Crunch Time!

Only seven more days until Thanksgiving break!!!!

That is a very appropriate introduction right now, because just when I thought things could not get any more chaotic - I was certainly proven oh, so wrong. Even as we speak I'm sitting on three papers, one script, two presentations, and countless amounts of reading...not to even mention the exams! I suppose when there are only two real weeks of classes left, however, this has to be what is expected, even though it is making my life into complete pandemonium...especially with a job that has me working solid the next four days.

Of course, everyone likes to think that Thanksgiving break will give them all kinds of wonderful time to play 'catch up' on all the work that has piled up and is threatening to crush them. However, this is a rumour that is believed only by freshman - because the truth is that NO ONE does homework over Thanksgiving break. Typically, in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, one finds oneself thinking, 'Oh, I have no rush right now, because I have the rest of the week.' Then, once Thanksgiving itself is past, one spends the last few days thinking, 'Well, its too late to work now, might as well not start.'

Take it from someone who is coming into her third Thanksgiving break from WU - that honestly is what happens. And as such, I am trying to get all my work done BEFORE the hour of 2.00 on Friday when my week of freedom begins. Plus, I am heading straight from my last class to the airport to spend my Thanksgiving elsewhere...and no one likes doing homework on vacation, right? So this next week should be quite....well, I guess busy is the best word to describe it.

Not that this past week was not full of excitement as well. The best part by far was my World Religions trip to the Hindu temple in Monroeville, a little more than an hour away from Waynesburg. The temple itself had amazing architecture on the outside, and once inside, one was met with the overwhelming scent of incense and the sounds of bells and chanting. There were many smaller temples devoted to several different Hindu gods and goddesses within this main temple, and we were allowed to explore and see all of them. We were even invited to participate in puja, which is the Hindu form of worship, and ate dried fruits with the Hindu priest. Overall, it was a really amazing trip, and I did and saw a lot of things I had never expected to do, which is always a good experience.

On the way home, we also all stopped at Panera Bread for some really good food, which was a nice ending to the trip - I always enjoy food, after all.

Last night one of my good friend's band also did a free concert on campus, so we all went to support him and have a fun evening listening to Graceful Oblivion. Last year we saw them perform as well, and they were only doing covers of the works of other bands, but in the past few months they have written a few original songs that we got to hear as well. It certainly made a nice distraction from all of my work, and spending time with my friends is always an appreciated break. Plus, there was a nice crowd that came as well, so I was quite proud that Graceful Oblivion was gaining some new fans outside of simply the friends of the people actually performing.

Right before the concert, my friend Nicole and I were working pretty hard on a World Religions paper together, but we took a short break to do something extra exciting - we booked our hotel room together for Otakon 2010! That's right, we shall be representing WU in Baltimore once again next summer, as will hopefully a few of our other friends at school. Yes, yes, the convention is not until July 30, but it seems to be increasing in popularity seeing as out of 16 hotels that were originally available, there were only three left. So we feel a lot better now that we have that little bit of stress out of the way and dealt with.

Next week I am going on my last World Religions trip, this time to a Buddhist Monastery. Yet again, it is something I have never experienced before, and though I am uncertain what to expect right now, I still find myself quite excited. If its anything like the past trips for the class, it will definitely be one I will remember for a long time.

Oh, the campus is also suddenly decorated for Christmas! I will hold my tongue about whether or not I think it is a bit early for such activities, but at the same time, it certainly does make the campus look a lot warmer. I absolutely love Christmas, so the red bows and garland wrapped around all the light posts and the sudden arrival of a large Christmas tree in the cafeteria do not fail to make me smile all the same.

Well, until next week, looks like I will be working hard - but hopefully by the time I am writing this again, I will be ahead in my work and not nearly as stressed as I am right now! And I stress the word 'hopefully'....

November?!

Well, looks like November is now upon me, and its hard to imagine that I only have about five weeks of regular classes left in my fall semester - not to mention that its only about two and a half more months until I start my spring semester at Queen's University!

Speaking of that, it feels even closer than before now, because I finally received my housing packet on Thursday. After a bit of rushing around (it was due Friday, so that was a bit stressful) I did manage to pick out my top choices for housing in Belfast, and I got everything successfully faxed to them thanks to some awesome people in the administration at WU. Now, I am just waiting on my course listings to see what modules I was accepted into, and my letter to apply for a student visa, both of which are supposed to be sent to me this week. Every time I get something like this out of the way, my spring semester seems more and more realistic to me, and there are times when I just sit down and think, "Oh my. I'm actually going to another country in the spring for six months. I cannot believe its finally happening."

And believe me, thoughts like that definitely help to keep me in a good mood whenever my classes start really piling the work on me in the present.

Last Saturday was Halloween, and though I had already gone to the dance at school the previous Thursday, I was definitely still in the holiday spirit (probably the pink hair) and I found myself at another Halloween party. One of my best friends that I grew up with was there, seeing as the party was hosted by her aunt, and it was nice to get to hang out with her for the evening. We both chose to attend Waynesburg about the same time, but she joined the Nursing program, so she keeps pretty busy - not to mention has her classes in a different building from me since our majors are so different. Thus, it was nice to catch up and tell stories about how our two vastly different experiences at WU were going for the evening - its amazing how I can go to the same campus as her and be getting a completely different experience out of it. I guess that goes to show that WU - and college in general - is not just the same cookie cutter experience for everyone.

Oh! I almost forgot - I also had the awesome experience of taking my two second cousins and their friend trick-or-treating in one of the small towns near Waynesburg. I had not been trick-or-treating in so many years, and it was a great time to go out and pretend to be a kid again, and see them laughing and smiling and having a great time dressing up and getting candy. Dressing up and getting candy...those are two things I definitely love. I think trick-or-treating definitely needs to come back into my life on a more annual level again, 20 years old or not!

The play this past week was a really good time with two of my closest friends. It turned out to definitely be a comedy, but not the typical slapstick style of comedy that prevails in theatre - instead, it was a witty comedy, where the humour was in the scriptwriting. It was very well written indeed being such, and I had several good laughs with the rest of the audience at the large amounts of dramatic irony and witty puns. Plus, the players themselves did an excellent job, as usual, so it just made for a fun evening out, and a great break from class and homework.

This coming week is my next to last trip for World Religions - this time, to a Hindu temple about an hour and fifteen minutes away. Each trip brings us to a place of worship more and more different from what we have been used to, and though each one makes me anticipate a bit nervously what I am going to experience, I also just keep getting more excited. This time, I am especially looking forward to seeing the architecture of the building itself, because that Indian-style of temple has always intrigued me, so I am quite simply excited about that, let alone everything else I am going to experience!

I am sure I will also be spending the entire week obsessively checking my mailbox both at home and at school for my visa papers and course listings - I am almost ready to start packing! You can safely say I'm excited.

One more exciting thing happened this past week. I had my first person to tutor in the Writing Centre on campus. I will admit, I was pretty nervous about my first person, uncertain whether or not I would be able to actually help her, and if I would say the right things without upsetting her, or that she would have a question I would be unable to answer. However, the experience went really well, and she even told me she was going to come back again - definitely a HUGE confidence booster for any students that I get in the future! And it made me feel more comfortable in my position in the Writing Centre at all. Even though I am usually only there one night a week due to my regular job at Target, I am really starting to enjoy my time there all the same.

Well, until next week - I am just going to try to keep breathing, stay excited about Thanksgiving and spring, and try to not get TOO buried in my homework!

Pink, Anyone?

Only three weeks left until Thanksgiving break!!

