Author: dholstein

The Sun is Setting (This is a Horrible Metaphor, but I Also Mean it in the Literal Sense, so it’s Okay.)

Posted on by dholstein
Guys, I can’t help it, my entries are getting prosier and prosier like some nostalgic disease.  There’s this song by this random Icelandic band called Seabear that my dad showed me on NPR when I was 14 that had one lyric that sang “I miss you even when you’re around,” which I’ve since firmly agreed with, and this agreement is manifesting itself in my crazy (ha, yeah right) life...
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Premature Nostalgia

Posted on by dholstein
A dramatic cold front has settled upon Edinburgh (some might call it “Winter,”) and I’m both pleased and not-that-pleased.  I’m not-pleased because I’m chronically freezing, and I’m re-confronted with the thought I may be part reptile with each passing day.  However, I’m pleased, in some romantic sense, because I feel like I’m in some Northern fortress experiencing a real winte...
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Seven Notes About Attending a Large University

Posted on by dholstein
(Inspired by a semester at a Scottish school with ~30,000 students.) 1) Yesterday, I walked past my lecturer in the hall. I smiled and waved as she looked straight ahead. I remembered, after she passed, that I am one of two hundred of her students, and she doesn’t know who I am. 2) My upper-division courses are surprisingly intimate, and even my larger classes have small-...
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The Election Abroad

Posted on by dholstein
I joined a few Sagehens (and other Americans) Tuesday evening to watch the election. Many thanks to the eight-hour time difference for making it an all-night affair. Although I petered out at (a kind of pathetic) 1AM, the rest of the group survived and celebrated around 6. It was admittedly surreal experiencing the first presidential election I’m eligible to vote for in a forei...
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