Semblance of a Whole

And Now for Something Completely Different. . .

One of the reasons I took this job was for the tuition benefit. The idea of taking classes here at the U of M for free is really attractive. What I didn't realize was how hard it would be to fit a class -- and the necessary time for homework/preparation -- into a life already filled with a full-time job, Scottish country dancing, singing with a local a capella ensemble, and a fondness for travel, not to mention such mundane tasks as laundry, cooking, cleaning, exercising, and basic hygiene.

Thus, it is only after three years of employment that I finally decided I could no longer let this opportunity pass me by. I made the hard choice to take a break from the singing group and most of my dancing for a semester, and to cut back on the travel for the next several months.

Having decided to make time for a class, the next decision was what class to take. There are so many intriguing possibilities! The University of Minnesota is huge and offers a seemingly endless array of choices. Should I continue my undergraduate studies in religion? What about taking some classes in history, an area which I have (rather surprisingly for an archivist) relatively little formal education? Since I find myself increasingly interested in and involved in information technology, why not take computer programming? Or how about something totally impractical, like "The Historical Origins and Development of Rock Music to 1970"? In the end I fell back on my old vice, language bagging.

I have a lust for languages, and when it comes to languages, I'm a bit of a Don Juan. I don't seem to be able to settle down into a long-term relationship. So far, I've flirted with Danish, and German. I've had flings with Spanish and Hebrew. I had engagements with French and Russian but never made it to the altar of fluency with either one. I love the early stages of learning a new language -- mastering the pronunciation, puzzling out the grammatical structure, acquiring basic vocabulary -- but after that I tend to lose patience. I considered signing up for a French or Russian class. I truly do want to improve my skills in those languages (or at least remember all the stuff I've forgotten since college). But in the end, I couldn't resist the temptation to try something completely different.

I had my first two classes in Chinese this week. I'm going into this new relationship with my eyes open. I love the idea of mastering a language that is so alien to most Americans and, at the same time, incredibly useful since it is actually the most widely spoken language in the world (according to Infoplease, there are almost twice as many speakers of Mandarin Chinese as the next most popular language, English). But for right now I'll just take it one day at a time and hope for the best. Maybe I've finally found "the one." Stay tuned . . .