However, though that does sound extremely appealing right now as more and more days go by without getting to sleep in, and more and more papers become assigned, at the same time I almost dread it. Why, one may ask? Well, that means that I only have three weeks to get a rather large number of assignments out of the way, because after Thanksgiving, we have a surprisingly short amount of the semester left before Christmas break. So it looks like even if I thought these past few weeks were busy, things are only going to get crazier - but crazy tends to be the basic definition of college, so I really should not be surprised.

This past Sunday I managed to work out my schedule at my job so that I could take a bit of a break from the stress and go on another WORLD trip to Pittsburgh to go salsa dancing. This was slightly different from a typical WORLD trip, however, because this one was also open to members outside of the club, so anyone on campus could go for just a bit more money than club members had to pay (and believe me, it was really cheap for a whole night of dancing plus the ride up and back). So basically, I learned to do basic salsa in 30 minutes, then spent the rest of the night dancing with both friends and strangers, and though I do not think I ever got very good at what I was doing, it was definitely a lot of fun, and I felt a lot better when I got home. Nothing like crazy dancing to make the stress go away!

As Halloween began its approach, WU began to definitely reflect the holiday. Monday saw a lot of changing hair colours and styles on campus in preparation (including my own!!) and even the cafe got into the spirit of things by occasionally having Halloween-themed foods, such as blue pudding for desert, and they even had a pumpkin painting contest right during lunch. Also, the levels of free candy randomly in baskets and containers around campus sky-rocketed, which I am definitely not complaining about and took full advantage of.

Come Thursday, and after hearing about it the past two years but never participating in it myself, I decided to head to the Halloween dance held right on campus. I was far from disappointed, because it seemed that everyone really had gone all-out on creative costumes, and the dancing was a lot of fun. And besides, dancing in costume is always more exciting than dancing in regular clothes - not to mention more challenging, especially when you make a decision like mine to wear a rather long cloak accompanied by boots with an impressively high heel.

After the dance itself had ended, my typical group of friends and I decided that ice cream was definitely in order - as well as the stereotypical college 'Wal-Mart run,' which typically involves a group of several students going to Wal-Mart a bit late at night to get something ridiculous. In our case, it was almost 11, and we were searching for a toothbrush. After being successful in our first mission, we headed on to find ice cream, only to discover that the ice cream machine at our first choice was broken, and we were forced to relocate. However, we were able to eventually find success again, and it was a sweet treat to end a pretty great evening.

Oh, and wearing cat ears all around campus all day Friday was definitely fun as well - especially considering they were bright orange, which may have been a bit of a clash with my new hair colour, but it was a clash in the best of ways!

This coming week is the annual fall play, and I most certainly have secured tickets for myself and my friends already. I look forward to the play every year, and have been going since even before I was a WU student myself, because the productions are always open to the outside community as well. This year, the play is The Importance of Being Earnest, and I believe that it is some sort of comedy...but I am really not picky about it. Not to sound biased or anything (though I probably am, to be honest) whatever show the WU theatre department decides to put on, from whatever genre, it always turns out to be really good and into a really fun evening. Thus, I am going no matter what the show is about, and I am definitely looking forward to Thursday now.

Anyway, until next week, have a great Halloween - I know I definitely have been, and I love dragging it out through the entire week instead of it only being for one day!

Greek, Asian, and Middle-Eastern - What a Conglomeration!

Well, it admittedly has been a bit of a long week, and it did drag by a little bit. However, I was still kept pretty busy, but I did pay for that with a general lack of sleep for several nights in a row, which definitely makes the daytime hours go by much slower even if the night time ones fly by at record speed.

Sunday was definitely a great day, though. I attended a Lutheran church for the first time in my life to make my last field observation for Religion in America. Through my eyes, it seemed very similar to the Catholic service that I attended earlier in the semester, but it certainly had its own unique elements as well. What really stuck in my mind was how welcoming the congregation was to three random girls that just showed up on their doorstep on Sunday morning, and we were invited to come back "with friends" more times than I can count. When I go to a new church, being made feel welcome is really important to me, and the Lutherans certainly exceeded at that.

Almost right after the service, I was rushing back to campus to get ready to go out on a trip with the WORLD club to Pittsburgh. Eight of us all piled in one of the school vans and headed to Christos, an amazing Greek restaurant right in the cultural district of the city. WORLD members only had to pay $5, and the rest of the meal was covered by the club's budget, plus the ride was free - it was definitely a great deal. As for the food? It was absolutely amazing. I had never had real Greek food before, and after sharing food with basically everyone at the table, I decided that I certainly had a taste for it. Oh, and the desserts were heavenly - caramels, vanilla, and honey seemed to be in everything, which I was certainly not complaining about. And the waiter? Between his thick Greek accent and his playful antics, he was certainly one of the most enjoyable parts of the experience.

After eating far too much food and still having the van for a few hours, we headed down to the Strip District a short distance away. For anyone that is uncertain just what the Strip District is, it is a stretch of road lined with cultural shops and grocery stores selling food from basically every culture of the world that one can name. Most of the stores were closed, being Sunday afternoon, but two of my friends and I found ourselves a few Asian supermarkets where we admitted loaded our arms full of probably far more food than we needed - but with great prices, and food that we could not find anywhere else, we needed to stock up! Thus, the entire ride back to Waynesburg was filled with students that already had full stomachs munching on various Asian snacks and sweets - definitely acceptable by my standards.

That night I vouched to stay on campus a little while longer with Nicole rather than go home once more, and we lounged around her room (really, the upperclassman dorms are AMAZING) and watched My Neighbour Totoro and had a good time...eating more Asian food, of course. Overall, Sunday really was an amazing day. Joining WORLD my first weekend at Waynesburg Freshman year was the best decision I could have made, and now that I am Vice-President, I am unbelievably glad to be a part of such a great group of kids. And we really do some of the coolest stuff on campus, in my [biased] opinion.

Most of the rest of the week was pretty normal - though there was one rather difficult World Religions exam that I am certainly glad is now behind me - and without too much excitement aside from a few points. Tuesday night Nicole and I attended an update on Invisible Children, an organization that is fighting to end the abduction of children in Uganda to be used as child soldiers. They visited campus in the spring and got a lot of people on fire for the cause (myself included) and we jumped on the chance of seeing an update. Sadly, not much has changed since spring semester, and new plans are being formulated to help end this horror in Africa. I am just hoping that I can be a part of that history and that the entire world will not just watch as something like this goes on and on and on.

Today was certainly another unique day in my history. I travelled with my World Religions class to Morgantown, WV to visit the Islamic Centre there. As a female, I had to wear a headscarf, and though I shied away from the idea at first, it was actually pretty cool to have that experience and see what it was like to wear one for an extended period. We got great opportunities to talk to a lot of the Muslims that attend there, and we also go to go to their afternoon community prayer service, which was half in Arabic and half in English. The call to prayer in Arabic was absolutely beautiful - definitely one of the coolest experiences I have ever had, and it makes me really want to hear it on a larger scale in a city like Cairo or Istanbul someday.

After the service, we girls (who had seperated from the men, because they worship separate from one another in most mosques) were approached by several Muslim girls who welcomed us and answered a lot of questions that we had for them, which was really nice. Instead of feeling out of place, I felt welcome, despite being in the midst of a different religion altogether. When we returned to meet our professor and the rest of our class, we discovered that the Muslims had prepared a meal for us as a surprise - and the food as completely amazing. Chicken, long-grained rice, and some spicy red sauce that I definitely fell in love with. While we ate, we got to talk to the Imam (the Muslim equivalent of a pastor) for about an hour, and he was willing to answer questions about anything. On the van ride back to campus, thinking back on the trip, I realized just how amazing of an experience it truly was.

