samui desu!
(eigo de: It’s cold!) Finally, it is so cold now that there is not a day with a high above 70 degress in the ten-day forecast!
Also, I find myself rather envious of my New York friends whose weekends have already started. If only the beginning language program were not so intensive! demo nihongo wa ii desu, and I wouldn’t trade it. I haven’t actually said anything about my classes this semester, have I? I’m taking post-colonial literature with an awesome professor (who took pictures—shashin o torimashita; forgive me, I have a test in the morning—of everyone so that he could make flashcards to learn our names) who said he would give extra credit to the person who could say something completely irrelevant about the readings. My other English class is on women’s poetry, but I swear I’m not turning into a feminist.
Bill Clinton came to my school yesterday (Wednesday, actually) with Lois Murphy and Ed Rendell. I waited in line for two hours, and then I waited around in the cloisters (luckily!—not everyone could get in to see them in person) for another hour and a half before all of the speakers showed up. Just as they were about to come out to do their speeches, it started raining. Admittedly, I did not stand in the rain to watch; I had secured a spot along the wall, and when it rained I just stayed under cover. Either Murphy or Rendell (you’d think I should be able to tell them apart, but I can’t remember) brought up something about global warming in their short speeches, which was pleasing. Clinton’s was about the original intent to form “a more perfect union”—a phrase he repeated often—and that the current, special interest, ideological (contrasted to philosophical), most right-wing group of Republican leaders do not have the same goal as our founders. He said that the Democrats were now the nation’s liberals as well as conservatives. Since he was at a college, he brought up a lot about college tuition and the cuts from the education budget that were used to pay his tax cut. He apologized and said that he prefers that we be able to go to college. He, having taken off his coat in the rain, said that it was his 31st wedding anniversary and he wanted to keep his coat nice because he was taking his wife out after the rally.
Several times people have tried to get me to register to vote in Bryn Mawr’s district or to volunteer for its Lois Murphy. I love when I tell them that I’m in Sestak’s district and they respond with things like, “Oh, stay in that district; we like Sestak,” and “Okay, if you put your information down we’ll forward it to Sestak’s campaign people.” I must make more of an effort this year to get the Democrats elected (more than in 2004, the only other time I was really that politically-active, when I only went out on election day’s night to make sure the Democrats were voting). Does anyone know if you need your voter registration card (that they sent in the mail) to vote if it’s your first time, or is photo id all that is required?
October 13th, 2006 at 8:40am
namaste. kya tum aaj bahut kushi ho? Now we’re both writing languages with their own scripts in our alphabet.
Even if you have class on Friday (gross! well, I might have to do that next year), I am envious of your Clinton visit. Last night I was reading an article in the NYT about his apparently lifelong struggle with weight loss and his current crusade against childhood obesity–anyway, whenever I hear about Clinton I’m struck by the descent in presidential charisma we have experienced since then.
By the way, there isn’t anything wrong with being a feminist.
And I don’t think that you actually need to show the voter registration card…but you should verify that from someone else. I only remember showing my driver’s license.
[upside down]!Adios!
October 13th, 2006 at 9:48am
ano, kore ga wakarimasen. demo, hai, sou desu.
Yes, I know what you mean. I think Rendell maybe had said something about getting Lois Murphy in Congress, and then he joked about getting Clinton back into the presidency. Everyone laughed, but it was actually rather sad.
I know their isn’t, I’m just not. I was never interested in women’s studies or anything, but I decided to take the course to see what other female writers had done because, potentially, I could do that, too. It’s been more interesting than I would have thought originally.
Ohh, you’ve voted before? Is it fun? I’m really excited.
Jaa, mata.
October 13th, 2006 at 10:37pm
Does it make you feel any better that I now work 8 hour days on Friday at Roundabout?
I hope things are well.
October 13th, 2006 at 10:55pm
Perhaps. When do those eight hours start? : )
I’m on fall break now, so things are good at the moment, thanks. I would ask how you are, but I don’t know if you would actually read my response comment to your comment, so I won’t. But if you do happen to read, you could let me know, if you wanted to.