my school has the worst pizza, and the best history teacher i've ever had. scratch that the best teacher ive ever had. My hitler, nazism and the second world war professor is a german man teaching in ireland and he is one of the most animated invested teachers ive ever seen. in a lecture class of 200 he still engages students. still cares if they show up, and notices. today (as it's the last day of class and the paper has already been turned in) he showed up to teach anyways, and there were 8 of us, 4 of whom were americans so he asked where the rest of the class was hiding, checked under a desk or two, then handed out copies of the comic Maus (which i have been meaning to read fo 3 years!!!) and started to talk about what connects and separates totalitarian dictatorships and facist dictatorships. amazing. the man is simply amazing. he walks up and down the aisles of the classroom translating directly german passages into english. just. amazing. thank you for teachers like this existing who can turn a graduation requirement into my most frustrating and favorite class. nine times out of ten when i am writing here and thining about something, it is because of this class, it makes me connect what i learn to my world. teachers like this, they make the difference between school and education.

hey all,

it is that wonderful time of year again when the christmas lights go up around town (theres plenty of time for them to shine around here as the sun sets at 4:30!!!!!) cheery electronicized music sings down the streets and out of shops, and all of the students are in a blind panic writing papers and taking tests. yup, finals season.
in addition to my usual hibernation i'm going to be awol for a while longer as between writing papers and apparently walking around thinking i'm fine with a 104 degree fever and 2 ear infections (oops...) i don't seem to have a huge amount of time on my hands. BUT i am not dead in any way ( although mom does seem a little worried...) and my intelligence has been questioned several times regarding my intrest in attending classes rather than sleeping. yes, insane. we've been over this, moving on. so anyways, enjoy you candycanes and hot cocoa, know i'll be holed up in my apartment writing about nazism and singing christmas carols, and for all of you lovely davis people i'll see you after the 19th! and trust me, i can't wait!!

merry christmas!