Looks like this really has been the semester for new experiences - or should I say, the year for them, considering I will be in a different country in the spring? And can I say...I am definitely not complaining at all! Had it not been for WU, I would have never done any of these things, and I am really thankful that God has given me the chance to this year. Looks like its about time I started really counting my blessings.

"It's okay, we're geologists!"

As I stare out my window into the grey sky, watching as some strange mix between rain and snow falls to the ground, I wonder where exactly FALL went. The beginnings of October found me still outside at least a few times a week, with the only thing to worry about being rain but never very cold weather...and now, it's practically snowing, and it is only mid-October. Let me be the first to say that I am far from ready for snow this early in the year (and would personally be happier if it never came) but...at least I have snow boots! And I am excited to wear them, I will admit that.

Other than the weather, compared to last week this one was an absolute dream. I did indeed get to relax a bit after midterms, satisfied that that particular hurdle was behind me, and happy to have some free time again. I also had my second week of working in the university's writing centre, which is a great service that is free for any student to use for any paper in any subject. One just has to bring one's paper down to the centrally located writing centre to have it read by a peer tutor (like myself) and to get some extra insight and help with his or her writing. My personal hours spent in the centre have been slow ones, but they have been very good all the same. The room itself is actually very comfortable and homey, so I do not mind spending my time there at all - plus, we are all allowed to help decorate it, and believe me when I say I am a crazy decorator at heart. I think its my imagination...

After my shift at the writing centre, I definitely had my best evening of the week. I went with a couple of friends to see the theatre team do their improv show, aptly named 'WU's Line is it Anyway?' I went to see the spring production as well, and though it was definitely a great show then, things have only gotten better this year. Four of my really good friends were also involved this year, which made it a lot more fun, considering I knew the people preforming on stage. It only cost $1 to get a show that was a little more than an hour, and it was more than worth every penny. I was laughing the entire time, and reminded just how talented some people can be. Improvisation takes a completely different set of skills than acting from a script, and I always love to watch.

Saturday was my trip to Ohiopyle, PA with my geology group, and it was definitely a successful trip. We did a lot of hiking on trails that, although Melissa claimed the guide listed as easy, were definitely pretty tough walks, climbed a few rocks, and went behind a waterfall (talk about an intense and completely amazing experience, nothing compares to the power of a waterfall). We are in the process of making a short video about our trip, and also working on a PowerPoint for our project about the history of Ohiopyle itself, as well as about how waterfalls are formed. Although sometimes it is admittedly very hard to understand how geology will actually be a part of my life someday, considering I am taking it as a general education course and it is not specified by my major, it has at least caused me to step out of my box and do a lot of things I would have never done otherwise. I do not regret going behind that waterfall, and its an experience I will remember forever.



This coming week I already have a lot of plans, as seems to be the usual, starting with Sunday. After a trip to one last church for Religion in America (the choice of church is still up in the air at the moment), I am going on a trip with the WORLD club to a Greek restaurant in Pittsburgh. With only $5 to include the meal AND the ride, its definitely a great value - WORLD trips always are, so I try to take advantage of them any time they pop up. This coming week is also the week that WU is doing photo shoots for their new brochures, and my time is on Thursday - I'm really excited, actually. I've never been in a real photo shoot before, but I do love being in pictures, so I think it will be a lot of fun. My best friend and I are also going to see an update on Invisible Children held on campus Tuesday night. Invisible Children is an organization that is trying to free child soldiers in Uganda, and when they came to WU last spring, the entire campus seemed to get involved. I figure that the turn-out for this update is going to be widely attended, and I am looking forward to seeing what is going on in Uganda now.

The biggest part of this coming week is probably our next World Religions trip to a mosque in Morgantown. Islam was completely foreign to me before we started learning about it in class, and I am incredibly excited to overcome the dark stereotypes that seem to have developed about them recently, and experience a day worshipping with them first hand. I should be writing this right after I get back from the trip, actually, so I am certain I'll have at least a few things to say with it fresh in my mind.

Anyway, until next week!

WU Takes the Win!

Representing Waynesburg University (and winning!) at KuroKiiro Festival

Let me just begin by saying I did not think it was physically possible to be this exhausted. This past week I have barely had time to breath, and it definitely flew by so quickly I am still trying to sort out everything that actually happened - and what DIDN'T happen (like perhaps getting a full night of sleep). But for the most part? It was worth it...though at the same time, I am definitely breathing a sigh of relief that its all over.

It all started Saturday morning around 7 a.m., which is when I woke up (bit early for a Saturday) and started getting ready for KuroKiiro Festival with my best friend. By 9 a.m. four other students from WU had arrived at my house, and by 10 a.m. we were all enjoying a great breakfast at Cracker Barrel and meeting up with one student from the Art Institute in Pittsburgh. Then, after managing to lose the car that was following me and a few other driving fiascos later, the whole gang of us had managed to find our way to the hotel the convention was being held in.

We didn't even think about leaving until after 11 p.m. It was one insane day full of running around, taking pictures, eating pizza, shopping and a whole lot of dancing. The highlight of the day? On a whim, a group of five of us (all from WU) decided to enter a cosplay competition - and somehow, we actually managed to win in our category! Needless to say, there was a lot of screaming and jumping around and just a general sense of pride amongst our entire group that is STILL burning rather strongly. Let's just say that we are rather proud walking around campus now, and there are no signs of that going away any time soon.

Sunday morning brought about more excitement (though a bit too soon after only about five hours of sleep or so) as a friend from my Religion in America class and I headed towards Carmichaels to attend a Serbian Orthodox service there. It was certainly different from anything that the two of us had experienced before - not to mention in Serbian. I wish I had done a bit more research on the religion before we had attended the service, because I think I would have gotten a lot more out of it, but it was a good experience nonetheless.

As the week rolled in, I found myself completely swamped underneath midterms, and homework and papers still at the same time! It was yet another reminder of 'Welcome to Junior year,' and I will admit that it was a pretty tough week. However, now that everything is behind me, I can look back in hindsight and give a weak smile. I am pretty confident in my exams after I took them, even though I was nervous up to the very moment that I started reading the questions - but it seems like on most exams, I think that I know less than I apparently do, because I can answer questions...and that is usually a good sign. So I am staying positive about everything, and we shall see what next week brings whenever we start getting results back!

Wednesday was also a bit of a unique day, because after my first class my World Religions class all took a trip to a Jewish synagogue about 30 minutes or so away from campus. Though we did not go to an actual service, we did get to see the entire building and talk to the Rabbi there for about an hour and a half or so, and he even showed us the Torah, which was pretty cool to see up close. Our next trip is going to be to a mosque, but its not for another couple of weeks, though we did begin our study on Islam today (its definitely better to know what is going on before visiting the place of worship, which makes me realize even more how much I should have looked into Serbian Orthodoxy before throwing myself into the middle of it).

As for the coming weekend, I may have it off work, but that does not mean that I get to just relax. Tomorrow I am off to Ohiopyle with two friends from my geology class to do a field study of the waterfalls and natural water slides there. Hopefully the weather will hold out nicely (its been pretty rainy all week, tragically) and we can have a good time there. Ohiopyle really is a pretty place, and its only about an hour away from campus, so it makes for a nice Saturday afternoon if one is willing to make the drive. So I will technically be doing school work most of tomorrow there, but it should be fun at the same time.

