Sunday, January 27, 2013

Week Two

Thursday was interesting. I woke up, went to go eat, and headed to my Latin American History Class to take a quiz. Our professor welcomed us all to class, printed out our quizzes, distributed the quizzes and then proceeded to chatter happily as we took them. After a while, he seemed to grow bored with talking, so he turned on some violin music instead. Afterwards, we traded papers and graded them. However, he decided to give us the second half of the quiz as a take-home. Then we all took notes on how Mexico is perceived by the United States, and how those perceptions are erroneous in nature.

After History, I ran into Angel and had lunch with him. I told him that I needed to pick up an online order at the school bookstore, so he decided to go with me. After I picked up the sweater that my mom had ordered for me, Angel and I sat in a public area nearby. Angel asked me if I had seen Kalofer recently and I responded that I hadn't. No sooner than we had finished talking about him, he suddenly appeared. We laughed and told him that we had just been talking about him and began talking. Then VJ walked by with a friend and ordered coffee. The lot of us sat and chatted for a bit, then Angel went off to his class. Not long after, VJ went off with her friend. Kalofer then began telling me that he was trying to start a student organization for chess. We spoke for a while, and then Kalofer went his own way. Looking at the time, I walked to Jarvis Hall and proceeded to wait for Biology to start.

When all the other students arrived I noticed something peculiar: I didn't recognize a single one of them. When my professor walked in, I asked him why I didn't recognize anyone. He told me that I only needed one two hour lab per week in Biology, and that my section (002) met on Tuesday afternoons only. Gleeful, I left the lab and met VJ outside. I asked her what she was doing and she replied that she was going to go eat with Mahir. I asked her if I might join them and then went with her to meet up with Mahir. The three of us sat and chatted for a while, and then proceeded to walk to the library so that VJ could pick up one of her textbooks. As we left the library, we ran into Sarah who asked us if we were going to ride the bus. VJ and Mahir said we were and the bus pulled up. Until that point, I hadn't known that there even was a bus.

While we were riding, Sarah invited VJ to an event later that evening, and VJ invited Mahir. I kept my nose out of it because it didn't sound like much fun to me. When we arrived at the dorms, I went up to my room and proceeded to write for a while. A good, long time later I came out of my man cave and went to have dinner with Angel at Price Commons. It was cold as we walked down there, and we swore that we would eat dinner at North Point the next day so that we wouldn't have to trudge across the town. We ate, trudged back and went to our respective dorms. I proceeded to fly up the stairs and write in my man cave until I went to bed.

Friday, I woke up, got ready, and decided to eat after my Literature class. In said class we talked about the invention of childhood and several elements of art. After class, I was boring and went back to my room. I'm sure no one could have guessed. I came back about forty-five minutes before my Biology lecture and ate lunch, then headed to wait for class. After class I was free to be the boring me because my Spanish class is a Monday/Wednesday only class. Score! Later I texed Angel if he wanted to eat and he told me that we needed to meet up immediately at the North Point dining center because on the weekends it closes at six thirty.

We rushed down there, ate, were completely dissatisfied with the food and atmosphere of the place and decided not to come back until the plumbing issue was fixed and the entire cafeteria was open again. I went back to my room and proceeded to write some more while listening to the entire Silent Hill soundtrack.

Saturday was wonderful in that I got to sleep in. Ah, sleep, you charmer, you. Anyway, I woke up late and discovered that Brunch ran from ten to one thirty. I texted Angel to see if he wanted to go with me, but I got no reply, so I went half an hour later by myself.  While at the cafeteria, I met some nice people and sat with them. As I was walking back to the dorm, I ran into Angel, who said that he had texted me. I told him I hadn't received it and continued walking back to my dorm. When I returned, I wrote until about five thirty, at which point I went to go eat dinner. When I returned from dinner, I continued to write until eleven twenty, at which point I got ready for bed. You would think I had penned a masterpiece by now.

