hey peeps

Life in Chicago has been all right so far, but it definitely doesn't feel like i'm in school. I don't feel challenged in the least bit. It feels like i'm at sleep-away camp living in cabins spread out amongst Hyde Park.

I'm taking the following classes this quarter:
-Approaches to Studying the Middle East
-History of Early Islam through the Caliphates
-Intermediate Persian

Persian is the only interesting one.

I've been making friends here, which is good. The people in my program are nice people. The actual program itself is easy...they all are asking for 2 page papers all the time. ugh.

anyway...i'll update more later. I'm going up to Wheaton to see my friend (from Israel/UCLA) and hopefully we're going to go see Tolkien's writing desk, CS Lewis' wardrobe, etc...i'm excited!

Don't go on dates with people from the University; Hyde Park is a small area, and most likely, you'll be seeing them around frequently.

(whether you want to or not)

so i've arrived in chicago...and though the trip started off fun, when my mother left it pretty much went downhill.

Basically here's the spread...hyde park is the most boring place on earth. Not only is it boring, but it's creepy to walk around by yourself after dark. Everything effectively closes around 8pm, so it makes late night strolls unnecessary anyway. So this means that all your stuff needs to be done during the day, and as i'm used to getting everything i need to get done at night (such as shopping, chores, etc), there's a lot of getting used to out here.

The people are all very nice for the most part. Hyde Park is almost exclusively black, the white population basically being affiliated with the university somehow. Though there's no visible race wars going on, you don't need to be a genius to see that there's the outlines of social segregation...i can feel it.

As for the school itself, there is only one word to describe the student population: NERDS. I'm talking the absolute archetypal nerd. The men have glasses, are extremely pale, afraid of women, and hang out in the library. The women are no better. No one around here hangs out, goes to parties or does anything other than school. This goes for both the undergraduate and the graduate populations. School hasn't even started yet and people are already off to the library to start studying for their classes that won't start for another week and a half.

majors aren't called majors here...they are called concentrations....hell week is called a 'reading period' and..they call fall, autumn. aghhhhhhh

I feel quite out of my element. I didn't think that this school would be a breeze, but i also thought that what i was hearing was merely hyperbolic. Nope, it's all true. It's like i've entered a twilight zone where everyone is a studying robot. The funny thing is that not many of them can make whatever theyre learning applicable...at least, this is my observation. many of them could not survive outside academia.

you guys have no idea how unbelievably quiet everything is...and it's not because there are no students here...because there ARE. The school is majority grad students (10,000 grad 3,500 undergrad); so, they all are just real quiet. The people in my apartment building are in their apartments but i've only seen a few people total in a whole week.. It creeps the shit out of me...the whole thing. No social skills...the lot of them.

i should have applied and went to ucla...rather than trying to go for the prestige.

i'm moving to chicago on thursday morning and will stay there for 2 years...and haven't quite packed yet.

so naturally, i'll be spending my last precious hours updating livejournal.

So what's up with me?

well...i spent most of this summer playing in musical shows for a community theater. I did a 6 week run of "My Fair Lady" then a 6 week run of "West Side Story"...this took up every single weekend for my whole summer. The latter show was really trying...the Reed book required that i play 9 instruments and the music was EXTREMELY catchy.

The other days of my summer were taken up by a horribly misdiagnosed case of mono which developed into secondary hepatitis. First they thought i had swine flu, then it was gastroenteritis..so i ended up taking tamiflu and last-resort antibiotics at the same time, resulting in extreme nausea, jaundice, and an enlarged spleen. When i wasn't at the theater i was sleeping in bed...i literally just read and slept every single day...sometimes never leaving bed.

Toward the end of the summer i went on a cruise to celebrate my graduation from UCLA. Went to Key West, Cozumel/Playa del Carmen, and Belize. It was awesome and i attribute my getting 100% better to those relaxing days i spent on the boat, treking through jungles, and spying on mayan ruins.

