Sleepy January

[cleolinda]

It's funny--there's something about January that gets me into a really dreamy mood. It happens automatically; about a week in (you know, like... right now) I look up and realize it's on me again. I think a lot of it comes from the pile of books I usually accrue from my birthday and Christmas--the latter half of December, bleeding over into January, is a great time to curl up and dive in. So when I got to college and my particular school had a one-month Janterm (that is, January term), it was perfectly suited to that feeling.

Because it was a liberal arts school, they encouraged us to 1) travel or 2) spend that month taking the most fun class we could possibly find--frivolous, in fact, if we could get it. There were a lot of pop-culture classes; I missed out on the Dracula class my freshman year, but got into the Christianity in the Works of C.S. Lewis seminar instead, which meant that we got credit for discussing The Chronicles of Narnia, basically. (We also read Mere Christianity and the first two books from his space trilogy; my point is, it was a lot of fun.) My two roommates (Valkyrie and The Lovely Emily, of whom you have heard so much) did a crash-course production of Romeo and Juliet; Em played the Prince (we had a disproportionately female population) and Valkyrie was one of the multiple-parts players; she was in the opening "Do you bite your thumb at me?" scene, recast as a drunk couple out on the town, and we dubbed her Super Whore, due to her totally fierce belt and the intentional trampiness of the costume in general. ANYWAY. The next semester, Em went sailing on a "pirate" ship--like, the students actually lived on and sailed the boat around the Caribbean for a month. They also did internships one year. Me, I took my Narnia class, a Film and Philosophy class (we watched Blade Runner, Being There, and some Star Trek: The Next Generation, among other things. This was before The Matrix had come out, or we probably would have spent an entire week on that), and an Experimental Film class (studying it, not shooting it). Then I had to do my senior project as a Spanish/French major that fourth year, so we had three weeks of studying Cuban culture, and then, the last week, we actually got permission to go to Cuba. (Educational purposes are one of the few reasons the U.S. government would make an exception. Keep in mind that this was January of 2001, probably the last year restrictions were so mellow.) Most of the week we spent in Havana, although there was a bus tour out to a jungly area that I forget the name of, and then a side trip to Playa Varadero, at which point I realized I had forgotten to pack my swimsuit, said fuck it, and went swimming in a camisole (thick black cotton; I brought it to wear under less-than-opaque shirts) and shorts, because being in the water is my favorite part of being at the beach. I'm too sun-sensitive, due to my antidepressants and my whitey-white Anglo-Celtic-by-way-of-Ellis-Island skin, so I was going to be miserable if I didn't suck it up and Make It Work. (I have a ton of really great photographs--all from disposable cameras; I was not taking an expensive digital camera down there with me--that I need to scan in for y'all.) I had actually never been on a plane, much less left the country, and wibbled about trying to get out of the travel component--I was terrified. But somehow I managed to buck up and go, and as my friends IRL can attest, it's pretty much the only major trip I've ever gone on, and ten years later, I still will not shut up about it. I'm pretty sure they all want me to go somewhere else, just so I'll have something else to talk about.

Anyway. That was not actually what I meant to talk about, but there you are. My point is, your one Janterm class usually went for two, maybe three hours, and sometimes it didn't even meet every day of the week. So you'd have entire afternoons, sometimes entire days, with nothing but what you wanted to do. I loved it. I spent my freshman Janterm curled up under my garish green and pink/orange-flowered comforter with a big pot of Lemon Zinger (this was back when I was really into herbal tea) and a pile of Ray Bradbury books from the school library. That was in our big sunny freshman dorm room--well, I say "big" in that it was a bigger room than the singles we had later; it was tiny for two people to share, but with Valkyrie out rehearsing for Romeo and Juliet, it felt big to me. The three of us lived in a more imposing dorm the next three years; we had a four-person suite (with various fourth roommates) with a single room the size of a shoebox for each of us. The main feature of the suite was a decent-sized common room, and I remember having a lot of time to myself, with all my clippings spread out--except that many of these had a purpose; I was compiling binders of visual references for stories I was writing. (I seem to remember writing my ill-advised X-Files script during one of these terms, in fact.) And my God, was I happy. In fact, that first Janterm helped me realize I was suffering from some kind of chronic, chemically-oriented depression (we eventually rediagnosed it a couple of years ago as bipolar II), because I would start crying out of nowhere, and--since I was otherwise so content--could not figure out why. And that's how I realized it had to be something beyond what was actually going on in my life.

ANYWAY. Ever since college, I've gotten into the habit of thinking of January as an oasis of a month unto itself--like a quiet little house buried in a sound-muffling snowbank. It's too cold to go out and do anything, and everyone's still recovering from the holidays, and you (or at least I) have all those nice new books, so: there you are. Actually, I didn't get any books this year--my family is easing into the gift card tradition nowadays, so I took my funds over to Amazon and got myself some research books for Black Ribbon--a Great Big Werewolf Book of Werewolves to match my beloved Great Big Vampire Book of Vampires (except that the GBWOW is much thinner than the GBVOV, which may say something about their comparative presences in popular culture), as well as a few other things. So of course I forgot to get the two things I really need for the Vampires footnotes, so now I'll have to go back and spend more money. This is bad both in a sarcastic "Oh, woe is me, more shopping, how will I ever survive" way and a "Wow, this is kind of turning into an addictive behavior" way. Yikes. MY POINT IS, I will have plenty of books to curl up with, and hopefully get some work done as well, in my little mental snowbank.

