Puppy Chow and Bubblers

Ah yes, I nearly forgot...

It turns out the bubbler theory is correct. Indeed, northeaster Wisconsin seems to be the only place in the world where a water fountain = a bubbler. However, some people from Cleveland have heard of a double bubbler, which is a water fountain with two spouts or something? I'm not quite sure.

Also, I discovered yesterday that many Ohioans don't know what puppy chow is. Arlene from California knows puppy chow as "muddy" something or other, and Sarah from Georgia knew what it was upon my explanation. But Dave, Bryan, and Mickey had never experienced the joy that is puppy chow until Mike's mom sent him some! I was shocked to learn this.

I also got in my first mini-fight (all in good fun!) about pop vs. soda. It is not pop, in spite of what everyone here says! It's SODA! Such a minor thing that bothers so many people. It's amusing.

I still get made fun of frequently for my WisCONsin accent.

I'm proud.

:-)

It's nice to know that some thing never change

Today as I meandered around campus after my Physics quiz, I discovered that no matter how far I travel from home, I can still find countless ways to humilate myself. Though the quiz didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped (alas, silly mistakes!) I felt a burst of rejuvenation as I stepped out the doors and into the sunny light of the upcoming weekend. What a glorious day! 75 degrees, sunny and warm with a light breeze. Who could ask for anything more?

So off I went to the cyber cafe, where I got a veggie burger as my reward for the long week. I then trotted over to the lake, humming Gershwin tunes merrily, and I stumbled across Mickey reading the New York Times on one of the benches. We chatted as I ate, and she laughed at me as I shrieked loudly at the bees attempting to land on my food. It was quite pleasant.

But then I decided to go back up to my room, only I now had several trillion lightweight items in my arms. Due to the heat, my sweatpants were also rolled up in a ridiculous fashion, and once I started walking one of the legs came unrolled though the other remained stuck. The fact that one side was up kind of bothered me, so I began to attempt to pull the pants leg down. When that failed, due to the large quantity of junk I was carrying, I stopped and next tried a little hopping motion, using my left foot, to try to even out my pants. That also failed, though it produced a smile from the girl behind me. Feeling slightly embarrassed, I decided to just let it be, so I plodded on. A few seconds later I began to mount the stone steps up to my dorm and immediately tripped, nearly falling down completely. The aforementioned girl started to grin this time, and I smiled sheepishly at her as she walked past me to hold the door open for me. Once I got inside, I realized that I needed to get my card out so I could get up the stairs... sounds simple enough, but at the time it seemed an insurmountable obstacle. Bracing myself, I shifted all the items in my arms off to the right side of my body, my nearly-finished cup of water teetering dangerously atop the pile. I glanced up at the girl one more time and said, "You know, it must be really amusing to walk behind me." She laughed as she passed, turned back and said, "Well at least you didn't drop anything!"

Knock on wood.

Wouldn't you know it, but not a second after those words left her mouth, the entire pile caved. Everything slipped at once in a huge CRASH to the ground, leaving me standing, one pants leg still half-rolled up, card in hand, staring down at my belongings with resignation and disgust. Good heavens.

I'm learning to embrace such moments of embarrassment. Looking back is certainly amusing! So that was quite the experience.

Last weekend my mother, sister, and three relatives from Iowa (my great uncle John and aunt Beth, and second cousin Angie) came down for the Notre Dame game. It was incredible! I remember telling my mom that one of the things I'd miss most about high school was the football, but now I understand why she smiled when I said that. Notre Dame football is completely indescribable. The traditions, the cheers, the people, the atmosphere... it's impossible to completely summarize the rush of emotions I felt over that weekend. The pep rally was so much fun, thanks especially to the random comments of the guys standing behind us. After that I met up with the Iowans for dinner, which was great. I hadn't seen them in years and years, so it was nice to catch up. They dropped me off with two huge containers of cookies and brownies, so I took one over to Notre Dame to share them with my friends as we watched "Rudy" on the quad. I cried, as always, and then we wandered around until the midnight drummer's circle was about to start. I was really excited about seeing it - the drummers and hundreds of students gathered around the steps of the dome to go through the cheers and just have a mini-pep rally thing. However due to my own error, I had to leave early, which turned out fine in the end. Mom came to pick me up, which was amusing because tons of girls trying to leave for parties thought she was a cab driver. But it was great to see her! Kristy stayed in my room with me, and we didn't get a whole lot of sleep.

