The first week

So, the first week of class has come and gone. I've had all of my classes at least once now, and even turned in my first assignment - a 500 word book review of one of our summer readings. I really like my classes, and am even enjoying the reading that never seems to stop.

One surprising find is that I love Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. It's really entertaining, mostly because he's right about so many things. I kind of want to say, "Hellllo 19th century people! Do you hear what this guy's saying?! Wake up!" At least about the critiques he makes - of course they heard the good stuff, and not all of de Tocqueville's observations are that progressive either.

I got assigned a shelf in the history reading room in the library today, so that's quite exciting. The library is so fabulous - we can borrow books from almost any Ivy League school and they'll be here usually within a day or two. That's the benefit of having a bazillion dollars and being really committed to books. I'm glad I'm here.

I'm still settling into my apartment. Life without a car is interesting - I should do a whole post on that at some point. I used Peapod a week ago to deliver some groceries and it worked fabulously. Using Target to deliver some picture frames was not so successful, as one of them cracked in transit. The other day two friends came over for dinner after a grocery run (carless grad student tip #1: find friends with cars) so the house has had its first party! I'm thinking of throwing a costume Halloween party for the second, but that will depend on how the furniture acquisition process goes.

Anyhow, it's time for bed. I'm on a new, strict, grownup schedule. We'll see how long this lasts. Stay tuned for more thoughts from the life of a graduate history student!