Deadlines and Dorm Rooms: Wrapping Up

I apologize for posting this blog a day late, but in my defense, it is the last one of the semester, and I had my last final to worry about yesterday. I think my finals went well; I knew what all the questions were asking and most of the answers, although I can never tell how much I’m supposed to write on the essays. They’re over, though, which is the main thing.

I had my first exam (Music) on Saturday and the second and final (History) yesterday. It was much easier to study for music; there was vocabulary, and you could listen to the pieces we studied over and over. I don’t know if I’ll ever want to hear Beethoven’s 9^th again. History, though, was the history of philosophy, and it’s rather difficult to study philosophy by rote, so I did more general reading and reviewing of theories.

My free time has been spent going back to the lake for long walks and memorizing German vocabulary. It still hasn’t snowed – not once! – and the weather has been very nice, so the walks have been frequent and allowed me to do some deeper thinking. The vocabulary is progressing nicely, even if it does mean many hours staring at a computer screen. Helen gave me a book of “things to memorize” for Christmas; she knows me well. The rest of my time has been spent dabbling in Norse mythology through the elder Eddas, which I’ve finally found online.

The Eddas are interesting, although I probably like them better because I can’t read them except through the lens of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Still, I can’t see as humans differ much over time or space. For instance, see how you sympathize with these Norse sayings (I paraphrased the translations):

The early wolf catches the sheep.

Where there’s a wolf’s ears, there’s a wolf.

A witless man, when he meets with men/ Had best in silence abide/ For no one shall find that nothing he knows/ If his mouth is not open too wide.

And of course I went to a few events and said goodbye to everyone; for once, I’ll be in the same place when I come back, so the goodbyes weren’t that hard. And I’ll have a great many hellos to say soon. I’m not sure exactly what my break plans are, but I’ll resume my blog when I get back in late January. As I think I can say is traditional by now, I’ll do a little reflection on the semester/year before I go:

Classes were easier this semester, even though I had six of them. They were more sedately paced, and they gave me more time for reflection. They connected in various ways: the philosophy of personal identity made its way into my history class, and my reflections on Nietzsche from German related to the pieces in Music, and in Arabic we were talking about social and political topics that fell under one or another of these umbrellas at times. It’s given me a lot to think about; I love connecting things.

Outside classes I think I’m still seeing the effects of study abroad: more independence, more perspective. They’re easier to see now that I’m back in my normal environment. I can plan trips; I’m organizing my whole life, not just my studies; things are in perspective. And I’m driving here now – that’s a big thing, although I haven’t had to deal with snow yet.

One of the biggest changes since the last time I was at Harvard, which is due both to my development and having more free time, is friends. I’ve learned to better relate to and invest time in people, and that productivity and independence don’t have to mean shutting people out. As a result, I have more substantial relationships with more people now than at most times in my life.

I have to admit I get travel-sick sometimes; I miss all my studies abroad. Still, it’s good to be back in the States, although I may have had more culture shock coming from Texas to Massachusetts than I had in any of my other location-changes (probably because I wasn’t expecting it). I hope that in the future, I’ll have more time to spend adventuring, but I’m also glad I’ve had time to stop and reflect – and even more, now that the semester has ended.

Time is flying by; it won’t be long until I’m back at school and then done with school. Until I write again, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and best wishes!

Pictures: Sorry for all the scenery; it's just been really pretty around here lately.

In case you're wondering, this is getting near sunset, but that's because it's around 3:30 in the afternoon.