En garde!

One of the pieces of advice that I was given many times before I left to go to college, was to join as many clubs, groups, and organizations as I possibly could... and then narrow it down to three to continue with.

So far, I've joined just one. But it's REALLY COOL.

Tonight I went to the first fencing club meeting.

Fencing! Seriously! Like with foils, funny bee-keeper-lookin masks, and white costumes and everything. Tonight I spent 3 hours learning how to fence. Proper stances, parries, and other such things... But I can definitely feel my legs and butt muscles right now in a way that I haven't in a long time. (Ooooh those muscles huuuurt!)

I expected them to give us an intro to stances and maybe show us the foils and then send us on our merry way... but no. They taught us for about 2 hours and then said "Had enough yet?" And when they got 15 solid "No"s from everyone in the class, they suited us up and said "Go." Which rocked. You learn so much more from actually participating and trying to apply the rules (but breaking most of them anyway.)

But what surprised me most was that it seems to be something that I could actually pick up and do well in. Because of taking Tae Kwon Do for so many years, I have the balance thing down (and many of the stances are similar to those in TKD) and while I know that it would take a lot of effort to become really good at it, it seems like I could totally do it.

So I'm going to enjoy my night and sleep late tomorrow. Tomorrow is cleaning day... and then I'll drive home and mooch about in Austin for the weekend. :) Yay!

(Ooooow... my legs.)

More classes and a stupid mistake

So I betcha yall are just BURNING UP waiting for me to post and see how my classes were today, right?

(I knew it!! Yes!)

Today I had Politics and Astronomy... A little birdy told me that they will be hard classes, but they sound so cool. I had Politics this morning and it's one of my Large and Populated Lecture Hall Classes... So large, it shocked me every time the professor said the number.

Anyone wanna guess?

If your answer 436, you're right. (If it wasn't, you're out of luck. And you're not a very good guesser.)

The thing is, when you're in the room, it doesn't seem like such a large number. The professor is just so interesting and he involves the students so much that it seems like it's just you and him. It seems like this class will be a good one.

And astronomy... I've always wanted to take an astronomy class. In years past in science classes, my ears have always perked highest when discussing stars, the solar system, anything that exists above our atmosphere. "Friend Moon" is arguably my best and longest friend, and at any chance I would write a paper for science class about stars. There are not as many people in my astronomy class as politics (Only 245) and the professor seems to know that most of us are in there for a science credit... but I am so thrilled to finally get to explore something I actually want to learn. This hasn't happened very often in high school (The three best classes I took in High School: Brit Lit, Newspaper, and Roman History) and I can't wait to get to learning this stuff.

So aside from classes today, two things worth blogging about occurred.

The first was when Abby and I went to have lunch at the Roadrunner Cafe (a trek all the way to the other side of campus... which we decided to drive.) I had my sandwich in hand and Abby was waiting in the line for something to be prepared, and a girl came over and asked to sit down. We started chatting, and seemed really nice. She's a CAP student and a Freshman, who is living in one of the dorms on campus, and when there was a lull in the conversation, I held out my hand and said "My name is Stefanie, by the way."

And she turned around and replied, "Hey! My name is Stefani too!" (And except for the obvious lack of an 'e' on the end of her name, she seems really cool. I suppose I'll forgive her her parent's faulty spelling skills... hehehe) And it turns out that we have our math class together, so now I have a math buddy!

When Abby sat down a few minutes later, she said "There's more of you around here?!" Apparently so!

The other thing worth noting that happened today was a bit of a mistake. Apparently if you spend all summer in Europe where the rain follows you everywhere and the sun isn't as directly pointed at you... you forget to bring (and wear) sunscreen.

Yup, that's right folks. It turns out that today, the weather frog was actually right. (Aww! Lookit him hanging on a cloud!)


In the 1 hour and 20 minutes that I spent walking back and forth from classes (20 minutes each way) I got a sunburn. Not a bad one, but one that is definitely there.

So it seems that I have two options:

1) Wear a lotion with sunscreen in it. (Or just sunscreen. I'm not picky.)
OR
2) Begin to wear sweatshirts all the time... because it's less skin exposure.