The rest of next week will hopefully be a bit more laid back that this past one while everyone recovers from midterms - that is the nice thing about midterm week, because the week after is always somewhat of relaxing, and gives everyone a chance to recover. Don't get me wrong - papers still are due and quizzes still occur, but compared to midterms, its just another day at Waynesburg University! Until next week!



Can you tell we were the villains?

Is it that time ALREADY?

I cannot believe this even as I type this - next week is midterms! It is so hard to fathom the fact that I am honestly halfway through my semester already because the time seems to have gone by so quickly, but its even harder to imagine those midterms, considering how many exams I will have next week and how severely I need to start studying soon...

This past week was actually moderately laid back for once, and I definitely appreciated the break. I did have one large paper due in Religion in America, a book review, but with that out of the way I feel like I have a big part of my grade in that class behind me, which is always a good feeling to have. On the same note, though, I have another church observation paper due in that class next week, so this Sunday one of my friends and I are going to attend a Serbian Orthodox church in the nearby town of Carmichaels for another new experience. Just like the Catholic service a few weekends ago, I have never attended anything Orthodox before, so I am excited to see just what it has in store for me.

This coming week is going to be full of new experiences, actually, with that service on Sunday, and then I am going to be attending a Jewish synagogue for World Religions on Wednesday - yet another service that I have never experienced, even in the smallest way. I'm not really certain what to expect, but whatever it is, I am certain it will be eye-opening, and I am really excited to attend.

Last night was Waynesburg Idol right here on campus, a competition that any student can enter where they sing a song based on a certain theme that is set for the night, and then half of them are voted off by the student body for the following week, and from those remaining one more is chosen. For the third year in a row, I managed to miss the first night of the competition, even though I promised myself last year that I would make it this year - but low and behold, when I got to campus this morning everyone was talking about it and I had missed it yet again. I am hoping to go to the second round next week if all goes well, though, because its always a lot of fun - and considering I have absolutely zero talent when it comes to singing, I have a lot of respect for people that actually CAN sing.

The weather around here really has been cracking down hard on us this week, almost punishing us for how nice it had been all semester up to this point. There was nothing better than laying around in one of the many grassy areas on campus between classes, either studying or playing video games or just hanging out with friends. Although the activities hardly changed this week, our general location has sadly been relocated to inside Stover Student Center - I mean, it is a nice place, with sofas and pillows and all that sort of thing (and a heater most importantly) but its not quite the same as sitting outside.

However, I am at least moderately prepared for the cold weather this year, because I bought winter snow boots in June! Last year I had a grand fiasco trying to find them in the dead of winter because apparently they were out of season and all I could find were flip-flops, so I prepared ahead this year, and when it snows...I will be ready for it. The snow cannot vanquish me nor soak my pants through this year!

On the other hand, what I am NOT prepared for is tomorrow. Somehow along the lines of getting ready for the convention in Pittsburgh tomorrow, I became the coordinator, and as absent-minded and disorganized as I am that might not have been the best plan on the part of my friends. Even now, with the events 18 hours or so away, I still do not even know who all is coming with us. I suppose tomorrow will be a pleasant surprise in many ways. Or something to that effect, at least. Either way, my best friend is spending the night with me tonight so we can get ready together in the morning and meet up with whoever else is actually going. We have full intentions on having another really great time in Pittsburgh. Pictures will follow, of course.

On that slightly nerdy tangent, I may not have been studying as hard as I could have been this week simply because a brand-new video game was released on Tuesday that I have been waiting for for over a year and had pre-ordered months ago before it even had a release date - and that has been taking up a lot of my free time, I will admit. However, Nicole and I had a good time going to pick them up, wearing matching t-shirts themed after the game that we bought in Baltimore this summer, and have certainly been enjoying the multi-player mode on these rainy past few days whenever we have been cooped up inside.



You know, I actually think having time like that is just as important a part of the college experience as studying is. I mean, yes, classes should and do always come first, and studying is a huge part of what I do to make it through the year. However, there comes a point whenever one realizes that being with friends and kicking back doing something fun now and again is what keeps one actually sane through the year, and is a great stress reliever - and believe me, I can tell you from personal experience that being completely stressed out does NOT make you do any better on exams, and I appreciate every moment I get the chance to relax. Whoever said college was not going to be fun obviously did not go themselves - or at least, did not go somewhere like WU.

So it looks like the week ahead of me will be quite busy if nothing else! Orthodox churches, synagogues, French essays, midterms, and one crazy anime convention - well, at least things are never dull, and that is what is most important in the end...right? 'till next week!

Morgantown, How I Love Thee

Wow! I honestly don't think I can remember a time whenever my life has been more busy than it is right now. Class, homework, Target, homework, repeat! Sure, if I sit around and think about just how much I'm doing, and how much still needs to be done, it feels overwhelming and stressful, and I don't know how I'm ever going to get through it. But if I don't think about it and just go with the flow? Well, I just realize how much fun I'm also having on the side, how little I have time where I'm genuinely bored, and how quickly my semester in Northern Ireland is rolling towards me!

Last Sunday two of my friends and I went to St. Ann's, a Catholic church in Waynesburg like I wrote last week, to observe a different denomination for our Religion in America class. It really was a different experience - though I am not completely certain as to what everything that I witnessed was, it was a good to see something different all the same, and it felt good after the service was over that I had stepped out of my comfort zone a bit. Plus, I loved how much Latin was in the hymnals - small detail, I know, but foreign languages always captivate my interest, and that was no different.

In other exciting news for the week: we have had an interesting new addition to the cafeteria - garlic shrimp pizza. Now, don't shoot me down before I have a chance to explain...after all, shrimp scampi is perfectly acceptable, and that is basically what garlic shrimp is. Then, put on white pizza, which also is acceptable to have garlic - well, it's not quite so strange now, is it? Let's just say I hope we have it again, because I actually enjoyed it and it was nice to have something other than pepperoni or cheese every day!

Speaking of pizza - this week was my next to last week of training so I can begin to work in the Writing Center on campus soon. What does that have to do with pizza, one may ask? Well, we had a nice pizza party yesterday during our training session, which was certainly a good time - except for the fact that I was wearing white trousers, and of course, managed to get pizza sauce on them. Now, not to boast or anything, but I usually am pretty good about not getting food on my clothes - but of course, white trousers + pizza sauce = disaster, always. Yesterday was tragically no different.

So speaking of the white trousers (I just love these connections in my head), the question the reader may be asking now is, why wear white trousers? Well, that's also a quite simple explanation. Yesterday, 24 September 2009, was the one night, one showing all across America of the English dubbed version of Eureka seveN : Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers. Yes, its a very long title, especially for a couple of college girls who drove all the way to Morgantown, W. Va., to the only theater within an hour of WU to go see it only to not be able to find it on the movie listings there due to it being listed as 'E7GNSTYL.' It probably took us at least five minutes to figure it out, but yeah. We had been waiting for several weeks to rush out of my Geology lab in order to go have some fun off-campus, do a bit of shopping (mostly for our convention next weekend - I can't believe its next weekend, this year really is flying!) and go see an awesome Japanese movie.

Oh, right, the white trousers - well, the night before, on Wednesday when I got home from Target, I wasn't really in the mood to sleep, and for once I had all my homework caught up on (it was a rare occasion indeed) so I began to really dig through my closet until I found the perfect outfit to wear based off of one of the characters in the movie. And said character, Moondoggie, wears white trousers - and thus, I also wore white trousers all day. And got pizza sauce on them...but I wore them to the theater anyway. It made the evening that much more fun. Oh, and yes, I painted the hat as well, though you cannot see it very well in that picture (you'll just have to take my word for it that it turned out awesome).

