Friday, December 18, 2009

So apparently,...

Apparently, there is such a thing as a midnight scream.
During finals it is socially completely acceptable to to open your window at midnight, stick your head out an yell as loud as you want.
Apparently, the clocks here on campus need re-synchronization...

Monday, December 14, 2009

the current state of SBU collective mind...

Finals are in full swing... matter of fact, I just spent the past two hours copying the exam for the class I'm TAing for. It not only takes longer than you would initially think, it's also more complicated than one would initially think: Two version + a second part that's the same for everyone. Part of it double sided, the other part one sided... and sweet talking the the copier to staple everything.
Which brings me back togetting back.
So, I was wandering down the hallway and just as I passed the laundry room. A girl came out carrying a huge basket of clothes.
Yes, I know you're wondering what this had to do with anything ....
Well, she apparently she decided to clean ALL her clothes. Because all she was wearing was a towel (and a friendly smile).
As I continued down the hallway I had this random picture of her in my mind, diligently studying, dressed in a towel.
At least I like to think she was wearing that towel while she was waiting for her laundry to finish!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

My current state of mind

The other day I came home from class and the first thing I did after walking through the door was cook a pot of tea. I tossed the pot lid in the trash, dropped my keys in the pot and tried to pocket the wet tea bags.
That's when I realized the lines in my brain had somehow crossed... I retrieved the keys from my pot and put them in my pocket where they belong... I tossed the tea bags, pulled out the lid and washed it.
Poured a cup of tea and went in my room for some more hardcore studying.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

December already?!

After experienceing that the Holiday Season is ON, I decided it was time to experience a real Thanksgiving-adventure of my own. While we had our own Thanksgiving traditions as a family in Germany and we celebrated Thanksgiving on the ship in our own special way... this was my first REAL Thanksgiving.
It's good to know that even at my age there still are firsts.
To cut it short, my Thanksgiving"weekend" was pretty awesome - good friends, good food, good rugby. What more could I want?
I've also gained new insights and knowledge into the American public transport "system". After my first real test of this "system" I feel that I can say with confidence, that the actual problem is that there is no "system" - it's all just VERY confusing. At one point I had figured it all out an developed my Master Plan: Train to NYC, take a bus from there to D.C., meet up with my friends, explore D.C., Metro into Maryland, Car to Frederick. Enjoy Thanksgiving (that part totally went by plan), bus at 0:30 from a town nearby to NYC, subway to Lexington/103rd and walk to Randall's Island for a7s Rugby tournament.
Needless to say, it didn't go exactly by plan. While the minor hiccups such as finding the bus station and the bus being 1/2 hour late probably aren't even worth mentioning - my Friday night/Saturday morning turned into an adventure.
While we didn't have a problem finding the bus stop this time, I discovered that theat paticular bus never runs on a Friday - which is kind of odd considering that I was holding a ticket and reservation for that bus. Nevertheless, once we made it back to the house I found a "good" connection within minutes. The 2:20 in Baltimore. Just as we embarked on our "it's a good thing it should only take us an hour at night because we only have 1:15 minutes to get there"-trip my friend said, "oh I hope we have enough gas"... yeah, it was already pretty much on empty.
I will spare you the detail of how I finally got on that bus... We arrived sometime before 6am in Chinatown, NY. The only problem was that while I had checked out all the maps and stuff and how to get to the subway station from the bus stop I was originally supposed to come into - I know only sort of knew where I was. And unfortunately, the directions the bus driver gave me to the nearest Metro station weren't exactly accurate.
At that point, I asked my inner compass "Which way" and then just headed off in that direction. The funny part is, that somehow I managed to walk straight toward were I was supposed to be heading (I guess wanting to play Rugby heightened all my sense) I reached 1st Ave and 1 Stree E and thought to myself: This is a good thing. This is the right direction, since I need to get to 1st and 103rd to take the footbridge.
Then I thought - wow, I wonder how long 100 block is. Turns out it's about 6 miles. Though I only walked about 80 before I hit the first subway station...
And I crossed that footbridge and stepped onto the field at 7:30 just as planned. And kept my team entertained once they asked me "by the way Shannon, how DID you get here this morning?" And I said: "Oh, I kinda walked from Chinatown..."