AW MY ETHNIC DIVERSITY & POP CULTURE TEACHER

I was originally ticked at her because she sent everyone who missed class last week had to do these extra readings and if we didn't, she'd take points off. So I did the readings and then reread them today before class, expecting the worst.

Instead, class was actually pretty chill. We had some good discussions and (thankfully) I got to participate a lot. I was kinda doing it just so I didn't feel like all that time I spent reading for that class wasn't for nothing - a kinda IN YO FACE BITCH! move but not really. She also went around the class to talk about what our research papers were going to be on and when I told my idea she really liked it so I was like yay! I don't have to stress about this one as much as the other paper I have to do that is literally murdering me!

well the vending machine ate 40cents when i tried to get a snickers BUT THE PART OF CLASS AFTER THE BREAK WAS OK TOO LFMAO... kinda made up for it. i just wasn't so rageful etc.

anyway
after class I meet with my prof with the other kids in my group cause we all have to present together, and talked about what we had to do... it's pretty straight forward, thank god. one less thing to worry about.

And after that she was like "Oh Kat!" and I was like UH SHIT WHAT.... and she thanked me for doing the readings.
I was absolutely blown away - I've never had a teacher thank me for something like that before. She said she was glad I had done them because my contributions in class that day were really good and helped move the discussion along really well, and I just couldn't stop smiling as I left the room. It made me feel really good that the work I had put in made her happy, and her life a little bit easier. Even though this class and the readings drive me insane, the professor really is such a great woman. My grade in this class isn't so hot at the moment, but I think I can pull it up with this next assignment, my presentation and my final. Yosh!


also i did my Islamic law presentation today... and the woman who holds class in the room after us kept trying to interrupt me while I was presenting which is literally the most annoying thing in the whole universe. The first group ran long and I was last in mine, so my presentation ended up being mad rushed and I don't think anyone got anything out of it LMFAO. Oh well. At least it's done, and my professor can't mark me down because A HUGE BITCH PROFESSOR KEPT INTERRUPTING ME. So yeah.

Oh and I fell on my bike on the ice on my way to my Islamic law class. My luck with bikes is quite impressive. I have huge bruises on my legs again from my most recent spills, they truly are impressive.

oh my god i've just realized why i'm having problems with my ethnic diversity & popular culture

you see, my professor is having us do a lot of reading that's based off of theories. marxism, postmodernism, feminism, all that kind of stuff. reading these books about people talking about other people's ideas just drive me crazy! and i couldn't figure out why (besides the fact i think reading about theory forever is dumb) and then it just hit me like 10 seconds ago reading this work about race and welfare and differences between the USA and Europe.

It's a sociology course, Kat.

LIKE
IT SEEMS LIKE SUCH A SMALL THING ESP SINCE PEOPLE ALWAYS COMPARE ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY BUT
HOLY SHIT THEY'RE SO DIFFERENT??

i'm just sitting here reading these broad, brush stroke theories that are like HEY THIS IS HOW THE WORLD IS!! and i'm like no you stupid fuck what gives you the right to say that [STARTS TALKING ABOUT VARIOUS WORLD CULTURES]. Anthropology looks much more at specifics and it's own research, like, rEAL FUCKING RESEARCH. these theories are based off some research yeah but it never feels like enough or it's just something someone pulled out of their ass and everyone was like DEAR GOD LOOK AT THAT IT'S GOLDEN! GOLDEN SHIT! spoiler alert faggots: it's still shit. i don't care how many PhD's you have or how many articles you've written where do you come off trying to say you can explain everything?

Not only that but the thing is people just talk about theories and then say "because of x, problem y exists!" ok, that's great. what about it? and then thy just move on. is there a possible solution? is there a way you can GET OFF YOUR FAT ASS AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? holy shit. take a lesson in applying your theories and research to make this world suck less, don't just tell me about the suck. listening to people talk and talk about world problems and then they don't try to think of ways to find the core of the issue or fix issues drives me insane. what's the point of all this theory and bullshit if it's not useful for daily life?

i'm sorry to any sociology majors or lovers on my f-list but man. this course is driving me nuts, especially all the readings. SO MUCH READING. not even my pleasure&politics course hurts me this much, at least those readings are interesting.

which reminds me i have to get a rough draft of my research paper for that class done by the 2nd...........

