Friday, September 17, 2010

Ahhhhh! (aka University)

"Ahhh!" is what I felt like these first two weeks back at school.  It's so beautifully chaotic and random without being purposeless!  After a relatively quiet summer, being back amongst the diverse attendants of a liberal arts college is almost too much: philosophy? criticism? drama? where were all these things hiding, and why do they bring me so much joy now?

I've moved into a house with six other wonderful people, mostly ex-dormies who I got to know last year.  There have been baking parties.  We organized a tea party.  I made borscht for the first time ever because I bought too many beets.  Jam sessions.  Walks. Epic plans being made along with bread that didn't rise - twice.

As for classes, ee weesh tha eh-ver-ei-oo-neh spah-ke een meed-leh ehn-gleesh - my prof does the accent fantastically.  I tried to read aloud in class today and ended up a bit red in the face.  Literary criticism is most interesting and surprisingly not dry.  Drama history is definitely not dry: our teacher, a true actor, got us to read the part of a Greek chorus over some epic battle music.  Old Testament Lit is a bit of a slow start so far, but, I am most excited to learn about the historical and cultural context of the books that have so much to say about God and His love for His creation.  And Earth Science.  Oh, earth science, the first time I've opened a science textbook since high school.  Our first lab was on rocks.  That was fun though - I made a new friend!

These past two days especially have been lovely: I've gotten to jam, meet some new people, hang out with old friends, have random conversations while sitting in my spinny office chair (I have an office! It's crazy! Who would give me keys, I mean come on!).  God is good, and I'm trying to praise Him even when things aren't exploding everywhere, which is harder than I would have thought!

But, of course, there are things that are unresolved: for example, I need to drop one of my majors and adjust my minors.  Drama keeps sneaking in, though I want you to note that I did not try out for the play.  Ugh, that was harder than it should have been.  Editing for the school paper is a constant effort, but it's been good so far!  Next issue out on Wednesday, God willing.  Oh, and should I get rid of Facebook/ my cell phone? (after Chelsea gets back from Australia if so I'm thinking).

Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Week of Birdy-Bot


My sister has been at home the past couple weeks, which has been a delightful oddity: it's been a while since we've lived in the same space for more than a couple days.  So far we haven't killed each other.  Hopefully this will not happen in the last few days before I leave for school.

Have you ever noticed how much you take people for granted? Even though my little sis was as far as a city away, there was comfort in knowing I could meet her downtown in Edmonton, or text her whenever I needed that Chelsea punch.  Now it's her turn for a travelling adventure, and I can hardly believe I'm not going to see her for a whole year!

We've been making good use of our limited time together though.  Traversed the gelato and bookish streets of downtown Victoria; sat through construction on the way to Drumheller; made casts of fossils at the museum with a group of ten year olds; prepared "fake" Christmas with all our family's traditional fixin's; spurts of packing up boxes; battled over Bananagrams...

How did it come to be that all of a sudden she was all grown up and calling me Birdy?  I thought Alice would be a good nickname for her - she's pretty much falling through to the other side of the world, a Wonderland full of new sights and tastes and animals (koalas!) - but it hasn't stuck.