Autumn in Aberdeen is beautiful.

The mixture of sun and rain, the yellowleaf carpets softening the treacherous cobblestone streets, the noisy raven visiting the tree outside my kitchen window, the vines on the buildings turning crimson. What a vacation from life. I feel like I'm in a dream. Hope College, Taco Bell, the Chillicothe Public Library, Nicoliolshkins, everything is so far removed.

I'm in love with my classes. One of the Birth of Modernity lectures last week was about David Hume's problem with not knowing who we are, because our experiences shape who we are, and we are constantly changing. The professor gave an example of an old janitor and his broom. The janitor has been using the broom for years and over time has needed to change the handle, and then change the head of the broom, and then the handle again, etc. So is it still the same broom? I've been having so many new experiences lately that often I feel really disconnected from myself. The Ella that boarded a plane September 4th is much different from the one sitting here typing right now. But this is a good thing. I came here to grow.

I don't know if teaching is just different here or if I just got lucky choosing classes, but my mind is so full right now and I'm learning so many new things. This history Birth of Modernity class is amazing. As is my Literature, History and Thought: 1848-9/11. I am just realizing how much our lives are governed by culture, and how silly it all is sometimes, and how much there is to learn! I feel sorry for the people coming hundred of years after us, they will have even more to learn. But I suppose by that time humans will all have little memory chips embedded in their brains and won't have to take time to go to lectures and read and think. So my history class is about Europe and Enlightenment and Romanticism and stuff that I've only had hazy conceptions about. My literature class is also taking a whole new approach for me. We are focusing more on literary theory (right now Russian Formalism and Marxism) and historical and social context and less on just reading. Everything is so interesting and daunting and new, I feel like my mind is going to explode (in a good way). And when that happens, I have good old straightforward ancient Greek to study. I love learning new languages.