopping and packing etc. and even managed to read a little. The pie was indescribably scrumptious. Everything was ready for my early departure the next morning.

I came to appreciate the beauty of direct flights. I actually got a little sleep, and didn't have to worry about missing my next flight. Robyn picked us up at the airport and Rachel and I enjoyed one of the last home cooked meals we'd have in a while. After a sorely needed nap and delicious ham dinner we watched an episode of Animal Planet and I went to bed.

The snow that was falling thickly the next morning was slightly worrisome - we were concerned it would impede our journey. Luckily as we drove down the mountain the snow turned to rain. Back at BYU I did some laundry, bought the rest of my books for the semester, and unpacked my things. Cami and I watched How to Steal a Million, and I went to bed. At midnight Natalie showed up, so we talked while she unpacked till about 1:30am.

School starts tomorrow. I'm pretty nervous, but ready to take on some new challenges.

Hope you are doing well and that you have a wonderful 2008!!!

Love,

Margaret