/quietly slinks back to homework

i realized that i haven't made big posts about berlin OR portugal with pictures and everything, even though i normally do. i still want to do them, but recently i've been really tired and busy. maybe i'll do one tonight if i'm crazy and decide not to sleep tonight.

bascially; i have to write 2 research papers and prepare 2 presentations, and each one involves a crazy amount of reading, writing, and research. it's weird, cause you would think with only 3 classes and only having those 3 classes on 2 days, it'd be manageable, but it's almost worse. you think you have more time for things, when really you don't. before you know it things are coming in and crashing down before you're ready for them.

this semester is done in a month. how the fuck has that happened? i don't know. it's too weird to think about. thanksgiving is this week, and the only time it crosses my mind is when my parents bring it up to me. which is really weird - i fucking love thanksgiving & christmas, this whole holiday season really. instead i'm having one of the most stressful semesters of my life. my professors expect me to write papers that should be good enough for publishing. i mean what the shit? any little mistake could cost me big time, and it's driving me insane. i'm trying not to stress or think about it but lmfao, i'm here to study. sob. i was so looking forward to this being an easier semester.

i also realize, christmas is about a month away. what what what the fuck. i don't have good presents for my family yet. i'm going to have to go shopping this weekend. i also have to go to the anne frank house, the rembrant house, the house of bols and the tropenmuseum all before i go. that should be doable, especially if i do most of them in one day. i was thinking about this weekend, going on a museum splurg and getting tibetan food for dinner while breanna was in prauge. that way i don't have to worry about her judging me for eating by myself for dinner. or spending money on going out. ha!


uhmmmmm yeah. that's my life i guess?/? being crazy happy about traveling and then crazy stressed about school. yep!


oh yeah i have an application to study skeletal remains in peru in july i need to fill that in and email it back asap........ i doubt i'll get the internship since i don't know any spanish but it's worth a shot.
yeah that's another thing i need to do
find an internship or job over the summer, lord knows i need me the moneys.

OH YEAH AND I'M KINDA SICK. again. i think. my head doesn't hurt but it feels clogged... and my ears feel like they're filled with wax and my throat hurts and i keep hacking up snot. from my throat. it's gross.

and i want to recommend this manga to everyone. because it's dumb. and it has a short anime. which is dumber. FANTASTICO.

OK SO HERE'S MY SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT 10 DAYS:

TODAY:
-Work on research & homework.
-Leave at 10PM to Amstel station, board a bus headed for Berlin and leave at 11:15PM.

TOMORROW:
-Arrive at Berlin at about 9:00-9:30AM. Go to our hostel, drop our stuff of, and explore the city for the next three days!

SUNDAY THE 14TH:
-Go back to the ZOB bus station and board the bus headed back to Amsterdam at 7:30PM. Get back to Amsterdam about 5:45AM the next day.

MONDAY:
-Check in for my flight to Porto & print out the ticket, talk to the people at IES about this mysterious bus that goes from Centraal to the Eindhoven airport.
-Do homework.

WEDNESDAY:
-Head out to Eindhoven and board my plane to Porto that takes off at 1:55PM.
-Arrive in Porto at 2:35PM.
-Catch the soonest train to Lisbon, and with any luck I'll be there by 5-5:30PM.
-HAVE SUPER FUN SEEING ARCADE FIRE ON THURSDAY AND HANGING OUT WITH EVERYONE UNTIL SATURDAY!

SATURDAY:
-Ok I have two options: either stay the rest of the day in Lisbon with everyone OR get on the train back to Porto, spend the day exploring that city, and reserve a room in a really cheap hostel near the airport so I can make it in time for my flight early the next morning. I need to talk to people about this one.

SUNDAY THE 21ST:
-Get to the airport in time for my 9:55AM flight back to Amsterdam.
-Be in Amsterdam at about 1:30PM. Board the train from Eindhoven airport back to Centraal and go home.

THINGS TO DO IN DOWNTIME:
-Convince Emily&others to have Thanksgiving dinner as an Indonesian Rice Tafel dinner or a potluck at Funen.
-Do research for my two final papers, start on rough drafts, do all my homework, visit the Anne Frank house and Rembrant House, and do more souvenir shopping for my family.
-OH GET DINNER AT THAT TIBETAN PLACE and some chinese food while breanna is in prauge ohohoho i am a-cravin'.
-keep up with splenda & make some icons since i have so many damn caps now.


uh
yeah
i think that's it!! awesome!

Dear me:

Tomorrow, you are going to the NEMO museum. You'll do your research, and then you will sit down and begin writing that paper. It's due Tuesday and has to be 5-8 pages. No if's and's or but's, you're going to be fuck all busy this weekend and you know it.