I woke up this morning at nine o'clock, rolled over, and woke up again at eleven thirty. I proceeded to shower and head towards the cafeteria. Side note: I pass by a bush every single day that is infested with thirty plus fluffy, little birds. They are adorable yet sensible; every time I pass by they all stop chirping until I pass, even though they could easily peck me to death. It's so cute! I arrived at the cafeteria around one ten and prepared my food. As I was eating, I met two girls and a guy and proceeded to chat with them until they had to leave. I got both of the girls' numbers (if I were a guy, this would make me a stud) and promised to text them. I intend to. I proceeded to go back to my dorm and goof around on the internet until five twelve, when I texted Mary and Jessie to ask them to meet me for dinner around five forty.

We all had a nice time at dinner, although I probably talked more than I should have. After Greg, Brian, and Mary left, Jessie and I stayed and continued to talk until about five after seven. When I got back to my dorm room, I discovered that Angel had texted me to come and play pool and ping-pong. I asked him if he still wanted me to come play, and I headed over to meet him. We played just-try-to-hit-it-Julia ping pong, and two rounds of foozeball which I won. I went back to my dorm at eight fifty.

Now I'm just going to to relax, check for any homework, and write some more.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Tenth Day

So this morning I woke up at seven thirty, got ready, and headed off to class. As I was walking, I noticed that the wind was blowing drafts of snow into the air. It was cool enough to distract me for a moment, but I didn't think anything of it until later. My first class was Children's Literature, and though we only covered the syllabus, I enjoyed it immensely. I feel as though this will be my favorite class, though as an aspiring author, that really isn't very surprising.

My next class didn't begin until two thirty, so I headed back towards my dorm. I met VJ along the way and we spoke briefly. I truthfully don't recall how I wasted my time until about twelve fifty, at which point I headed towards the Price Commons cafeteria. As luck would have it, VJ, Angel, and two other international students were eating there when I arrived, so I ate with them. At one forty I decided to head towards my next class, the lecture portion of my Biology class.

As soon as that class ended, I went to Harvey Hall for my Latin American Short Story class. Once again, this consisted of a review of the syllabus. I am rather nervous about this class, but I am always nervous about any Spanish class. As I was preparing to leave the classroom, something outside the window caught my eye. The wind was laden with snow and blowing fiercely around. Knowing I had no option but to trudge through it, I left the building.

Now as of yet I have been able to bear the cold quite nicely, due, in major part, to all of the sweaters and the thick coat my mother purchased for me. However, today I discovered that snow being blown directly at one's eyes is blinding, and that there is no defense to this. I tried to shield my eyes with my hand. When that failed, I held my hood down in front of my face. This worked better, but the snow managed to get at my eyes anyway from the open corners of my hood.

And for those of you that would suggest glasses, think again. They are worse than useless here, as they fog up when I breathe and still let the snow in. Perhaps I should try my swimming goggles...

At any rate, I sat about and did my History homework for a while. I texted Angel to text me when he was ready to go eat, and continued to do my homework. However, I didn't manage to do it for very long. History texts are incredibly dry material; I do believe they would burn quite well. Angel eventually texted me that he would be in the international dorm's lobby at seven. As I was getting ready to meet him there, I received a call from my grandfather. I chatted with him even as I walked to the cafeteria with Angel, but we hung up about halfway there.

I don't know if I've ever been so happy to eat school food. So far, I've enjoyed the food here, but then again, I've yet to eat anything other than a type of pasta. Fortunately, I've been eating carrots and fruits, but I don't think that will save me. After a frigid walk back to my dorm, I decided to take a nice, hot shower with the new hair care supplies my lovely mother sent me. Since then, I have submitted some information to my Literature professor, read a bit more of my highly flammable history text, and sent an e-mail to my Spanish teacher. Now I'm going to contemplate how early I need to get up in order to be able to eat before class.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Ninth Day

Today was my first day of classes. I woke up at seven forty for my class at nine, brushed my teeth, ate a sandwich, got dressed, and went to Harvey Hall. I arrived a little early and sat out in the hall. After the time for class to begin had come and gone, I suddenly realized that today was Tuesday, not Monday. Thankfully, my Tuesday class (Latin American History) started at nine forty on the same floor. Slightly embarrassed of myself, I went and sat outside of the correct door.

