i just got off the phone with olechka, after talking to her for two hours, without my headset. actually i'm kinda hungry.
the poor thing called me in tears because she's freaked out about switching schools (for the 4th time), and moving to a different host family (the original one that she was assigned to). she's worried about making the wrong decision switching schools and families. the poor thing just needs to take a deep breath and realize that everything is going to be okay. she's not switching schools because there is anything wrong with her, we're just kind of in search of a better situation. i'm glad that we were able to talk it out...but now i'm starving....but it's too late to eat anything. argh.
kristel came to visit me today! it was so great to see her...and so weird that we weren't seeing each other in france. i miss paris a lot...it was nice to have someone who really understands to reminisce with. we had a quick lunch then went to mike's pastry for cannolis and boston cream puffs. yum!
second week was good. not as hectic. i'm a little ahead on my work though, so that is a useful thing right now. next week though, we go back to three classes of civ pro a week....so help me!
on a slightly related note...i love law school. i feel really lucky to be at northeastern, where it's possible to breathe and take it all in. today we did some peer critiquing in our law office. i just gotta say that i feel SUPER lucky to be in this law office....every single person (so far) works hard and takes it seriously. we haven't had any problems with anyone. the group is good. listening to some of the stories about things that were happening in other law offices, i just really think i lucked out. you know, everytime there is group work, there is always that chance where you'll just get a dysfunctional group - the kid who's hard-headed, the one who never does ANY work, the one that you have to pester a bazillion times before you get a product....nope. we don't have any of those. as i said...lucky.
tomorrow we (meaning laura and i) are going to go shopping. i need boots....not suede, not black. =) i think she wants to go coat shopping.
the rest of my furniture comes in next saturday...happiness abounds when it gets here.
i know this entry is all over the place...and super-random. i blame the hunger.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Saturday, September 08, 2007
finally...a little bit more sleep
the first week of law school, i would have to say i averaged about 5.5-6 hours of sleep per night (on a good night). our schedule was a little fluky for awhile because we had some extra stuff going on in the week. we made up some classes for civil procedure because our professor is going to be absent for two days in october, we had Legal Skills in Social Context (LSSC) a lot more than normal, plus meetings....needless to say, lots has been going on. in beginning i started to realize that if i got home past 6pm, i was pretty much screwed for the night. after getting home, i would relax for 30 minutes, whilst i heated up some dinner...then i would start homework and read cases and articles pretty much until i had to collapse...usually around 1:30-2:00...then if we had an early morning I would have to wake up at 7. luckily the past couple of days have been better....
thanks to a case that ran over the scheduled number of days, i didn't have property homework for a couple of nights. the syllabus got pushed back a day and i had a chance to breathe again. only because i did all my homework for the class already. thank goodness for that! i'm REALLY trying not to let law school rule my life at this point...but truthfully - it is...BIG TIME.
the problem at this point is that i've only been in school for a little over a week. sometimes it literally feels like i've been here for months. the sheer amount of work that i have put in so far makes it feels that way...but it's only been over a week. terminology is very new....reading cases is new...and just this tuesday, i started to brief everything that i have been reading...so that's new as well. i CAN'T wait till this stuff gets to be old hat and it doesn't take me so long to read through this stuff. i know it will get easier...sometimes just shifting through the terminology is causing me to read passages over and over and over again.
....but the funny thing is...despite all of this....i really like it. the material is really interesting. the cases where the lawyers mess up both freak me out (cuz what if i make stupid mistakes like that), and crack me up. the stupidity of some people is just amazing.
socially...things are going okay. i haven't really had a chance to "hang-out" since school started. but i'm starting to develop a closer-knit group. i also joined APALSA, which is the student organization for asian americans. i'm still deciding if i want to be involved with international law society - i think more than likely, yes....and i'm considering joining the law frat since it doesn't appear to be a lot of work at this point, and who can't use networking. =)
as for boston....well....i love boston. this city has a good pace. where i live is always in a hurry since it's the north end of chinatown and the theater district...plus super-close to the financial district. there's like 5 T-stops within a third of mile of my apartment. so there's definitely a lot of foot traffic. it was a little noisy when i first moved-in because i'm on the corner of a busy intersection. but i'm definitely getting used to the noise. the first week drove me bananas...but i'm good now. =) i do miss paris a lot though.