So, this coming week the craziness shall continue, I have no doubt about that. I have to leave for work in less than 30 minutes actually (and I haven't eaten yet - oh, the life of a busy college student!) but I have Saturday off for the first time since classes started, and I am definitely going to take advantage of that and sleep in nice and late before I start working on a book review for Religion in America and a paper for Contemporary French Cinema. After work on Sunday I don't work again until Friday, which gives me and my other crazy WU friends to really work hard on getting ready for the convention on Saturday (and try to stay on top of homework, too!)

Sure, it starts to sound like pandemonium, and I wonder sometimes how everything will ever get done - but like I said at the beginning, its better to just go with the flow of things, because somehow it always gets done in the end, and that's the optimistic way to look at things. And one will never get through college without an optimistic attitude, and it certainly helps to develop it early. I mean, yeah, be realistic about everything - but locking yourself in your room pouting about how much you have to do doesn't help the problem get solved. College days are fun, and busy - its a nice balance, in my opinion.

Anyway, until next week - I'm sure the stories shall continue.

I Love Kittens!

Fourth week of school - and already, exams galore! Well, I guess that can only be expected...after all, after a month of classes a whole lot has been covered. Thus, as I finally have reached Friday, I am definitely breathing a sigh of relief that all of that is behind me. World Religions, French quizzes and an oral exam, and my first paper in French Cinema returned - however, with all that out of the way, it looks like I can have a relaxing weekend!

Well. Make that almost relaxing - there is that Religion in America paper I should probably get started on...but aside from that, a relaxing weekend! What more could a college junior ask for than only one assignment for a weekend?

Speaking of Religion in America, one of our continuing themes throughout the class is that we need to visit four places of worship that are different from what we are used to, and write a reflection about how Americans are worshipping somewhere different. Our first one of these reflections is due on Tuesday, so a few friends from the class and I are all going to visit a local Catholic church right here in Waynesburg - I've personally never been to a real Catholic service before, so I'm very curious (and admittedly a little nervous) about what I am going to see and experience, but I definitely think that all of these trips will be eye-opening experiences.

And not only my trips for Religion in America - for World Religions, my other theology class this semester, we are going to be visiting four different places of worship for each of the four religions we are studying in the class: Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Now, if I think that the Catholic service is going to be different from my typical Baptist/Nazarene service I have grown up on, those four are going to be EXTREMELY different - but I'm beyond excited about them, that's for sure. Nothing is more eye-opening than putting oneself really outside of one's comfort zone for a new experience that is completely uncomfortable and different, and seeing another's religion is certainly a way to understand that person on a much deeper level. Besides, understanding other religions beyond my own will hopefully help me learn more about myself as well...so overall, I really cannot wait for those trips. I'll definitely be blogging about each of them here as they occur.

This week, one of my friends and I also seized the opportunity to sign up to be in the Waynesburg University brochures and advertisement photo shoots, which will be occurring in late October. I absolutely love pictures and posing and just generally being creative like that, and think it is going to be a really good time - so loyal reader, you'll just have to keep your eyes open for my face in the newest Waynesburg brochures! Its a really cool opportunity, and especially awesome because they were just letting anyone from the campus sign up, not just selecting certain people for it - so we'll have real Waynesburg people doing real Waynesburg stuff now, I guess. I'm just glad that they're letting my eccentric self be a poster child for the university!

October - now THAT is going to be an exciting month, and its rolling towards me faster than I can even begin to believe. October is when things start to really go crazy on campus, too, as even more exams and midterms roll in, and typically big papers start to be due across campus - but its also the month that even more extracurricular stuff starts to happen as well. Its not going to be any different in my life - the first weekend of the month a rather sizeable group of WU students and I are headed up to Pittsburgh for yet another Anime convention, the KuroKiiro Festival. We're actually really lucky to live less than an hour from two conventions a year, which is more than most cities can say - looks like Pittsburgh just got a few extra awesome points in my book! As the month goes on, I'll have those photo shoots, and eventually Halloween, which usually is the time of a dance right on campus. My costume is already planned...but I think I'll leave it as a surprise you can look forward to reading about in a few weeks. Let's just say I'm pretty excited about it.

Sometime within the next couple of weeks, my group in Geology is going to take a field trip to Ohiopyle, which is a 'geological point of interest' a little less than an hour from campus to do research for our final project in that class. I'm actually pretty excited for the trip, even though we don't have it 100% planned out yet - Ohiolyle is actually a really nice place, and I don't think that any of my group members have ever seen it besides myself, so I'm looking forward to showing them all the waterfalls and natural water slides, which is probably what we are doing our project on! We actually might be going next Saturday - and I really hope we do. I'm terribly impatient sometimes...

Oh! The most exciting part of my week? My friend Nicole and I enjoy our daily trip across campus to see a small family of four kittens that lives near a few of the campus houses! It may not sound like much, just a few kittens, but after going down every day to see them, they've slowly been warming up to us even to the point that we can play with and hold them - and that's definitely a nice stress relief between classes, to just go and sit in the sun enjoying the weather and holding a nice little kitten. Although I've heard everyone that passes call the kittens by a different name, we have our own for them - Ninja, Howard, MoMo, and my personal favourite, a little grey one I call Renton. Now, there are always cats running around Waynesburg, but these four are definitely the coolest (mostly because we tamed them, but hey, I think that's a legitimate reason). I don't see our cat obsession ending any time soon, either. At least it keeps two video game obsessed girls outside for at least a little bit of the day, though, so that's good at least (and a good excuse!).

Well, my plans for the weekend are not too exciting, though I am making the trip back to my high school's home football game to see the marching band play, and leaving after half time like a true ex-band kid myself, so I'm looking forward to that. Though I would never want to repeat my high school days again, and they seem more and more distant with each passing day in college, its still nice to see things like that now and again and have those nostalgic memories for the evening. As for tomorrow? Looks like I have a Religion in America book review in my near future and a few hours at Target as I save up for Queens, which though it might be painful now, will certainly be worth it in...four months! I can't believe I'm leaving in four months!!!!

And on that optimistic note, I think I shall end this incoherent ramble and spare you any further spastic thoughts. Next week I'll be sure to talk about the Catholic service Sunday, as well as any other excitement my friends and I seem to always manage to find right here on campus!

Another Year, Another Chapter

Well, its hard to believe I'm a junior this year - only two more years left at Waynesburg University, and really only three semesters left here, considering I'll be at Queens University in Belfast in the spring...

But where are my manners? My wonder at how quickly time is flying got ahead of me for a moment. That's right, loyal readers, I have returned for another triumphant year of keeping everyone updated on the life of a typical Waynesburg student! And its already week three - and believe me, it feels like it. Homework, exams, essays - but then, I suppose that's college for you. However, with the start of a new year of work also dawns the start of a new year of fun, and I certainly haven't been lacking in that.

But I am getting ahead of myself a bit. After all, its been almost four months since I was last posting here, and that's four months worth of events that I need to paraphrase! I think I'm up to the task - and pictures are always worth a thousand words, so I'll be certain to have a lot of those as well. I suppose the best place to start is a reminder that I actually live just outside of Waynesburg, so the start of summer didn't involve my return home to some faraway land like many of the students experience. However, that didn't mean that summer didn't have a different feel all the same - especially with all of my friends gone.

I guess the biggest change in my life at the moment actually started over the summer, and that's my job at the nearby Target store in Washington, which ate away most of my summer time as I began my savings for my semester at Queens. However, I did have two amazing vacations despite my working time - one to New York City, and one to Baltimore.