I'm thinking option 1... because it's easier to put on sunscreen than to learn to deal with heatstroke.

As fate would have it

The weather frog was wrong again today, it rained. REALLY hard.


And so we had to add to him. (No umbrella today - He's got a tree for cover.)


The only thing good about this is that I get to go and take really good pictures of the tree outside my apartment. (Go ahead. Click on them. They get bigger and you can see how superawesomecool they are.)

Weather Frog Update and Classes!

What's the weather frog telling me today?


Weather Frog is telling me that there are a few clouds outside (named Dorrie and Morrie) and tha it's sunny... and so hot that he really wants somewhere to swim and drink a margarita. (Wait - or is that me?)

Today I had my first college classes!

My day started at 7:45 this morning when I stumbled into the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker and eat cottage cheese and apple butter (Yum!) for breakfast and then I got ready and left the apartment at 8:30. It took me about fifteen minutes to walk across the parking lot and get to my class. The first class I had was a 9am Freshman Composition... and it seems like it'll be a pretty easy and straightforward class. It's all about writing papers... and we all know what a terrible and unstructured writer I am! The teacher is a lovely woman in her early sixties (I'm just guessing) who seems to be a really sweet person. I don't know what kind of teacher she is, because she just outlined the class and chatted with us today, but it seems like she'll be a straightforward and good teacher.

My French class is another story. The teacher spoke in French the entire time. Luckily, with my 8-year history of Spanish class in Elementary, Middle, AND High School ( <- This is why I'm taking French...) I understood more or less what the professor was saying... unlike the poor people sitting on either side of me who had previously taken German and Sign Language. I had to whisper translations to them! I don't think it'll be an easy class but I think I might pick it up quickly. :) I learned the alphabet, how to count to 20, and basic greetings and farewells. I feel smart...ish.

My last class today was my math class... Which is totally oriented toward COLFA (College of Liberal and Fine Arts) people like myself. We're the "Not Math" People... and I think that this will be a good class for me to take. All the tests are open book, but the teacher said that if we attend class and do the (optional) homework, we shouldn't need to use the books at all.

So now that I have the afternoon to myself (and since I already did my French homework... Lookit me all motivated!) I think I will go run for an hour at the Rec center.

(And when I say 'run' I mean walk a lot and occasionally jog a lap around the indoor track.)

Weather Frog

My mother might have had a frog in our water bowl.

But I have a Weather Frog.


He might be wrong about the weather (He thought it would be sunny, but it's definitely raining outside...) but he's awesome.

Some new additions

Today...

("Yes, today?")

Abby and I went to Wally World (Wal Mart) and HEB and bought more stuff that we needed... Such as a shower curtain (the outer bit), a kitchen trash can, spoons, a welcome mat, and groceries. So now, we have groceries in our fridge! Yaaay! At least more than sodas and stuff. We got food staples like flour, sugar, salt, rice, pasta, butter, etc. Look how full that fridge is!


We bought salt and pepper shakers and an air wick thing that sprays apple scent every half hour. Now our apartment smells like apple instead of some sort of cigarette smoke remnants. (We think that people who smoked lived here last year.)


And we bought a shower curtain that looks like a jungle!


And we also got a welcome mat that is just so adorable! It was like $2.50 and we think it's just the cutest thing!!


And while we were chilling at our apartment tonight before a building meeting, I started to draw up a schedule for my classes... and it turned out really cute! So this'll go in my room. Probably on my spiffy new bulletin board. Look how fabulous it is. I start at 9 and finish at 2 every day. And I get like 2(ish) hours every day for lunch.


I know I haven't been here very long and I haven't gotten used to this whole college thing yet, but I love having this apartment. It's my own place... and I'm proud of how it looks. I wash dishes when I use them, I make my bed, I wipe the kitchen table when it is dirty... I want to make it my home for the year. I have no idea what it will be like in several months after I have lived here for a while, but I am really enjoying living here. I have lived in the same house for so long I didn't know how I would react to leaving and starting my life elsewhere.

So far, it's great.

Walk with me

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M IN COLLEGE.

Yesterday, I packed up my car and LEFT HOME.



As in, I am permanently living SOMEWHERE ELSE for a whole year.