While I was waiting outside, I heard an unusual amount of shouting and ruckus from inside my future classroom. It was happy sounding ruckus, so I wasn't concerned. Once everyone from that class had left, I went and sat down in the room. Lo and behold, the same teacher that had taught the previous noisy class was going to be my instructor as well.

My foreknowledge of his noisy, happy tendencies aside, I knew that this man would be the perkiest teacher I've ever had as soon as he opened his mouth. I was proved right: for the rest of the period (and a bit beyond) he jabbered on happily about Latin America, and somehow made everything we spoke of relevant to it.

After that class ended, I went to the campus bookstore to purchase toothpaste, pencils, and composition notebooks. I then proceeded to trudge back to my dorm so that I could finish off the last of my bread and sandwich meat, not to mention reorganize my back pack. Once one thirty rolled around, I trudged back to main campus to go to my Biology class.

I found my Biology teacher to be rather pleasant as well, although infinitely more quiet. He told us that for the entire semester we would be researching the effects of various chemicals on the microorganisms that reside in lake Menomin. Though today was technically a lab day for Biology, Scott (as he has said we may call him) didn't hold us for the entire time. I returned to my dorm once again.

Once I collected a package of mine from the mail room, I headed up to my dorm to check out this school's version of Blackboard: D2L (desire to learn). I discovered that my rambunctious professor had already posted thirty-three pages of material for us to read and made note of a quiz that would follow it. I read nine pages of the dry stuff before crying uncle; thankfully, I had already found the answer to one of the questions. Due to this event, I'd be willing to wager that my most difficult course this semester will be Latin American History.

I remember now that the first three days of every class are always intimidating. It's almost as if the professors are trying to see who they can run off before turning around and sharing a giant apple pie with those who stuck around. ¡Ay, Dios mío! but this will be an interesting first week.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Seventh and Eighth Days

Yesterday I had no plans except to go see the movie "Django" with Angel, VJ, Germany, and Kalofer. Angel sent me a text message saying that he, VJ, and I would meet up at the international dorm at three o'clock. From the time I got up at nine forty until two fifteen I did a whole lot of nothing, and enjoyed it, too. Once we had all walked to the movie theater, we ran into Germany outside. She told us that Kalofer had run off to collect something, so we went inside to purchase our tickets.

Fortunately, as the theater is a budget theater, the tickets were ridiculously cheap: three dollars. Unfortunately, I had spent my only bill in the mall when I purchased the unlimited pass from the man. However, just as I was about to go across the street to a bank and pray that I didn't have to pay a horrendous fee for using their automatic teller machine, VJ said that she would pay for me. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't let her, but because it was three dollars, I feel confident that I will be able to pay her back somehow.

At any rate, Kalofer came back about ten minutes into the movie and we all seemed to enjoy it well enough. It was dark when we left, so Kalofer suggested we to the nearby bar. Everyone agreed, but we stopped by the local market for a minute so that Angel could buy some spagetti sauce. Once we were in the bar, I ordered some cheese curds in accordance with my dad's wishes that I try them. They tasted much like mozzarella sticks without the breading, which was good for me because I love mozzarella sticks.

After a bit, VJ said that some of the international students were throwing a goodbye party for Valeska, a Brazilian girl who had been here for one semester already. We all had been invited, and everyone except for Germany said they would go. She had been texting her boyfriend for a while now, and was at this point "not in a partying mood." We felt bad that she didn't want to go, but didn't force the issue, and headed off to VJ's dorm to wait until the party's host came to fetch us.

After Angel and I faced off in three rousing foozeball games and three intense air hockey matches, our guide appeared and lead us to the scene of the party. We arrived at around eight o'clock. Still more guests flooded into the apartment, but not the lady of the hour. After two telephone calls and an hour and a half, Valeska appeared and was much surprised to see us all gathered to wish her well.

The rest of the party went as parties tend to go: we cut a cake, we played loud music, we wiggled about to said loud music, and eventually a guitar was whipped out and we watched Valeska perform a few songs worth of old fashioned karaoke. Eventually, at around twelve thirty, Angel and I decided that we were much too tired to continue, and moseyed back over to our respective dormitories.