sometimes when i'm walking through town, i think about paris and how much i loved it there. i loved the layout of the city, the ease of getting around. don't get me wrong, the T is wonderful and super-convenient....but the odd thing is...the paris metro system is MUCH MUCH better. it's so ironic how a country that is so completely inefficient in so many ways, has one of the most efficient and easy to use metro systems in the world. only bad thing about paris metros (other than the smell) is that the cars are not air-conditioned. the T is...thank goodness! paris is just so amazingly lovely. there is really no other place i have been to that is quite like it. there are parks everywhere....and everywhere you look you get the feeling of old european architecture. there are gorgeous gothic churches all over the city, and the smell and sight of baked goods on every corner. *sigh* i haven't found any place that can beat it. also...it's easy to just remember all of the good things about paris, since i'm not living there. i don't think that anyone can deny that there is magic in that city though. when you walk through paris, you walk with a gait. it's like being happy all of the time.
anyhoo....time to sleep...tomorrow i've got a library date with my group. and the work shall commence again....
thanks to a case that ran over the scheduled number of days, i didn't have property homework for a couple of nights. the syllabus got pushed back a day and i had a chance to breathe again. only because i did all my homework for the class already. thank goodness for that! i'm REALLY trying not to let law school rule my life at this point...but truthfully - it is...BIG TIME.
the problem at this point is that i've only been in school for a little over a week. sometimes it literally feels like i've been here for months. the sheer amount of work that i have put in so far makes it feels that way...but it's only been over a week. terminology is very new....reading cases is new...and just this tuesday, i started to brief everything that i have been reading...so that's new as well. i CAN'T wait till this stuff gets to be old hat and it doesn't take me so long to read through this stuff. i know it will get easier...sometimes just shifting through the terminology is causing me to read passages over and over and over again.
....but the funny thing is...despite all of this....i really like it. the material is really interesting. the cases where the lawyers mess up both freak me out (cuz what if i make stupid mistakes like that), and crack me up. the stupidity of some people is just amazing.
socially...things are going okay. i haven't really had a chance to "hang-out" since school started. but i'm starting to develop a closer-knit group. i also joined APALSA, which is the student organization for asian americans. i'm still deciding if i want to be involved with international law society - i think more than likely, yes....and i'm considering joining the law frat since it doesn't appear to be a lot of work at this point, and who can't use networking. =)
as for boston....well....i love boston. this city has a good pace. where i live is always in a hurry since it's the north end of chinatown and the theater district...plus super-close to the financial district. there's like 5 T-stops within a third of mile of my apartment. so there's definitely a lot of foot traffic. it was a little noisy when i first moved-in because i'm on the corner of a busy intersection. but i'm definitely getting used to the noise. the first week drove me bananas...but i'm good now. =) i do miss paris a lot though.
sometimes when i'm walking through town, i think about paris and how much i loved it there. i loved the layout of the city, the ease of getting around. don't get me wrong, the T is wonderful and super-convenient....but the odd thing is...the paris metro system is MUCH MUCH better. it's so ironic how a country that is so completely inefficient in so many ways, has one of the most efficient and easy to use metro systems in the world. only bad thing about paris metros (other than the smell) is that the cars are not air-conditioned. the T is...thank goodness! paris is just so amazingly lovely. there is really no other place i have been to that is quite like it. there are parks everywhere....and everywhere you look you get the feeling of old european architecture. there are gorgeous gothic churches all over the city, and the smell and sight of baked goods on every corner. *sigh* i haven't found any place that can beat it. also...it's easy to just remember all of the good things about paris, since i'm not living there. i don't think that anyone can deny that there is magic in that city though. when you walk through paris, you walk with a gait. it's like being happy all of the time.
anyhoo....time to sleep...tomorrow i've got a library date with my group. and the work shall commence again....