Yeah, I can barely believe it myself. I've lived in the same house for over fifteen years. That's 83% of my life.

Wanna see my apartment?? Walk with me, and I'll show you around.



(I'm on the upper left.) There's a door that sticks and is hard to shut. (You have to push it hard to make it close all the way). And there's a living room with a spiffy new bookcase that Mike put together for us.


and an ugly couch that tries to eat you when you sit on it. There's a matching ugly chair too, which we have named The Pit.

There was one massively empty wall where our dinky little television is, so we bought a white board to fill the space. It does its job nicely, I think.



There's a spiffy little kitchen that is wonderful. (There's Abby, my room mate.)

We have cute yellow bowls, plates, and mugs,



And we have glasses and our own personal mugs. And my teapot. Don't forget the teapot!


We have a cute little bathroom and a shower with iffy water pressure.

(If this picture is sideways, flip it in your imagination. I tried to edit it in photobucket, but it failed and I'm too lazy to re-upload something like that.)

And take a peek into my own little room!!



I have the adorable bed with the really convenient wire shelves above it (which will definitely come in handy... Thanks Mom!)



And I have dressers stacked on top of one another. And a mirror!



I have a lamp and my new cute fuzzy towels.


I have a cork board that I hung all by me onesy. I had to hammer in the screws instead of screw them in. That took a little manipulating.



And I have my own system of organizing necklaces. I did this at home, and I like the system. It works for me. They're just tacks in the wall.



I think this'll feel like home, eventually. Right now it's kind of surreal... nothing feels mine yet. (I'll fix this.)

So there you have it! Welcome to college, Stefanie.

Tie a ribbon

Remember the old idea where you tie a ribbon around your finger to remind you of something?

It actually works.

(Huh...)

Today I had my hair cut (It looks really cute, thanks for asking!) and walked out to my car in the terrible Austin summer humidity (Yuuuuuuuuck....) and unlocked my car. I tried to open the door and it wasn't unlocked. I hit the button again... and it still wasn't unlocked. Puzzled, I stuck the key in my car and unlocked it manually and finally the door unlocked.

Hrmm...

When I got home I puzzled over it for a while and hit the buttons a few times and discovered that the locks on the front doors of my cars are not locking (and unlocking) when I tell them to. To my knowledge, this only started today, but tomorrow I'm going to the dealership to get it sorted.

But in any case, for the rest of the day I had to remember to check that the car locks when I tell it to... and to remember that I TIED A RIBBON AROUND MY FINGER. (Well, I tied a string of yarn around my finger. To each her own, right? I just happened to have a ball of sock yarn in my purse...)

And it ACTUALLY WORKED.

I may start to use this method more often. Whoda thunk it woulda actually worked...

I'm really going to COLLEGE!!

Today Mom and I went shopping for COLLEGE STUFF!!!

We bought me a new bedspread that is simply adorable. It reminds me of the raspberry mocha frappaccino that Starbucks did last summer. And from there we coordinated the entire room with the colors!!



So we bought a plushy pink blanket and a pink trash can.


And we bought pink (and green. Cause it's cute!) hangers.


And we bought me a brown husband.


And we bought towels (Green and blue. Towels don't have to match rooms, just personalities.)


And we bought me a fancy schmancy iPod player/alarm clock/radio thing.


And we bought more stuff that's hiding... such as detergent, bounce dryer sheets, shampoos (they had really good deals on Garnier for $2.99 at Target!), and a springy laundry basket.


And then we dumped it all onto our dining room table. (Because apparently we don't need to eat.) Overall, a successful day of shopping. And get this: it was done BEFORE NOON. We aren't done shopping, but we got a lot of stuff for my bedroom today. So... Progress!

This morning, I woke up at 7am (which is better than 5:30, I remind myself) and made a sneaky trip to HEB before mom was awake to buy milk, donuts, and croissants for breakfast.

Tonight is my dad's 60th birthday party. I'm going go to early and see if I can help with anything. Perhaps a blog on that tomorrow.

Conclusion

Yesterday, I finally made it home!! The flights were as smooth as anything and all of my luggage made it through. My luggage actually made it to Austin sooner than I did! There was a flight leaving about an hour and a half before mine and it managed to get onto that flight.

