(-:
Here's a brief update:
I got a Canadian number through Fido! I'm happy except now I can't really call my family- but it's fine, I have skype.
A friend of mine from my neighborhood at home who goes to Dartmouth is coming to visit on Friday! I still have to figure out exactly what the agenda will be for her stay here, especially since it's getting to be a bit too cold for walking around and enjoying oneself to happen simultaneously. We'll see.
I went to church last Sunday! I enjoyed it too. I've never really enjoyed church as far as I can remember. I've enjoyed certain aspects- singing, the community, the benefit of listening to people whose general messages I selectively agree with. I think I've reconciled myself to this: I do not plan on ever being confirmed but as long as I'm not confirmed I don't mind going to church. This speaks to something our priest mentioned in his sermon: when you repeat after the priest you are essentially surrendering yourself to some piece of the oldest successful international corporation on Earth. As he said, how do you really know that you're not compromising yourself, that you are actually acquiescing to the "right" thing? Obviously I disagree with his conclusion because I'm still technically a heathen. So... I guess that by remaining unconfirmed I am going to church on my terms. This is perfectly agreeable to me. I do not believe the mythology in the bible (though I don't discount it for its historical merit and it's sometimes relevant applications to today) but I do enjoy some things about church. I enjoy saying "peace be with you" to the people around me, I enjoy hearing some of the things the priest says, I enjoy finding out about community events (next Sunday we have a get together with the Lutherans from the church at Prince Arthur and Jeanne Mance.) So anyway. That's where I am with the Catholic Church. And I'm not sure whether I'm going to start going regularly.
Onto more important things...
As of now I have decided to visit NYSID in February with my dad, apply for the fall without a portfolio and defer for a year if I'm accepted. I realized that every time I go to my poli 212 class (Government and Politics in the Developed World -after WWII) I get a particularly strong desire to transfer. It's sometimes surprising how difficult it is to see a pattern like this in one's own life- but now that I've thought about it, I might really like McGill more if I just were taking classes that interest me. SO: to the end of having a more fulfilling academic experience here I am signed up for three linguistics classes next term. I have to get permission to take one of them but I'm going to talk to the prof and I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to. Additionally I'm taking a biology class -and I know that I have at least a couple of friends in it, specifically the guy I'm hoping to room with next year and his girlfriend. I still have to take German, but I will have a different prof, so hopefully that class will start to feel useful. I still occasionally have a really strong desire to leave after this year in pursuit of a design curriculum, but I ultimately recognize that having a friend one wants to live with, not just perfunctorily but for the fun of it, is probably a pretty rare thing. So New York has to wait another year for me while I make the most of my friendships here. I'm feeling good about this decision for now. Sorry New York.
