Joe here. I just wanted to let everyone know that the LSAT was today and I think I did a pretty good job. Scores come out in about three weeks.
Now I've got time for all the wonderful things in life, like teaching myself linear algebra.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
News from the temperate rainforest
Jenny here with some more observations about Juneauites:
That's what they call themselves: Juneauites.
A ton of people here forgo regular shoes and don rain boots. That's not so surprising, except that everyone has the same kind! They're called "Xtra Tuffs" and they're these kind of ugly brown and creme colored rubber boots, originally made for fishing. Everybody has a pair! In class people fold down the tops so it looks like they have huge cuffs. I checked them out and they're anywhere from $75-90. I contemplated it, but I'm going to a.) look for some cuter and less expensive boots or b.) see how well my running shoes fare. My feet get a little wet but they dry real quick, plus the soles have great traction.
People drink a lot of coffee here. Well, people drink a lot of coffee in San Diego too, but here a lot of people use their own coffee mugs at school. They carry around ceramic mugs from class to class, the professors especially. My history teacher doesn't put his down while he lectures, just waves it around as he speaks. Some people even have special lids that go down into the coffee mug so you can sip it like a tumbler. There is a cafe between the library and the classrooms and people can pay in advance and just self-serve all day out of the coffee presses. Or wait in line for espresso :)
As much as it rains, almost no one uses an umbrella. So far, I've seen two. And I've seen one person wearing a plastic poncho. Everyone else goes with their hood up. The hardcore Juneauites go bare headed. It rains at least 5 days a week. I've been carrying my own umbrella to keep myself semi-dry, but I'm finding out that my hands get really cold (my mittens aren't done yet). So I'm trying no umbrella and letting my rain jacket take it all. It feels kind of liberating actually. Plus, carrying a wet umbrella around all day to classes isn't the best. Joe has never opted for an umbrella, by the way. He's an Oregonian.
--
I'm in a writing class and the whole class had to pick a topic together. It's an argument paper and half the class is for and the other half is against. The argument is about whether Juneau should build the road out. Juneau is currently isolated, one can only get here by plane or by boat. It's really interesting researching the subject as an outsider. It's also a little difficult because everyone has a leg up on me in that department, having heard about it for years. I have to argue against it, and it's pretty easy actually. The road is supposed to pass extremely close to endangered wildlife habitats for the Stellar Sea lions and bald eagle nesting sites; it's basically on the side of a mountainside cliff that has 36 dangerous avalanche chutes; and the biggie, the road currently ends at a ferry port and this road would not even connect Juneau to the highway, it would just connect it to another ferry port 60 miles away... Anyway, it's really interesting getting into the local politics.
Joe and I are doing fine. I've got papers and tests all due at once. Joe is taking his LSAT this Saturday morning, so keep your fingers crossed for him. He's doing reaaaallly well on his practice tests, he's going to do great. Other than that, daily life goes on as usual. School and gym, then we hunker down for the evening with a couple episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer before bedtime. The days are getting shorter. I got out of the gym last night to discover at 8pm that it was pitch black outside! It's a 10 minute walk down a trail to get home. It's lit but it was still a little scary! Gotta watch out for bears.
Hope everyone is doing well.
That's what they call themselves: Juneauites.
A ton of people here forgo regular shoes and don rain boots. That's not so surprising, except that everyone has the same kind! They're called "Xtra Tuffs" and they're these kind of ugly brown and creme colored rubber boots, originally made for fishing. Everybody has a pair! In class people fold down the tops so it looks like they have huge cuffs. I checked them out and they're anywhere from $75-90. I contemplated it, but I'm going to a.) look for some cuter and less expensive boots or b.) see how well my running shoes fare. My feet get a little wet but they dry real quick, plus the soles have great traction.
People drink a lot of coffee here. Well, people drink a lot of coffee in San Diego too, but here a lot of people use their own coffee mugs at school. They carry around ceramic mugs from class to class, the professors especially. My history teacher doesn't put his down while he lectures, just waves it around as he speaks. Some people even have special lids that go down into the coffee mug so you can sip it like a tumbler. There is a cafe between the library and the classrooms and people can pay in advance and just self-serve all day out of the coffee presses. Or wait in line for espresso :)
As much as it rains, almost no one uses an umbrella. So far, I've seen two. And I've seen one person wearing a plastic poncho. Everyone else goes with their hood up. The hardcore Juneauites go bare headed. It rains at least 5 days a week. I've been carrying my own umbrella to keep myself semi-dry, but I'm finding out that my hands get really cold (my mittens aren't done yet). So I'm trying no umbrella and letting my rain jacket take it all. It feels kind of liberating actually. Plus, carrying a wet umbrella around all day to classes isn't the best. Joe has never opted for an umbrella, by the way. He's an Oregonian.
