Settled and Sore

So! I've procrastinated long enough. I'm finally making my first and long overdue post, per request and constant reminders of Samantha. Here goes!

For those of you who don't know, the University of Oregon starts about a month later than most other schools, so I was stuck in Anchorage until late September. Waiting those lonely extra weeks for college was sheer agony. I had been out of school for seven months and I became more than a little restless. But now, after a month of living in the dorms and attending classes, I feel like I have a little more purpose in life!

Instead of trying to summarize everything that's happened in the past month, I think I'll just tell you about my busy week instead.

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are my busy days. I have all my classes, which include calculus, writing, Medieval Literature, and symphony orhcestra. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I pretty much don't have to do anything but a discussion section and a cello lesson. So my life alternates between frantically running back and forth across campus (dodging the multitude of bicyclists) and using the off-days to prepare for the frantic ones.

On Monday and Wednesday I had tryouts for club tennis, and about fifty people showed up. This was somewhat problematic, as there was limited court space and only two "scouts" to see how everyone played. So the first day, with a pair of arbitrary scissors, the scouts cut half of the prospective team members, of which I was not included! (This was a wonderful turn of fortune.) So I got to come back Wednesday... except that on Tuesday, I started a 5-page analysis of Beowulf and Judith... at around 1 am. Which means I got 2 hours of sleep which means... I didn't make the team. But it's ok, because most of the players there were just below division 1 level, (I'm more on the intermural level) and practices were on aforementioned frantic Mondays and Wednesdays. So I don't think it would have worked out.

On Thursdays, which are by far my favorite day of the week, I have cello lessons with a GTF (Graduate Teaching Fellow, a graduate student who also teaches classes) who is also our section leader in the symphony. Her name is Wan-Ting, and I've learned that I basically play cello completely wrong (not surprising) and have much work to do. Hm.

Today, Friday, I played an intense game of chess with Drew, my RA, who is two levels below Grandmaster (which he explains as "just an Expert"). I went into it feeling confident in my chess-playing abilities, but my cowardly royalty and their various defenders were promptly wiped off the board and we ended with a handshake. I have a little studying to do, I think. I guess I'll just have to become a Grandmaster.

And later that night I went to a ballroom dancing session, which was taught by an extremely enthusiastic instructor who loved to tango. A lot of people dressed up, but I did not. I have no fancy clothes to speak of. So, wearing my OREGON sweatshirt, dark jeans, and socks with sandals, I danced my way through three tango steps and some cha-cha moves. Good times.

I'll write about some more specific anecdotes later. Also, I seem to have found a counterpart for just about everyone I know. I will write about them as well. Goodnight!