FIGS!!! Happy Brian

Beautiful Arizona sunset seen from top of A mountain

What more does one need?





Assalomu alaykum!not to fret! Sorry I didn't post yesterday, wasn't really in a writing mood. Doing well now and off to the start of Week 4 -- I canNOT believe it's gone by so quickly, even though I will say that every time I look back.as of tomorrow and Wednesday and I can say that it's been a great experience thus far! I am reminded of last year when at about this time I felt like I really was living here and that life was normal in the context of Arizona and Uzbek and all the great stuff here. Not bad! So here we go:As of right now my outlook is pretty good for this program and in general for the summer. I am happy to be busy, even though the work can be tiring at times, especially with a language that I really do enjoy. I have gotten some great feedback on my language learning here through homework, tests, and a presentation (will describe below) and I feel like this is something worthwhile to be doing.Other life-wise, I feel good because I've been almost 100% consistent with my daily exercise, at the very least walking extensively around campus and usually 20-35 minutes cardio with some strength. Aiming to keep up! Can't let oneself go in this world or else things get really bleak!Class has been good. I continue to enjoy the variation with formal learning in the morning and more dialogue and exercises in the afternoon. I have really gotten into the timing swing of things with the 10:30 start and usually do my larger meal and daily Ugly Betty episode viewing to unwind during the midday break (almost done season 4 -- what will I do when it's done?!). Homework has continued to be interesting, with lots of writing exercises (posted below).As for Friday's test, it was a pretty tough one, but I am happy with how I did. Basically the test was a full presentation that we had an hour to prepare, including the speech, slides, photos, and a small written text. Mine was about the small Uzbek city of Navoiy, going along with our theme of cities and transport. Aaand--I am excited to say I got an A+ on the test, my first yet here. Seeing as I did put a lot of work into the assignment, I am proud of this score.Free time has been relatively small in quantity but I've been enjoying walking around the campus, exercising, listening to music, getting my items organized both online and in real life as far as what I want to finish as well as keeping things neat and orderly. I am continuing to work on sites for clients and am looking forward to launching towards the end of the month for one client. Lastly, I have been enjoying shopping at the local markets with friends (thanks to those of you guys who have cars!) and the fruit has been GREAT!This week I have two exams actually, my final tomorrow, and my regular weekly test on Friday. My goal is to really stay on track with preparing for these and continue to get as much as I can out of class. I also want to crack down on organizing some of my online files for ebooks I want to put out soon, and help get some more tasks done for clients. Lastly, I want to keep exercising, and maybe even get around to posting up those vocab flashcards. :)Quite a few resources today! Here they are:Thanks for reading! Be in touch soon. Be sure to subscribe by email if you're enjoying the blog! We have almost reached the 10,000 visitors mark... Shh, it'll be a celebration!Xayr,Brian