I Was Born A Ramblin' (Wo)Man

So that is probably one of my favorite pictures ever. That's right--two deans of the college serving ME, for a change. The event is called "midnight breakfast" and it's really the only time of year when you can catch the college deans wearing aprons and serving you free food. And yes, I most definitely had seconds.

I'm finally back at school and although it's nice to have a change of scenery, it's time for the endless cycle to kick into full gear once again. Winter break seemed unusually short this year, but I would say I made the most of it. Here's a short synopsis:

First of all, my family sort of spontaneously moved into another house and I had to help, which I wouldn't have minded missing. I kind of have a thing for manual labor, but not so much when my parents are around. They have a knack for making anything simple into absolute chaos.

The second fun thing was going to the west coast for the first time EVER. My boyfriend and I planned the trip back in October and ever since I'd been looking forward to it, and for good reason! We went to Portland, Oregon (and did manage to make it up to Vancouver, Washington for a day). Now, I know what you're thinking--"Why would you go during the winter? That's the rainy season!" Fer sher it rained, but it was still beautiful.

If on graduation day they asked me what trait I acquired during college, I'd say it was my love of travel. I'm scared to death of heights, which makes flying a bit scary, but I can handle it if it means going somewhere new. As I may have mentioned before, I studied abroad in Prague, Czech Republic, and while there I made a point to visit France, Austria, Turkey and Italy, then backpacked through the Balkans, meaning Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia (okay, so we more or less passed through that one), and Slovenia. I came back from Prague a few pounds thinner and a lot better traveled than before I had left.

In Portland, we mainly looked at colleges and schlepped around the city. What else would two tourists do? (Oh yeah, check out microbreweries). We also stayed at a hostel called the Hawthorne Hostel (it was in the Hawthorne district of the city, duh), which was awesome because beds cost only $17 a night--which is definitely in my price range.

On the way home, we had a layover in Houston, which was cool because I'd never been to Texas. I decided to get the southern breakfast classic, which included grits, and was pleased when the cashier referred to me as "youngster" in a pleasant southern drawl. I may be 21 years old, but apparently I qualified as a youngster. Then again I was mistaken for a 15 year old the week of my 21st birthday....

Are We There Yet?

Two days until I leave for Winter Break! Oops.. I should probably start packing and, uhm, clean my room. But in case you're wondering, the picture (soon to be posted) is from Midnight Breakfast, which is a huge free food event hosted by the college the day before final exams start--and you better believe I was there! It's not every day that you watch the Dean of the college serve you free food while wearing an apron, asking, "Is that enough? Or do you want more?" That's definitely an opportunity I'm going to take advantage of.

After spending many nights at my study carrel in the library, I have finally emerged from its depths and realize once again that I am alive! Finals always manage to make two days feel like two weeks, and after studying and writing from last Monday to Friday... well, we'll just say I feel like I was lost at sea for months. The library even has special extended hours for study week that keep it open until three in the morning, which is great for studying, although it tends to make you a little crazy when you see the clock finally hit midnight and think to yourself, "Is this place really open for another three hours?" If they think Skinner Hall (the music building) is haunted, I don't even want to know what is lurking around a huge Gothic library in the middle of the night! Whoa... wait, library? Reminds me of Ghostbusters.....

Now that I'm done with finals, I've pretty much just been lounging around in my pajamas, going to the gym, and watching movies for the past couple days. It's been a great way to end the semester, although perhaps I should be a little more productive. But yesterday I did go to the library and found a book to read for fun that WASN'T Harry Potter for the first time in maybe a year. I make not be working on my thesis, but at least I've varified that I can still read, right?

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I drove my housemate back to Albany for Winter Break. Her mother doesn't like to drive, so she tried to convince her to take the train home, but deciding this could be an opportunity for free food, I offered to drive her myself--probably one of the best decisions I had ever made in my life. Not only did my boyfriend and I get a three course Russian meal, but we also got to visit Albany and Saratoga, which was a pretty awesome town. In Saratoga, we visited a bookshop that had about ten rooms full of books on every subject, including a whole section on "Communism in Russia," which my Russian housemate found pretty amusing. I wanted probably every book that I picked up, but restrained myself because I'm supposed to be saving for my trip to Portland. If only I could think of a legal way to make money.....