Today, you're going to finish up your Sharia outline and study for that midterm. Yes you can do more studying on Sunday and Monday but that's not the point right now, is it? Exactly. Shut the fuck up and do your work.

BUT BEFORE THAT
VIDEO GAME MEME!

Day 12 - A game everyone should play.

( so many people will see this comingCollapse )

OK TWO THINGS YOU GUYS

FIRST:

I NEED YOUR HELP! I have to pick a topic for my final research paper in my Pleasure&Politics course, but I'm not sure what topic I want to do. I have a few ideas, but nothing solid, so I was wondering which one you guys think would be the very best like no one ever was:

►Sexual Education
►Fetishes (BDSM, Roleplay, that kinda thing) and Sexual Deviance
►The phenomena of Host&Hostess Clubs
►Rape as a method of torture & nationalism

so yeah if you guys can help me out you get a gold star.


SECOND:
VIDEO GAME MEME

( Day 3 - A game that is underrated.Collapse )

amsterdam is awesome but i miss bryn mawr so much. it's so much better than uva any day of the week. otherwise, life is fantastic.

i've spent the past few days coloring a ton of icons and collecting lupin the IIIrd caps and various fanarts. great excitement!

i'm going to make guacamole, burgers, and fries for dinner tonight. i cannot wait.

but for now i'm looking to pass the time so let's do a meme kids!

Give me a character I play (or any character I've played) and I'll give you their:

01. Full name
02. Best friend
03. Sexuality
04. Favorite colour
05. Relationship status
06. Ideal mate
07. Turn-ons
08. Last sexual experience
09. Favorite food
10. Crushes
11. Favorite music
12. Biggest fear
13. Biggest fantasy
14. Quirks in bed
15. Bad habits
16. Biggest regret
17. Best kept secrets
18. Last thought
19. Worst sexual/romantic experience
20. Biggest insecurity

oh yeah you guys

FOAMS AT THE MOUTH

well today has been
interesting......

First I had to get up at 8am (oh the joy) for class. It was weird and it didn't matter that I didn't do the readings at all (again). The professor made us bring our laptops to... read an article on the new york times website (which we all could've done at home) and to read the first part of the qur'an (which we also could've done at home). However, none of us could get online. Once we figured out the UvAguest shenanigans, only 4 or 5 of us could get it to work properly on our computers. Lol what. The prof had no idea about this, and was like "you guys need to make this work!" Hey. Hey fuck you man. Shit is not that easy. We got out of class early because of it though, so that... almost makes up for it.

Now before leaving for class I saw a bike had fallen onto mine. Great. I pick my bike up from the mess and start biking, but my back wheel got caught on something while I was driving over the brick part of the road. Fantastic! So my wheel got busted up to shit. I had to go replace it about an hour ago and paid 15euro for it too. 15euro! Just fuck me. It squeaks like crazy now too which is so annoying, but at least the wheel is fixed and everything.

After class I finished up my 2-3page pop culture paper, now I just have to fix up the playlist and send it to my prof, who is so fucking weird, by the way. She wants us to have a partner picked out and know what we want to do for our final research paper by 6pm tonight - when we have class. What a great idea! Let's get a bunch of stressed international students and make them flip out right away! Yes! What a perfect plan! Ugh.

At 12:30 though IES pulled our small CORE group which idfk what that means except we have to meet a few times, talk about how we're adapting to being in Amsterdam, and they give us pizza for lunch. I seriously can't remember the last time I gorged myself on pizza like that because goddamn, it wasn't even that good but I was SO HUNGRY. Also I just really wanted pizza. I haven't had it in over a month man I JUST WANTED THAT DELICIOUS GOODNESS INSIDE OF ME

lmlfamsdfoh oh my god i'm so tired/crazy/i dont' even know
i mean it's nothing major just
a lot of tiny things grating on me!

i should nap...... *stares at homework*

Hi LJ. It's been awhile.


Classes are going alright, I guess? Lmfoa who am I kidding I feel overwhelmed as fuck. I honestly imagined that these courses would be easier than Bryn Mawr, and that I would have a ton of time to do homework and travel but damn I was off. Dutch isn't hard, but it's so annoying and the work feels honestly useless since we're only learning basic phrases and shit like that. Plus the teacher is really bad and just reviews the same stupid crap over and over dkljf it's a bitch.

