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!