My trip to New York was absolutely an unforgettable one. Thanks to some amazing plans by my boyfriend for a load of late birthday presents, I got to see the city from the top of Rockefeller Centre, went on a carriage ride in Central Park in the evening, got to do a load of fantastic shopping, and even got to eat at Ninja New York (which was quite the experience, let me tell you - they cut food with swords and jumped out of dark corners to grab you - definitely a lot of fun). It was also my first time flying alone, which I suppose was good preparation for my nearing departure to another country alone. However, on my way back I did get delayed two days longer in New York, but I wasn't complaining. An unexpected extension to a vacation is always welcomed!

Baltimore was also quite an unforgettable experience, but in quite a different way. My best friend Nicole, her sister Natalie, and I all headed to Maryland for four days to attend one the largest Anime and Gaming conventions in the United States - Otakon. And I'm not kidding whenever I say it was large - according to the statistics, there were 26,586 there this year. That's...quite a lot of people, let me tell you. But the three of us happily dressed up as favourite characters all three days, and we met a lot of awesome people with similar interests while we were there, attended a lot of fun panels, and even saw a few of our favourite voice actors. We also saw to Japanese bands perform - the first was on Thursday night before the convention started, when we saw a band called VAMPS on one of their very limited US tour dates. It was their first time touring in America, so we were definitely glad to see them. The other artist was at Otakon itself, a female singer called Mell. Its definitely quite an experience to go to a concert that's not in English, but its one I highly recommend. Both were unforgettable.

Finally, the last exciting thing I really did this summer was I taught Vacation Bible School at my home church for the first time. It was a great experience, since I grew up attending VBS myself, and it was a great opportunity to switch roles and become the teacher rather than the student. I had about six to eight 5th and 6th graders under my wing for the week, and had a great time teaching them, as well as learning from them. It was my first time really getting my feet wet working in ministry, and a great experience for my Biblical and Ministry Studies major. I was even asked at the end of the week to be sure to come back from Belfast in time to teach it again next year, which I am definitely going to try to do.

Well, that about brings me up to my semester beginning at WU (or at least, those are the interesting parts of the summer - I very well might tell more stories later as I am reminded of them as the semester goes on). I can definitely tell its my third year despite how quickly time is passing, because the classes have certainly gotten harder and the workloads heavier - but with that, comes a deeper level of satisfaction and achievement with each thing that I learn, and each paper that I write. Just as a quick reference for when I am sure I will be talking about specific classes as the semester rolls forward, I am taking ::
-World Literature
-World Religions
-French I
-Contemporary French Cinema
-Geology and Oceanography
-Religion in America
And I also have the privilege of being a Fiat Lux mentor once more (Fiat Lux is a freshman orientation-style class for all freshman beginning at WU that is worth one credit in the fall) and I can already tell after only three weeks that I really have a great, sociable group of kids to work with. I'm definitely looking forward to that interaction more and more as the semester goes on.

And roll on the semester certainly does! It hardly has time to wait around for me, often standing still and staring dumbfounded as I still find it hard to believe I'm actually a junior. Time stops for no one, though, as they say.

Thus far, the weather has also been pretty nice - a bit rainy at times, but decent. Today the sun was shining in its fullest, giving myself and a few of my friends the opportunity to lay out in the grass between classes, reading or playing video games, and just relaxing and enjoying the sun and forgetting the stress of class itself. I'm certainly soaking up as much sun now as I can before the weather gets cold and dreary once more, because I know its only a matter of time before the Pennsylvania winter settles in...

I suppose, looking back on the summer in that context, the weather is the only thing that I'll miss about summer. All through my high school years, I clung to summer as my only escape, my only true happiness, and dreaded going back to school. Ever since college, I've been completely the opposite, wishing away my summer in favour of being in school once again. I guess that is one of the most simple and obvious signs that college is a completely different experience - and WU specifically has been such a change in my life. I never had the motivation to work like I do now, and I'm far enough in now that there is not even a thought of ever turning back!

Believe me, its in those moments when I'm with my friends, sitting out in the grass in the middle of campus and just watching students walking to the cafeteria or wherever their paths may be taking them, that I wish I could just steal time away for a while and enjoy those moments just a little longer. But even though I can't do that...I just know that its good to be back.

And with the thoughts of Northern Ireland being only a few months away to continue to motivate me even further - I know I wouldn't have it any other way.

Springtime Goodbye

Well, it's finals week - and my last blog of the semester! But never fear, because I will definitely be returning in the fall, which is good news for me - this is probably one of the single greatest jobs ever. I love writing, and a chance to share my random thoughts? Always appreciated.

Anyway, finals, right. Trying to stay on task here - well, so far I have had three finals, and only three more to go. However, my one this afternoon in the Ministry and Literature of Paul definitely involves pizza, so I'm looking forward to it more than I should ever look forward to a final. It does feel good to know that all my papers and worksheets and everything else are done, turned in, and most of them are even graded. No more Art History, Western Civilization, or International Relations.

What a strange thought. It always feels strange at the end of a semester to know that a class is over forever after you have just spent four or five months of your life devoted to it, and taking for granted that it is just assumed to always be there. But it's not. However - usually, by the end of the semester, I am ready to move onto new classes, to be honest. Only having a class for a semester rather than an entire year like in high school is definitely one of my favorite aspects of college.

Tomorrow marks the last day of my sophomore year - and I'm celebrating by taking a trip to Falling Water, a building about an hour from here designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I went once when I was very young, but barely remember it, so this time I am taking my friend Christopher to take a tour of the awesome house once again, and hang out at the rapids and waterfalls that are also in the area - to be totally honest, I was definitely inspired by my Art History course because we were just talking about Falling Water, and it suddenly occured to me that it really was not that far away, so why not go to celebrate the end of the semester?

And the celebration only continues on Friday when we go to see the new Star Trek film, but that's a different story entirely.

Well. I do have some bad news to share as well as the good news. Yesterday our mission trip to Thailand was cancelled. My best friend and I tried to go on the Argentina trip instead, but considering it leaves in two days...well, it was just not plausible to do. It is really hard to accept at the moment, but both of us have been praying about it and helping each other through it, and we are coming to understand that somehow, though we may not see it now, this is all part of God's plan - and someday, we'll understand why.

I do, however, still have some great plans for the rest of my summer! I am going to be spending the end of June in New York City with a friend for a few days just shopping and sightseeing and generally enjoying being in New York City. Oh, and hopefully going to Ninja New York for my birthday, which is this awesome-looking ninja-themed restaurant in Manhattan that...well, it's ninjas, so that makes it exciting in itself. At the end of July, my friend that was going to Thailand with me and I are going to Baltimore, Maryland for a weekend to attend Otakon, one of the biggest anime conventions on the east coast (yeah, Tekkoshocon was not enough for us, so this time we're going to a bigger and better one). As for August? Well, its still up for grabs, but it's hard to tell where I will end up! I'm excited for the surprise, really.

Right now, though, I am just happy that the sun is finally out when I am writing this, and that we're having a warm day in the middle of a never-ending spell of rainy weather. On Saturday, I spent another day out enjoying a small spell of sunshine in the rain to walk on a bike trail that is only about fifteen minutes away from the campus, and we had a great time enjoying the fact that everything is turning green again, and just the peace and quiet before finals started and everything got out of control again.


I'm quite proud that I climbed up the waterfall, actually.

