Why is it that on Wednesdays I feel compelled to catch up on old newspapers before I can begin the business of scholarship? It took quite a while yesterday, and I never really got rolling on anything else.
I COULD give up the newspapers (especially the daily) and just get my news on the weekend or online, but I like the feeling of being connected to the world every day, however tenuous that connection might be. Reading hypertexted newspapers feels wrong; there's something right about reading an entire set of the stories that a team of journalists has found to be THE news of the day. (Yeah, buying into the dubious notion of relying on professionals instead of forming my own notion of what's important, news predigested for the global consumer, etc.) I do read the BBC Europe news almost every day online but it's very Brit-centered and I'm mainly skimming for potential controversies that would suit a dissertation.
Polish on Tuesday night was NOT fun. I spent all day working on the exercises and vocabulary but I just couldn't learn the words, so I spent all of class with one eye on the textbook as a prompt for all the new (reflexive) verbs. It was very disquieting. But I have found someone who wants to study with me, so that will be good. We are both having the same trouble: we have no problem (present week excepted) learning the vocabulary and grammar and producing correctly written sentences, but the oral and aural components leave us bewildered.
To honor those who died in WWI, a bit about the trenches...later.
Posted by otto0114 at November 11, 2004 09:00 AM