I woke up sometime around nine forty-ish this morning, talked with my parents on the phone for a bit, and then proceeded to do my laundry. After my laundry was done, I decided that a good ol' dose of nothing sounded like fun and did just that. Tomorrow marks the beginning of classes for me, and I confess myself excited. I'm looking forward to meeting my teachers and learning new things (to those of you who screamed "Nerd!" I say "Touché!"). Maybe I'll even *gasp* make some American friends. Maybe.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Fifth and Sixth Days

Yesterday marked the final day of student orientation. I had agreed the previous night to meet up with Daniel and Summer at the international dorm around seven forty-five, so I headed over there at around seven forty. I must confess that waiting for others to arrive makes me nervous about being late, so I only stuck around until exactly seven forty-six. At that time, I left for Jarvis Hall with another international student, Omar.

My haste was for naught, however. Omar and I arrived at Jarvis Hall ten minutes before everyone else. When Daniel arrived with Summer, I was lightly scolded for my impatience. After that, the day dragged on at a painfully slow rate. Many guest speakers dropped by and gave lengthy lectures on their topics; everything up to and including medical insurance, the school's policy on plagiarism, and advice for avoiding depression was mentioned.

When everything had finally come to a close, we all headed to lunch. Amazingly, and for reasons I still do not know, one of the school's several cafeterias was open to us. I feasted on mushroom lasagna, chipotle mashed potatos, and baby carrots; while it may not seem like much, after two days of pizza, it was like heaven.

After I had finished eating, Angel and I started off towards the library with so that I could help him collect his textbooks. However, before we got too far we ran into VJ, Kalofer, and Germany (I don't remember her real name as of yet). Kalofer said that he was going to throw a party that night and that we were all invited. VJ, Angel, and I all agreed to meet up outside of the international dorm at seven so that we could walk to Kalofer's place off-campus. Kalofer said that he would go to Germany's place and fetch her while we were on our way.

Once Angel and I had collected his textbooks, we headed back to our dormitories. I attempted to finish reading Dracula, but found that the day's prior events had left me exhausted. I slept until about six twenty, but got up and made my way over to the international dorm before seven. When we had all gathered there, we headed off to find Kalofer's house. It took us a little while, but we managed to locate it without anyone losing any limbs.

About two minutes after we had found his address, Kalofer walked up with Germany. Angel, VJ, and Kalofer went off to purchase some alcohol while Germany and I sat and waited inside. They returned with some rose wine, a six pack of beer, and some rum that I see advertised all the time, but don't recall the name. Kalofer pointed at the rum and mentioned how that it was more expensive in England, but even more expensive in Belgium (his home country). That he found it for twenty dollars seemed to please him immensely.

Germany mentioned that she was hungry and Kalofer said that he had some food, but that she ought to know it was Belgium food. We opened the fridge and saw two types of meat (sausage and jerky of some kind, I believe) and some white cheese. After looking at it for a moment, Germany dismissed it, but I asked if I might try it. Kalofer proceeded to cut them into thin slices and place them on a plate.

When we all got settled in the living room, everyone picked their favorite alcoholic beverage. Noticing that I declined to have any, Kalofer questioned me. I told him that I was underage and didn't like the stuff any way; this appeared to have offended him down to his core. Judging by his actions last night and today, it has become nothing short of his sacred mission to get me intoxicated.

We stayed at his house until about ten. Around that time, the other girls and I decided that we were tired. If my refusal of alcohol had been saddening, this was nothing short of devastating to Kalofer. He proposed we go out to a club, and when this was met with a "nay" by all short of Angel (and that is a lot as he is quite tall), he proceeded to tell us that we were the "most boring party goers" he had ever been with. However, as we were dropping Germany off at her place, Angel stated that he would quite like to go bar-hopping with Kalofer. This perked the latter up quite a bit.

With those two off doing their thing, VJ and I headed back to our dormitories together. When I arrived at my room, I was so tired that I simply performed my nightly ritual and went to sleep.

The international group was scheduled to meet in the parking lot beside the clock tower at ten thirty so that we could go to the Mall of America in Minneapolis until six. Fortunately for me, I was well rested with all the sleep I had gotten the day before, so I woke up in time to take a shower and eat before heading over to the international dorm. Once VJ, Angel, Daniel, and I had met up, we walked over to the parking lot. The bus headed off at around ten forty-five and the journey to the mall was an hour long.

