Marie Introduces Herself

'Ello! I'm Marie and I'm from Vermont in the US, where there is plenty of maple syrup to go around and you're more likely to get stuck in traffic on a country road because of a tractor than rush hour on the highway. I'm originally from Pennsylvania, but I moved here about six years ago and decided to attend a small college about an hour from home. I do like it here, but it's just like living in a small town...everyone knows everyone and they all know your business, whether you want them to or not. Anything interesting is about 20 minutes away and I happen to be the broke friend with a car, relying on other people to give me gas money if they want to go anywhere.

I went into college with a major in Spanish Language & Literature, but they added a new Global Studies program that suits me much better. I love Spanish, but my interests are broad and this major allows me to take history, literature, economics, and a lot of other kinds of classes. For personal reasons, I decided not to double major and keep Spanish as a minor, which I have nearly completed.

The Global Studies major is exciting to me because it allows so much room to learn about the world. My general concentration within the major is culture, my regional concentration being Europe (which does not please the head of the Spanish department >.> ). I love learning about different cultures and getting to see the world from a different perspectives, which is probably why I found this blog idea so interesting. Travel is an important part of my life, and while I've been to many states in the US, I've only been to a few other countries (England, Wales, Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland). I would really love to travel all around the world, despite the fact that I'm a bit of an anglophile and am determined to use my mandatory study abroad as an opportunity to return to London.

As for what I want to do with my life concerning a career...the only thing I'm sure of is that it takes me to new places. I'm the kind of person who can't stay in one place for too long without getting incredibly restless. I've moved quite a bit in my 20 years so I'm used to leaving things behind for a new life. Wanderlust seizes hold and refuses to let go, even once I get to a new place. I imagine that sitting in an office for five years would drain any interest I have in the world...

Anywho, I play the flute in marching & spirit band, both of which take up a lot of time. I love it though, because our band is small enough (40-50 people) that we're like a family. There is plenty of drama, but in the end band is our support system on campus and we have so much fun.

Beyond traveling and playing the flute, I also enjoy reading, writing, and learning other languages. It have always love reading and for the past couple years I've been trying to keep a list of all the books I read (5 so far this month). I have an addiction to buying books on Amazon, so I tend to have far too many books in my dorm room than can fit on my bookshelf, with nowhere to put them at home. At this point, I think I have somewhere between 250-300 books lying around >.> As for writing, I've attempted novels, but I never finish them. I mostly write short stories, anywhere from half a page to ten. There's something about a story without any context, without a resolution, that's just so fun to write. And of course, my love of words extends to languages other than English. I am currently at an intermediate level in Spanish, fairly decent at reading and writing but terrified of speaking. I know bits and pieces of other languages, though nowhere near enough to have a conversation. I've taken a semester of Arabic which I really loved, but was unable to continue unless I could pay quite a bit of extra money for an overloaded course schedule. At the moment I have a particular interest in learning Latin, though it isn't offered here.

Some TV shows I enjoy: BBC Sherlock, Doctor Who, Big Bang Theory, Daria, Pretty Little Liars, Gilmore Girls, Boy Meets World, Charmed, Degrassi

My favorite books/series/authors: Harry Potter, John Green, Maureen Johnson, The Mortal Instruments, Wicked Lovely, Tamora Pierce, Jaclyn Moriarty, Charles Dickens, George Orwell

I believe that covers quite a bit of ground, so I shall end my introduction here.

DFTBA!

PS: I apologize if this is in any way disjointed and doesn't flow well...I wrote this while having a fever. Also, I am not actually a gnome.