First Week of Classes

So I just completed my first week of classes. Because, yes, my weekends start on Thursdays! And I absolutely LOVE my classes. Warning- this post contains some math info.

Well, first I had this Classical Algebra class with this professor who is absolutely crazy. The class is only for the first three weeks, optional, and intended as a make up for things we should already know like complex numbers. Well, this professor is crazy and I did not understand a word he said and my classes are very introductory so I shouldn't need this background stuff so I am not going for the rest of the 2 1/2 weeks... it'll be fine... But ya, after that class on Monday morning I was scared out of my mind. I was just like what did I get myself into, I can't understand this professor at all, I've got to be the dumbest student here, wtf am I going to do... absolutely terrified. Luckily, that guy is just crazy and my other profs are great. And two friends (Jacob and Nicky) who live really close to me are in all my math classes (and Nicky is in Hungarian as well) which makes for an awesome study group. It works out great! We plan to travel together as well so homeworks can be done in foreign countries!

My first class of the week is Combinatorics. I absolutely love Combinatorics. I had some Combo in Probability and it is basically problems like "How many possible distinguishable combinations are there with the letters in the word opportunity" or "How many possible license plate combinations can be made?" These problems are so cool and applicable and fun. And we already finished the first homework even though it isn't due for over a week (class next week is canceled because my Prof is going to Italy for a week).

My second math class is Abstract Algebra. Algebra is a topic I was kinda dreading taking. I had even considered not taking it (I can get out of it at CMC) but it's fairly mainstream and essential for grad school. So I figured I might as well get it out of the way. My professor wears a kippah to class, which I think is awesome. He's absolutely adorable. All my professors are, in fact. It is a nice small class (6 of us), which I think will be fun. And he only uses like 1 hour of the 2 hour class periods, which is great.

My final math class is Number Theory. I absolutely love my professor for this class. A lot of people think he's too nervous and anxious and serious but I have no problem with that. I think he's brilliant, serious, and organized so I am basically in love haha. And he just keeps talking about prime numbers, proving these theorems in an absolutely brilliant methodical way. I absolutely love prime numbers so I am sooo happy and amazed by the stuff he says. This is the only class so far where I have had moments where I am just absolutely amazed by what he has to say. Like brilliants points about how unique factorization in the set of even numbers isn't possible so it is impressive that there is unique factorization in the set of integers. Who would have thought???? It's absolutely brilliant to think about it. I sit in this class and just think how happy I am that I am a math major and how in love with math I am. Yes, I realize if you do not like math I sound crazy but I LOVE math.

My last two classes are Hungarian and the Holocaust. Unlike the schools of most other people here, I am required to take language and a culture class (most people have to take neither or only one- few people have to take 5 classes). My Hungarian class is a joke- the prof plans to give everyone As, have midterms and finals with 10 multiple choice questions, let us out of class ridiculously early, etc. I am sooo excited that I am getting by this credit requirement so easily. Yes it eats up my Wednesday afternoons but far worse things could happen like I could be stuck in a legit language class. The Holocaust seems like it will be pretty cool. I may be the only kid from my program in the class, it is almost entirely made up of students on the McDaniels study abroad program which shares our building and some culture classes with us. But there are people from all over in the class- Germany, Turkey, Nigera, some country I never heard of... I think that part will be really interesting. And there isn't too much required. And I already took the Holocaust class. This one is really focused on how memory shapes things and I am in a country where this actually happened so I am really interested. It is fascinating though- I think I might be the only Jewish person in the class. So different from my CMC Holocaust class where nearly everyone was Jewish...

Tonight, we had a really fun dinner to celebrate Jacob's 21st birthday (a friend of mine here). We made chicken parmesan, which turned out great! Cooking here is always an adventure because they don't have quite exactly the ingredients we went. Like for yesterday, there were no bread crumbs so we bought crackers and I spend half an hour crushing them to make breadcrumbs! It was a really fun night. I think we might make Thursday nights a tradition where we all get together and cook dinner. Tomorrow, we go to Vienna for the weekend- my first trip! We is myself, Jacob, Nicky (the study group), Kailyn (my roomate), AJ, and John. It is going to be so much fun! We are taking the bus (3 hours) and then staying at a hostel- the trip will cost about $100 + food which is awesome. Myself, Jacob, Nicky, and AJ also just booked tickets for Spain for spring break! Frash (a CMC friend) will spend the week before in Budapest and then her and I (and maybe Greer and Jessa) will go to Barcelona, then I will do (hopefully) Morocco and Madrid with my friends from here! Other definite trips (aka already booked) are Paris for May Day weekend (right before my 21st). Other very likely to almost definite trips include Prague, Geneva (to see Greer/Switzerland), Zagreb or the coast of Croatia, and Poland. The current thought for travel after the semester ends is Greece. So I will be adding a few countries to my passport... very excited. I am sure I will have a great post when I return about Vienna!