Now, I hadn't known precisely how to dress for this occasion, but I had done my best to thing it over properly. Since I hadn't wanted to deal with either of my hulking coats, I decided to wear my thick, cable knit sweater. But that wasn't really the problem. I kept going back and forth wondering whether I ought to wear long underwear beneath my corduroy pants. Eventually I decided that I ought to, and just ran with it.

With the aforementioned knowledge in mind, I tell you that the bus ride to the mall was miserable. The heat was on, but it was concentrated (guess where?) at my legs, so for the whole trip I felt as though I was burning alive. When we arrived at the mall I couldn't have been any more grateful for the cool air outside the bus. VJ, Germany, Kalofer, Angel, and I stuck together in a kind of group when we went inside, but as soon as the first two spotted a Victoria's Secret, off they went like a shot.

Kalofer recommended that we purchase tickets to ride in the theme park at the center of the hotel. As we were looking over the prices, a man came up to us and explained that he had purchased a certain membership which had given him several unlimited passes. He offered to sell us these at twenty dollars apiece, which was ten dollars cheaper than it would have normally been. After little debate, we three purchased one for each of us and decided to hunt down the other two girls so that we could get them the same good deal.

After a while, we five entered the theme park with our unlimited passes. Angel, VJ, and Germany were concerned about their personal items, so they purchased time on a locker. While they were doing so, Kalofer and I rode one of the roller coasters. Once they returned from their locker, we convinced them to ride the very same ride we had just ridden ourselves. When the ride was over, they all went to look at the snapshots that are automatically taken during the ride. It was quite a hilarious sight: both of the girls were screaming bloody murder, Kalofer had his mouth hanging open in a funny faux-scream, Angel looked like somebody was forcing him into a girl's toilet, and I was grinning like an idiot.

We decided to ride another roller coaster in the middle of the park. This one was a bit longer, and personally, a bit more fun, because it turned as it went through its various loops. After that we decided to ride the only water ride in the park. The girls and I objected at first, not liking the idea of getting wet, but Kalofer was quick to point out that no one was coming out of the ride wet. Even as we were standing in line, the other girls expressed their hesitance, to which Kalofer replied that if they got wet he would buy each of them something. I heard no more complaints.

With only so much room per "log", Kalofer rode with the other two girls and I rode with Angel. After the ride was over, the girls went over to the photo booth for this ride. VJ laughed at her, Germany's, and Kalofer's expressions, but when she beheld my idiotic smile and Angel's mildly surprised face, she exclaimed in mild disgust, "Does nothing get to you?"

We then went to the food court on the north side of the mall. I had tried to say that we ought to eat at the south side, but either no one heard or paid me no heed. Our meals were rather plain: the girls both ate Chinese, Angel and I both ate Arby's, and I have no idea what Kalofer ate. Once we had finished eating, the girls went off on their own. Kalofer, Angel, and I went nosing about in various stores. In one, Angel bought a hat. Eventually, I tracked down the Yogen Früz, and we ate there. We then walked around the mall a bit more before Kalofer said that he wanted to ride the rides some more.

At this point, the theme park was overridden with children and their acquiescing parents. All of the lines were ridiculously long, so I said that I was going to go explore the first floor. Both of the boys remained in the park while I hunted down the Build-a-Bear Workshop. I had hoped to find a little sweater with my adopted school's logo on it, but I found a Chicago Cubs jersey instead. My dad and I are fans of the team and frequently attend games together when the Cubs face off against the Braves, but they don't have Cubs jersey's in Columbia. Now, if I ever want to, I can take my bear with me to a game, and he won't disgrace me with his lack of regalia.

As it didn't take long for me to find the store and make my purchase, I went back into the theme park and found Angel and Kalofer. We decided to give the water ride another go, so we stood in the long line for what felt like forty minutes, but was actually only fifteen. It was quite funny to stuff all three of us in the log. While I'm sure Kalofer had plenty of room, I held my purchase and Angel's backpack in my lap, and Angel sat squeezed in behind me. In truth, I felt worse for him, for though my legs are long, his are even longer.

