So, Move-in was crazy, hectic, tiring, stressful, exciting. I had mountains of packed stuff sitting in my front hall for weeks. The morning of move-in, when we had to pack up the car and shove all my belongings into our spacious but small CRV, my parents informed me that I was packing too much. Between all my desk knick-knacks, my DVD collection, and my sister's graduation present to me, a beautifully majestic 5 foot giraffe stuffed animal who I named Claire. We took it all anyway, and I was to repack some of the winter clothes I needlessly brought and pick only a select few DVDs to hang onto.
We got there in one short hour at about 9:15. For one long hour, we had to snake our car through a million parking lots and streets behind a billion other packed-for-college cars. We watched old SNL videos on my dad's phone while we inched toward whatever we were all waiting to get to. We finally made it to the front of the line in front of one of the dorm buildings. You unload everything on the curb and people come and take it to your room, 'cause you put stickers on it saying what room it is. So, I was unpacking my stuff from the car. Claire was sitting on the sidewalk, and I had it in mind that I would be the one to carry her up, because I don't really trust random people, especially with my semi-fragile very precious and very pretty, new-looking giraffe. So, some random guy who was helping out came over really excitedly, shoved her under his arm and asked where he was taking her. It was mildly unsettling, but I told him the room and people started yelling at him in a friendly joking way, clearly his friends. He started to semi sprint off with her in a way too excited but innocent sort of way, like he was definitely taking her to my room, but living it up that he was carrying a giant giraffe stuffed animal.
I quickly grabbed stuff and caught up and said I was going to follow him to find where my room was. He kept jogging, and he'd raise Claire over his head like she was a trophy. And then, all down the hall to my room he was brushing her mane and introducing her to random people because I had told him her name. Looking back on it, it was pretty funny, actually. A little obnoxious, but funny.
I knew that two of my three roommates were moving in at 8:30. Getting there at 10:30, I assumed it would be a fairly easy, crowdless move-in. Nothing could have prepared me for what I walked into. Our surprisingly large dorm room was stuffed like a sardine can, a total of 14 people and three sets of everything from bed sheets and towels to giant printer boxes and trash bags full of clothes, this is not including myself, my two parents, and obviously all of my stuff. My dad pretty much stayed out of the way and once one of my roommates and her "entourage," as we came to call the six other people she brought with her, left for lunch, it was a pretty simple move-in. We had more room than I thought we would, so I was able to keep all my DVD's, but I did send back some winter clothes. I really don't need them.
My roommates are definitely on a different sleeping schedule than me; they stay up late, and sleep in as much as possible. I'm trying to get into the habit of waking up at 6 every morning. It's supposedly healthier to be on a regular sleeping patter, and I like having the whole day to do stuff with. Only after the third night did I find out my roommate was falling asleep with the TV on on purpose. She can apparently be paranoid and falling asleep with it on helps her. It was difficult to get used to, but I'm good now.We all get along pretty well. We don't have all the same interests, but we're all good about being considerate and polite and sharing our food and taking care of each other. They were all pretty homesick for a while, but they seem to be adjusting. There was also some major drama with boyfriends two of them left behind, but that seems to have blown over as well.
I was able to make at least one close friend, Fedora Man. I've also joined my schools CSF (Christian Student Fellowship). They all seem very nice and welcoming. I was able to go to a "coffee and scripture" meeting at starbucks which was awesome and also a movie party they hosted. It was super fun. As far as classes go, I have four twice a week, one on Monday/Wednesday and three on Tuesday/Thursday (we don't have class on Fridays). Three of those classes are sophomore classes because of the way my AP scores factored in and the fact that this school is known for teaching cooking, not arts and science.
Two of my classes are with a German teacher who reminds me of a combination of some teachers from high school. She's really nice and has an Accent! It's super awesome. She teaches public speaking and English Comp, which will be my favorite subjects. We're going to be friends, in a jedi/padawan way. Yes, I just made that reference. To justify that, I was just hanging out with my star wars geek friend from high school who goes to college nearby. Anyway, I'm also in a Food Service Management class with a chubby little professor who likes to talk about frying whole turkeys and chickens and pretty much any food. So far, the work we've done for that class is essentially ratios and percentages, which, coming from eat my brains out AP Calculus, is both relieving and boring. My last class is Nutrition. The teacher is nice and fairly bubbly. At some point we catalogue everything we eat in four days and interpret if we're eating right for our body type or something like that. I'm dreading that. I know I don't eat right, but life tastes better that way.
As far as campus living goes, it has it's pros and cons. It's been either really hot and sticky in our room or really rainy and wet outside, and sometimes both. Co-Ed floors and community showers that are as far away from our dorm as possible are not a good combination. I've walked through at least a dozen clouds of noxious cigarette smoke. I've tried to use all of my extra food swipes on apple juice and chocolate pudding, thus crowding our small fridge. I've been able to make friends with one of the RA's and convinced him to play DDR with me. I have played DDR a total of three times in the rec room. I've socially watched a total of 5 movies. I've found a catholic church for me to go to for at least this Sunday. Claire has met everyone in my building. I've explored the city with Fedora Man and Star Wars Geek. I was able to get really cheap new (to me) games for my PS2. I just put a letter in the mail to my best friend. It has a doodle war in it. Everything is going fairly well. I do really like this school.
Here is a picture of Claire with part of my desk and bed in the background. Isn't she pretty!? Also, the white on my comforter, it glows in the dark! Not with the tv on, it's too bright, but still. It's fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment