Week Five

I'm going to try something new here. So far, I've only been telling what I've been doing as opposed to what I've been seeing and feeling. This time, I'll be talking primarily about the latter.

I'm tired of the natives and the people from home asking me about the weather and how I'm coping with it. Yes, it snows. Yes, I'm not used to snow. But no, I don't hate snow, I don't wish it were warmer. I've actually discovered that I really like snow unless it gets in my eyes. Now that that rant is out of the way...

The people that I've met are kind and courteous, the staff is helpful and understanding, and the students are like any other group of students I've met. People talk about the same things (the weather, how drunk they were last night, homework, etc.) with only slightly different accents (donchaknow?).

I think it's funny that they have a bus route to take kids from North Campus to South Campus because the distance between the two sides of campus are comparable to the distance between the horse shoe and the Humanities buildings. I personally walk it every day. Now, I know they have to deal with snow, ice, and freezing winds, but I haven't walked on ice my whole life and I seem to be doing just fine. I am happy for the handicapped students, though.

Working for dining services makes me feel disgusted with how much food is thrown away every day. This school's population is only nine thousand, so I can't even imagine the quantities of food thrown away by USC. Fortunately, Stout has both compost and recycling in addition to the usual trash receptacles. They also use a company, EcoProducts, to supply their take-out containers, cups, and straws. EcoProducts' products are all 100% compostable, so even if you throw them away in the regular trash, they'll degrade over time. I mentioned my approval of composting to my father one day when we were having a chat, and he recommended that I start a composting campaign for USC when I return. I think I will.

Vegetarian options are provided here as well as at USC, but much like USC, the options are terrible. I eat meat, so most people might think that such a thing doesn't affect me. They would be wrong. I feel concern at the lack of diversity offered in the vegetarian diet both here and at home. Providing corn, instant-mix mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, brown beans, and green beans simply isn't enough to sustain them. Vegetarians choose not to partake of meat, much like religions ban certain types of food. Their decisions should be respected, not punished or looked down upon, as should those of other religious sects, and more appropriate comestibles should be provided. They need nuts, grains, fruits (more than an apple a day, doc), and some darker green vegetables like asparagus and spinach. And universities should be ashamed for thinking that this would only affect vegetarian students. Including these options in the school's diet would improve the welfare of the other students as well if some less healthy options were eliminated.

I think my Latin American History teacher is getting to me. The other day he said (and I'm paraphrasing), "Americans look at sacrifice as something that is done by someone for them. Latin Americans look at sacrifice as something they themselves do for others." That really hit home with me. When is the last time that I actually did something for someone other than me? When is the last time that I gave something up just so that someone else could flourish? Five past never. He also said (still paraphrasing), "In America, the middle class are actually the most resistant to change. They know that if they continue along the same path they're on, they'll get to maintain their lifestyle, and that's good enough for them." This also hit home. I've already noticed that same train of thought chugging along in my mind. If I continue to put out this much effort, I'll live a comfortable enough life. Why should I settle for comfortable enough?

If nothing else, I'm glad I came to this university just because I met that man. Thinking critically about the world around us is an important tool that we as humans need to develop before we are unleashed into society.

Ah, but I've ranted too long. This cold air brings out the heat in my blood.

Week Four

Well so much for not wanting to walk half an hour in the cold along a highway. On Sunday I waited for the bus for so long that it was supposed to have shown up twice. I then decided to hoof it to the Walgreens. Once I had picked up my medicine and a few other things, I walked back to my dorm with those items in tow. When I returned to my dorm, I felt so proud for walking the whole way that I decided to treat myself to the movies. I went to the theater, saw Rise of the Guardians, went and ate dinner, saw Wreck-It Ralph, and walked back to my dorm room again.

I went to class as usual this week, but aside from classes, something good happened to me. At some point I had stopped by the Memorial Student Center's Dining Services Office and submitted a job application. Well, on Monday I received an e-mail that said my application had been accepted. I attended a tour of the MSC dining facilities on Wednesday, and was told that I could start as early as Thursday. So, I worked after class on Thursday, ran into VJ and Mahir, and went home with them when my shift was over. Friday morning I woke up at five to go to work from six until eight forty-five, at which point I went to my English class.

Jumping a bit back in time, I went to the pool with VJ and Kalofer on Tuesday at five thirty. It was wonderful to swim again, even if I did accidentally sit on my goggles and break them. At seven, VJ and Kalofer invited me to African Drum Club. Mahir came around a little after the club started at seven thirty. I tried to play as well as the others, but I confess I wasn't any good. I had fun, though, and it didn't seem to matter that I was inept. After the club ended around nine thirty, VJ, Kalofer, Mahir, and I all went into Jeff's Pizza and had dinner before we walked back to our respective residences. However, everyone seemed to agree that the swimming followed by drumming needed to be our weekly gig, so I now have indefinite plans for Tuesdays.

Today I've been working on my English homework all day. I took a shower sometime around three and went to get dinner at five thirty (because the cafeteria closes at six thirty on the weekends). I plan to go downstairs and do my laundry in about an hour, after I finish my English homework and can start on my Latin American History homework.

My time goes by oddly while I'm here; I feel as though I have all the time in the world to do anything, but when I'm headed to bed, I wonder where the day has gone. I suppose it must be because the lighting is different here, but I think it also may be psychological to a degree. At any rate, I'm doing well despite being in the "Hostility" stage of the emotional chart that the NSE ladies gave to me. I only grumble to myself about the fact that there are televisions in the dining areas and that they never have anything decent on. So... I think I'm good.

Week Three

Nothing especially different or important happened this week except on Wednesday. I hadn't seen any of my international friends all week, not even passing on the street. However, I did get to spend some time with the American friends that I had made. The special event this Wednesday was the Student Involvement Fair, where many of the student organizations set up booths to attract potential members. I went to a few, and eventually found the People's Organization of Network Gaming booth (hereafter referred to as PONG) and was told that they were having a forty-eight hour gaming "tournament" from Friday at four o'clock to Sunday at four o'clock.

I went to the PONG event at three thirty yesterday, after my Biology class. I looked around; nobody had completely set up yet, obviously, but I could tell that it was going to be big. I left to go back to my dorm. After I had appropriately eaten, grabbed equipment, and walked over to the Memorial Student Center, it was already six. Because I had no games, I sat and played one from DoubleFine in my browser and then watched a movie. At about that time, one of my American friends, Mary, came up to collect a prize for the lottery. I saw her, waved her over, and she invited me to come sit with her. I did for a while, but I was tired soon after and walked back to my dorm.

When I got back, Angel messaged me that he had a basketball game Saturday at three thirty. I told him that I would go, and promptly went to sleep.

I woke up, ate brunch, and contacted VJ, Kalofer, and Valerija (Germany) about the basketball game. After determining where and when everyone would meet up, I went to Red Cedar to head off with VJ. We met Kalofer near the lake, where people were playing ice hockey and spinning their cars around, and brought him with us. Eventually, we met up with Valerija at the gym, and went into the game. Angel was a bench-warmer, but we cheered for the team anyway. It was a close game; UW-Stout only won by three points.

After the game, we all went our separate ways. Because it was six o'clock when the game was over, and the cafeterias close at six thirty, I went and ate in the Commons area near the gym. Eventually, I got back to my room and called in my medicine for pick up tomorrow. I don't feel like walking half an hour in the snow and cold along a highway, so I asked my RA, Gravy, about the bus schedule. Now I'm just goofing off until tomorrow.