The ride was much more enjoyable this go round, but I suspect that it was because we had more weight between the three of us, and that helped our downward momentum. After we disembarked, Kalofer said that he wanted a beer, so we all went upstairs to a restaurant. While Angel and Kalofer sipped their foamy glasses of bread, I sat at the bar, sipping water through a straw. This displeased Kalofer, and he said, "I have convinced many friends to drink with me and you are not the exception." I found this rather funny.

After that, I stopped by the cookie store that all malls seem to have, purchased quite a few for myself and one for Kalofer (Angel refused my offer). We then proceeded to head towards the entrance of the mall so that we could go outside and see the ice castle. I ran into the girls while I was using the facilities and told them of our plans. They decided to go with us, so we all headed outside.

I have often fancied that if Hell were an actual place that it would be frozen, and as we stood outside in those biting gales, I became convinced of that very notion. The wind was biting and buffeting all at once, and made my very body ache. Opon discovering that I couldn't even look at the ice castle without a payment of ten dollars, I promptly turned and walked back into the bitter cold. Keep in mind that I had dressed very warmly, but still had not brought either of my thick coats which would have better protected me from the cold. By the time I had re-entered the mall, each of my earrings (I have five) burned, my nose was slightly numb, and my fingers (though they had been in mittens) throbbed with pain.

I stood not too far off from the entrance of the mall because we didn't have long until the bus would arrive to pick us up. Other members of the international group appeared, and then Ms. Vickie did as well. Presently, Germany, VJ, and Kalofer arrived. Remembering some tasks that they needed to accoplish, VJ and Kalofer sped off to the T-Mobile store, but not before telling Ms. Vickie that they woudn't be long in coming.

Eventually, Ms. Vickie told us that the bus had arrived. Germany and I replied that we would wait for VJ and Kalofer. I asked Germany where Angel had gone off to, and she replied that she didn't know. Angel appeared soon after, brandishing a new wallet and looking quite pleased with his purchase. We told him that the other two would be shortly returning, but we quickly grew nervous with waiting and decided to head to the bus. The other two made it back in time, and we left the mall without leaving anyone behind.

Despite the fact that I had been relatively uncomfortable and warm throughout the entire mall expedition, I was grateful that I had worn as much as I had on the journey back. If the heating unit was on, I certainly couldn't tell. However, the Saudi Arabian students made the return trip very entertaining as they had something of a singing competition/chorus the entire way home. At one point even I was encouraged to sing something, so I went with "Many a New Day" from Oklahoma.




When we arrived, I nearly flew to my dorm to escape the cold. I ate the rest of my cookies, finished reading Dracula, texted my mother, and began to write this. Now, as it is far too late for me, I am going to bed.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Fourth Day

Because I hadn't received a folder like the international students, I was left without a schedule today. As I didn't know what to do, I decided to sleep in. I awoke at around nine forty and proceeded to take my time having a nice, long shower. After I had dressed, I took it upon myself to fetch my school books from the library. Never was there a greater system devised!

I walked into the room and asked an asistant for help. He pointed to the papers posted on the sides of the aisles; each paper had a list of various courses, the required textbook/s for each, and the name/s of the author/s of the textbook/s.

In the end it wound up looking like this:

COURSE      CLASS                      AUTHOR
BIO 101        ALL CLASSES         PRESSON

When I was heading back towards my dorm, I ran into one of the Saudi Arabian students and proceeded to guide him back to his dorm (which is directly across the foot bridge from mine). We didn't get far before we ran into Angel, VJ, and Daniel, each of whom asked me where I had been. As we all headed back to the dormitories, I explained that since I hadn't been given a schedule, I hadn't known where to go or when. They told me that an event had been scheduled for four forty-five that afternoon. When we arrived at the foot bridge, I agreed to meet up at the international dorm at the aforementioned time and went back to my room to read Dracula.

Once the time rolled around, I headed to the international dorm. At five, we headed to a Lutheran church where host families had gathered to meet us. We all sat around eating, talking, and generally having a good time. I asked Angel and Daniel what I had missed earlier that day. Apparently, they had been informed about the usual policies as to what was illegal (drinking, drugs, alcohol, paraphernalia, etc.), the access card system, and then been given lunch. At around seven or so, Daniel, Summer, Angel, and myself headed back towards the dormitories.

