Update on the Last Five Months

I'm not sure who frequents Xanga anymore, which is partly why I've been posting exclusively on LJ for the past five months, but an update may be in order here.

The first term of my M.A. came and went.  Marks mostly were what I had expected, so that was good.  I decided in October that I wanted to switch out of the Project-based English M.A. (more coursework, shorter paper at the end - about the length of an article one could publish in a scholary journal) and into the Thesis-based program, which is sort of ironic, given that the only reason I decided to do this M.A. was because I knew I didn't have to do a thesis.  I didn't have much of an idea to start with, but I had an epiphany a few weeks ago, so my topic now looks something like this: I want to examine the figure of the Gothic villain/Byronic hero in Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (written by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte respectively).  I may look at this using some of the research being done in masculinity studies at the moment.  I haven't had much time to work on the thesis so far, since I've been busy with my coursework, but after the middle of April, I'll have about a month to get my thesis proposal ready, so I'm sure I'll figure out a lot more then.

Had a good Christmas.  Had some very minor surgery in December, which was then followed up with two weeks' worth of daily visits from homecare nurses.  A bit of a nuisance, but it's done now and I'm all healed up.

This term, I have two seminars (one continuing from last term), plus a non-credit class in reading French, designed to help History and English grad students to fulfill their language requirements.  I've already got a language (Latin), but if I go on to do PhD work, I'm sure I'll need at least one other language.  Plus, if I'm going to be doing Bronte research for the forseeable future, I'd better learn French some time.

There are only ten days of classes left.  I've got two term papers to write by mid-April, plus one exam to study for (open-book, though), and I have to write the final test in my French class.  Then it'll be on to thesis work.

And then, in May, my boyfriend and I are going to Europe.  The first 10 days will be spent in London, mostly.  We're also going to spend one night in Edinburgh (so I will be in your neck of the woods, Tay, though there's no time to go up to St. Andrews.  :(  Alas.) and take two day-trips.  We haven't quite decided on those yet.  We know we want to go to Oxford or Cambridge but haven't decided on which one.  The other day will be spent in Canterbury or possibly in Portsmouth (the idea of seeing the HMS Victory is very appealing...).  Then, the last five days will be spent in Paris, during which time we will hopefully get out to Versailles for a day.  I'm really looking forward to the trip, especially since it isn't all that far away anymore.

Election!

Canada had its federal election today (the third in five years).  We went into the election with a Conservative minority government and, guess what, 5 weeks and $300 million later, we still have a Conservative minority government.  I don't think anyone's very happy about this.  I'm not surprised, though I wish the Liberals could have won.  Maybe next time.  We'll probably have another election within the next three years or so.  Hopefully something will change then.

***

Aside from politics, life is good.  I love being a grad student.  I have a nice, sunny office in the library building.  I'm doing a bit of work as a writing tutor.  The first mark I got back was in line with what I was used to as an undergraduate (thank goodness).  And everyone in my program is nice, interesting, and helpful, which is wonderful.  Also, the classes are good and the work is rewarding.  On the other hand, I've got three or four big projects to finish by the end of term and I'm a terrible procrastinator, so I may feel slightly less enthusiastic about all this in November, when I'm frantically trying to write a term paper and an annotated bibliography, plus edit a short 18th-century play.

Ack!

Back-to-School & Signs that It's Autumn Even Though the Calendar Claims It's Still Summer

As soon as the calendar page flipped to August, I felt, deep in my soul, that it was back-to-school time.  I bought my textbooks in the middle of the month and have read a big chunk of the one on Textual Scholarship (it's fascinating - really!).  I've been dying to get back to school and whip my brain back into shape; for the last couple weeks I've had the feeling that my brain's slowly turning into mush from being out of school since the end of April.  My recall isn't as good as it was when school ended, I'll tell you that.  However, considering the amount of reading I've been doing lately, I think it's safe to say my discipline hasn't suffered.  Of course, I'm always like this, gung-ho, ready to work at the beginning of every new school year.  Now it is September, and I'm almost there, almost ready to start my Master's Degree and probably work harder than I've ever worked in my life.  It's also sort of thrilling to know that for the first time in my life, I'm going to school absolutely voluntarily.  And it'll be awesome to be among other people who love English as much as I do, students and professors alike.

But now I've realized that today is the last day of my summer freedom - tomorrow is the English Dept.'s orientation for new grad students and Thursday I have my first seminar.  So now my excitement is leavened with a bit of sadness for the end of my days of leisure and a bit of fear, the kind that comes with starting something new.

***

I know it's only the beginning of September, and we're supposedly due almost three more weeks of summer, but trust me, autumn has arrived in Saskatchewan, and it's come on fast this year.  It could pick up again later in the month, but it feels distinctly like fall (which is kind of too bad, because I was sure the weather would be lovely for back-to-school this year).  Over the last week or so, we've gone from very hot weather, to cool, cloudy, and rainy with no end in sight.  There's less light now (it never used to be so dark at 9 pm).  Tonight there's a risk of frost.  The downstairs of our house is distinctly cool, with the mercury sitting at just 20 degree celsius.  If it dips below that, I'm going to give in and turn on the furnace.  And that, my friends, signals the beginning of the end.