Relative Dimension

Next year, since everybody in the freakin' world wants to come to UO, they're stuffing as many students into the dorms as possible. And Jess and I are in the same triple again. So I get to have two roomates next year. Yay.

At least for fall term I'll know both of them. But dammit, it's going to be hella weird.

As if being under a mountain of homework wasn't bad enough, now I've caught a nasty chest cold that's wiping me out. Usually I get head colds, but instead of constantly blowing my nose, I'm coughing up phlegm and my head spins when I move it too much.

I've got a ten-page paper due next week that I haven't really started yet on a thousand-year-old poem in a dead language. I figure I'll just analyze the hell out of it, and since nobody really knows what it means, I can say whatever I want as long as I can back it up with text. I'm not too worried about it. I'm staying home from classes tomorrow, partly because I need the time to do homework, and partly because I might pass out if I get any worse than I was today. I'll be spending Saturday morning filming our German rip-off of Iron Chef, so I'll need my strength for that.

Jessica and I are going to be roomates next year! Seriously, she's the one person I know here I could live with, and she needs to be in a double for cost reasons or else get an apartment. She'll be the only one of my friends still here next year, and I want to stay in the dorms. So we'll be roomies. We're going to try our damndest to get our own bathroom. We've been watching Stargate SG-1 for half the term, because she hasn't seen it. Last week we finished season 5. Woot! If only we had time to do six before the break. But homework came to bite us in the ass. She has the same ten-page that I do 'cause we're both in Old English.

It turns out that I'm astoundingly behind on my upper-division credts, moreso than I thought. I'll have to take two terms of 17 credits and two of 21 to graduate next year. Which means I'll be up to my ass in homework for more than a year and probably have to take some time off before grad school. I really don't want to spend another year getting my bachelor's degree, partly because living here costs so much. Next term I have lined up Old English III (Beowulf!), Dante in Translation, German 103, Late Middle Ages History, and Italian Longsword (which I'm really excited about). I also want to take an Ancient Maya class because 1) four upper-div credits 2) it's at a time that works for me 3) three of my friends are taking it. It might be full by the time I get to sign up, but I'll go the first day and wait for somebody to drop it. That class will put me at 22 credits. Let's hope my brian doesn't explode. That's nine credits more than what I'm barely surviving now, but most of that is due to the amount of time spent slacking off with friends and watching Stargate.

Speaking of Stargate, I saw the promos for the second half of the season of both shows last night, and I am excited to DEATH about them. Episodes return in five weeks!!!

So I'm at college now. It's very different. But I'm figuring it out.

I had some problems with getting on the internet; UOwireless requires that you log on with your e-mail address and password. Of course, if you've forgotten your password, that's sort of a problem. So today I went to a computing seminar thingie and found out not only how to solve that problem, but where to go for any future problems. Now I have internet! My room faces a very busy and very noisy street and if I slept last night, it wasn't for long. This morning the first thing I did was buy some ear plugs. I'm wearing them now and I can't hear myself typing. The only problem with this is hearing my alarm in the morning. But I expect that eventually I'll get used to the racket. Either that or I'll be so tired from not sleeping that I'll collapse from exhaustion. The room is a nice size, but the beds are tiny. There are drawers underneath, shelves on the walls, and a wardrobe for each of us so I have space for all my stuff (finally!) and then some. The sink kicks ass. We're not sure where to put a TV, but we would both like one. I think I'm one of about a dozen Americans in my building. There are about a frillion international students in Riley and it's not even the international hall. I've met two of Asami's (my roommate) Japanese friends, Momoko and Natsuko. Last night we all had dinner and those girls have some very respectable appetites. I actually went to dinner twice last night -- the first time I ate early because Asami hadn't come back yet from wherever she was, and then later Momoko came by and invited me to dinner with them and I didn't want to say no. (For many reasons: I don't know anybody yet, they seemed nice, and it was really boring in the dorm without internet.) 

Last night was a hall orientation thing but the RAs couldn't seem to figure out where we were supposed to be, because we moved around a bit before they settled us in an amphitheater for a half hour while they took turns telling us about responsibility and stuff. It was chilly. Tonight is Intermingle, which should be a lot of fun. There's tons of stuff going on, like live music and dancing, human bowling, fire dancers, and karaoke. I'm learning my way around campus (or at least the west side, where my dorm and classes are). I have blisters on my feet from walking so much.This morning I found where my classes would be...supposedly. One of them changed on me, and it was the one in the building I really liked. Bummer. Now it's quite a bit farther from the class I sometimes have ten minutes later, but things are closer than they look on the map so I should be able to make it in ten minutes if I don't dawdle.

I went to the job fair this afternoon and got an application to work in the library. My interview is on Monday morning. I hope I get to work there because the library is awesome. It's four floors high and absolutely a beautiful building. I asked to work in stacks and periodicals, so I'll be shelving books and whatnot. I'll know where EVERYTHING is.

More tomorrow, weather permitting.

Of all the experiences I figured having a roommate would involve, a cultural exchange was not one I expected. It honestly had never even crossed my mind. And unless she's really into American stuff, there will likely be a big exchange of music and tv favorites and a whole load of stuff I probably won't have thought of. It later occurred to me that she's probably an exchange student and will only be here for this year. I hadn't thought of changing roommates either, but it's possible that would have happened anyway. It's different, this college thing. I'm very glad I get to be a part of it. I'd probably be content living at home indefinitely, but I find myself really looking forward to this. I'm also eager to make friends who do things. I love my friends who still live close by, but they don't like to go anywhere other than the movies and it's getting a bit boring. I think I've finally hit my teen years.

I've been brushing up on my Japanese (which really sucks, since I haven't studied in over seven years). With that and the two I'm studying this term in class, I'm going to be in language heaven (or hell) this coming fall.

Yesterday Sam spent ALL DAY preparing dinner, which was Peking duck and pork dumplings. And I must say, it was very good. He's going to make some girl very happy one day (not to mention well-fed). Sometime after dinner Erica and I saw My Super Ex-Girlfriend. I cannot remember the last time I saw a romantic comedy in the theater. This is one of the few I have ever seen and enjoyed. I'd even see it again when it comes out on video. Of course, Ivan Reitman (the director) has done some of my favorite comedies ever, including both Ghostbusters, Evolution, and Twins. I guess that shows that my favorites among that type of movie involve stuff beyond the normal goings-on.

I measured my room at home and it looks as if my dorm might be twice as big. Yowsers.