But that was fine, because it was a Notre Dame football day! Thousands of people wearing the gold shirt wandering around campus, different booths of food set up at every dorm, tailgating and music and cheering... we watched the band perform on the steps of Bond Hall, as is tradition, then listened to the trumpets play the alma mater in the dome, watched the band and the color guard parade to the stadium, then finally made our way in. The game, as you might have heard by now, was amazing but heartbreaking. We lost in overtime, but I've never had so much fun in my life. There are so many cheers! And every time Notre Dame scores, hundreds of students get lifted up in the air to do push ups, so the whole crowd it just a sea of bodies! It was awesome. After that we went to mass at the Basilica, then out to eat. Kristy and I had pancakes for dinner at 10 PM, hehe.

After breakfast on Sunday morning, Kristy and mom left again. :-( I was so sad to see them go, but it was nice just to have a couple days with them, particularly with Kristy leaving for Rome in less than a week!!! That's so exciting for her! So yes, indeed. On Sunday the Packers played rather poorly again, much to my chagrin. It was even worse because I watched the game with three Browns fans. The day wasn't a total loss though - I got to see a stunning piano recital by the artist in-residence here, Dr. Jeffrey Jacob.

This week has flown by, as they always do. It's like a whole different world down here. I've had a few quizzes and tests, but all in all the week has been quite nice. I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend! We might go iceskating tomorrow night, or to karaoke? Or both? Who knows, there's always something going on here! My friends and I are planning a day trip to Chicago in a couple weeks, though that has yet to be specified... we shall see. And then there'll be the USC game and fall break! I can't even believe how fast it's going.

I guess I didn't follow through on my last goal to have insightful, frequent posts. I never anticipate the days to be as busy as they become. However don't lose faith in me yet - there is hope! I will do my best in the weeks to come. Until we meet again, farewell.

In the future...

Upon re-reading the past two entries, I discovered that they were quite similar in their lush praise of my wonderful school. As much as I love it here, I don't want to bore you with random garb that probably isn't all that interesting to you anyway!

From now on I'll try to post more consistently, and I'll try to actually post things that are either amusing or have substance. Maybe I'll experiment with new forms of writing on here... we'll see. I will do my best.

Just for record, things are a million times better than they seemed two weeks ago. I am confident that I made the right choice - there is nowhere else I'd rather be.

Life is beautiful.

~<3~

It's finally rained here.

I didn't realize how much I was hoping for it to rain until it actually did. During the past four weeks I have experienced a total of one rainy day. In retrospect, that seems so absurd... but everyone just took it for granted. Sometimes it was really hot (like yesterday, when my room hit a smoking 88 degrees!) and other days it was pleasantly cool. Yet throughout, the sun was (literally) always shining and the nights were always beautiful.

It's felt so surreal. Each day as I wander around campus, whether here or at Notre Dame, I marvel at the beauty of this place. There's something magical about the mist that hangs in the air over South Quad late at night, or the glow of the dome off in the distance. There's an unexplainable grace within the rays of evening sunshine that pour through the trees. Each day I find myself admiring every gentle breath of wind, every acorn that falls onto the sidewalk, and the consistent bustle of people walking the criss-crossed paths towards their classes. I love the tower, lit up majestically every night, and I love watching the geese gather in groups in the fields and leave for the fall. I'll really miss them. I love the ancient trees that have lined this path for thousands of students over the past 160 years. I love exploring between classes or on the weekends, and just soaking in the history and the tradition of this place.

I sound like an infomercial.

But seriously, it's felt like heaven here. It's always beautiful. But the rain makes it finally feel like this place is... real. I've been getting so sick of sprinklers!

Crazy!

Yes, the time you see on this post is correct. It is nearly 4 AM and here I sit... which is most unfortunate because I need to get up in around 6 hours. Alas.

But it was entirely worth it. The past couple weeks have been incredibly tumultuous, but I do love it here. The low moments balance out with nights like this, when I feel so at peace and free and alive. There's an indescribable joy that comes from walking in the cold night air to visit the Grotto at 2 or 3 in the morning. Whether it's sitting in a crowd of hundreds on the quad watching the ND football game, spilling ice cream all over myself at Reckers (the 24 hour restaurant) or just watching a movie or talking with the girls, the chaos always seems to find some sort of balance. I've already learned that in order to make the most of my college experience I need to get out and try things, so I have. And the result is... pleasing. Today was probably the most memorable of all the days I've been here, for a number of reasons. :-) I won't even attempt to explain my full day, but let's just say there were several adventures! As anxious as I've been at times, I know it's all going to be okay. I'm slowly finding my little niche and getting to know a lot more of the girls here a lot better. Things will only get better from here too, and I cannot wait!

So fortunately for you, this is a post made in one of my happy-go-lucky, barely awake moods. Fear not - I do have low times. But I'd rather keep those to myself and just share the highs! Love you and God bless, sorry I don't have time to post more often.

~<3~