Hobbits, Hebrew, and Harvard-Yale

                There are eight days left until Thanksgiving break; I have the exact countdown on my phone. This is, in fact, the last full week of school before Thanksgiving, and when I post again, it will be on the last day of this section of the semester.

                Of course, Thanksgiving doesn’t mean that the semester’s over, but you must realize that we’ve only had one holiday in the entirety of the rest of the semester. A five-day weekend sounds pretty good. Besides which, when we get back from Thanksgiving, there’s only one more week of classes before Reading Period and finals, so the bulk of the semester is for all practical purposes finished a week from today.

                Of course, there is still a lot to do. There are papers to write, projects to finish, and exams to prepare for, on top of the normal work that’s still coming. The fact that we’re close to the end means I have less and less motivation to work; I still get things done, but I’m increasingly distracted by things like sleep and TV. I did watch the second two Lord of the Rings movies for the first time over the weekend. I didn’t get as much work done as I would have liked, but I was glad I finally saw them.

                There is a definite psychological effect to the early sunset here. The sun has started setting by 3:30-ish, and the official sunset is shortly after 4:00. By the time I get out of class, it will be dark. I will either go and sit in one of the libraries, with the artificial lighting reminding me I’m stuck inside, or I will go to my room, where my window will remind me that the lighting would be perfect for sleeping if I’d just flick the light switch off. Either way, I won’t want to work. Everything was amplified by the rain yesterday, although I did manage to get something done.

                Not that I haven’t been doing a lot of things besides studying. On Saturday we had the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, which went nicely. I helped with set-up and check-in, so I was helping out starting around 4:30, and dinner ended up being a little late – 10:30 pm late – so I went ahead and left after the formal part of the evening, but it was good to see everyone in a social capacity.

                Also, this weekend is The Game – Harvard vs. Yale – and I got my free ticket yesterday, so that’s exciting. It also means that in a cappella we are preparing for our joint Harvard-Yale concert – Yale is coming to Harvard this year, so we don’t have to travel; we just have to host. We’re also learning some Christmas songs for caroling a little later in the year, which is exciting. Speaking of which, the feeling of Christmas is definitely in the air around now. Carols are stuck in my head, the store windows are decorated, and everyone’s finally capitulated and started wearing heavy coats and boots.

                Yesterday was a busy day as well; I went to the Hebrew department’s dinner, where I had pita and falafel for the first time since this summer, and listened to a speaker on Israeli music. The falafel wasn’t as good as in Jordan, but I definitely enjoyed dinner more than I did last semester, when I couldn’t enjoy it at all. In addition, this year, when people spoke Arabic as well as Hebrew, I could still make out some of what they were saying.

                Also this week in the Hebrew department, we had two screenwriter/directors come and talk with us about their work. We’d watched movies from both of them in class, and both of them graciously agreed to come talk (on different days) and answer questions about their films. It was very interesting to hear what they had to say, although when I tried to introduce myself I kept accidentally switching to Arabic instead of Hebrew.

                As you can see from the last few jam-packed paragraphs, there’s a lot still going on; college doesn’t stagnate like elementary or high school around the end of the semester, where everyone reviews and has parties and whiles away the time. There’s still a lot to be done, although I will say we do a lot more whiling than usual around this time of year. It’s strange to think that I only have about three weeks left at Harvard before I leave – not just for Winter Break, but for next semester and summer as well; I won’t be back until next August.

                This is the last lap of the semester before the final burst of energy to help me down the final stretch. I’m not sprinting yet; I’m still jogging. But I can already see the finish line.