... in which I steal someone else's good idea
namely, rachel's list of "things I won't miss so that I can get myself in the mindset of going home." I've been doing a lot of thinking about my now-imminent return to Denver, and I'm still on the fence about being excited about it. It still feels like I'm still getting comfortable here, finding new places to go, learning more about the language, seeing the occaisional tourist destination, when in reality it's been basically four months and it's time to go back. As well, after this summer (when I interned with the Dept of Justice in Washington DC), which, though it's so easy to forget for some reason, also happened since the last time I was at school, and the autumn in BP combined, I'm not really excited about the prospect of insulated home life, home-from-college routine, and the eventual return to a college that clearly doesn't want me or may of my friends back that badly (since they couldn't house me, threatened to not let me register for classes, and took weeks to set up an email forward from my pomona acc't to gmail)... this all sounds bleak.
thus, this list of things I actually won't miss:
1. the "beds" and "pillows" we're supposed to use. These most closely resemble permanently folded-out fold-out couches, except that they're smaller than twin beds, are terrible as seating, and extend to the ground, so you can't store things under them... the bedding consists of a too-short duvet in a cover that somehow always slides off awkwardly in the night and a set of pillows (one twice the size of a normal pillow, the other a too-small quarter). All of this stands in sharp contrast to my attention-lavished double bed at home with the pillowtop (or the double-sized futon at school with the memoryfoam)...
2. not understanding what anyone's saying most of the time, even when directly addressed. Although I guess I've gotten used to it, not being able to overhear anything (unless it's one of about six easily recognizable words) is a little maddening, and not understanding people's direct questions or comments is worse. Not understanding what the random old people on the street are screaming at you? Actually scary. (although this last one has only happened to me two or three times, it makes an impression)
3. not having any income, which distorts my sense of how much things cost; it's easy to compute relative cost, but $4 dinners add up over time, particularly when you no longer are coming fresh from the memory of six hours of drudgery being met with a work study check for forty dollars.
4. doing math an unforseen number of hours a day. This has been fun, genuinely, but I definitely feel like my writing, my vocabulary, and my social skills are slowly being eroded.
5. lack of Internet access (or, more specifically, the network at school). i have nowhere to go for any of the myriad petty timewasting things i get through the internet (Arrested Development, pornography, music, etc), because I feel like time spent on a computer in a public place should at least appear serious.
On the other hand, once I leave, it'll probably be a long time before I can casually ask "anyone want to go to Prague this weekend? No? How 'bout Slovenia? Szeged?" In fact, once home, it will probably be a long time before I talk to anyone else who knows where Szeged even is.
sam
ps i just finished my Hungarian language final (an oral exam). My strategy was basically the same as it has been with this blog: tell funny, self-deprecating stories about how I can't say anything very well in Hungarian and how this is compounded by the fact that everyone here thinks I'm a stupid American who wouldn't know how to say anything anyway. It worked.
thus, this list of things I actually won't miss:
1. the "beds" and "pillows" we're supposed to use. These most closely resemble permanently folded-out fold-out couches, except that they're smaller than twin beds, are terrible as seating, and extend to the ground, so you can't store things under them... the bedding consists of a too-short duvet in a cover that somehow always slides off awkwardly in the night and a set of pillows (one twice the size of a normal pillow, the other a too-small quarter). All of this stands in sharp contrast to my attention-lavished double bed at home with the pillowtop (or the double-sized futon at school with the memoryfoam)...
2. not understanding what anyone's saying most of the time, even when directly addressed. Although I guess I've gotten used to it, not being able to overhear anything (unless it's one of about six easily recognizable words) is a little maddening, and not understanding people's direct questions or comments is worse. Not understanding what the random old people on the street are screaming at you? Actually scary. (although this last one has only happened to me two or three times, it makes an impression)
3. not having any income, which distorts my sense of how much things cost; it's easy to compute relative cost, but $4 dinners add up over time, particularly when you no longer are coming fresh from the memory of six hours of drudgery being met with a work study check for forty dollars.
4. doing math an unforseen number of hours a day. This has been fun, genuinely, but I definitely feel like my writing, my vocabulary, and my social skills are slowly being eroded.
5. lack of Internet access (or, more specifically, the network at school). i have nowhere to go for any of the myriad petty timewasting things i get through the internet (Arrested Development, pornography, music, etc), because I feel like time spent on a computer in a public place should at least appear serious.
On the other hand, once I leave, it'll probably be a long time before I can casually ask "anyone want to go to Prague this weekend? No? How 'bout Slovenia? Szeged?" In fact, once home, it will probably be a long time before I talk to anyone else who knows where Szeged even is.
sam
ps i just finished my Hungarian language final (an oral exam). My strategy was basically the same as it has been with this blog: tell funny, self-deprecating stories about how I can't say anything very well in Hungarian and how this is compounded by the fact that everyone here thinks I'm a stupid American who wouldn't know how to say anything anyway. It worked.
posted by sam at
10:21 PM
1 Comments:
I know what you mean about conversations. To the point now where if I am in a place and there is an English conversation going on nearby, I find it very difficult to pay attention to my conversation, I'm too busy eavesdropping. Its like I have duty to listen in!
By
Travelingrant, at 12/14/05, 9:29 PM
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