La Fin de L'année

Okay,

After a lot of ups and downs over the past week, I know what I'm doing now. Almost. I've figured out how I'm going to take exams in most of my classes, and I'm working it out with professors in the other ones. I was really stressed out this week because I thought there was a chance I could make it to Mike's wedding, and then just come home after that. But classes started up again (sort of) so now I have something to stay for. And I still need to take those tests, anyway. Three days ago, there was a possibility I'd be leaving this Thursday, but now I'm back to waiting until the 24th.

Not a whole lot has gone on since I last wrote. I had the opportunity to see the Brattains and the Bryants in Paris. It was so good to see people from home! The first night I went with Richard to the Eiffel Tower and got some beautiful pictures at night, even though it was a little cloudy. Afterwards, we walked around and saw a few things, including the Champs d'Elysées in all its Christmas splendor. The next day I went to the Louvre with Richard and Ada. That museum is incredible. I wasn't too excited about going since I've seen so many museums in the past few months, but none of them compare to the Louvre. First of all, it's humongous. There's also the history, the architecture, and, of course, many many of interesting paintings, sculptures, artifacts, etc., from all over the world. I also checked out Notre Dame and the Latin quarter that day. At night, I went to the Musée D'Orsay with the Brattains, and again I was impressed. There are a lot of Impressionist classics there. And Mrs. Brattain evidently studied a lot of art history in college, so she knew a ton about what we were seeing. Paris was a good experience. I need to get back there in the next couple weeks, if I can.

Now I have to get to working on things for school, for a change. I have a test tomorrow--my first one--and an oral presentation (which I know nothing about except my topic) due on Monday. Yeah, this is a big change.

I'll be home for Christmas,
Stephen