Oh! I almost forgot some of the most exciting things I am going to be doing this summer, and that is preparing for my semester in Northern Ireland! My goals for the summer are getting a United Kingdom student visa, getting a plane ticket for January to Belfast, and getting my courses for the spring picked out so they can hopefully be approved by the registrar here at Waynesburg when I start back in the fall. With each of these steps done, I take a step closer to a semester that has the potential to be one of the greatest ones of my college experience, and to say I am excited is definitely an understatement.

Well, other than that, it looks like this is goodbye for the summer, and I wish you the best one. See you in the fall!

Last Week of Classes

Why does it always seem like I have these wonderful weeks full of sunshine and warm weather, and sometimes even bright Friday mornings, but by the time I get out of Western Civilization at 9:00 AM and make my trek down the hill to write this blog, it always starts raining? I honestly think at least the last four of these I have written, I have been staring out the window behind the computer at rain. It just seems a bit...ironic, really.

Well, on to more interesting topics than strange weather patterns! It is Friday, as I just stated - but not just any Friday. This is the last Friday of my second year at WU! Two more classes left today, and then aside from finals, I am completely done with classes - bittersweet, but I am getting tired, and I look forward to sleeping in for a few days to start off my summer holiday.

This past week really has been a good one, though. It all started last Friday night with a group of us lounging around in one of the dorm rooms watching Ghost Rider, and just generally trying to have one last group night before everyone was overcome with studying for finals, finishing last minute essays that had been put off, and then leaving for the summer. After our movie, we all headed outside the dorm for one of my friend's concerts with his band, and had a really great time enjoying the weather and the music.

The concert also doubled as a surprise birthday party for my friend Kevin! His actual birthday had been on Tuesday, but no one had really done anything for him considering it was the middle of the week. However, considering the concert was four days later, he was never expecting anything, and we all surprised him with an amazing video game inspired cake (I definitely helped pick that out) and all the attendees at the concert singing 'Happy Birthday' to him. It made an already fun night just a little more special for everyone.

Things didn't slow down at all as Saturday rolled around, and I found myself waking up earlier than usual for a weekend to head back into Waynesburg to get my hair done for the spring formal. I styled my hair after a favorite video game character - which should really come as no surprise if you've been following this blog much, loyal reader - and I thought I pulled it off quite well. Most girls just get a head full of curls for dances, but I like to look a bit more unique than that. Spiked hair is always a fun way to go.

Anyway, enough about my hair, and on to the actual dance! It was a great evening - most of my friends were there, and everyone really did look great all dressed up and with hair done. Kind of strange at first, because I have grown so used to seeing everyone in jeans and a t-shirt sitting in class, but it was a nice change. The food was even good, and the dancing was great fun. It was nice and warm outside, too, so we were able to get some nice pictures with the pond behind the party center - and there was even a swan there, but it seemed a little on the evil side, so I personally avoided it. However, there were a few brave souls that snuck up on it to try to take pictures...but it really didn't seem to like that. I'm not going to go any further than that.



After about four hours of fun at the dance, I felt completely exhausted and fell asleep rather quickly once I was home in my bed again. However, I was up early again the next morning to head to my local church - Waynesburg First Church of the Nazarene - to watch a showing of the film Fireproof with my boyfriend. The film was really, really powerful, and I definitely recommend it to anyone, whether you're in a relationship or not.

When the beginning of the week rolled around again, I found myself back to working hard to finish my research paper on the IRA, which I proudly turned in yesterday in its 18 pages of glory. Now, all I have left to do is finish up writing on a few current events, and studying for finals! Finally, I feel like I can relax a bit.

But how can I relax with finals coming up, you may ask. Well, I'll tell you - some people like to make a big to-do about finals week here at WU, but really...its not as bad as some people may tell you. Yes, the exams are challenging, and yes, you do need to study for them. However, you'll never have more than two exams on one day (if you do have more than that scheduled, one of the professors has to move their exam, which is really nice) so you also have a lot of time to study...and thus, you also have a lot of time to relax. Personally...I like finals week. But then, I'm also told by a lot of people I'm a bit odd, so I'll leave that decision up to you.

Actually, I've even had enough time this week to take a mid-week trip to the movie theater, which is usually unheard of to do on a 'school night.' However, there was a Japanese movie (Death Note: L Change the WorLd, in case you were curious, and you know I like to satisfy your curiosity whenever possible, loyal reader) playing right in Morgantown - only about twenty minutes from Waynesburg, its the usual place of entertainment for WU students on Saturdays - that was only going to be there for two showings, one on Wednesday night and one on Thursday. So Christopher, Nick, and my best friend Nicole and I headed off to the movies to have an evening off, and have a great time watching the film...and especially the random previews at the beginning that I am not even going to attempt to describe, but will simply say they were 'unique.'

Wow, its really starting to rain harder...

Anyway, looks like its about time for me to wrap this up with the thought that in only two and a half weeks...I'll be doing my second mission trip ever in Bangkok. Its hard to imagine how far away that really is, or even begin to think about how amazing working with the Thai people is going to be, and it just blows my mind to even consider it. If this trip is even half as good as my trip to Argentina was last May (exactly a year ago tomorrow I was leaving for that trip, actually) then it will be one of the best experiences of my life, and it has the potential to be even better.

Fifteen days in an eye-opening culture so vastly different from the Western world, and hanging out with Thai children in school? I am indescribably excited.

Well, until next time...stay dry!

Spring Week

One more week of regular classes left, finals, and then...summer holiday? Is that even possible?

Only one more paper left for me (and I already have if halfway done)? Is THAT even possible?

Looks like that is my reality at the moment, and I must admit that I was not expecting it. It seems so abstract to think about the fact that summer starts in only two weeks, in less than a month I will be in Thailand, and in less than a year I will be in Northern Ireland. After waiting for so long for something, when it finally comes...sometimes, it feels like it snuck up on me. And this is one of those times.

Anyway, as for the research paper thing? I'm definitely relieved about that. I got a good mark on my final paper for my class studying the Apostle Paul, and I am extremely relieved (upper level religion classes are HARD, I am not going to try to hide that one) and that just leaves me with my Irish Republican Army paper to finish. And it is certainly...interesting, to say the least. I never realized how complicated of an issue the IRA was in Ireland, but I am glad that I am doing my paper on that topic, especially considering I might be seeing the effects of it during my semester in Belfast.

Oh, but as promised last week, this week has been spring week on campus! It was the driving factor for me getting most of my work out of the way so that I could be free in the evenings to do the spring week activities. This year, the theme was holidays, and each day of the week was a different holiday from the year - Christmas, Halloween, 4th of July, St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, and tomorrow is Mardi Gras.

We had an outdoor barbecue planned for the 4th of July day - but wouldn't you know, it rained. However, we did still get to have cook-out food, just inside the cafeteria. Though it was not as fun as it would have been to be eating outside, it was better than having everyday cafeteria food for one evening. That night, however, turned out to be even more fun. A few friends and I attended the Second Annual 'Mr. Waynesburg' competition, which is basically a beauty pageant for guys on campus - and it was hilarious! Instead of the typical talents one thinks of when one thinks of a beauty pageant, like singing, there was a lot of stand-up comedy, and one guy that was bending spoons. I think I preferred this kind of beauty pageant to the stereotypical kind.

After the contest was over, the theatre fraternity here on campus hosted an improv night titled 'WU's Line is it Anyway?' and if you have ever watched late night television, I am sure you can guess what that was based on. Before the show started, various students were asking for contributions to two different games - random short scenes that would be performed, and random phrases that would be used in a different game. Of course, my friends and I all filled out several for both games, crossing our fingers that one of them would be used in the show.

