Take one.

I am blogging to keep my mind off the fact that my mission call is on my kitchen table. It's just patiently sitting there, waiting for me to stop freaking out, pick it up, and tear into its smug little face so I can find out where I'm going to spend the next year and a half. Maybe smug's the wrong word. Perfect might be the right one--in the verb tense sense, not the flawless sense. Or maybe both. I don't know.

In the meantime...it's that time again! First impressions for spring term!

Arabic 221R (standard Arabic tutorial): This class is the little intravenous line that will keep me alive by infusing my mornings (8 am!) with the subject I love most. I'm so madly happy that Arabic's not yet out of my life that I'm more than ecstatic to do anything this course requires. It's a grammar/texts/vocab review, not necessarily a continuation of Arabic 202, which is a little disappointing, and it's taught by a fellow student, which usually bothers me, but Griffin is dedicated, sincere, and talented and I know this will be a positive experience.

Religion C 325 (second half of the Doctrine & Covenants): I specifically added Brother Dorius' section for a number of reasons: he's kind, open, remembers me, gets to know his students, teaches effectively and interestingly, and (best of all) his class is a piece of cake if you do the work. I look forward to attending. Plus, I'm really thrilled to be getting into the text; I haven't spent as much time as I should have in it in the past and I'm excited to discover it.

Linguistics 450 (historical-comparative linguistics): Mixed reviews about the professor (Skousen) led me to walk in with apprehension, but I think we're really going to get along. He's old, funny, opinionated, intelligent, and confident and I'm looking forward to the hours I spend in his classroom. Language reconstruction is hard, and I remain scared of when I have to do it on my own, but such additional exposure to the finer points of my major is reminding me why I changed it in the first place. I know I like a class when my notes are covered in meta-notes (margin musings, quotes, examples, etc.).

Honors 201 (biblical and classical roots of Western civilization): Hmm. This is the only class about which I am unsure. It's a Civilization 1 GE class (ugh) and we have a grading TA (ugh), but I'm hoping for a better experience in an honors section. It's essentially a comparative literature course, and the reading list comprises classics from Gilgamesh to Dante, which looks promising, but I'm just not sure about the professor. He seems funny, but his mannerisms and style of speech confuse me, and the syllabus looks complex. Time will tell?

*Bonus Audit! Near Eastern Languages 511R (Dead Sea Scrolls translation): I'm excited to study and translate the Dead Sea Scrolls with one of the members of the official translation team (and an editor of the Biblica Hebraica Quinta, which I am psyched to get when it's all done). I'll learn the nuances of Qumran Hebrew and how to read the handwritten text on the scrolls as well as gain a comprehensive background in their content and scholarship. And I'm just auditing, so there's no real pressure grade-wise.