Before having a car on campus, I only ever visited New York City when I was at school. Not saying that New York isn't interesting or full of culture, but you really miss out on a lot of cool places when that's the only place you can go. Vassar is in a great location because it's easy to get to the city, but it's also close to Woodstock, New Paltz, the Catskills, Albany, and Saratoga, to name a few of the places I've been over the past semester. The best part is that the entertainment in most of these places is either extremely cheap or free, while I could easily spend a hundred dollars or more by going to the city for one day. Hmm. I wonder where I'm going to go now that I have no money....... (In case you're wondering, I think I'm going to go with the free options.)

As much as I tend to get distracted over break (presents!) I'm going to try to stay in touch. (The key word there is "try.") Happy winter break and happy holidays!

AHHHHHHH!!

Sorry that the picture isn't quite related to the entry this time (Vassar is still not located in the metropolis of Chicago) but I thought it well represented my burning desire to finish the semester and enjoy myself (...and spend time on my thesis) for a few weeks before having to worry about such trivial things as exams and readings and papers once again. Bah, humbug.

I'm in the middle of studying for my "Energy: Sources and Policies" final, which basically means that I'm surfing the Internet (oops). Classes ended last Friday (meaning Thursday for me because I rigged my schedule) and this week is study week. Study week is probably my favorite of the semester because it's the week that I study the least, despite the somewhat suggestive name. Study week is officially the week before final exams begin and allows students a time to prepare for exams without the burden of classwork, and I'm sure those who have final exams appreciate the time off very much. But as a student of the social sciences, my main function is to write papers, meaning that I spend half of study week watching movies and calming my nerves and the other half writing to my hearts delight--except for this semester because my final papers were due prior to finals week. Now all I have are finals for my film and energy classes and two final essays, which I would say is a very light end of the semester load. In this case, I will probably spend 75% of my time chilling out and the rest working and studying. At the same time, one of my housemates is planning on pulling a couple all-nighters this week due to her large amount of work. What can I say? I got lucky.

But don't let me put too much emphasis on the joys of study week without mentioning the best part: Primal Scream. Some people think the Primal Scream is overrated, but honestly, what could an overly stressed-out, sleep-deprived college student ask for other than the chance to scream at the top of their lungs? Maybe a million dollars, but you get the point.

How does this scream function? Well, tradition is that on the last night of study week, all of the students gather in the center of the quad (that being the center between the four quad dorms--Raymond, Davison, Strong, and Lathrop), and at the stroke of midnight everyone screams as loud as they possibly can. Legend has it that the scream is heard for miles due to its intensity, but because I have attended the scream every semester I cannot attest to its validity. But considering how loud the scream is, it's hard to believe that the legend isn't true. I would say most students attend the scream, mostly because my boyfriend goes and he tends to not participate in many of the weird traditional activities on campus. (And yes, that fact is entirely what I base my attendance guess on).

Do I plan on attending this semester? Of course I do-and you better believe I'm bringing my camera. Not only is The Scream a great form of stress relief, it's also a pretty big end of the semester social event.

Aside from my studies, I've also been trying to plan for Winter Break. In the past, I didn't like to look forward to breaks (to be completely honest, Vassar is much more fun than home!), but this break should be pretty exciting. I planned a trip to Portland, Oregon for January and my boyfriend will be spending a week at my house beginning New Years Eve. But before I can go home, I need to prepare for the journey there (hey, eight hours is a long way to drive, especially on artificial energy AKA lots and lots of coffee). First of all, leaving my TA empty and alone for a month is really awkward. I have a tendency to humanize inanimate objects, and my house is one of them. I almost feel like I'm letting it down by leaving for so long. But perhaps more practically speaking, a month really is a long time to leave a refrigerator and an assortment of plants alone. It's important to clean out a refrigerator before a trip because who knows what kind of creepy, slimy gunk would grow in there otherwise. My point exactly. And as far as the plants go... well, leaving them all alone with no water is simply inhumane. That's one torturous death I would not like to endure, and I definitely wouldn't wish it upon my plants. Besides, considering the amount of time I've spent bashing Christmas as a holiday that encourages the killing of perfectly happy pine trees, I should probably find my plants a place before they suffer a similar fate.

Over the past summer, I decided that one of my goals is to watch all of the American Film Institute Top 100 Films at least once, so tonight I'm watching film number 28--"All About Eve." In other words, that means I'm done studying for the night and ready to chill out!