My downtime also allowed me to get into several tv shows...including ones that i couldn't keep up with while i was in school. I'm caught up with True Blood...and a bunch of comedy ones that i watched halfheartedly.

I got really into Merlin, Kings, and Legend of the Seeker.

Merlin, although definitely not quality programming, has it's own certain charm to it...i keep on watching it, even though i'm not really THAT into it. Merlin is dopey and lame at everything except for magic, gwen is ethnic, uther is a tyrant, arthur is a douche...but Morgana is spot on. I want her to turn evil already. The thing that pisses me off the most about this show is that someone is in mortal peril in EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. The last few episodes of this series more than made up for the other episodes...but it still hardly compares in quality to many of my other fav shows.

Kings was my favorite show on television...until it got canceled. It took place in an alternate universe where countries were ruled by kings. The whole thing is a huge biblical allegory to the story of David's rise to the throne and is SO well-done that you'd think you're watching a movie. The production value was extremely high...the pilot cost 4 million to make and each subsequent episode cost 1 million. NBC NEVER advertised it, so no one watched it...no one i know really has heard of it. It's more of a royal court drama taking place in the modern era than anything. You can't really sense the biblical stuff...but even when you can, it's done in such a brilliant way that you want to read the bible to get spoilers for the show :P

Legend of the Seeker is my new favorite show. It's like a mix between Xena/Hercules and Lord of the Rings and it's based off of the "Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind. It's filmed in New Zealand and the people that work on the show ARE the same people who worked on LOTR. It tells the story of three people: Richard, who finds out he is the first Seeker in 1,000 years and is destined to rid the world of the influence of evil; Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, a wizard of the first order who trains Richard along the way; and the Mother Confessor, the leader of an ancient group of women with the power to see if people are telling the truth and who can 'confess people' (essentially make people her slaves)...she serves truth and upholds justice and is the highest moral authority in the midlands. Though it's about fighting against evil, it really is a love story and it's very beautifully done. You feel for the two main characters as they fall deeper and deeper in love, but can never act on it because of who they are magically. My favorite character is Kahlan, the mother confessor, because she's so beautiful, feminine, and just... yet is extremely dangerous and has this dark, uncontrollable side. I think about the show often and i want someone else to WATCH it so that i can talk to them about it! I'm going to buy a couple of the books today.

Anyway...i better get started on my day!

So I'm moving back to Moorpark today, which is bittersweet i guess.

I won't be as lonely, since my parents will be around all the time and tracy is indefinitely in town...but I'm expected to get a job like right away and figure out my situation at chicago.

I loved living in LA, but there's nothing left for me here anyway except memories. Maybe i'll end up at ucla for a phd sometime later...i feel like i'm not QUITE done here forever, but for now, i'm outta here.

My next stop, as most of you know, will be chicago, illinois for graduate school.

I seem to only update this when i'm procrastinating, but whatevs.

Basically I have only three more days of this bullshit and i'm done with UCLA for good! These next three days, however, are going to be CrAzY horrible. Tomorrow I have a 30 page essay due, a final, AND my speech (in farsi)on top of a study session later that night...then I have 2 finals on wednesday!

I've had hardly any time for anything because ive had rehearsals and/or concerts every night, but they've at least taken a bit of the stress off from school.

but even once i'm done i have to start packing hardcore...and i graduate on friday (college ceremony) and saturday (department ceremony)...yay

man have i been busy these last few weeks.
here's a summary:

-DRAMA over whether i could graduate or not...turns out i essentially did last quarter..wtf@my counselor.
-Dropped FILM in 6th week because of the retarded unit cap rule at UCLA
-After attending the career fair 3 weeks ago, i received a cryptic phone call telling me that i got an interview for a graduate internship. The interview went really well, and i got a tentative offer pending favorable results of an SSBI and a polygraph testing my answers to all the forms i have to fill out. hope i get it...it's good money ($18-$26/hour)
-Saw my first movie, "Star Trek," today in the movie theater since "The Golden Compass" when i was in Israel...mainly because i had a free ticket at my disposal, not because i especially wanted to see it.


