What I've Been Up To...

To be quite honest, I've been not blogging because I've been sitting around waiting for something interesting to happen or something inspirational or creative to pop into my brain, but sometimes, life is just constant, and I guess I've just gotta appreciate that.

To keep those of you who care to know informed, I'm adjusting to college life just fine thank you! Class every morning starting at eight! Luckily, having just one roommate makes it easier to be in bed at a reasonable time most nights, especially one who sleeps 16 hours a day...no joke! Daye is extremely easy to live with, though, aside from the fact that she eats all the fruit, cream cheese, and bread. But I just tease her about those. :) We figured with only 2 of us, it'd be easier to share anyway. One of her first comments to me at the beginning of the year as we were eating dinner: "How are you not fat?"

.....uh.....thanks? I like food, ok?! I guess it's just the Korean/American culture clash. And I ate salad for a meal like 4 times this week, thank you!

A couple weeks ago, I was called as Ward Choir Director/Co-Music Chairperson. I know, big shocker right? Before I left home, my bishop jokingly suggested calling me as ward choir director, and my dad replied saying that if he did, no one would show up cuz I'd make them all go home! Not entirely true...but he did have a point. Back home, ward choir was extremely frustrating to me because it seemed like most people had the attitude of "if we can't sight-read it, it's too hard to learn." Plus, it was a bunch of old people, all the old ladies thinking they could still hit a high G or A and everyone refusing to sing alto because it was harder than the melody. It was just a frustrating experience, but apparently, that's not the norm. Everyone up here is so excited for ward choir! People keep asking me when practices start and sending me sweet notes of encouragement and support. When I passed a sign-up around, I was astounded when it came back with 60 signatures on it. Yes!!! I think the Lord's trying to show me what Ward Choir is supposed to be like.

As for academics, this semester, I'm taking Honors Writing, Book of Mormon 2, Italian, Biology, and Civilizations of Music. Here's the rundown:

Honors Writing with Dr. Fullmer:

• He teaches full time at BYU and UVU. At UVU, he teaches a course on heavy-metal rock and organizes benefit heavy-metal rock concerts. 
• He's extremely sarcastic, but luckily, I know how to catch it. It's hilarious to watch him mess with the other kids who've never had a teacher like that before. 
• Aaron Compton is in my class, and we're understanding how blessed we are for having the teachers we've had in the past. We're so prepared! I never thought I'd admit how excellent Mountain View really is!
• Me and Aaron basically lead the class discussions....not to brag or anything...we've just been through this stuff before. Our teacher loves it, but who knows what our grades are like... We had our first writing assignment, analyzing Hamlet, and while everyone got full points, our teacher graded them anyway to show what we would have gotten.... And quite truthfully, me and Aaron were a bit humbled....

yup....a big fat whopping C+. Granted, Aaron did do a bit better, but still no A... My teacher was in a bad mood that day anyway, talking about how lazy we are and how we're "writing dumb." But he made the point to say, "Don't take it personally." However, that was negated when he quietly handed me my paper and said, "Now you, I'm particularly disappointed in. You know you can write better than that. You know you're smarter than that." Granted, I know it wasn't my best paper, but still.... I'll try harder on the next one, I guess...

Book of Mormon:

• I love my teacher and the discussions we have in class. He has the best stories and applications for the scriptures!
• Lucky me, our only assignment is reading 15 minutes a night. I kinda feel bad, though, because Daye has only been a member for 2 years, and she has one of the intense teachers who requires them to know not only the stories, but the dates and cities and maps. Yikes.

Italian:

• My professor is super cute and only 22. All the girls in class admitted to doing the ring-check, and sure enough, he is married. Married his high-school sweetheart after his mission.
• No English in class! Niente inglese! But it's amazing how much that helps! I took 2 years of Spanish, but I'm fairly certain I could already get by in Italian as well as I could with Spanish. Granted, it is confusing at times, because they're so similar, but I'm having a lot of fun, and doing well in that class. Now, writing in Italian? That might be a different story...we haven't done much of that.

Biology:

• I've always loved biology and science-y sort of stuff, but this is just a regular old general lecture class. I wish it was more interesting. Hopefully, I'll be able to pull a good grade. I had my mom mail me my 9th grade biology notebook that I filled with definitions and detailed pictures of cells and charts. It's surprisingly helpful! Thank goodness I saved it!
• My teacher likes to tell lame jokes, and he specializes in Mammalogy, specifically Utah river otters and kangaroo mice. His goal is to "change our mental picture of the world." Thank you, Dr. McMullin, for caring, but honestly, I just want to know what's on the test. He spends more time on tangents than on the actual lectures. Oh, well.

Civilizations of Music:

• Love this class! We study art, architecture, literature, and music from Ancient Greece all the way up to the 18th Century. So so so fascinating! If Vocal Performance somehow doesn't work, I may just consider Art History. Who knows what I can do with it, but I love it!
• Plus, Dr. Howard is from Australia. He's hilarious, too. Quote from class on Friday: "Everything I learned about Medieval culture, I learned from Monte Python." So we watched the scenes of the Black Knight and the Witch Accusation to demonstrate Medieval logic and Gregorian chant. Personally, I'd rather not waste time, but I guess a little break from the lectures is ok once in awhile. :)

And finally...

BYU Singers!

When I learned I was in BYU Singers, I did not anticipate anything like this. I don't even have words to describe my experiences so far with these amazing people and our incredible director, Dr. Ronald Staheli. I still don't think I've grasped what a big deal this choir really is. We had to sign a contract promising various things at the beginning of the year, such as "I promise to be happy...I promise to not start a family this year (well, Duh!!!!)...I promise to view this opportunity as a performing mission for the Church...I promise to live my life in accordance with the gospel so that I may effectively bring others to the Light of Christ...etc." This is a huge opportunity, and I'm so thankful for everyone who's a part of it. Our rehearsals are filled with such a strong Spirit as everyone works for that goal of sharing our testimonies through the powerful medium of music. We'll be going to Chicago in March and to Colorado and Wyoming the first weekend in May. I can't wait! Go here to see our full performance schedule for the year. If you can, don't miss our Christmas performance!

So, there's my life. I planned on blogging about being in Salt Lake for General Conference this weekend, but I guess now I'm just obligated to post again in the next couple days.

Love and miss you all!