Comments

[onceinspired.livejournal.com]

Janterm sounds awesome!

[silverember.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way. My college did the five-week intersession thing, which was fantastic. I always get really creative in January (is it a Capricorn thing perhaps?) So I'm pretty bummed that I have to work in January now >_>

Either way, let's get some writing done ;)

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

I had a C.S Lewis/Charles Williams/Tolkien class in college and I'd put that one and my fantasy lit class as two of the most fun classes I ever took. Okay, so I really liked my YA lit class and film class too, so I guess the point is we had a cool English department, but the Lewis class was a blast.

[plazmah.livejournal.com]

So you'd have entire afternoons, sometimes entire days, with nothing but what you wanted to do.

Sounds wonderful! :)

But know what my first thought was? "Somewhere out there, Chinese and Indian teenagers are shaking their heads and saying this is why America is collapsing." I'm full of pessimism today, it seems. :P

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, as opposed to the rest of the school year, where I was running around with my hair on fire, trying to write papers in three languages.

[askingxalice.livejournal.com]

Man, I wish my school (when I went) was as awesome as this.

[wolfsdawn.livejournal.com]

Ahhhhh, dorm-a-topia...I remember thee well.

[emo]I miss it!![/emo]

[sound-of-bells.livejournal.com]

My college doesn't have a January term and I am always so jealous of all of my friends at other schools who do have them. It sounds like wonderful writing/reading time.

[delle.livejournal.com]

my goal for January is to find my gift certificate from work (it's here somewhere, I KNOW it is), buy Diana Gabaldon's latest and curl up with it, accomplishing nothing for the few days it will take me to get through it (aside from going to work. damn you, bills! ::shakes tiny fist::)

I love Christmas. As in LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas. But it's coming down today (I leave everything up thru Epiphany/12th night) and I'm kinda looking forward to having a pared-down, simplified house. January, for me, is stepping back after the craziness of Nutcracker and holidays and taking several deep breaths.

[mycenae.livejournal.com]

buy Diana Gabaldon's latest and curl up with it, accomplishing nothing for the few days it will take me to get through it

Well, not NOTHING. I'm sure you'll build up some extra upper arm strength from hefting it around.

[crunknwj.livejournal.com]

clearly i need to go to this college. does it have a grad program? lol

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Actually, it doesn't, or I probably would have lived out my natural life there.

[akathorne.livejournal.com]

This is pretty much what I've been doing as well. I got a bunch of art history books for Christmas (my mom is DETERMINED that I will go back and finish that degree, by god), and I'm rereading (for the tenth or so time) The Game Of Thrones in anticipation of the HBO series getting on air...sometime. I get all curled up in bed, all warm and comfy, and just read and read. It's heaven.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my mother gets antsy about me finishing my MFA from time to time. It was in creative writing, so... getting a book published on my own in the middle of that kind of devalued the usefulness of that degree in my eyes. She actually works at that university now, and she was talking to the dean? head? something? of the honors program there and told him about this, and he said, I am not kidding, "Then what does she need to finish the degree for?"

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Aw, that sounds so nice. At Penn, January was like any other month in the Spring term. They did do Preceptorials in the Fall which were tiny classes on random fun topics like your C.S. Lewis class. (The wine-tasting preceptorial was always impossible to get into.)

[golden-d.livejournal.com]

Hi, fellow Penn person!

I got into the wine-tasting preceptorial. And then they scheduled it for a time when I had a conflict, and I was so mad.

[tonks07.livejournal.com]

Wow, Janterm sounds like so much fun. I wish my college would offer fun classes like that. I feel like colleges forget learning is suppose to be fun sometimes.

[robinmc.livejournal.com]

1) Your school sounds amazing. I want to go to there.

2) I am in love with the term "mental snowbank." It really is perfect for what you describe. I never really thought about it, but I tend to do the same thing. Work is pretty slow this time of year (fortunately/unfortunately), so I have a lot of free time. And now I have a slanket. So cold + lots of blankets + free time + no money = plowing through the A Song of Ice and Fire series like nobody's business.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, the school is less awesome now, as they have decided to get themselves a football team. My aunt referred to their new structure as "a teacup stadium."

[sun-star-n-moon.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I want this "Janterm" thingy.

Instead I am buried under mountains of math homework. WOE.

Oh well, I still like January. My birthday is this month. =D

[opheliet.livejournal.com]

My college also has a Janterm, but no fun classes to take. Plus taking one is an extra $1000 tuition, so it's right out!

