One year ago, I was getting ready to move to college for the first time. It was a very tumultuous time with mixed emotions tempered by the sheer hectitude (not a word, but go along with it) of it all. One year ago, it was also very sunny, warm and honestly one of the most beautiful days I can remember. Fast forwrad to today and it's a different story...
Yes, there were still mixed feelings as I packed the car again and started to make my dorm my new home but the whole process was much smoother. I moved in early since I'm helping new students move in as a move-in aid but more on that later. We got back on campus at 9 this past Wednesday while everyone was pretty much still asleep. I got my key, found my dorm, and thankfully recognized a few names on the doors of my hall. My room is supposedly bigger than last year but it didn't quite feel like it; it's a lot more square which I think is why. Also, much to my dismay there is no sink in the room anymore. My mom and I spent a few hours cleaning and unpacking my things, clothes and getting everything ready to go. We ended up getting lunch afterwards and after a few more trips picking up things I had forgotten from home we said our goodbyes again. Thank god I live close to home.
With hurricane Irene slowly making its way up the coast I made sure ot take advantage of Thursday and Friday's nice weather as much as I could. yesterday me and my friend Kate rented a pair of bikes and rode riverside to the monuments, memorials and up and down the National Mall for about two hours and that night me, Liz and Audrey went down to get Chipotle and some ice cream down on Wisconsin before it got too dark out. We chatted about how different things were coming back for our sophomore years compared to how it was before. How we weren't scrambling to say "hi" to every person we see and weren't scared out of our minds that were weren't going to have friends. Looking back, freshman move-in was probably one of the strangest parts of my life so far.
Irene made its way into the area starting early this morning and by the time I woke up things were pretty grey and dreary out; no rain, but you could feel it in your bones. At 11 I began my shift for move-in aiding, it was for an upper classmen dorm off campus and home to mostly transfers. After a quick start things slowed down to nothing and I ended up just sitting there with four other aids and chatting about all sorts of things after an initial hour of awkward silence. It was probably one of the most boring experiences of my life, the only consolation was the other guy there, a junior, was kinda hot. He wasn't mind-blowingly good looking but he had great azur blue eyes; I'm a sucker for nice eyes.
The hurricane is only going to get worse later tonight so me and a few others are just ordering-in and having a psuedo-hurricane party. The freshmen are slowly arriving (great time to move in eh?) and the kickoff festivities are soon. Alright, I promise to start writing about more interesting stuff soon but I needed to do a quick update first.
Summer is slowly coming to an end, and in a few days I'll be moving back to campus for my sophomore year. Usually at this time and when I do my end-of-summer post I make some comment as to how short and quick it felt; well, this year doesn't quite fit that mold. Surely, it does feel like the past three months were faster than any three months spent at school, but this was definitely a long summer. Given it was about half a month longer than any high school summer it makes sense but even it was shorter it was definitely one of the quietest and smoothest summers I remember.
Today:
Today was my last day at work and let's just say it ended with a bang...not necessarily in a good way, but with some theatrics nonetheless. This morning my tire pressure sensor light came on, and when I got the garage, my front left tire was pretty much flat, great start to the day. Later, after I opened the store, I find out there was some massive accounting/record keeping fail over the weekend and I had to dig up and fax three days worth of receipts and paperwork to home office...I've never sent a fax in my entire life. Later, one of my coworkers forgot he was supposed to come in so I had to do an emergency call to my mom to bring me lunch since I couldn't leave the store. That kid, we'll call him K, is so freaking unreliable and irresponsible sometimes, it's the second day in a week he "forgot" he was scheduled to work *headshake*. Well, I left work early and went to changing the tire, another first for me. It was probably one of the most unpleasant things I've ever had to do, but it was better to do it in the garage rather than on the side of the highway. Me and my mom drove to the tire shop and we left the punctured tire for them to take a look at and see if it can be patched or if it needs to be replaced.
Fast forwarding, I just got back from a late dinner with Dutch and Mads. We got Korean BBQ in Annandale (Koreatown pretty much) and caught up. They were all excited about the "exotic" experience and we talked about plans for the upcoming year. Something that came up again was the surprise that Southern Charm and one of the captains from the crew team were roommates this year. It's surprising because SC is probably one of the most chill people ever and Captain is probably one of the most intense people I know, strange mix. Mads immediately jumped on how she found it suspicious and implied that maybe they had ulterior motives for rooming beyond just being friends from the same high school. Y'all know how I feel about SC, the goofy grinning, adorable, blue-eyed friend who I had a thing for back during my senior year and how I suspected he was gay, a sentiment that now I know both Dutch and Mads share. Captain is more confusing; I'm pretty sure he's straight but I guess you can never be sure. Mads suggested that it may be one-way with SC and Captain which I could see since Captain isn't half bad looking. Ugh, I need to get over that boy; he was just a good friend though it will probably continue to bother be anyways.
After dinner, we drove home with conversation about music and our mutual love for Adele...
Adele - Set Fire to the Rain
Well, a little while after we set off, a freaking deer jumps in front of the car. Mads slammed on the brakes while we all screamed our lungs dry and continued to panic for a few minutes after. It was terrible/exciting/funny/terrifying all at the same time. If this isn't the the "rogue deer running into the road" I've had as part of my blog description for over two years I don't know what is.