Sunday, September 02, 2007
first week of NEU-SLAW
first week of school has been pretty interesting. the reading, actually is not bad....you know all the reading that people say law students have to do....well....it's actually MUCH more than anything you have probably imagined. easily 50-100 pages of dense text per night.
classes themselves are and aren't as scary as people say they are. professors do choose people at random and ask them to answer...but for the most part, they don't care if you give a right answer or a wrong answer. they want to hear how you think - what conclusions you have drawn and how did you get to that point. civil procedure is going to easily be my most difficult class. it really is like speaking another language. and the professor goes really fast in class, which means i have to prepare very well before class, pay attention in class, and review the material afterwards again. i'm going to try and do that for all my classes...but we all know how it goes. there is only so much time in the day...and while law school is the number one and most important reason i am here (and something that I want to do), it isn't all encompassing. i want to be able to do other things as well.
also, i've met some really cool people here. the further along in school you get, the cooler the people are (at least in my opinion). i think that generally is because people have more experiences at they get older and they get more comfortable with themselves and it is easier for them to share things about their lives. i went a meeting of the asian-american law students a few days ago, and it was super interesting to hear where people had come from and what experiences they had (and sometimes even how those experiences brought them to law school). i'm really interested in immigration now, and probably want to do one of my co-ops in the legal services specializing in immigration. that's the cool thing about co-ops, we can choose anything we want and go anywhere. i'm thinking new zealand, at least one french speaking country, and then maybe a stint with probate back in CA (preferably SoCal). i have one more, but i'm going to leave that up in the air and just pick something that becomes interesting to me over the next year and a half...maybe intellectual property. we'll see.
on a happy note - my desk and chair were delivered yesterday. i was SO HAPPY when they got here. thank goodness, because studying on the ground is really not fun or comfy. my bookshelf also arrived. there were cracks in the wood, so new pieces are being delivered in the coming week. chair and bed will also come around the end of the month. all in all....the place is starting to feel more like home. i put up my photos on the wall, as well as some posters i got, and postcards from paris. question is now...do i want a tv? i've lived without one for a long time, but it is a convenient way to keep in touch with the world. watching the news or other stuff is a nice way to take a little break. so we'll see....
funny thing happened today::: chad and i called each other at the EXACT same time...to the minute. it was kinda funny. i was calling him to say hello, since i haven't spoken to him in a couple of weeks. then i get this incoming call. i thought it was really bizarre. my call hadn't even rung yet, and already he was calling me back? so i got confused and hung-up on him...then i called him back. turns out he was calling me at the same time....so just like us. once in language class, we had this silly exercise where we just had to choose a number and then our partner had to guess what the number was. it was like any number we wanted. chad and i were partnered together and he wrote down a number, and i guessed "45" as my first guess...and that was the number he wrote down. anyways...we thought it was very funny and had a nice chat.
anyways...time for me to study. it's a good time now...studying is still interesting to me. i know there will be a point where i'm like..."man i have to STUDY?!"....but at least it hasn't hit me yet...and i hope it won't....until the next two semesters and the summer quarter are over and i have to start CO-OPs. =)
classes themselves are and aren't as scary as people say they are. professors do choose people at random and ask them to answer...but for the most part, they don't care if you give a right answer or a wrong answer. they want to hear how you think - what conclusions you have drawn and how did you get to that point. civil procedure is going to easily be my most difficult class. it really is like speaking another language. and the professor goes really fast in class, which means i have to prepare very well before class, pay attention in class, and review the material afterwards again. i'm going to try and do that for all my classes...but we all know how it goes. there is only so much time in the day...and while law school is the number one and most important reason i am here (and something that I want to do), it isn't all encompassing. i want to be able to do other things as well.
also, i've met some really cool people here. the further along in school you get, the cooler the people are (at least in my opinion). i think that generally is because people have more experiences at they get older and they get more comfortable with themselves and it is easier for them to share things about their lives. i went a meeting of the asian-american law students a few days ago, and it was super interesting to hear where people had come from and what experiences they had (and sometimes even how those experiences brought them to law school). i'm really interested in immigration now, and probably want to do one of my co-ops in the legal services specializing in immigration. that's the cool thing about co-ops, we can choose anything we want and go anywhere. i'm thinking new zealand, at least one french speaking country, and then maybe a stint with probate back in CA (preferably SoCal). i have one more, but i'm going to leave that up in the air and just pick something that becomes interesting to me over the next year and a half...maybe intellectual property. we'll see.
