Ramblings, musings, and most everything in between

Playing Catchup

Alright, so I know I promised an update a while ago, which I completely fell through on. But, hey, I’m going to give this one the good old college try. Let’s start from the beginning, as the last time I put up a truly comprehensive post was…Julyish?

So, the first semester of graduate school was an odd combination of great highs and lows. For starters the kids in my program are a phenomenal bunch of individuals, and I am fortunate to count them as friends. We’re an eclectic bunch, from literally all over, but somehow we all get along more or less famously. I’ve had a lot of fun times with them so far, and look forward to more of the same. Now juxtaposed upon this cheerful image like the clichéd Disney-esque villain that it is, is graduate school itself. By and large the classes I’ve been taking have been really interesting, and have challenged me in a really good way, but come the last month of the semester or so, all hell literally breaks loose. I still have PTSD from last semester’s finals, but suffice it to say that by December 27th (when the last paper was due, I’ve never before worked on academics after Christmas), I had composed roughly 75 pages of double spaced academic torture.

Additionally, the month of November was particularly glorious, as I grew out my beard for “No Shave November”. To put it gently and fairly, I was the most rugged badass in all the District. We also went home to Ohio for the first time since July for Thanksgiving and my cousin Gary’s wedding. That was a lot of fun (except for the 20 page 1.5 spaced econ paper I had to work on that week), and it was wonderful to see my family, friends, and native land again.

Because I really wanted to focus on the papers, I stayed out East for Christmas. On the positive side, I got to spend Christmas with Jenny for the first time in our five year relationship. Plus, I really love spending time with her family, and since she still has young siblings I was up two hours before dawn on Christmas Day, and I got a Nerf Gun, my first toy in way too many years. The flip side is of course that I missed Christmas with my family, which was a really weird and kind of depressing experience. I’d never been away from home for Christmas, and it was hard not seeing my parents, my brother, or my grandparents. 

After Christmas was a totally different story. I rapidly went into vacation mode, and slept for about 10 hours a night. (Which was much needed after about three straight weeks of awful sleep and three or four all nighters) This was also the first time that I’ve play video games in years after Jenny got me the first two Uncharted games and my awesome MAGES friend Steven exposed me to the joys of FIFA ‘11. He was even so kind as to loan me FIFA ‘10, so that I can get some practice in and kick his ass later. All in all, it was a very relaxing break, and it was great to spend as much time with Jenny as I did. It’s been rough making the transition from being in college, and hanging out pretty much all the time, to her working 9-5, and me having class in the evenings. I’m sure it’ll be less hectic once I’m out of school, but this whole situations really makes me miss undergrad sometimes. 

Alas, like any good thing, break went by far too quickly, and I’m currently back to the grind of graduate school. This semester I have a class on EU-Russia Security Policy, Belonging and Politics in the US and the EU, The MAGES core culture class, and the History of Political Violence since 1945. It should prove to be interesting at the least. This semester definitely had its fun moments too. Last Friday we went to the Library of Congress to get our research cards, and this surreal tour of the Library by a burnt out old hippie librarian. It was phenomenal, and I don’t know that I could ever do justice to the inanities that turquoise belt buckled man graced us with. Afterwards the Department paid for our dinner and we feasted upon deliciously greasy burgers and fries. Later, some of us when bar hopping around Capital Hill and Dupont. It was a really fun night.

Tomorrow I’m going to the ARD Headquarters in DC (the folks who make Tageschau) to get a tour and talk about a possible internship! Even if I don’t get it, I’m just excited to go see this place. I watch die Tageschau at least three times a week, and read their articles pretty much right after I read the American news, so I’m super excited about this!

Alright, well I think that’s it for now. I’m going to try and update this a bit more often than once every 6 months, since according to some people that falls into the category of “infrequent”. Have a great Friday everyone!

Eric