Classes and Back Pain: The Student Experience(??)

It's been one hell of a week. Big elections in both the Netherlands and in the US, the beginning of a new block of classes, and an incredibly frustrating power outage at the apartment complex. to cover.

Ok, I actually won't be covering election results because I'm sure everyone reading this is aware of either one or the other set of results, and I know you don't come here to read about politics other than what might come up in a lifestyle blog. But I will talk a bit about my new classes, and about the electricity drama, oh boy.

So - a new set of courses! My classes this block are going to be fantastic. I'd heard from a second year sign in my major that the second block of the first year as been their absolute favorite thus far, and I can already see why. It's the only time in the degree track where my language class occurs simultaneously with a linguistics course specific to sign languages. Every other time there is a language course in a black, it is accompanied by either a more generalized linguistics subject or a course with a hyper-specific focus on an aspect of linguistics at large. But this block, ooooh this block: The subjects we cover in the two courses are entwined with each other, running parallel and simultaneous, and supplementing each other as they go.

This week, for example, our sign language class introduced us to the five parameters that differentiate one sign from another: hand-shape, place, orientation, movement, and non-manual markers such as mouth motions and posture. We categorized signs we knew, and discussed how changing one parameter of a sign completely changed or destroyed its meaning, and started learning to really pay attention to the individual pieces that make the whole of meaning in a sign and in a sign sentence.

Then, same day, different course - sign linguistics taught in spoken English this time - we opened the class with a chapter on the phonetics of sign language, including...the five parameters of hand-shape, place, movement, orientation, and non-manual markers...we learned the concept originally in the language we're studying, practically, by using the signs we knew. And then, immediately after, we were given a deeper, academic explanation of those concepts from the lens of comparing and contrasting phonetics in sign and spoken languages. from what I understand from the second year, and from peeking ahead at both courses' syllabi, we can look forward to having an entire block of classes like this. I am incredibly excited for what we will learn.

Side note: I get a lot of questions about what I want to do with my degree once I have it, given its somewhat niche nature. And my truthful answer is that if I am able to afford the full three years, I'd like to pursue a master's degree after, probably a research master's, and work alongside the people in my field who are working diligently to make up for lost time in terms of research put into sign language linguistics. It's a wide open field right now, with shamefully little research having been done until the 1950s. NINETEEN FIFTIES. Before then, and even today in many places of the wold, sign language is either considered by hearing society to be some sort of pantomime or to be a "crutch," for deaf people, as if using the natural language evolved through their community is somehow weak or a failing on their part. Boy, if deep-seated and long-standing injustice gets your fire going, read up on how deaf communities particularly in western cultures have been mistreated over the centuries. You will, perhaps, not be surprised to find parallels between the mistreatment of any minority whose language is an important part of their culture, and barring access to that language is a critical step by the dominant culture to maintain control over the minority population.

That aside, I'd like to go into research. There will be some opportunities available to me as a bachelor's graduate, though I'd very much like to pursue a master's in the field as well. Unfortunately, that is something likely out of the realm of possibility, given my uncertainty regarding affording the next two years - master's programs, even the one-year option, are about twice as much as the bachelor's per year. And, as an international student, non-EU, and above the age of 30, I don't qualify for any kind of financial aid or subsidy. So much will depend on my residency status after graduation (plus a few years, likely), and how stable financially we are at the time. Hopefully I can find a place alongside one of the researchers I bump elbows with at the university, and through them find a way to participate in the research no matter what my official education level is. There really isn't any money in research positions, but I continue to be a fool and choose to follow my passions rather than chase the dollar -er, euro -sign. Maaaaybe I'll learn my lesson once and for all someday. Until then, this block is already proving that my degree has its hooks deep in my interest, and I don't see myself moving away from it any time soon - or without a great deal of resistance.

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I really hate to leave it on a short note today, because I have more I'd like to share. But I have had a hell of a few days, and am both physically and mentally beat. To condense by not including every annoying detail, suffice it to say my apartment complex planned a 7-hour power outage and it's turned into a multi-day debacle.

The outage was planned early this week to get some repair work done on the buildings. They let us know in advance, and, though the timing was awful given this was the first week back in class and we are literally all students needing access to the internet right now, everyone had enough time to prepare. However, as is always the case, it seems, no matter which country you're in, things did not go according plan -something something bad part, something something have no contingency plan, etc. - and the power remained out for another 5.5 hours, by which point it was well past dinner time and no one had been able to cook meals, take a hot shower, or study or submit work online.

The electrical company then rented large generators to get the power up and running - of course there as also no heat, and I'm sure that had responsible parties nibbling their fingernails, thinking about angry parents of students - and the generators are huge and very loud, and the first several floors have residents who cannot sleep through the noise. Additionally, when the lights and power returned, the Wi-Fi remained down. The provider said it was the complex's problem, the complex said it was the provider's problem, and the Wi-Fi was only a memory for a total of 28 hours. Again: student housing, students, homework, first week of classes, etc. Terrible timing.

A spooky dark hallway with apartment doors on both sides. It's illuminated only by the afternoon sun coming in from the end of the hall

It's all been terribly inconvenient on many levels, but in my case, I suffered because this all happened a day after I did an extensive amount of bicycling - meaning my legs and hips were quite tired and sore - and during the power outage, there were no elevators. I live on the 13th floor. I planned ahead by bringing my textbook and laptop to class with me in the morning, so I could stay at the university and use their Wi-Fi to complete my assignments and study for the next day's classes. I even stayed an hour or two later than should have been necessary. But the power was not on when I came home, and the complex hadn't emailed anyone to let us know when it might be back - so I climbed the thirteen stories with my heavy pack and the groceries I'd picked up on my way in (fortunately our mini fridge insulated pretty well, because I had raw chicken I couldn't cook and couldn't refrigerate until the power returned). As the evening progressed and the power didn't come back, I lit the few candles I have from the week I was searching for comforting scents, and when I bent down to move a bag to clear some space, I felt a muscle in my lower back spasm, and then excruciating pain flew up my back and I had to sit down and breathe for a few minutes.

A bedroom dark but for two spots of light from two burning candles. In the distance, out the wall-sized windows, a city at night, full of light.

I generally do some stretching before bed, but I hadn't yet that evening, and I'd overdone it cycling and then stair climbing. My back was Not Happy - is not happy, in fact. I have a massive knot in the lower left part of my back that tightens over the course of the day, and I have to make sure to stretch it out periodically so it doesn't become unbearably tight again. The pain of that spasm woke me up several times the night that it happened, and since I've still been unable to catch up on rest. I miss my massage gun and my bathtub back home - I have hot showers and some Tiger Balm here, but it's not quite the same.

A red hot sunset behind city buildings, taken from partway up a tall apartment complex, perhaps somewhere a person might need a breather on a 13-story climb. Ahem.

We are still running on generator power, and the Wi-Fi has, as I'm writing this, been back for about an hour. The students on the first several floors, particularly toward the front of the building where the generators are humming away - are still complaining about the noise (understandable). The complex, as any ass-covering company knows to do, in their very first announcement of the outage, weeks ago, included the line "You will not be compensated," which made me roll my eyes at the time and now makes me laugh (derisively). Oh, the joys of renting!

I'm going to cut myself off there and do another round of stretching before I collapse into bed. I have another day of classes and then I can settle in for a long weekend - hopefully we'll see the power system repaired and I can catch some actual sleep. Thank you all for reading along, as always, and for being a part of my community! Hugs to you all, and I'll see you in the next one. Stay stretchy!

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