First Entry

Hi!
Since Kim has been writing in the family blog, I decided to start one on this site as well so I can write and keep in touch this way.

Last night I went to a really good concert. My roommate Logan's best friend is the singer in the band Eskimo and Sons. (Click to see their MySpace and hear some of their songs!) They are a band from Portland but the campus radio station, KWVA, had their 15th birthday party last night and Eskimo and Sons came to Eugene to play at it. There were quite a few other bands, including one that my friends are in called Blast Majesty. They have played in our garage so it was very cool to see them play on a real stage! There were three other bands which were also pretty good.

Today Chris and I took his dog Grendel to the dog park. Since I don't have a dog, it is nice to be able to "borrow" his sometimes. I really miss Lucy since we had to put her to sleep and I can't wait until I am stable enough on my own to be a dog owner again, but until then Grendel is a nice substitute. She is an English Pointer and is really sweet.

Here is a recent picture of Grendel:



I am waiting to be called by Hollywood Video about my second "panel" interview with them. I did well at my first interview, which was very informal. I am hoping they will choose to employ me, since I have worked at Hollywood before which means I wouldn't have to be trained which would save them time and money.

This weekend was my German Retreat. It was a one credit pass/fail class (I passed!) that entailed spending a night in a lodge and speaking ZERO ENGLISH. It was really hard since I'm only a first year student, but the higher level students helped me figure out what I was trying to say most of the time. We learned some traditional German dances and songs, and had a potluck with German food. I held real conversations in German and even played cards in German! It was really fun! It makes me want to go to Germany. Chris has a good friend who lives there and he said it would be really fun to go visit him, and I agree. I am planning on taking German 105 this summer and then I'll be able to take the 200 level courses next year since I didn't get in to a class this term. The class in the summer would only go from July 23rd to August 13th and would be a fast-paced intensive, but I think it will be fun. The teacher would be a native German speaker, which would be neat!

I am also taking a History class and a Linguistics class this term. My History class is a basic one covering the 17th and 18th centuries, but my Linguistics class is really interesting. It is called "Language, Gender, and Power" and is about how the dialects of females and males differ. It gives me a lot of insight on why males and females often have trouble communicating.

I'm having a lot of fun this term! I'll be trying to update this blog weekly, to keep you guys posted on what I've been up to. Miss and love you all!