What I should be doing...

This is the view from my bedroom window, if you sit on my bed and look up. I spent the morning on my bed, mostly not looking up but reading, which was not the plan but still pretty great.
The link above is to my friend Laura's blog - she's a TA from SD, and we've been hanging out since we were roommates at orientation. She really lucked out with her school placement, and it sounds to me like she could tackle my research better than I can. My school, meanwhile, is having a Wandertag. This translates to hiking day, but I'm not sure exactly what that entails in a city like this. If nothing else, it means I'm not working today, which would be a whole lot nicer if I'd found out about it sooner, but no one thought to mention it to me until about 10:30 last night. Minus ten more points for my school. I've been feeling a little down lately about my school placement - if schools actually have to compete for Fulbright TAs, as I was told, I'd hate to see what the schools that didn't get me are like! I have a sneaking suspicion that while I may have some great classes now and then, my school experience here will not be what I had hoped or expected. It may be too early to assume I'll be disappointed, but I wonder if I should make something else the focus of my year here.... When I first started to write my application essays, I learned that it is standard practice to say you want to be a teacher, even if it's not true. Most of the TAs I've met so far see the teaching part of their year as secondary to other things they plan to accomplish here, like university classes or research or travel. Funny that all the goals of my year are tied up with teaching, including my research, but my situation would be ideal for someone with different plans. So, that's it for the pity party. It's not like there's nothing else for me to do! I told some of you that I'd like to write a book while I'm here - November is write a novel month, although it might take me longer than that. I've never written a book before, so advice, suggestions, and character requests are more than welcome, especially since I haven't started it yet. I am reading a lot, which ought to help but today is just feeding my writing insecurities. Today I finished Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth, which was amazing and incredibly depressing. Seems like all the best books make you want to cry one way or another, and I don't know if I have it in me to do that. Maybe I should write some crap sci-fi thing - it might be more fun! I'm also thinking of taking a Turkish class or two. Those of you who remember my Russian struggles in Vienna might also remember that I swore I’d never learn a third language through my second, but I’m feeling ambitious. Also, I think it would be kind of a fun tangent (or new direction, if things at school don’t improve) for my third language acquisition research.