College Update

Being in college is like being in a big, happy, bubble, where the outside world can't intrude unless you let it and where you're free to try anything, be anything, meet anyone. Or at least that's my experience of it. It's not anarchy so much as a sense of ordered liberty. The community at this campus is very open and welcoming, and no one is going to care if you step outside the norm every once in a while. In fact, it's expected. Some people take this to the extreme, but in my case, it's mainly a hypothetical consideration. I could be wandering around at night, but instead I'm usually sitting at my laptop, working on an assignment. 

Lest I begin to appear overly studious, let me recount some of the non-academic adventures I have encountered over the course of my four-week college career: 

• I rode my bike into town and went shopping for myself for the first time. Going to Rite-Aid and getting a library card may not seem particularly thrilling pursuits in and of themselves, but doing them independently for the first time lends a flavor of  adventure to the enterprise. 
• Played zombie tag around 11 PM on a Saturday night (that's what the cool kids do.) 
• Started a student club for dance improvisation and choreography
• Participated in an epic ninja chase/quest for the sacred cat hat (this may not make much sense to most people, but I feel that explaining might rob it of some of its mystique)
• Offered relationship advice to someone who has much more experience with such matters than I
• Watched Jules et Jim, a French film that is my workshop teacher's favorite movie
• Walked a mile to my Latin teacher's house and ate dinner there
• Listened to a select group of albums for days on end--Joni Mitchell's Blue, Iron and Wine's Our Endless Numbered Days, The Indigo Girls' Rites of Passage, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's The Swell Season--all excellent, uplifting, and highly recommended
• Watched The Great Dictator with a group of wonderful people who share my appreciation for Charlie Chaplin
• Went to a Christmas Dance in August
• Went to Speed friending and met multiple people I already knew
• Had multiple intelligent, intriguing, thought-provoking conversations with various people

And these just barely scratch at the surface. So much has happened in the past several weeks that I don't think I've even begun to process what it means to be here. Dorm life is an experience. It's wonderful being surrounded by friendly, awesome people 24/7. The rest of it (bathrooms, living space, etc...) is not too bad. Altogether, I'm incredibly happy here.