Summer in Review:
Work
I completed my first true job! It went pretty well I think; working retail, while getting a bum rap wasn't too bad. Granted, I worked in the kind of store where the clientele are nicer and um....more refined in taste than the average store which could have helped. I got valuable life experience and I think my people skills really improved from interacting with so many people for the past three months. One thing I did learn though is that people can be very egotistical, rude assholes sometimes, despite my prior statement. In addition to developing people skills, I think I've also become hardened against criticisms and person attacks on things I have no control over. My favorite line has become "I will never come back to this store unless you do ____". Advice: if you ever use this line, any retail worker with a modicum of experience is laughing his or her ass off on the inside. While I might try to apologize/explain things, on the inside, we are all thinking "Bitch, please, you're not special and we have countless other clients and it's only growing bigger with each day" on the inside. At least some of the music they play at work helps cheer things up...
Nicole Atkins - Maybe Tonight
I hope to return to my job back during my winter break. In the mean time I'm looking to find a job close to campus for maybe two shifts a week to make some spending money. I got a few applications ready and a few references so hopefully my search will turn out to be fruitful. Plus my resume has some actual work experience on it now!
Relaxing
Having a job for once over the summer ate up most of my otherwise lazy-time, and probably for the better. I did get plenty of relaxation though; the cruise with my mom was really nice and really recharged my batteries. I also enjoyed sleeping in and constantly getting about 8 hours of sleep every night; I'm going to miss it once classes start....
Working Out/Weight Gain
At the beginning of the summer I set the goal ot put on some weight and getting more fit. I've been hitting the gym regularly about 4 days a week, sometimes more if I have the time. I have made progress, I've put on about 8 or so pounds since the end of May, mostly on my upper body - arms, back and chest to an extent. My abs have much more definition than before which I really like and I think with a few more weeks and two more pounds I should be at my goal.
The Coming Year
My sophomore year looks to be pretty interesting. I'm taking another new language, this time the language will be German. I'm taking intro to German this fall semester, and if I like it I'll keep on it; it's non-intensive which is what I'm looking for since I'm not looking for something that will be too time consuming. I'm working on remembering/using French and my two dialects of Chinese as much as I can so my years of work won't be for naught. I'm also in Accounting II, MicroEcon, Management Organizational Behavior, and a philosophy class. I'm looking forward to a good year so cheers to that. As I said, I'm planning to find a job and continue with the clubs I'm already in including tutoring, Pride and helping out Liz with promoting a student-written collection of one-act plays for parent's weekend. I even got myself a new Laptop for the new year - it's another HP but with a Gen 2 Core i5 processor, 6GB of RAM and a 640GB hard drive. It's only 14" but I'm bring both the new one and my old 16" laptop to campus as a backup/stay-in-room computer since I still haven't transferred all my files.
Adele - Turning Tables
Well, I'll be moving back to campus Wednesday and getting settled in slowly. Classes don't start for another week or so but I'm helping the new freshmen move in and so I get to get back early and avoid the crowds. Plus, it gives me an opportunity to deck out my room and make it homey. I'll post pictures when it's done. The weather is finally getting nice; after weeks of 95+ degree weather or storms, it's been in the low-mid 80s and partly cloudy (win!). I'm picking up my keys tomorrow and look forward to enjoying my last day at home, at least until I stop by to visit. I'm planning on enjoying home cooking one last time, dining hall food only gets you so far unfortunately...
Alright guys, I hope things are going well in your neck of the woods. I have some catching up to do regarding reading blogs. I'm going to try commenting more in the future (I know how I love comments and others as well) and keep y'all updated if anything exciting comes up.
Watching Titanic on VH1 makes me yearn for the days when Leonardo DiCaprio was young and cute...
When I was little, (aka 5) I thought Titanic was the coolest thing in the entire world, I actually saw it about five times in theaters, I don't know how many times on VHS (remember those?) and my parents would play the sound track in the car whenever we went out for a drive; I was such a loser.
Just do me already!
Don't get me wrong, he's not bad looking now, but he's not one of those actors that seems to be getting hotter with age unfortunately :/
Oh well, I guess I'll just have to stick with Ryan Gosling...
drooling....
....still drooling
Forget Leo, do me now you classy-ass motherfucker!
Now excuse me while I try to collect myself from being all hot and bothered...
It's beginning to seriously bother me how some people can be so idiotic and devoid of any moral reasoning or concept of right and wrong. This rant is mostly based the recent craze of "flashmobs" and "flash robberies" that seeming is spreading across the US but is hitting especially hard in the DC area.
