Book Addict's Blog

Time again for one of my round-ups! This is a pretty full one. I had more time to read last semester than I've had in a LONG time. And of course, I did lots of other cool things as well!

Books I've read:

• The Rope Trick by Lloyd Alexander (reread)
• Fire by Kristin Cashore
• Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox
• Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold (reread)
• Dresden Files Books 1-12 by Jim Butcher
• Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
• Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The History of Rasselas by Samuel Johnson
• Lady Susan by Jane Austen
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman
• Queen of Attolia, King of Attolia, and Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner (re-read on the first two; also, got halfway through The Thief)
• The Sally Lockhart Mysteries (Books 1-4) by Phillip Pullman

Places Visited:

• Colorado, USA
• Maastricht and Amsterdam, Netherlands
• London, UK
• Brussels, Brugge, and Ghent, Belgium
• Monschau, Berlin, and Munich, Germany
• Athens, Thessaloniki, and Poros, Greece
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Bern and Interlaken, Switzerland
• Salzburg and Vienna, Austria
• Venice, Milan, Siena, Lake Como, and Florence, Italy
• Madrid and Sevilla, Spain
• Paris and the Loire Valley (inc. Bloise and Tours), France
• Dublin, Ireland
• Edinburgh, London, and Stratford-upon-Avon, U.K.

Productions Seen:

• Les Miserables (two different productions, in London and Edinburgh)
• Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre in Prague
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (the ballet) at the State Opera House in Vienna
• Oliver! in London
• Legally Blonde the Musical in London
• Macbeth at the Globe in London
• King Lear (Royal Shakespeare Company Public Understudy Performance) in Stratford-on-Avon

Other random things I've done:

• Volunteered at Junior Winter Camp at Forest Home
• Taken and passed the PRAXIS II
• Got my B.A. from Baylor University!

It was quite a semester!

Well, it’s been almost two months since my last real update. But then, I’ve never claimed to be good at updating on a regular basis. Busyness combined with laziness just get in the way. So, here’s the first part of a rather condensed version of what I’ve been doing lately. I actually typed it up before I went to Rome this past weekend (which was amazing!), but I didn’t have a chance to put it up. Hopefully, the next couple of parts of the update will go up within the next week or so!


( Cut for length and pictures... )

Well, it’s been two weeks since I last updated, and I don’t really have an excuse! Things were still crazy the first week of classes, but in the last week, things have finally begun to settle into a routine. It’s still a pretty crazy, fun-filled routine, but a routine all the same. 

The Roman Aqueduct in Segovia

 

( I told you it was long... )

 

I'm here! I arrived late this morning after a smooth trip going from Los Angeles to Toronto and Toronto to Madrid. No lost luggage or delayed flights or anything like that this time! After going through customs and waiting forever to get my bags, I took a taxi to the university. It took me a little while to figure out where I was supposed to catch the taxi, but after that it went smoothly. Thankfully, I had a note from my university telling the driver where to go, because the driver didn't know English and my Spanish wouldn't have been enough. However, the driver and I did talk a bit on the trip over, so I started getting practice in my Spanish right at the beginning!

Well, I finally changed majors.  I was an Applied Math major.  I actually applied to my school as an Engineering major, but changed it to Applied Mathematics before I registered for my first semester's classes.  However, I wasn't ever too confident about my major. I chose math because I'm good at math, and the applied part was because I'd want to put my math knowledge to practical use.  But I didn't know what I would do with that major, and wasn't even sure I'd like it.  People would ask me my major, and I'd always tell them the answer, and then tell them I was thinking of changing it.

Last semester, I added History and Computer Science minors.  History has been something I've really enjoyed for awhile, and I discovered I liked Computer Science my first semester when taking an intro course required for my math minor.  So those were possible majors, especially the history. Computer Science, not so much, because it just takes so many units and I want to be able to take random electives. The problem with switching to a history major is that my practical side had too many reservations about the idea (what would I do with such a major?).  And of course, I'm just generally indecisive and like to keep my options over.  I have few career plans in mind at the moment (though as of now, being a librarian or a teacher sounds appealing), so I didn't have those to go off of.

So earlier this week I finally made a decision. I switched degrees (I was going for a Bachelor of Science, now I'm going for a Bachelor of Arts), and changed my major from Applied Mathematics to a double major in History and Computer Science.  I'm keeping math as a minor, as I only need one more class. Plus, the type of Computer Science major I have requires a minor, since you have to take "only" 36 hours of Comp Sci. classes.  Anyway, this is a compromise between my practical side and the side of me that just wants to do what I like.  I really like both Computer Science and History, and while I like History better, Comp. Sci. gives me more options career-wise if I don't decide to be a librarian or a teacher. 

Things still aren't completely certain. I have to meet with my advisers to make sure I've planned everything correctly. I also need to petition a couple of my classes so they count towards my new requirements with my new degree program.  And finally, this new plan puts me on a pretty tight schedule. I won't be able to take a whole lot of extra electives.  So I may end up dropping Computer Science back down to a minor. But I figure it's easier to start with it as a major and demote it rather than deciding later I want it as a major and having to graduate late because I didn't get all my requirements done on time.

One of the main reasons my class schedule will be tight is that I want to study abroad in Madrid, Spain next semester. I've been talking about it for a bit now, and last week I finally turned in my application. I still have some other paperwork to fill out for my own school, but that's not due for awhile.  At any rate, unless something major comes up, it looks like I'll be studying in Europe this fall!