I'm exhausted, burnt out, and just want everything to be over already...just one more month...one more..and i'll be on a boat in the caribbean...

yay passover is over...i have had literally no bread/grains/legumes/or anything derived from the above for about a week now...and i broke it in with BRENTS

i'm met up thursday with my old roommate from israel, itamar, and his fiance, becky...I hadn't seen them in a year! I showed them around LA, Westwood and Hollywood and took them to Brents and Pinks...Friday night we went to Chabad and had a glorious meal...I saw them off saturday morning..

My classes are going well, but i'm sorta slacking...meh. I've had a sore throat the past few days and i've just been lucky because most of my classes have been cancelled, so i dont have to worry about missing school. The sore throat turned into a sinus infection, which has now turned into mild bronchitis..it's getting better, but i wish it would go away completely already since i have so much shit to do this week (seeing as how the week after is midterms!).

so i got an email today saying that i got into Boston University...accepted to the International Relations and Religion MA...

well...too late i guess...though i don't think that i would have gone anyway...

just an ego booster at this point

i haven't updated this thing in a while, but i've been really busy (yes, even in week one).

Some updates on my life....

I've lost more weight, but i haven't been weighing myself (because i'll know that i'll get obsessive)...people are starting to comment which is great. I have a lot more work to do, but i figured that over the summer, that is, when i'll have more time, i can focus 100% on exercising. I'm almost down to the weight i was before i left for israel (about 35lbs less than i was in August :DDD).

anyway, classes have been rough in regards to attendance, seeing as how i'm in classes most days of the week 9-5pm which leaves me in want/need of a nap when i get home and only a few hours for hw; however, my classes are SO fucking awesome this quarter that there's no way i'm dropping any of them. Here's my schedule:

-Persian 1C
-International Relations of the Middle East
-History of American Film
-Symphonic Band
-European Jewish History from 1881 to present.

The classes themselves aren't killing me, but those stupid ass SECTIONS are killing me. The teachers are making attendance for them mandatory.

Now my film class is definitely my favorite class...it meets in an on-campus MOVIE THEATER...it's actually the best movie theater i've ever been in and the teacher has amazing taste in film! THe lectures themselves are equally as amazing...the class is 4 hours long twice a week not including an hour section...but i just don't get tired of it. i always leave feeling like i want more :-) I'm glad i didn't take this class when i first went to UCLA, lest i change my major to film!

If any of you guys are visiting me, i'll take you to my class to see a movie...it's DEFINITELY worth the experience.

so i've sent in my acceptance to the university of chicago...found out i was rejected from georgetown, and still haven't heard from John Hopkins, BU, or King's...but i cant see myself anywhere else at this point.

I guess i'm moving to chicago then :-)

i'm finished with finals!

i immediately traded my microecon book for cash (got $40), and subsequently bought myself and cara dinner with that money at one of our new favorite restaurants. I thought it was hilarious how it turned out..since technically i'm going to be eventually crapping out microecon..good riddance!

Oh and on thursday i got $40 for participating in a one hour study (i played a game on a computer), and wednesday $25 for tutoring my cousin, nikki...pretty good that i rounded out this week with $105 for only a few hours of my time. how's that for maximizing profit, professor bresnock?!?

it's funny because now i have no idea what to do with myself...when during the quarter i could find plenty of things to do besides studying..haha.

i'm going to try to spend my break reviewing my farsi, sleeping in every day, and playing video games. oh, and of course, sitting by the mailbox awaiting news from grad schools.

that reminds me...i don't remember if i wrote this in my last entry or not (too lazy to check), but i was rejected from GWU....found out it was becasue i didn't fulfill the economics prereqs (micro and macro); so they didnt even look at my app. Whatever....i told my mom that even if i received a full scholarship from them, i wouldn't go...because chicago is ranked like 50 places higher than GWU.