And I was quite proud, because out of everything that we contributed - it was one of MY phrases that actually got used in the show. I was quite proud, to say the least, and we all had a good laugh. The show was done really well, and I hope they do it again next year.

I mentioned that it rained on the day of our barbecue, but we have been having some really nice days as well (finally!). The weather cannot seem to make up its mind, considering when I drove to the campus this morning there were bolts of lightning, and now about an hour and a half later the sun is brightly shining, but when the weather has been nice, we have definitely been taking advantage of it. Yesterday, a few of us drove to a part of the Monongahela River (one of the three rivers in Pittsburgh) that is only about fifteen minutes away from campus, and just had a good time relaxing out in the sun and celebrating the fact that summer was almost here. See the sunny sky in the photograph? Definitely puts a smile on my face.

I guess I am doing this rather un-chronologically (I think I made that word up, too, but you get the idea) but last weekend, again taking advantage of a sunny day, my friend Christopher and I went to Laurel Caverns, which is a cave system in the neighboring county and part of the Appalachian Mountains. Considering he is from Northern Ireland, as I believe I have mentioned before, I thought it would be a good idea to show him our relatively local cave system before he went back to Europe at the end of the semester. After a tour of several different tunnels, seeing two hibernating bats, and a round of cave mini-golf, we definitely had a great Saturday afternoon.

Let's see - of course, considering tonight is Friday, I have exciting plans as well (or at least I am excited about them). Besides campus-sponsored events on campus, friends are constantly hosting parties and such of one kind or another, and we actually have two tonight! One of my friends is hosting a 'Super-Hero Movie Night,' so I will certainly be stopping by there to watch a movie or two with everyone else, and then another friend's band Graceful Oblivion will be having their first-ever performance right on campus, so of course I will be going to support them as well. We even have a surprise planned there, but I cannot say anything more about that until next week - it is a surprise, after all.

It certainly has been a busy week - both for end of the semester rushed work by procrastinators like me, and for extra-curricular activities with friends. I guess wandering around at the river or strolling through Waynesburg on sunny days is better than laying around a dorm room watching the fifth episode of FullMetal Alchemist in a row - not that its not an amazing show, but I do enjoy the sun over trying to hide from the cold weather and rain. Or at any rate, taking walks is a lot healthier! But wow, I got a bit off track from what I was originally saying, my apologies, the sun also has the effect on my brain of making it go even more scattered than normal (scary thought, I know), so anyway, there is always a lot to do around here, even if we have to make our own fun sometimes. We always manage to do so.

And tomorrow is the grand finale of spring week - the annual formal dance, with a Mardi Gras theme to follow through with the holiday theme of the week this year. I am incredibly excited to go with all of my friends and just spend the evening dancing the night away and just having one last big celebration with everyone before we have to bid each other goodbye so very soon from now for another four months of separation. It has the potential to be one of the best nights of the year, that's for certain.

But that will all be next week's post! So until then...



PS :: In case you're curious about what phrase I gave for WU's Line is it Anyway?, it was "You really are quite useless in the rain, sir." Just...in case anyone was going to be kept up at night wondering what I had contributed.

WU Goes Japanese!

Hehe. Okay, I will admit that is a terribly cheesy title, but I wasn't sure what else to call this, and at the same time that just seemed extremely appropriate.


The Tekko Crew on High Street - the main road in Waynesburg

Well, the day finally came that I had been waiting for for what felt like forever, but really was just under a year - Tekkoshocon VII in Pittsburgh! And believe me, I feel that we represented Waynesburg University there quite well, considering there were at least five of us there...four with me, and another person that approached us near the end of the day and asked if we were from WU, because we looked familiar, which I found amusing. Apparently he saw right through our costumes.

Anyway, Tekko (as we came to calling it) was an amazing way to spend a Saturday! There were hundreds of people from all around the Pittsburgh area in attendence at the David L Lawrence Convention Center and Westin Hotel, neither of which I had ever been in before - and they were huge! Not to mention the hotel was absolutely beautiful. There were concerts, panels and discussions, games, a dance, and a lot of vendors selling everything Japanese one could possibly ever want - not to mention one booth with free Pocky (a chocolate covered biscuit snack, in case you have never had the pleasure of tasting it. I definitely recommend it).

And my costume was a complete success. I had people approaching me all day asking to take my picture, or if they could give me a hug - or my personal favorite, if they could have their picture WITH me, which made me feel like a character at Disney World. But it was a good feeling. And I loved being called by my character's name all day - I think 'Roxas' is a suiting name for me, and it is pretty cool.

All in all, it was probably my favorite Saturday of my entire sophomore year here, and having my friends I met here at college with me just made it that much better - and Nick (the one with red hair in the pictures) even won a big sword fighting competition! So we were definitely glad he came along, because that made the day that much more memorable.

Aside from all of that excitement (however nerdy it sounds, as my mother keeps reminding me) I have been spending most of my free time working on one research paper or presentation or another. I am happy to say that my paper about the Irish Republican Army for International Relations is more than halfway done thanks to WU's online database of information (it really makes research papers less stressful), my presentation on Hispanic Americans for Minority Relations IS done, and I have a week to work on my paper about the reflection of Greek culture in Acts and the Pauline letters for my Paul class.

Overall, I am starting to feel a little bit less stressed about the end of the semester now that things are coming together. It may only be a little bit - but by the time I am writing this next week, most of my papers will have been turned in and my presenations completed, so I should be feeling a LOT better, and ready to start devoting my time to studying for finals.

It feels so strange that summer holiday is only about three weeks away, and every time I make a move towards preparing something for summer, it feels so strange. Only a few months ago, it felt like summer was a lifetime away, but now it feels so...sudden, like I was not ready for it (which I probably wasn't) and with that impending thought comes mixed emotions. Of course, I will be glad to not be worrying about research papers and exams for four months - but at the same time, its hard to say goodbye to all of my amazing friends that live far away for four months.

However relaxing summer may be with its lack of homework and studying - if its anything like last summer was, I will be counting down the days until September when everything starts up again!

Oh - and I cannot believe its only a little over a month until I leave for Thailand, another thing that felt like it was more than a lifetime away. However, if you have been watching the news recently, then you'll understand how much I would appreciate prayer for us and the trip - and for the entire country of Thailand. So if you think about it, please send up a little prayer for our group, and for our trip.

Speaking of international experiences (and that counts as one) I recieved my course listing of what classes I can take at Queens University next spring, and have already been making a possible schedule! My semester will be different, though, not starting until February, which will be a bit strange - but that's okay, because I don't think I could be more excited.

Well. When my permanent schedule and housing stuff comes, I might be more excited, so I guess that was a bit of a lie. Looks like I will just have to wait and see! Anyway, I'm planning on taking three classes in International Studies and Politics (right now, I'm looking into Irish Politics, Negotiations and Conflict Resolution, and perhaps Comtemporary Europe) and I am also hoping to take an elective language class from the large variety that Queens offers - no kidding, I think I counted seventeen different ones.

Right now, I'm leaning towards Turkish. In case you were curious.

Anyway (I use that word too much, don't I?), I have a lot of stuff next week to look forward to BESIDES all of my papers being basically out of the way, because next week is Spring Week here on campus! However, I am going to leave you in suspense about that until next Friday, when its mostly all over and I can talk about the activities - hopefully I will get to go to some between doing work!

What I will say now is that next Saturday is WU's formal dance, and I just got my dress for it yesterday, so I am really excited about that - and I am saying nothing more.

Until next week...one final look at my alter-ego!


Roxas and the Kingdom Key (from Kingdom Hearts II by Disney and Square Enix)