on a happy note - my desk and chair were delivered yesterday. i was SO HAPPY when they got here. thank goodness, because studying on the ground is really not fun or comfy. my bookshelf also arrived. there were cracks in the wood, so new pieces are being delivered in the coming week. chair and bed will also come around the end of the month. all in all....the place is starting to feel more like home. i put up my photos on the wall, as well as some posters i got, and postcards from paris. question is now...do i want a tv? i've lived without one for a long time, but it is a convenient way to keep in touch with the world. watching the news or other stuff is a nice way to take a little break. so we'll see....
funny thing happened today::: chad and i called each other at the EXACT same time...to the minute. it was kinda funny. i was calling him to say hello, since i haven't spoken to him in a couple of weeks. then i get this incoming call. i thought it was really bizarre. my call hadn't even rung yet, and already he was calling me back? so i got confused and hung-up on him...then i called him back. turns out he was calling me at the same time....so just like us. once in language class, we had this silly exercise where we just had to choose a number and then our partner had to guess what the number was. it was like any number we wanted. chad and i were partnered together and he wrote down a number, and i guessed "45" as my first guess...and that was the number he wrote down. anyways...we thought it was very funny and had a nice chat.
anyways...time for me to study. it's a good time now...studying is still interesting to me. i know there will be a point where i'm like..."man i have to STUDY?!"....but at least it hasn't hit me yet...and i hope it won't....until the next two semesters and the summer quarter are over and i have to start CO-OPs. =)
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
the first day!! (well, sorta)
so this is the day that i have been anticipating for a long time. even though i have picked up my life a couple of times and moved to foreign places where i didn't know anyone and i couldn't converse...i have to say i was probably more nervous and anxious about my first day of law school than i was about moving to ukraine! i actually had problems sleeping last night because i had all of the same stupid thoughts...what if my alarm doesn't go off on-time (why wouldn't it? i've been using the same darn alarm for the past three years and the only time i didn't wake up was because i set the thing, but didn't turn the alarm on!)...what if it's too damn hard (okay...that's probably a legitimate concern)....what if i don't "click" with anyone there (stupid stupid stupid! c'mon, what am i in junior high?!)....and of course there are the self-doubts of - what if my accomplishments up till now are just crap compared to everyone else?
okay...i know that all of those are silly concerns, and i don't really dwell on them. but starting in a new place is hard and sometimes dumb stuff just floats in and out at random. anyways...naturally all of those concerns (apart from the one where i'm going to have to work my tail off) flew out the window with orientation.
it was a good day.
after attending orientation and meeting the people i will be pretty much living with for the next year, i am really excited and happy about starting this next chapter of my life. i really feel that i will have a wonderful law school experience at northeastern for a variety of reasons. it feels like a really strong, balanced....and most of all - happy - law school community. so many people get jaded with the law profession after attending law school, and i was concerned that it might happen to me as well....but now i'm almost certain that it will not. i feel like i will have the opportunity to really get to know my professors, on a personal and professional level. granted, perhaps not all of them, but a few good contacts are always good. i also feel the faculty has some really great personality. there are a few professors who seem kind of dull, but over 90% of the ones introduced today were humorous and fun, not boring and stodgy. i saw 2 out of my 3 profs today, and both of them are pretty stellar individuals. i heard the third one is pretty awesome as well.
i've already started my readings (started about a week ago)...and while some of the stuff seems insipid (like how to do legal research), for the most part everything i have read has been really interesting! it is A LOT of reading though, and we haven't even started class yet. studying right now really seems like a chore though, because i have no desk and chair. they won't arrive till saturday (argh!). so i've been sitting on the floor next to my bed, using a large box as a desk. it's not quite so bad - i've sort of made my own make-shift ghetto office....but my tailbone and back start to hurt after 45 minutes...then i move to the bed where i read until i get too comfy...and then back to the floor again. it really isn't a good study situation and i seriously CANNOT WAIT till the stuff comes on saturday.