Ethnic diversity&pop culture and islamic law&morality confuse the fuck out of me. I honestly have no idea where the professor is trying to go with this class. It just seems like a bigass clusterfuck just slapped together, because the professor is doing almost nothing, expecting the students to take control. Um, what? I can understand wanting students to be involved, but with no direction to go we're just gonna sit on our ass. lmfao I'm just so pissed about it, because I want to like these courses but I feel like they are going NO WHERE. I hate that so much JUST TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON! Give me a syllabus that actually tells me homework and whats going on jesus christ is that so much to ask for.

Pleasure&Politics is like a 300 level course but at least it has the structure that none of these other classes have. The teacher seems nice, but he's really blunt and sometimes comes off as really intimidating and occasionally very judging. It's really frustrating to have a teacher like that, because you're constantly nervous that they think you're just a fucking retard so you just stress instead of learning anything properly. At least the material is really interesting, so the reading isn't all that hard. It's still kinda @_! for me though. I'm sure I'll get the hang of all of my classes in a few weeks, because they only meet once a week it's a lot harder to grasp them right away.

Also since they meet once a week I can pretty much NEVER miss class, which really sucks. I mean I've always gone to class all the time don't get me wrong but it's nice to take a day for yourself once in awhile. I know once Dutch is done I'll have 5 day weekends LMFAO so it should be easier but fuck man. That seems so far away from now!

The only things I have to look forward to are Brussels this weekend (we leave tomorrow morning and come back on Sunday night!), the Rotterdam day trip on the 24th, Groningen & Leeuwarden on October 9th&10th, and Portugal in November.

The other two places I really want to go to are Berlin and somewhere in southern France, probably Marseille. For some reason I just have no desire to see Paris - it seems madly overrated to me. I'd also like to go to Copenhagen (Denmark), either Barcelona or Granada (Spain), Dublin (Ireland), and I'd also like to go back to London (UK) and Brugge (Belgium). OBVIOUSLY I CAN'T DO ALL OF THESE THINGS LFAO but I'll just dream. In my little dream world.

Quietly.
*sits in amsterdam and sheds a single tear*.

WELL my first week of classes is done and now I can tell you all about them!
Hurray!

Dutch Language & Culture► It's awful LMFAO... I want to like it I really do but Dutch is like German's retarded cousin. The super guttural g and the fact that w sounds like w not v and v sounds like v and not f totally throws me for a loop every time. Plus, the professor doesn't teach us at all, he just gives us homework and expects us to learn it all on our own. And if we mess up, it's because never his fault, it's ours. Are you kidding me? At least help us out we've taken two classes and he thinks we've already gone from total beginner to being pretty good. Not a chance asshole. Thank god this is only for half the semester.

Introduction to 'Shari'a': Islamic Law & Morality► The course seems interesting, and I'm pretty sure we're going to learn a lot of cool stuff. But at the same time I have no idea what exactly we're going to do, the teacher was so vague about everything. He told us we didn't have to have this one book, and then was like J/K READ THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS FOR CLASS NEXT WEEK!! whaaaaat. fuck you man. *slowly reads it :'|*

Ethnic Diversity & Popular Culture► This course could be really good, or really bad. I can't tell yet, all I know is I have to do a research paper entirely based off my own field work. Fuck! The professor is really overzealous about teaching and this course, so I'm sure I'll be able to make her love me so I can get a fantastic grade even if I can't get a great paper written.

Pleasure & Politics: Anthropological Approaches to Sexuality► I thought this class was going to be about the whole LGBT community and stuff like that, but it's not. It's a class about sexual practices around the world. We're going to dedicate classes on porn, BDSM, fetishes, ritualized homosexuality, rape, sex as torture, the sex industry, etc. I'm so fucking pumped for this class I can't even describe to you guys. I have to do a research paper in this class too but I don't think I have to do field work for it... *screams inside*


And... that's about it! Oh and I've become a weed smoker lmao.... IT'S SO CHEAP HERE?/ i mean 8euro for a gram, you split it between 4 people, it's not only super fun&chill but it's so easy. There's no way I can keep up this habit in the states the weed there is disgusting and so much more expensive. I also went clubbing but it was made expensive and not really that fun. Bars are chill though, you just sit around with some friends and a beer and it's nice. LMFAO I MUST SEEM LIKE SUCH A DRUGGIE LMFAO but i mean amsterdam is just
the most chill place so when you have some drugs it's just
whatever. I dig that.

In other news, I need to buy books and practice riding mah bike!
WHICH I HAVE NOW
85EURO FOR A BIKE&LOCK FUCK YEAH.