It's starting to get annoying that all I heard on the local news is about these flash mobs and groups of teenagers robbing stores at 3AM but flooding them in groups and then running off with mountains of stuff. Seriously? Are some people so immoral or just plain stupid that they feel the need to join some mob-mentality spurred grab and dash to rob some unsuspecting store owner? People have even gotten hurt in the process of these flash mobs lately, about a week ago, two people got severely beaten when a flash mob suddenly popped up in the area. Psychologists say people are doing it for the thrill of it, but there are plenty of ways to get a thrill that doesn't involve breaking the law. I hope this craze will pass soon and the people who were involved just get arrested already so we can get on with our lives and real news like this can actually be reported (doubt it, people like sensationalist media too much X/ )
Flash mobs, at least during their inception as clever advertising tactics, can be a positive force for change. What garners more attention for a cause than the surprise mob of people working towards some positive change for their community? Little. I think it started with T-Mobile about two years ago who did this little number...
...but my favorite would probably be some done by a Belgian TV station to promote some acting competition relating to the Sound of Music. (Those crazy Europeans lol)
And can I please not how homogeneous (aka white) they are there? They should rename Antwerp "Wonderbreadlandia"
Well, anyways, school is going to start soon and I'll give y'all an update as to what has been going on in my life ASAP; I just wanted to get that off of my chest first.
The personal blog of a now recent college grad who successfully pushed through a business school curriculum and now is facing the "real world" with an actual big boy job. This blog follows the the joys, challenges, struggles, and surprises it presents to him, whether it be work, school, his peers, or the occasional rogue deer running into the road. Join Me, Won't You?
Maria - My best friend since kindergarden, I know almost everything about her and she about me. She was the first person I came out to and has been the rock ontowhich I go to when things get rocky in life. She's the only person I can actually speak completely open and frankly with. I don't know what I would do if I never met her all those years ago.
M - A girl I became friends with freshman year of high school, we've become very close friends and continue to be to this very day. We are surprisingly similar personality wise and value each other's opinion very highly. I can talk freely to M almost as much as I can with Maria. She currently attends an ivy-league university up north; I'm really glad we met all those years ago and can only imagine how my high school years would have turned out if we never met.
Miss X- Foodie, blogger, photgrapher, one of my best friends, and someone who can have a delightfully dry sense of humour. We met early on in high school and have been friends ever since. We often go on adventures accross NOVA with our little circle of friends which are occasionally recounted here on this blog.
Christine- Friends since we could barely ride half the roller coasters at theme parks, Christine is a magical being who is one of the few people I could and would talk about anything with for hours on end. She's currently spending much of her time in NYC though we still see each other very often. Her dramas sometimes make my drama seem like childsplay.
Mark -A former dorm mate, and now former crush. He came out as bi to me and Maudry one night which he has been increasingly comfortable with. He's tall, has short brown hair and used to play football. He's ambitious and looks to make a big impact in the world of Politics in the future. I have had a crush on him and we've gotten together a few times. I thought our relationship could have been something more, but in the end it will end up staying as a friendship. I hope only the best for him.
Liz - One of best friends at school. She's funny, charismatic and is someone who I can tell almost anything to. She's friends with Maudry, Mark and is part of the first floor crew who I love and frequently visited during my freshman year, we're still great friends today.
Matt - My now former love, hate, drug, everything. I met him back during my Sophomore year and the crush I developed on him that stuck for the longest time. He's tall, has brown blond hair and the rare but desirable "serious but funny" personality that makes me melt. He also has probably one of the best smiles of any guy I know. He was one of the captains of my high schools cross country team. For quite some time I've tried to end this obsession over him but everytime I seemed to make progress, I'd relapse. He's a great guy but in all liklihood he's straight.
Southern Charm (aka SC) - A guy on the crew team who had moved up from Florida during my senior year. He's charming, tall, and slim with brown slightly wavy short hair. When I first met him I got the thought that he might be gay, a thought I quickly suppressed. Since then, we had become pretty good friends. My friend Jess has a crush on SC. One evening on a car ride home, my friend Dutch told me she thought that SC might be gay, something I had repressed in my mind for months, but was pushed to the front of my mind again. He's now a freshman and is study engineering and comp sci in university.
Ben - A guy I had the pleasure of knowing for one of the best weeks of my life during a cruise over the summer. He's a bit shorter than me but was also a senior who runs cross country. We got to know each other pretty well and had many conversations during that week that I will probably never forget. He has brown hair and the most beautiful light brown eyes. I'm pretty sure he's straight but i couldn't help but get the feeling he could have been bi. He's mostly in my summer 2009 posts.
Dutch - My friend who I met during my junior year on the crew team. She's a fun great person to be around and is someone I could talk about anything with, especially during the private car rides back from practice. We both know of all the crew drama that goes on.
My Family - A network of people who I love with all my heart despite their nuances, quirks and often ridiculous practices. Apart from my mom, I haven't told anyone I'm gay and probably won't for a while. They're not ready for that and don't need the added stress.
Various Single Lettered Friends (L, T, K etc)- Friends I got too lazy to actually come up with an alias for (I gave up after five, how sad haha). They are usually someone from my close group of friends some of which I have come out to. We have a very mutually supportive relationship that fosters great bonds between us as a group.
**Names Changed to Preserve Anonymity**
I'm from the ________
I Can't Resist...
Where are You From?
Full Disclosure
All pictures on this blog are taken from the internet and are assumed to be of public domain. If you own any image and would like for it to be removed, let me know and it will be removed immediately.