anyways...there is of course lots more to share...but i really have to sleep.
okay...i know that all of those are silly concerns, and i don't really dwell on them. but starting in a new place is hard and sometimes dumb stuff just floats in and out at random. anyways...naturally all of those concerns (apart from the one where i'm going to have to work my tail off) flew out the window with orientation.
it was a good day.
after attending orientation and meeting the people i will be pretty much living with for the next year, i am really excited and happy about starting this next chapter of my life. i really feel that i will have a wonderful law school experience at northeastern for a variety of reasons. it feels like a really strong, balanced....and most of all - happy - law school community. so many people get jaded with the law profession after attending law school, and i was concerned that it might happen to me as well....but now i'm almost certain that it will not. i feel like i will have the opportunity to really get to know my professors, on a personal and professional level. granted, perhaps not all of them, but a few good contacts are always good. i also feel the faculty has some really great personality. there are a few professors who seem kind of dull, but over 90% of the ones introduced today were humorous and fun, not boring and stodgy. i saw 2 out of my 3 profs today, and both of them are pretty stellar individuals. i heard the third one is pretty awesome as well.
i've already started my readings (started about a week ago)...and while some of the stuff seems insipid (like how to do legal research), for the most part everything i have read has been really interesting! it is A LOT of reading though, and we haven't even started class yet. studying right now really seems like a chore though, because i have no desk and chair. they won't arrive till saturday (argh!). so i've been sitting on the floor next to my bed, using a large box as a desk. it's not quite so bad - i've sort of made my own make-shift ghetto office....but my tailbone and back start to hurt after 45 minutes...then i move to the bed where i read until i get too comfy...and then back to the floor again. it really isn't a good study situation and i seriously CANNOT WAIT till the stuff comes on saturday.
anyways...there is of course lots more to share...but i really have to sleep.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
boston!
here i am in boston! it was rather nice to get off the plane and head over to my new place. as expected...it was empty, but remarkably clean compared to what i was expecting. there is a CVS about three doors down from me, so first order of business was going there to get cleaning supplies! i spent the rest of yesterday re-cleaning everything and waiting for my mattress to arrive. i'm pleased to report that the apartment is clean and the mattress arrived on schedule. i am even more pleased to report that the internet guy came this morning and installed wireless in my place! i called yesterday and he was here today....now that is good service.
i've never really moved-in by myself and without a car. not having a car has definitely hindered the "getting stuff" bit. i REALLY need to get to target and pick up a lot of bulky stuff...but i dunno when that will be. small things i can carry - but laundry basket, trash can, dish rack, etc...either several trips are in order, or i just have to wait for someone with a car to help me (i prefer the later) =). amazon.com is my best friend. fast free shipping, no tax....c'mon easy choice.
so i plan to spend the next few days running errands and walking around. i would like to make a pot of gazpacho as well, as soon as my pots and pans get here (tomorrow!). at least i have a bed! still waiting on the desk, chair, and bookshelf. where are you?! slowly but surely this place is starting to look more like home. YAY!
i've never really moved-in by myself and without a car. not having a car has definitely hindered the "getting stuff" bit. i REALLY need to get to target and pick up a lot of bulky stuff...but i dunno when that will be. small things i can carry - but laundry basket, trash can, dish rack, etc...either several trips are in order, or i just have to wait for someone with a car to help me (i prefer the later) =). amazon.com is my best friend. fast free shipping, no tax....c'mon easy choice.
so i plan to spend the next few days running errands and walking around. i would like to make a pot of gazpacho as well, as soon as my pots and pans get here (tomorrow!). at least i have a bed! still waiting on the desk, chair, and bookshelf. where are you?! slowly but surely this place is starting to look more like home. YAY!
