The Office

So, I'm sitting in 2208 here in the Talmage. It's kindof my office. Kindof.

Really, it's the CSL lab. Where I kindof work. Kindof.

And I was just thinking how much I enjoy being here. In a kindof sick introverted sort of way. I'm set up on my MacBook Pro, with another big additional monitor to my side showing the latest results of my search for housing in Berlin. I scavenged some speakers from the PhD student who used to sit at this desk, and "I'll be Here Awhile" by 311 is blasting at a comfortable level that drowns out the fans from the other computers in the room. (Side note: I just scored tickets to the 311 show in June from my roommate for 12 bucks.. I'm stoked)

My cell phone just vibrated, letting me know that I just got a voicemail. Depending on the weather, the lab offers me a sort of seclusion from the real world. I usually get texts and voicemail notifications when the wind blows he cell signal through the walls, so I can listen to the voicemails and choose whether to respond or not. Same with texts. And if I am ever confronted about never being there, I can just say "I was in my office".

There's also food in here: PB&J sandwiches, and the rest of some funky peach pop I bought for the movie we watched in spanish class last week. And there's a funky set of silverware with wooden handles from China that my dad got from a graduate student sometime in the past. These are utensils used to spread PB&J. The only bad thing is that the brother used the knife to do some PB&Jing, and stuck it in a napkin after he was done... to keep airborne germs and dust from landing on it? So now the knife has stale peanut butter and jam with little bits of green napkin stuck on it.. The little turd:)

Luckily, there's a bathroom right across the hall that does a pretty good job at removing food from utensils. And I'm hungry. And content. In the office.

Provo

This is my first Summer in Provo. I suppose it's technically still spring. But it's beautiful. The morning is a little bit chilly, and the days warm up and are sunny. Everyone at BYU studies out on the lawn. I've been going out with my Spanish group to study on the lawn to fulfill the requirement of 2 hours of speaking with each other each chapter. It's nice.

I also was looking at the mountains the other day, and realized how beautiful they were. Unfortunately, I was driving at the time, so I couldn't really get a good picture.

I sent my acceptance for the Fulbright yesterday, and flights need to be purchased by the 30th, so the whole Germany thing is becoming more concrete. I'm a little worried about housing. There's a free spot in an apartment through the city dormitory system that I really want to live in. The apartment has two rooms, so me and Jordan (the kid who also got the Fulbright) will be able to live there together. It is also subsidized by the government, so it will only run us about 200 euros/month, Which will leave plenty for traveling around. The apartment is also really close to the main Berlin S-bahn Ring, so it will be easy to go anywhere in the city. However, when I try to sign up for the housing, the people tell me that I can't register because I won't be living there until September, and the place is free right now. So they want to make sure nobody will move in sooner. They told me to try to register again in August. Which is one month before we will be living there... man this is is a little stressful.

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So I got a scholarship for spring and summer. The requirements stipulate that I take at least 6 credits each semester to qualify for the scholarship. I only need to take one upper-level CS class and technical writing before I graduate in August, both of which are three credits.

So I decided to take Spanish. I've kindof always wanted to learn Spanish, and figured that this was a good time to take it. So I'm taking artificial intelligence and Spanish 101 this semester, and technical writing and Spanish 102 next semester.

Officially, I've been speaking Spanish for two weeks and a day. And I already know how to conjugate three verbs and introduce myself! Really, it's a lot of fun, although it does take up a lot of time. Oh. And it's at 8:00 in the morning. Bleh. Remember when I took that Bayesian Statistics class that was at 8:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and almost gouged my brain out with a spoon? Yeah, I seem to have forgotten that near-death experience. Now I remember it, except that class is every day. I've compacted my morning preparation routine, and now my alarm goes off at 7:20 in the morning. So I can get a decent amount of sleep if I come in around midnight.

Which reminds me of another problem.. I moved into a way cool house on University Ave, and my roommates love to party. And I love to party with them. However, I haven't found a way to both party all night and be alert for Spanish in the morning.

I secretly hope to be able to use my Spanish at the running of the bulls next summer.

Anyway, back to the title of this post: I decided that I really like Matt Nathanson. His writing style is interesting. Check it out at http://blog.mattnathanson.com/.

Me gusta Matt Nathanson.