catching up...

it is now october 15, and i am officially halfway done with my first semester of grad school.

what have i been up to the past few weeks?

[visiting the ben and jerry's factory with friends from mn!]

[at the dr. seuss memorial in springfield, ma]

BUT

the honeymoon period of schooling is now over...

don't get me wrong, i am still thrilled to be here.

but the emotion, excitement, and enthusiasm from the first couple weeks has slowly diminished

and now....

i am a graduate student.

it is hard work.

i don't know if you've noticed, but the number of funny stories in my blog have slowly decreased...

actually, the number of posts in my blog have slowly decreased...

what do i spend all of my time doing, you ask?

three words:

reading.

reading.

reading.

oh, and another:

group projects.

we just love those here at SIT.

and, as much as i love learning, i have decided that i am not an academic.

in my theory and practice of international education class (endearingly called TPIE - we love the abbrieves here, too. it's almost as bad as bethel) we are learning all about, well, the theory and practice of IE (another abbreviation....). these are two camps of the field, and let me tell you i have realized pretty quickly that i am all about the practice, not about the theory. it is interesting to learn, but i would much rather spend my time seeing that theory applied in the field than researching it :)

therefore, as much as i love school.....i am also excited that it is only a year and i will be done with class in may :)

lots of things are happening in the near future though....

i'll name you just a few.

-making apple pies with my friend naomi from london who goes to circus school (yes, circus school) for thanksgiving dinners distributed to the homeless by the soup kitchen at our church

-going to the pumpkin festival in new hampshire (as long as it doesn't rain...)

-class on a friday night (yes, a friday night) but don't worry, it will be fun. it's a training techniques fair...

- the regional NAFSA conference! (nafsa stands for the association of international educators...yes, you're right, the letters don't match up with the name)

- volunteering for the international fashion show

- passing the oral proficiency exam in Spanish

- serving at the soup kitchen

- IE week

- Christian Fellowship during lunch on Wednesdays

- the macy's thanksgiving day parade...

- researching and presenting a topic (tbd) at our very own IE conference in december

- becoming "fluent" in italian...

- HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!

these are just a few of the things you can look forward to me talking about in the next 8 weeks...as long as reading doesn't take over my life. or my eyes :)

"Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel" [Ephesians 5:19]