This week was only three days long if we're counting the days I had to be at school. We had Monday (Labour Day) off and today was off for "Rest and Relaxation" before the beginning of our actual classes, instead of just the review classes we've been having these past three weeks. The days this week were long, though, and there was lots to do. Hump day just about finished me off!
Monday we had two hours' microeconomics class followed by two hours' break, followed by two more hours of microeconomics class (back-to-back, basically). Then we had a book discussion on what a book called "The Soulful Science," of course referring to Economics. I finished the book 3 weeks ago and so not a lot of things were fresh in my mind, but I did note how I did not appreciate the author (Diane Doyle, a female economist) when she semi-criticized the "difficult mathematics" involved in certain economic models and referred to these as "macho mathematics." She referred to them as such on two separate occasions, several pages apart, which suggests that there's something strongly masculine about involved calculations and/or mathematical theory. Of course, I said this to a group of 12 men. I was the only female around, so I added, "Well, I guess it is a male-dominated field... apparently..." (eyes shifting around the room). I got a couple of chuckles; I don't think they fully appreciated my disgust. I actually had to start the discussions because I randomly chose a spot in the room - we were seated (in chairs) in a circle in the faculty lounge. Of course I randomly chose the spot next to the professor who was beginning all the questions, so of course he turned to me every time he was passing on the question to us 1st-year-PhD students. After 1.5 hours of that, we all went down to the Grad Club to continue discussing economics and perhaps a little bit of the book. There we had free beer. Two of the profs sat next to me and ordered two pitchers for all of us (our group was only about half as big now that we'd moved to the grad club): one light, one darkish. The prof sitting next to me picked up my glass and asked, "Which would you like?" It's almost 6pm by this time and I hadn't had dinner. I said, "Whichever. I usually drink BC beer but..." and then the professor sitting next to him (who is my Macroeconomics professor) said, "Oh! This is BC beer - it's from the Okanogan. It was the darker beer. They poured me a glass and I got all nostalgic and - since I hadn't eaten anything since lunch - slightly drunk. It was a lot of fun, though. Everyone there is very passionate about Economics and was vocal about it, too. And I felt proud that here in Ontario -despite the rumours of there being frictions between the Eastern side of Canada and the Western side (particularly perhaps the West Coast), Ontario academics drink BC beer -straight from my home province!
What really made this week difficult for me was the Macroeconomics homework which I could barely get through. It was due Thursday, and on Wednesday I ended up having to approach my professor, who was indeed very helpful and even somewhat reassuring (despite his constant reminders to all of us 1st-years of how difficult this year is going to be for us due to our heavy workload). It was somewhat comforting that I'd gotten a bit further than I thought I had for one question, and another question was just a matter of knowing the algorithm of steps to follow, or at least knowing where to begin... but if only I'd known that before so many hours of staring from the question sheet back to my scribbles and scratches on my worksheet, and then back again...
I managed to get all my homework done, though - hoorah!
Wednesday and Thursday were TA (Teaching Assistant) Days. We sat in seminars where professors talked to us for 1-2 hours at a time about how to be good TA's for the undergraduate students, and how valuable we are to the university through these positions, and how to "Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!" for tutorials, and expectations we can have of the students, and expectations they can have of us, and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah! It was a colossal waste of time and terribly dull. I am pretty excited to start teaching tutorials to the students, though (that begins one week from today).
Last night (Thursday), after a full day of talking about responsibilities and details of being a TA, I arrived at home exhausted. I did manage to take a trip to the mall, though, and I bought a faux silk duvet cover at a very good price, and some delectable fleece sheets for my bed. I also bought myself a bar of chocolate, but that was a spontaneous self-indulgence. Then I rented a movie! I was in Blockbuster for about 45 min. trying to choose one, but I finally decided on one called, "A la folie, pas de tout," ~ a French movie, translated in English as, "He loves me, he loves me not..." the "crazy" part ("folie") in the French title is ever more perfect, though. It was a movie with Audrey Tautou, and though the first 40min. or so were weird and made me feel like maybe I should just not rent movies anymore, the rest of the movie turned it all into a masterpiece - so artistic and unique and perfect. It really was a piece of art unfolding as a movie. I highly recommend it to everyone and anyone.
Today was wonderfully successful and productive. I woke up early and went to the farmer's market in the parking lot of the mall next to my place. I bought some bell peppers and some apples. I came back home and did some more homework (Micro) and finished that, then I cleaned a bit, did some laundry, then I set off to the university to hand in my homework and buy some books. I bought all my books, even though I plan on ordering several of them online. Then I went to a pedicure I had booked. It was so lovely! I got a great student discount and the beautician gave me lots of time and my feet have never been treated so luxuriously before! And then I asked her to paint them this delicious, ripe red colour, pearly in its lustre. It was OPI. I asked her what the name of the colour was.
"I'm not really a waitress."
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