Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog.

My name is Indra Odbayar, I am a first year Arts student intending to major in Psychology. It is very cool seeing tons of other psychology majors here. I feel like even though most of us might be here for the literature requirement – I, for one, am – that psychology majors may have some kind of shared interest in most of the key concepts we will be covering throughout the course, in the world of romance and their language in the postmodern society.

About me, I’m from Mongolia, a big country with little population on the other end of the globe. Popular for its gorgeous natural landmarks and influential history (you have probably heard of Genghis khan before, the real name is Chingis khan), I would say my country is one of a kind. It may not be the most developed or quality place to live in, but it holds a special place in my heart. I just came to Vancouver last September to start my studies and it is my first time ever living in a foreign country, away from my friends and family. Despite the problems one faces coming to a new and different place, I embrace this new chapter of my life with open arms :D. As for my interests and hobbies, I love consuming all kinds of media, especially music and movies. I like to think I listen, or try my best to listen to all kinds of music, but my favorite genre is alternative rock. A favorite band at the moment is the Smashing Pumpkins, and for artist, it’s Nina Simone! I am also a big movie lover (fav movie is Amélie), which is one of the reasons why I also chose cinema studies this semester. I wouldn’t call myself a big reader, although I am trying to change that this year. I definitely appreciate all types of literature but I am not educated enough about literature in the romance languages, which I hope to achieve through this course. My current read is Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which probably is not recommended for ‘beginner’ readers but I’m definitely enjoying it a lot, several chapters in.

To be completely honest, I had no idea what I would be learning about in RMST202, I saw the word romance and I was interested. I was originally going to take RMST321 with professor Patrick Moran, but after realizing it wasn’t available for first year students, I changed it to RMST202. I would say I got hooked with the unique system of blogs and contracts, and the fun discussion for our first class. I learned much more about the course in general after going through the website, and I am more than excited, and a little scared, to learn how to ‘read’, not just read, as discussed before. But not just about the literature, I look forward to expanding my knowledge of the cultures and society that are shown through the lens of these books. Another reason why I am interested in Romance Studies is because I’m also learning French this year, which I consider as a beautiful and a romantic language. I feel like reading literature translated from french and the other romance languages would be enjoyable and possibly valuable in my learning experience. Moreover, after watching the videos, it intrigues me that the ‘bastard offsprings’ of the latin language which was at one period, the language of the most significant empire, are now spoken, learned, and considered important while their ancestor, classical latin is considered a dead language. It is fascinating to think that with literature and linguistics, we get to learn about the history and society in the romance world, and their relationship with each other.

Thank you for reading my blog! I hope to have a great time this semester and challenge myself to read more.