15 September 2011

Collegiate Lists

Hi all. Sorry about the (yet another) absence of blogs. And I understand if you stop following me forever and ever, if my silence makes that kind of a rift between us. Most of my writing energy has gone to writing lists: things to take to college, things to make sure don't get thrown out, things I miss about Ecuador (that's a long one), things I should see if there are podcasts for, and things to do.

Its lucky I like making lists, and lucky that lists are such a good organizational tool, because I have a lot of things to do that warrant the making of many lists. I am enjoying college a lot. Probably 6 times as much as I thought I would enjoy it. Because I thought that going to college would be fun in the same way that going to high school would be fun: you are moving forward with your life, and accept the bad parts because its the general next step and you get a little more freedom. But its really not like that. Its like, fun. Even if it wasn't the expected next step, I would want to be doing this here, now.

Anyways, here's some lists:

Ways College Is Different Than High School

10. My earliest class is at 9:45 in the morning. Which is a whole two hours later than high school started, and almost three hours later than my school in Ecuador started. Which means I go through this whole thing well rested. Most of the time.

9. You can leave. Not that I walk out of class. But high school is this closed campus institution that you can't leave without notes and regulations. College is like wanna go to Barnes and Noble? Here's a free bus pass. Wanna eat not during lunch time and instead take a nap? There are no bells. This is probably more of a perceived than actual freedom, but I feel freer, and that's what matters.

8. Wearing hats is appropriate. Again, more of a percieved liberty, because I haven't actually worn hats. But still, I could rock a sombrero and there would be no policy to prevent me.

7. People are nicer. I'm not sure if this is actually true. But if you are walking next to someone you don't know, its not unusual to say hi. And have a semi-not-awkward conversation with them. Which leads me to...

6. The whole social standing and grouping of high school is turned upside down at college. I didn't suffer terribly from cliques in high school, but being in an environment where acting weird in public is way more socially acceptable, is awesome. And sitting down at a table where you slightly know someone, kind of, and everyone else is wearing spikes, and not getting that "what are you doing here?" vibe is pretty cool too.

5. Going to events is something that people do. School dances are not lame, and random events like scavenger hunts and casino nights are attended by people who are not pretending to have a bad time because "this is so lame."

4. Classes are honestly interesting, and I don't dread going to them. Part of this is just more in-depth stuff to learn (I do not have stupid "Get to know you" essays to write. Because they get less factual, although more interesting, with every passing year) and some of it is maybe just the classes themselves. My English class is detective literature. Detective. Literature. Yes, that means Sherlock Holmes.

3. Vegetarian cooking.

2. I am surrounded by people who are more technologically gifted then me. So if I'm thinking about buying a new computer (which I'm not, I love mine) I could get the 411 on all the operating systems. And if I have a problem with the CD, I just say "anyone in the room know how to fix _____?". Yes, they know.

1. I'm ME, and I'm happy being me.


Reasons I'm Glad To Be A Nanook

10. I am surrounded by beautiful, beautiful mountains, and they are beautiful, beautiful colors.


9. There are a lot of engineering major and sciencey people here. Which are really interesting personality types to be around. Also, it helps with technological difficulties (see number 2 on the list above).

8. I went to Feast and there were fresh strawberries, and I'm going to a devotional this Sunday!

7. I keep finding out I went to elementary school with random people who are now at UAF.

6. People randomly invite me to go hiking in the Alaska Range, and then I spend my day hiking up a creek and scree slope, eating blueberries, and trekking back.

5. Carhartts are worn ubiquitously (yes, I just used an SAT word. Look it up.) and people will sign up for "the carhartt club" without knowing anything about it.

4. I can show where I live on my hand, and people get that.

3. Rhubarb grows everywhere, and the boulevard garden things contain zucchini.

2. SNOW IS COMING!!! (for those of you that are confused, keep in mind that I haven't seen snow in a year and a half)

1. IT MEANS I CAN VISIT TURKEY AND ISRAEL OVER WINTER BREAK!!!!!!!!!!! (more on this later, because it deserves a post of its own.)

Hopefully, this'll get me back into blogging mood. I'm procrastinating a lot (that didn't change from high school) so I feel like the blog will maybe experience a renaissance and you'll be able to see what I'm up to! (although I really do need a title, so please leave some suggestions).