Laundry day

There comes a time in everyone's life when the big question presents itself:

Why is the rum gone?

No, seriously, the question I'm talking about is, "what now?" or rather "what next?". I was confronted it for the nth time today during my physics midterm. Alright, alright, it wasn't a tsunami-scale disaster, but I'd say it-rained-a-lot-and-now-the-basement-is-flooded is a good analogy. I'm pretty sure I got at least half the points, but I don't think I got much more than that.

So. I ask myself again. Is physics really the right idea?

The thing is, the dilemma is, I like physics because it's difficult, because it challenges me, because I feel like I'm actually learning something. I hate physics because it's difficult, because challenging me also means frustrating me for hours, and because to be quite honest, I'm not very good at it.

Oh, I do alright. I'm not too bad at grasping the abstract concepts, actually. But then there's the calculations themselves. I just don't seem to have a feel for it, no easiness with it. And this brings me to the next point: is a UCU bachelor's enough? If I really want to do physics, I'll have to develop some easiness with calculations, I'll have to become better at this, and I think the only way do do this is practice, practice, practice, which means doing many more physics courses than are offered at UCU.

Oh, I'm sure it's possible to work things out. I mean, I could do one, maybe two, basic physics courses here next quarter, then take some off-campus courses when I get back, and who knows, I might actually be up to speed. The problem is that I'm not entirely sure physics is what I want to do. It's kind of a negative choice, which doesn't mean that I don't like physics, but which means I mostly settled on it because nothing else seemed interesting enough to focus on exclusively for several years. It doesn't mean it's a bad decision, it does mean that I doubt it sometimes.

To put this in perspective, it is true that most people in my physics class are fourth years, so it's logical that they're better than me at juggling around equations. And, truth be told, they didn't think the midterm was too easy either.

Oh well, enough about physics. I'm shaking it off for now, I'll worry when I get my grade. And if all else fails: I seem to be pretty good at human genetics (131/150 on the second midterm), and that's kinda interesting, not too easy and all that, so I have a fall-back option.

Plus, you know, life is great. Why worry or be unhappy about anything when the sun is shining so much you can put your laundry on your balkony to dry, when you're going to Spongebob Squarepants for 2 dollar this evening, when there's a party tomorrow night...And, of course, when your family is in the same country as you, the same state even, and they're going to be here for your birthday, conveniently on the middle day of a long weekend.

While they are in the same state, by the way, they are not currently in the same city. With the Cherokee Jeep dad paid too much for to rent, they went to Monterey first (visited the Hearst Castle, I'm told), they are now in San Francisco, and....it's raining, pouring so much they can't see 3 meters in front of them (or at least that's what they tell me).

They were here on Sunday though, and that was very, very nice. They woke me up at 9 (despite the strange shots, without a hangover, but with angry intestines), and after I showed them the campus we went to Santa Monica, Venice and finally to the Getty center. The last thing I hadn't seen yet (shame on me), and I'm glad I did now. The building and the layout are wonderful, the view phenomenal...but the artwork? I think it's best described as unknown works by famous artists. Seriously, you'd be in a room knowing there was a, well, say a Frans Hals. Well, asked to point out which one it was, you'd probably see two obvious choices...and the actual Frans Hals would be an entirely different painting, one you'd never guess was by Frans Hals.

Dad made a valid point about this though: art history is heavily canonized. We tend to think of artists in term of defining works and styles, forgetting that they might have done a lot of different things too. As a reminder of that, I agree that the Getty is an interesting experience.

The rest of the week so far was pretty boring. On monday I woke up 5 minutes later than usual, and as I wanted to get to my midterm on time I made my coffee to go. Long live my Starbucks mug...which I of course left on the kitchen table. The good thing is: apparently I can still function relatively well without caffeine. Yesterday, I skipped the second half of my film class to go grocery shopping, cooked for me an Nico, and made him watch half an episode of Gilmore Girls (the second half, Nicole watched American Idol. The sacrifices I have to make...;-) )This morning I overslept, waking in a panic at eight, then calming down when I realised it only meant I missed my genetics class (which is taped anyhow, so I'll watch it at the library tomorrow), and that I could still make it to my midterm on time.

In short? *Yawn* I think I'll save you the day by day account from now on, for the simple reason that it's boring. I am in the routine now, go to class, make sure I eat, go to capoeira (I'm quite proud, haven't missed a class yet) etc. A routine abroad is no less boring than a routine back home, and I'll spare you the details starting now.

One small note in conclusion: dad remarked that the tone of my blog is a bit "Ils sont fous ces Americains" (or "Rare jongens, die Amerikanen" in Dutch. I don't know the english version, basically he complained I present americans a bit too much as crazy people). I agree. I do point out things that, to me, are very odd, and I might exaggerate for comic effect. That does not mean, however, that I've lost my sense of cultural relativism: I am fully aware that in American (or basically foreign) eyes, Dutch people and Dutch habits are pretty crazy too.

Ils sont fous, ces humains...

Cheers,

H.