--
I'm in a writing class and the whole class had to pick a topic together. It's an argument paper and half the class is for and the other half is against. The argument is about whether Juneau should build the road out. Juneau is currently isolated, one can only get here by plane or by boat. It's really interesting researching the subject as an outsider. It's also a little difficult because everyone has a leg up on me in that department, having heard about it for years. I have to argue against it, and it's pretty easy actually. The road is supposed to pass extremely close to endangered wildlife habitats for the Stellar Sea lions and bald eagle nesting sites; it's basically on the side of a mountainside cliff that has 36 dangerous avalanche chutes; and the biggie, the road currently ends at a ferry port and this road would not even connect Juneau to the highway, it would just connect it to another ferry port 60 miles away... Anyway, it's really interesting getting into the local politics.
Joe and I are doing fine. I've got papers and tests all due at once. Joe is taking his LSAT this Saturday morning, so keep your fingers crossed for him. He's doing reaaaallly well on his practice tests, he's going to do great. Other than that, daily life goes on as usual. School and gym, then we hunker down for the evening with a couple episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer before bedtime. The days are getting shorter. I got out of the gym last night to discover at 8pm that it was pitch black outside! It's a 10 minute walk down a trail to get home. It's lit but it was still a little scary! Gotta watch out for bears.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
School begins
Jenny here. Sorry for the great lapse between posts. Joe and I have been settling in an adjusting to the new town and our school schedules.
Juneau is a very pretty place to be. We haven’t explored too much more of it yet but the area around the campus is great. In fact we were going to go on a hike to the glacier today, but the weather is a little wet and windy, and we haven’t bought proper footwear yet. Another time. I really want to see the glacier up close! We can see the top of it between the mountains from a couple views around campus.
The campus is very small, probably a ¼ the size of Grossmont (for San Diegans). Our classes are all in the same building! And that building is attached to the library, where we hang out quite a lot. So we don’t even have to go outside to get to our next class. I have two classes in the same room. This is a big change coming from San Diego State where everything is HUGE and spread apart. I’m in a big survey class, the biggest they offer, and it has 30 students. My other classes have closer to 16. The one on one atmosphere is refreshing.
Our classes are going well, we’re enjoying them too. Joe is taking Art history and French on campus, then Statistics, calculus 2, and US history online. Then in his spare time, he is studying for the LSAT – and for those of you just tuning in, Joe isn’t going to law school, he’s going to teach LSAT classes through a testing center. He’s doing remarkably well, testing in the 99th percentile! He takes a practice test every other day and he’s really getting a great understanding for it. The test is composed of two logic argument sections, and then a logic game section and a reading comprehension section. No law, just logic. It’s tough stuff. I’m going to attempt it as well, but later.
I am studying for the GRE, and not to go to grad school, but to teach classes at the Kaplan testing center in San Diego. I’m studying lots of vocabulary right now. At school I am taking British literature survey 1, Advanced composition, and US history survey 1 on campus – then Alaskan Literature: Native and non-native writings online. I really like my advanced composition class; it’s stepping outside of academic writing (finally!) and teaching how to write in the real world. My teacher is fantastic; I’m going to learn a lot from her.
It rains a lot here, being a rainforest and all. But even when it is cold and grey outside, the atmosphere is still bright and lively. I think it’s the moss, personally. There’s moss covering everything in the woods here and it is so vividly green that it perks everything else up around it. In cities when it rains everything gets grey and brown and dirty. Here it makes more color. Pretty soon though, probably in late October, the color will be white! I’ve noticed it getting a little bit colder even in the few weeks we’ve been here. The sun is setting /just/a little earlier every week too. I think by December it will set around 3-3:30pm, and rise around 9-10am. We’ll get back to you on that. I’m knitting Joe some gloves and some mittens for me. I have a lot of ideas about what I’m going to knit for me! Cold weather promotes knitting!
I think we’re going to explore the local movie theater tonight, after a grocery shopping trip. Everything is an event when one takes the bus :) But a week ago we decided to forgo the bus and walk home, below are the pictures we took along the way.
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