It’s fifteen minutes before the end of my criminal law
final. It started at 12:31, and
it’s a four-hour exam, ending at 4:31.
I finished typing around 3:15 and looked over my exam for 15 more
minutes, editing a few things and changing little things here and there, but
I’ve basically been done for nearly an hour. I don’t know if that means I didn’t get many of the issues
on the exam or if I didn’t write enough, but I feel like I covered the main
points. Maybe Shae is right – I’m
a freak, Cylon, too efficient. I
don’t know. But it’s interesting
watching everyone else. People
seem pretty calm and collected, what I would expect from a group of this
caliber. Pretty much everyone is
still going at it furiously, though, so I don’t know what to make of my finishing
early.
Three exams down, one to go! Contracts is going to be more painful than torts and crim in
some ways, but it’s only three hours long, and I can’t do better than my best
whatever happens, so it’s probably best not to worry about it. I’ll spend most of the day tomorrow and
Friday morning studying, but I don’t know that I’m incredibly motivated to pull
out an H in that class. If only I
knew what grades I was going to get on my first exams so I could calibrate my
effort accordingly.
I’m excited to go home! I haven’t been home in a long time; that is, last winter
break was more of an adventuresome vacation and less about family time, and
last summer I only spent a few weeks with my family, most of it at a beach
house with our extended family. It
will be really nice to spend some quality time with just Mom and Dad and Joseph
and Rachel. Andrew has been gone
for a long time; it’ll be really nice when he’s part of the family again, even
if we are all over the place. I
should probably work on my family relationships more than I do; think of good
Christmas gifts for Joseph and Rachel, talk to them more often, make their
happiness a priority.
What should I do in Beijing? I’m probably not going to get any interview offers from law
firms before I leave on Saturday, unfortunately, so that complicates
things. Of course Sunday evening
I’ll make sure Leah and Josef have arranged dinner with whoever’s there. So the real question is what to do on
Monday and Tuesday morning. I
could email Liang Shuo and see if he wants to do lunch one of those days. Or Li Xiao Ping, if he’s still in
Beijing. That would be nice. I can go see the Temple of Heaven,
since I don’t think I’ve been.
Although it will be cold.
Remember to pack a coat.
Shopping! What to buy? If I see anything cool in the silk
market I think Joseph or Rachel would like, I could buy that. Get Shae some silk pajamas. Another pair for myself – if they have
any in red. A painting for Jenn,
if there are small ones that aren’t too expensive. Actually, maybe I should wait until Vietnam for that – I bet
there are good, small, cheap paintings on sale all over the place there. Whatever happened to the painting(s?) I
bought in Cambodia? Did I buy
any? I can’t remember. I could also get 30 little things for
my section mates. Not sure what,
but something. And
professors? Huh. Think about that one some more.
Things to remember to pack: all of the Christmas presents,
swimsuit, cheese/salami/nuts, warm clothing for the three days in Beijing (one coat,
which you can wear on the plane, long pants, thick socks, gloves/scarf/hat?).
