Day 320: Life is funny.
After staying up late yesterday discussing the meaning of life with Laura (and waking up laughing in the middle of the night), I woke up this morning pumped for Castra Latina! This literally means "Latin Camp," and is a two-week program during which young Virginia Latin students get together to share a wealth of classical knowledge and intellectual energy.
My morning pushed me to switch hats from Spanish student to Latin teacher right away, working with Emily, a rising 8th grade student, on the difference between a predicate nominative and a direct object. The work I did with her reminded me again of the importance of repetition when learning a language, now from a teacher's point of view rather than the all-too-often reminders of this fact that I received while working with Mario.
After this "book learning" from 9 to 12, the fun starts at noon, when novice, intermediate, and advanced teams convene in their respective classrooms to practice Certamen, the classics-based competition that shaped my high school career and continues to tickle my mind whenever I play.
I was happy to note that I have not forgotten much of my Latin while studying Spanish in Colombia, and it was fun to enter the world of trivia and hyper-buzzing once more. It was also a delight to be reunited with so many of my favorite people in the same place -- this classics community raised me!
Not wanting to lose all of my Español over the next few Latin-intensive weeks, I returned home, chugged down some lemonade, and plugged away at a placement exam for Spanish at Harvard. It may be because I missed every question without knowing it, but this assessment didn't seem too bad! We'll see in late August!
I now stand on the brink of a big decision -- whether to work out and try to survive the evening, or to crash right away and make up for sleep lost last night -- what a choice . . .
--
P.S. A life update: I decided to go in for a crazy Reggaeton workout and then a hysterical pizza dinner during which Priya and I communicated in Latnish (a mix of two of our favorite lenguas!).
My morning pushed me to switch hats from Spanish student to Latin teacher right away, working with Emily, a rising 8th grade student, on the difference between a predicate nominative and a direct object. The work I did with her reminded me again of the importance of repetition when learning a language, now from a teacher's point of view rather than the all-too-often reminders of this fact that I received while working with Mario.
After this "book learning" from 9 to 12, the fun starts at noon, when novice, intermediate, and advanced teams convene in their respective classrooms to practice Certamen, the classics-based competition that shaped my high school career and continues to tickle my mind whenever I play.
I was happy to note that I have not forgotten much of my Latin while studying Spanish in Colombia, and it was fun to enter the world of trivia and hyper-buzzing once more. It was also a delight to be reunited with so many of my favorite people in the same place -- this classics community raised me!
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| Woojin with Priya and Priya's sister. |
Not wanting to lose all of my Español over the next few Latin-intensive weeks, I returned home, chugged down some lemonade, and plugged away at a placement exam for Spanish at Harvard. It may be because I missed every question without knowing it, but this assessment didn't seem too bad! We'll see in late August!
I now stand on the brink of a big decision -- whether to work out and try to survive the evening, or to crash right away and make up for sleep lost last night -- what a choice . . .
--
P.S. A life update: I decided to go in for a crazy Reggaeton workout and then a hysterical pizza dinner during which Priya and I communicated in Latnish (a mix of two of our favorite lenguas!).
Oh, Castra Latina! I have missed you! SO good to hear about again! Also, I love the picture of you, Woojin and Priya...like old times! :)
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