Seeing my mom was wondrous. I have missed her so much this whole trip! When I got home, Duncan and Brandlyn came over so I got to spend the evening with them. I lasted until 9pm (3am English time), at which point I kicked them out and zonked. At that point, I realized that I had been up for nearly 24 hours... no wonder I was so tired!

This morning I woke up at 5:45. I went downstairs and made myself a cup of tea and sat down and watched the Olympics.

I wanted to post two lists that I created a few days ago. I think you'll enjoy them. :)

-----

Things I will (try to) never do again...

Because I'd like to thing I learned something this summer.

1) Complain about 'long' journeys on trains or planes. Traveling for 22 hours from Krakow to Copenhagen, and 18 hours from Frankfurt to Goteborg has taught me better than to complain about 8 or so hours on a plane.
2) Moan about early flights to my mother. I have been crazy enough to consider booking a 6:30am flight, so she is (mostly) forgiven for that one time we had to leave the house at 4.
3) Spend extortionate amounts on foreign chocolate.
4) Forget to use my student card. This can save me a lot of money. (I saved around $400 this summer by using my student card.)
5) Be bored in conversations in languages I can actually understand.
6) Forget to thank people an extra five times, because you can never be too gracious.
7) Ignore my little brother. I feel like I take advantage of his presence sometimes.
8) Talk about myself too much. Nobody really wants to hear every minute detail of my life. Except, perhaps, my mother.
9) Enjoy gas prices in the States compared to Europe.
10) Wish for more rain or colder weather.

Things I will (try to) take with me

1) Memories of signs like "Do not alight here" in England. (That is so English.)
2) Good traditions... like actually eating breakfast and drinking tea.
3) Chocolate! Lots of chocolate.
4) New friends from old acquaintances.
5) The differences of cultures and countries I previously knew nothing about.
6) Openness to doing something that I don't necessarily want to do. Because usually it's something that is worth it in the end.
7) The strength to travel and do things that some can't imagine.
8) The knowledge that Yes, I Can.
9) Realizing that 90 miles away from home is much better than 9000.
10) It's not hard to be alone. It's just better to be with someone else.

Back to Canterbury!

Yesterday, I went back to Canterbury. It was a bit of a blessing, really. I am not sure I could have amused myself all day without really irritating my Aunt and Uncle a lot! I hadn't planned on it, but my cousins (more of them!) were in town, and I really wanted to see them. So when my Auntie Kara (My dad's sister) came to my Uncle Neil's (dad's brother. Where I've been staying.) house to visit, I hitched a ride with her down into Canterbury to see the rest of the gang. (I have lovingly dubbed them Kara and Co. :D ) We stayed at Grandad's house (and I got a more flattering picture of him.)

And Mom, I think I know how you felt when you peeped into my room a few months ago, and saw Randi, Brandlyn and I all sleeping in my bed... because I walked in on the three of them watching TV in the same chair!

And last night, Saskia (my eleven-year-old cousin... who just keeps growing up!) walked along the shore and threw rocks into the sea...

and ate a little ice cream too. (My treat. I have to spoil those cousins when I see them, considering I only see them every few years!)

And today, we did something that I was hoping to do all summer: we went to Canterbury Cathedral.

I love that cathedral. It's something that I was hoping to do last time we were in Canterbury, but wasn't able to do. Every time I go there it's like magic. You get a real sense of the power of God and the power of man to worship God there. It's so incredibly intricate and detailed... but not in the overly gaudy fashion of many cathedrals I've seen.

I try and go there as often as I can. It blows me away. I am more impressed by this place than I am of many other cathedrals I've been to. Such as the one I was at earlier this week, Salisbury, and even Notre Dame.

Something else I did was go to St. Martin's church. Which is the oldest church in England.... Built in 597. Seriously.

You get a nice little view straight to the Cathedral from here.

During the day, I got a nice photo with my three cousins. There's Jack (9), Seth (7), and Saskia (11).

And Kara.

And right after I took the photo with Kara, we looked up the wall and saw this: A pigeon Mama feeding her baby pigeons!!

AND... The world's best house number plate.

Sas and I were walking around last night and I snapped that photo. Isn't that just awesome!?