After that, I came back to my room and proceeded to write out my daily account. Now I shall continue to read Dracula.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Third Day

Today I woke up at six forty-five to go to the international dormitory. Not long after I arrived, we all walked to Jarvis Hall for the welcoming ceremony. The chancellor gave an introductory/welcome speech and asked each of us to say our name, major, and country of origin. We were then split into two groups to discuss forms. I didn't need to participate in either discussion, so I sat and waited for the campus tour to start. Throughout the duration of the tour I spoke with Angel, a student from London.

After the tour had ended, the two groups reunited at a pizza joint name "Jerry's" to have lunch. Once that was finished, we all went our separate ways. Many of the international students went to take English and Math proficiency exams whereas the students from England and I went to pick up our school assigned laptops.

As we were walking back to the dorms, Angel, VJ, Sarah, myself, and the Brazilian girl (whose name I still can not recall) decided to go see the frozen lake. It wasn't long before we were all walking/sliding/snow-angel-making on the surface, laughing ourselves silly. After that, we all walked back to our seperate dorms.

I didn't do too terribly much after I returned to my room. I spent too much time on the internet, ate a sandwich, and went ahead and bought my DragonCon ticket for August. And to put the boring cherry atop the boring sundae, once I have finished this sentence I will be making another sandwich and reading Dracula.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

First and Second Days

Okay, seeing as how today is my second day in Wisconsin, I'll have to do a recap of everything that transpired until now. Be warned: this recap is a novella.

My parents dropped me off at the Charlotte airport at around ten thirty in the morning. My mom came in with me and helped to point me in the right direction while my dad went to park the car so that he could come in to get his hug and kiss goodbye. After waiting around for what became an uncomfortably long time, my mom went to take care of the car so that my dad could go ahead and say goodbye. After a teary-eyed hug farewell, I went through airport security. As I was laden with my laptop bag, an additional carry-on bag, my pillow, and my traveling companion (teddy bear), it took me a while to get through.

Once I and all of my objects were deemed safe, I headed towards the specified gate on my ticket. My plane was scheduled for takeoff at eleven twenty-five; I arrived at approximately eleven ten. As she was scanning my ticket, the flight attendent said that she had begun to wonder where I was. Seeing as I was already mildly stressed out (I prefer to arrive around an hour early to everything), this did not make me terribly comfortable. Once I had arrived at my seat, the gentleman who sat behind me offered to put one of my bags into the overhead compartment. I thanked him and looked to take my seat.

The other two seats on my row were occupied by a young father and his daughter (who couldn't have been more than six). My seat was supposed to be the one next to the window, but the little girl was happily sitting there, staring out the window and chirping about what she saw. The father asked me if she could sit there for the rest of the flight and I agreed. I didn't want to take that experience away from a child and I had too much stuff in my hands anyway.

The flight was scheduled to be two hours and forty minutes. I slept until ten minutes before the descent. Once I had disembarked and collected my hulking luggage from the baggage claim, I went to the help desk and asked where I needed to go to find my bus. The helpful info-desk lady pointed me in the right direction and soon I found my bus route. The driver took my both of my suitcases, my extra carry-on bag, and my pillow for me and recommended that I visit the lavatory. I opted to follow his advice, and when I returned, I sat down and waited half an hour for the bus to arrive.

Once I and all of my fellow passengers were on the bus, we left the airport in Minnesota and headed towards Menomonie. It was an hour long drive; I fell asleep again. I woke up right as we were entering the on-ramp. The bus dropped me and my belongings off at an inn, but it was hardly ten minutes before someone from the university came to pick me up. At this time I discovered that the inner lining of my right shoe had split; it was hardly life altering or important, but it continued to irritate me for the rest of the day and was therefore worthy of note.

When I arrived at the university there was something of an issue with my caretaker's access card; however, this was quickly remedied, so I was brought to the front desk and given the key to my room. Once all of my possesions were in my room, I was told that the international exchange students would be going to Wal*Mart to purchase any necessities. Though I am technically a national exchange student, I have been somewhat lumped in with them (something I will never complain about).