But I definitely understand the mellow dreaminess of January. I like to think of it as recharging for the new year. (However, I think said mellow dreaminess is going to have a problem in 2 1/2 weeks when I have an 8 am class and waking up at noon is no longer acceptable. This we will cross when we get there.)

[kuchiutsushi.livejournal.com]

That sounds rather pleasant. I want to go read now...

[wildagain.livejournal.com]

My school has something similar (originally it was so they didn't have to pay to heat the campus during the coldest months), except instead of taking a fun mini-course during January and February each student has to get an off-campus job or internship. So instead of curling up with a pot of tea, I'm working full-time at a nonprofit and not getting paid. Win!

[tabbyclaw.livejournal.com]

For two months? Who's gonna take on a college kid knowing they're only getting an employee for January and February, especially if everyone is looking for a position?

[flameraven.livejournal.com]

That sounds pretty awesome. I've mostly spent my winter break with video games instead of books, although I am guilting about this as I feel I should be job-hunting. But then, this past week I sat down and Decided To Be Productive, and produced three paintings, with another one drawn out. It was a nice little boost to begin the semester, which I will probably need to spend producing a painting a week or so.

[fading-october.livejournal.com]

I just started comm. college this week, and even though it's nothing too fancy, I love it. ^.^

[http://users.livejournal.com/_autumncolours/]

Your Janterm sounds amazing! Sadly unis over here (the UK) always throw a bunch of deadlines/exams in around now, so...not quite as much fun as yours was.

I'm crazily jealous that you got to study C. S. Lewis. I'm in the final year of an English Lit degree, and it's my biggest regret that I've never had the chance to study any fantasy literature, of any sort.

I hope the rest of your January continues to be as lovely :)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I didn't really get a chance to study English lit of any kind, since that wasn't my major. I had a Brit lit survey and Dante and, aside from my writing workshops, that might have been it. I tried to make up for it in grad school, where I did take an English/creative writing curriculum, but it was kind of shocking, the authors I'd never studied. To this day, I'm not terribly up on 20th century lit. It probably didn't help that I took a Shakespeare class AND a non-Shakespeare Renaissance drama class AND a Milton class--I didn't do a very good job of getting a variety of time periods.

[darth-snarky.livejournal.com]

My school does J-term, too. It's generally pretty good, unless you take an upper-level English/history/philosophy type course ("please read this entire novel by tomorrow") or an on-campus foreign language one ("Students, this is an immersion experience. Therefore, class is from 10-3:30, and we will eat lunch as a class and speak French the whole time. You also have a chapter of reading, a minimum three-minute oral presentation every day, and you have to watch the French news every night. Also, on Mondays at 7, you must show up for the screening of that week's film.") I am pretty sure last January made me conclusively decide not to be a French major.

This January, I'm in a Bio class with a lab (good way to knock off a distribution requirement). We get AT MOST five pages a night, and our assignment for the weekend was to make a skit demonstrating gene expression. That's it. It's so much fun, and pretty simple science class, even to this English major. (The film noir/romantic comedy class I took Freshman year was the best though--only two hours of class, and two papers, but 90% of the homework was to watch the film for the next day. And every single one was a total classic.)

I always loved winter for similar reasons. It's too cold to go out, so nobody blames you if you want to stay in and read and be alone with your thoughts. (Which I like doing when it's warm, too, but it always seems like there's more pressure to DO SOMETHING when it's nice out.)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Okay, I WAS a French major, and that sounds like my idea of hell. One of the seven circles, certainly.

[sarapada.livejournal.com]

We had a Jan Term at Linfield, too, and it was always wonderful. I took a trip to Greece junior year to sort of re-trace the Odyssey. Senior year Jan term, there was an ice storm, so the first week of Jan Term classes (aka 3 of my total 12 class sessions for the month) were canceled. Since it was the beginning of Jan term, there hadn't even been any work assigned, so it was all drinking tea and looking at the pretty snow and reading and being in my PJs. It was HEAVEN.

[nefariousgrey.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, we had a Janterm at my liberal arts college, too! One of my favorite courses was a Science Fiction class where we basically just watched really awesome movies and then talked about them.

There was a sort of peacefulness over the campus, too, since a lot of people ended up opting out of the classes for more time spent with family (Janterm wasn't mandatory after all). So the dorm would be all quiet with just a small group of us there, heavy Nebraska snowfall outside...it was awesome. You've made me miss it all over again!

[lady-findel.livejournal.com]

Here in Belgium, January is the most stressful period for students. It's the exam-period of the first term, so we need to study instead of read.

Now's the first year I don't need to study and I need to prepare for job interviews. I wish I could curl up with a book and tea. Or write out some rough outlines for short stories that pop into my mind when I'm busy.

[sherrilina.livejournal.com]

That's the same for most European colleges I think, when I was studying abroad in Spain I had exams in the end of January as well....I definitely prefer getting them over with before the holidays!

[sea-of-tethys.livejournal.com]

OMGCuba! I'm sooo jealous.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

God, I would love to go back there so much. It's so beautiful and--in many ways--strange, due to the way the government runs it. I don't foresee that being a possibility any time soon, though.