classes for Spring 2009 (aka, Aubs' last minute chance to boost her GPA so she can graduate cumm laude):

IRANIAN 1C: Elementary Persian
POLYSCI M132B: International relations of the Middle East (honors)
JEWISH M182D: European Jewry from 1881 to present
FILM 106A: History of the American Motion Picture
MUSIC 90F: Symphonic Band

LOLLLLL these classes are going to be CAKE! The Film class is like 6 units and an easy A, and the music class is an easy A also...the JEW stuff i already know because i've been to almost every important place for european jewry (minus ukraine/russia) and saw stuff and heard history first hand...plus, the holocaust is interesting anyway. The international relations of the middle east class i have already had in various forms...i took a class in israel on the modern middle east and another class on coexistence and rapproachment in the middle east...basically CAKE for me.

The only class that i'm going to have to work on is persian, of course....but the class has a very good support system and i know that the profs don't give out anything lower than an A- unless youre a huge huge huge slacker.

If i can get the College of Letters and Science to approve my 21 units, then i'm sure that i will graduate cum laude...:-DDD...this will give me a better chance of getting into PhD programs!

well...i'm now off to study for econ...

wish me luck for tomorrow :-)

so another final on wednesday for persian....i don't think i did horribly, but i'm praying for an A in the class (rather than the expected A-). She MIGHT give it to me...but it's really at her discretion.

I'm really worried about this economics final...i'm studying basically a half of a quarter of econ in just 1.5 days...

other than that i'm fine...just looking forward to being DONE....oh and celebrating NOORUZ (persian new year) on SATURDAY!

i have a persian final tomorrow that's 8 minutes and completely oral. It's not too bad, but i'm still freaking out over it. Then friday i have my big econ final.

Shitty day today...i woke up early to go to this study session for econ...i show up 10 minutes late and there's no one in the class...later i find out after emailing the TA that the chick moved the class next door or something...arG..She tells me in the email that she kept on peeking her head outside to see if anyone was there and then advised me to go sit in on the other TA's study session on thursday...ARG

I hear from most of my universities on friday...George Washington and John Hopkins in particular...but the more i think about it, the more i can see myself in Chicago...i haven't been this excited in a long time..

i dont know...i rarely feel proud of myself, but getting into grad schools made me feel like i was actually smart. Chicago is rated (depending on which list you're looking at) anywhere from 7th best up to the 4th best. The city seems great, and i've had this feeling within me for the past few months, that i have to go there....like i'm going to meet my soulmate or something out there...it's a weird feeling but i just feel like it's where i belong right now.

graduate housing is kickass too! it's super cheap and we get our own unique apartments (no roommates...our own kitchens/bathrooms/closet space)...they may be small, but the location overlooks hyde park and i don't need that much space anyway...i honestly can't wait!

Funny story...so ive been taking this class on ottoman history and i think i've only actually been to 4 class meetings out of 20, one of which was the midterm. Anyway...so i didn't really study for the final until the day of (ie today) and i realized that i was a bit in over my head this time. I knew it was going to be 2 in class essays, so i knew to have a bluebook. I decided to study only two concepts..the first was the structure of the ottoman government and the second was the rise of the ottoman empire and why it was successful. I KNEW that i was going to fail going into it...when i got there and received my test questions it said the following...and i'm not making this up:

Answer ONE of the following questions in the form of an essay:

1. Describe the rise and expansion of the Ottoman Empire and explain why it was the most successful entity amongst its contemporaries in Asia Minor and S.E. Europe.
2. Present the structure and functions of the Ottoman institutions discussed in this course.

WTF WHY AM I SO FUCKING LUCKY? why am i being rewarded by the Divine for apathy and irresponsiblity?!? lol...whatever..i'm going to take what i can get! I told my mother and she said that i was way lucky and told me never to do it again becuase i'll never be this lucky again..HAHA


oh and i finally got the acceptance letter from Chicago in my greasy jew hands...i've represented the first 2 paragraphs...almost hyperbolically nice.