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
new beginnings...
lots of endings and lots of new beginnings lately....i feel like i'm closing the door on one part of my life and starting to open the door to another part. i thought about getting a new blog for awhile now, so this seems like a good time to wipe things clean and start anew (so to speak).
i've been traveling around for awhile now...seems like ever since i graduated i've been flying back and forth across the pond, across the states, across europe. there's always a place to go and a face to see. while i love traveling...i'm more than a little weary of moving back and forth so much. the jet-lag is starting to get to me. i have easily racked in over 25,000 traveling miles (by plane and car) in the past 2 months alone. traveling is so exhausting! i'm tired of living out of a suitcase, and dying to do something more permanent (like buy a hand-mixer and a keurig machine). odd as it sounds, having little things like kitchen appliances of my own signifies that i'm going to be stationary for more than a few months. it would be NICE to be stationary for more than a few months.
at the same time it's sad because i know that the bulk of my globe-trotting days are over. i've chosen a path that will allow me to stay in one place for an extended period of time...and extensive traveling doesn't really fit into the schedule for the next few years. i'm very grateful and blessed that i was able to take a few years to do a lot of things that i wanted to do. the experiences have been amazing and unforgettable. it was wonderful and i'm a little sad that period of my life is over (for the time being)....but it's time to start the next part.
kinda sad....kinda wonderful.
--------------------------
rant of the week - who in this day and age can afford to pay for grad schools in america?!
let's face it, the majority of university graduate tuition stretches above $30,000 a year (mine is over $35,000). plus...we gotta eat, buy books, buy coffee, and buy booze (which IS a necessity because what grad student realistically does not need a short break once and awhile). in total the average grad student probably spends between $45,000-$55,000 a year for everything. who can afford to pay for that? even if a family pulls in an annual income of over $250,000 (which i picked randomly) before taxes, which would mean they could live more than well.....$50,000 a year is completely out of the question. being that the average american family doesn't make anywhere near $250,000 a year....again - who can afford to pay tuition to american universities other than the extraordinarily wealthy? it's kind of a shit system. my host dad asked me how much my tuition was going to be for law school and i told him $35,000...and he asked, "for the whole thing?" and i said, "nope, for one year." he didn't believe me. i think that he thought there was a language barrier and i didn't understand what he was talking about. i had to repeat it three times before i shocked him silent.
i've been traveling around for awhile now...seems like ever since i graduated i've been flying back and forth across the pond, across the states, across europe. there's always a place to go and a face to see. while i love traveling...i'm more than a little weary of moving back and forth so much. the jet-lag is starting to get to me. i have easily racked in over 25,000 traveling miles (by plane and car) in the past 2 months alone. traveling is so exhausting! i'm tired of living out of a suitcase, and dying to do something more permanent (like buy a hand-mixer and a keurig machine). odd as it sounds, having little things like kitchen appliances of my own signifies that i'm going to be stationary for more than a few months. it would be NICE to be stationary for more than a few months.
at the same time it's sad because i know that the bulk of my globe-trotting days are over. i've chosen a path that will allow me to stay in one place for an extended period of time...and extensive traveling doesn't really fit into the schedule for the next few years. i'm very grateful and blessed that i was able to take a few years to do a lot of things that i wanted to do. the experiences have been amazing and unforgettable. it was wonderful and i'm a little sad that period of my life is over (for the time being)....but it's time to start the next part.
kinda sad....kinda wonderful.
--------------------------
rant of the week - who in this day and age can afford to pay for grad schools in america?!
let's face it, the majority of university graduate tuition stretches above $30,000 a year (mine is over $35,000). plus...we gotta eat, buy books, buy coffee, and buy booze (which IS a necessity because what grad student realistically does not need a short break once and awhile). in total the average grad student probably spends between $45,000-$55,000 a year for everything. who can afford to pay for that? even if a family pulls in an annual income of over $250,000 (which i picked randomly) before taxes, which would mean they could live more than well.....$50,000 a year is completely out of the question. being that the average american family doesn't make anywhere near $250,000 a year....again - who can afford to pay tuition to american universities other than the extraordinarily wealthy? it's kind of a shit system. my host dad asked me how much my tuition was going to be for law school and i told him $35,000...and he asked, "for the whole thing?" and i said, "nope, for one year." he didn't believe me. i think that he thought there was a language barrier and i didn't understand what he was talking about. i had to repeat it three times before i shocked him silent.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