I walked across the pedestrian bridge to get to the international dormitory and waited in the lobby for the other students to arrive. I was not the first to arrive; five students from Saudi Arabia were already waiting, two of which were completing their sunset prayers (maghrib). Not long after they had finished, the rest of the students arrived. Everyone went about shyly introducing themselves to one another. As I was the only one of the group that was actually from the United States, I was tasked with the surprisingly difficult task of explaining that I came from South Carolina.

Not too long afterwards, we walked to the bus which was in the parking lot next to the clock tower. Once we had all coalesced in the vehicle, we took off towards Wal*Mart. When we arrived, it was explained to us that the bus would be leaving at seven fifteen.

"And not seven fifteen in Saudi time," they explained. Many people laughed at this, so I asked for an explanation.

"See, in Saudi Arabia, if something is scheduled to start at seven, it'll usually start at eight. Seven is the time you wake up to head in that direction." I understood because that is apparently the norm in Spain as well. Well, as they shuffled into Wal*Mart, I took off like a shot, collecting all of my items very quickly. After I had checked out, I was worried that I may have purchased too much. Boy, was I ever fretting over nothing. Each of the twenty-something students had an entire shopping cart filled with items. On the ride home, all of the items took up one side of the bus and we took up the other.

Eventually, I got back to my room and commenced unpacking. Once all of my things had been put away, I cleaned the dishes and silverware that I had purchased and put my foodstuffs in the refrigerator-freezer-microwave combo in my room. All of this being done, I decided to check out the hall lavatory. Now, I had never used a hall lavatory before and was not keen on the idea, but I was pleased to find that it (for the time being) was quite clean and exceptionally spacious. I brushed my teeth and went back to my room to sleep.

I awoke this morning at around eight fifty-five. Having nothing to do with myself until the campus tour at two o'clock, I ate breakfast, took a shower, and lay about like the lazy git I am. I arrived at the international dorm about fifteen minutes early and sat about in the lobby. Once most of the students had amassed, we took off. We first walked back across the street to my dormitory, went inside, and then went down a tunnel I hadn't previously noticed. This took us to the cafeteria/fitness center that is clearly visible from my bedroom window. From there, we split into groups of three.

The leader of my group took us to a different building to collect three more students, and then we toured through the rest of the campus. We passed by Harvey Hall, where the majority of my classes will be held, and various additional dormitories. We then entered the campus office in charge of access cards and certain fees. I went to get my access card while the other students paid their fees, and when we were done we were shown an additional cafeteria in that same building. Next we toured the gymnasium, and then a student activities building with yet another place to eat.

One of the students kept complaining about how hungry he was, which was actually entertaining as he was being quite dramatic about it. Audible though he was, he was being good-natured about the whole thing, and after we had a quick tour of the library, we went to a small pizza joint nearby. This university is amazing: the prices of your textbooks are included in the fees. You only borrow them for a semester, and after you are done with classes, you return them. This just wowed me.

The pizza joint was called "Toppers", and is apparently a chain restaurant. It was pretty nice: much like an upscale Pizza Hut to tell the truth. One of the students had to go to the bank, so our group leader asked for me to help the other three order. I agreed, and we went inside. The cashier was patient and only looked mildly stressed about the hundred dollar bills she was expected to break. I have to admit I was impressed with her handling of the situation. After everyone else had ordered, I decided to give it a try. I confessed that I had never been to "Toppers" before and stared at the menu for a good long while before ordering a macaroni and cheese pizza with gyro meat. The cashier said that I was brave for someone who had never eaten there and happily took my card.

Once everyone had finished eating, we headed back to the dormitories. I went back to my room, tidied up a bit, and then walked back over to the international dorm for today's adventure to Wal*Mart. Some new international students from China, Malaysia, and England had arrived, and I introduced myself to a few. We went to Wal*Mart, I bought some essentials for laundry, and watched as the additional students bought the carts of items as well.

Once everyone had finished, we headed back to the dorms, I went into mine, came up here, and had a nice long chat with my parents. Then I sat down at my desk about an hour ago and began to write out this post. Cheers, mate! Sorry about the length and all, but there are no summaries for cheaters.