Dear Ms Sheiman,

On behalf of the Division of Humanities, I am pleased to offer you admission to the University of Chicago for graduate study in the Master of Arts program in Middle Eastern Studies for the 2009-2010 academic year. In addition, I am delighted to inform you that we can grant you financial assistance. The conditions of admission are contained on the enclosed form.

Our decision to admit you reflects not only a favorable assessment of your academic record and professional promise, but also the conviction that you are someone whom we would like very much to have at Chicago. In turn, we believe that the intellectual stimulation and spirit of academic fellowship as well as the wealth of resources and opportunities on campus and in the neighborhood and city will contribute significantly to your own personal and career development. We hope that you will accept our offer and join us in September.

etc etc etc

Sincerely yours,
Thomas B Thuerer
Dean of Students

YOURE delighted that you can offer me aid??! hell, IM delighted that you're investing $40,300 into me!

i can't sleep right now...probably because i slept 9 hours the night before and took a 5 hour nap in the afternoon, but regardless, it's a big day for me today!

Today is firstly the last day of my economics class before the final..this means that i'm done with this bullshit and just need to worry about passing the class.

Secondly, today is my oral final for my persian class. It's a dialogue and i stupidly and accidently picked the character that has the bigger part; so, i've had to memorize more..i've only memorized half of it..and i have until 3pm to memorize the rest. i should be ok as long as i go first.

I haven't heard back from any universities yet, but i should hear from at least one of them this week (maybe georgetown). I know that john hopkins is sending out their decisions around the 20th and same with GWU. Boston and king's college could be at any time since i submitted the applications only a month ago. As of right now, unless a university gives me a crazy good offer, it looks like i'm going to university of chicago :-) 6th best school in the united states!!

ok, so i didn't get the scholarship to tajikistan, but later in the day i got the best news!

I found out this afternoon that i was accepted to the University of Chicago!!!! to the MA program in Middle East Studies....even better, I was offered 1/2 tuition! $20,214 per year for two years!!!

me=win.


i'm waiting for other schools (5 more) but i'm 2 for 2 as of right now :-DDDD

what a great day today!

I had a great concert and afterward there were a bunch of people who came up to me (from the audience or from the group itself) telling me what a great job i did. There even was this cute french horn player that sits behind me that had this conversation with me.

Him: Hey, I just wanted to say that i love your english horn and oboe playing. You have such a great tone on both--especially english horn.
Me: thanks...
Him: My name is Brett by the way, i play french horn.
Me: Aubry
(shake hands)
Him: are you going to play next quarter?
me: ya, i'll be there.
Him: that's great! I'll be looking forward to seeing you again next quarter.
me: ::melts::

with my luck he's probably gay...but it still it was awesome...my mom was joking around about how i have a little fan club...

My mom was there, my grandma, melanie, rivkah, and my next door neighbor...After the concert, my mom and i walked around westwood and had dinner at Novel Cafe.

tomorrow i have a persian test...and then i have a huge assignment due on monday for econ..it's dead week anyway next week..then finals...then SPRING BREAK..

here's to looking toward spring break!

Guess what?

I got into the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor!!! I was accepted into their MA in Modern Middle Eastern and North African Studies :-))))

Dear Aubry,

I am pleased to inform you that the Admissions Committee of the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies has recommended your admission to our MA Program in Modern Middle Eastern and North African Studies. Within the next few weeks, you should receive an official notice from the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies of your admission. The Admissions Committee feels that you would make an excellent addition to our program

Congratulations on your admission! I would appreciate notification of your intentions regarding enrollment by April 20, 2009. If there is any way in which we can be of assistance to you, or if you have any questions concerning program requirements please contact Susan Barrera at (phone number) or cmenas@umich.edu.

Sincerely,
Gottfried Hagen

Director
Center for Middle Eastern & North African Studies
University of Michigan

It is the top program in the United States for M.E. Studies (tied with Berkeley). I am sooo excited :-DDDDD!!!!