Category: U.S-related stuff

First Snow

Am I the only one who has never seen snow fall before? Anyone? Bueller?

Okay well yeah. I’m sitting in my dorm silently freaking out because I have no clue how to act in snowy weather. Mind you this is “wet rain” (or so the cleaning dude on my floor told me) so it won’t pile up that high, but this is my first experience with anything other than raindrops falling from the sky.

Are you supposed to wear special shoes to go out into the snow? Should I wear a different coat than usual? Are rainboots okay? Should I use an umbrella or something? Should I carry around an extra pair of socks just in case? When the weather gets this cold does the ground freeze? Oh geez I’ll probably have to start walking more carefully now; I can barely walk when the ground is dry.

I’m from California. We get rain like twice a year. FAIL.

Worries and mental rant aside though, snow is really pretty! I have a pretty decent view from my window, so I can see the row of trees lining the beach as well as a courtyard-type area with a few barren trees. I literally have tree branches like five feet from my window. Earlier I was just sitting here chillin with a bird (on one of the little branches), and I swear the little dude was trying to convince me to let him come inside. Cutest thing ever! The birds have since left, and all I see now is a myriad of whiteness falling from the sky.

I’ve had people ask me how I did on my French final (see previous post), and I have only one thing to say: HA!

I jest, I have more words. Let me put it this way: at one point I was so frustrated with my inability to remember how to say simple French words (I completely blanked on how to say “pretty”, but of course as I was walking back to my room afterwards I was like “NARF! Jolie!”), I started answering in Spanish. EPIC FAIL. That’s not the only thing that happened, but it’s all I’m willing to confess here. 🙂

Only a few more days till I go home and I am THRILLED! I’m so ridiculously excited that I feel like packing my stuff RIGHT NOW, but I know that’d be useless since until my departure day I’d be unpacking and repacking the things I use. Despite my excitement though, I can’t help but feel a bit nervous about going back home. I mean yeah it’s “home”, but the life I lived back there isn’t my life anymore. Ah well.

For those of you who haven’t finished your finals yet: hang in there! This too shall pass, and when it does you’ll probably shed tears of joy. 🙂

International Randomosity Residence Life U.S-related stuff Wellness

Pre-UBC Feelings

Here’s to my FIRST BLOG POST! Yay!

Right now it’s T-minus 5 days and I am freaking out! My thoughts are so jumbled it’s not even funny, so I guess the best way to explain my pre-UBC feelings is through bullet points.

I’ve been involved in an epic battle of wits with my room for a few days now, and so far my room is winning. I had no idea I was such a packrat! A couple days ago I found notes I had written with friends from freshman year, and earlier today I uncovered my first pair of shoes (ever). I’m a bit worried about the contents of my closet…with my luck a small Russian man will jump out and say that he’s been lost in there for several years.
With my time slowly but surely running out, I’ve started to realize how much stuff I still need. Is it bad that I have yet to go clothes shopping? Theoretically I could convince myself that I’ll do the bulk of my shopping when I actually get to Vancouver, but I stress far too much to let myself slide with that. Speaking of which, how in the world will I be able to fit everything I do have into my luggage! I’m pretty good at Tetris, but this will be the ultimate test!
I’m a bit worried about the culture shock of college. The different sleep patterns, classes at crazy times on different days, dorm food, Canada in general! Mostly I’m stressing out about the weather. On Facebook someone mentioned Vancouver’s summer highs, and after I did the Celsius-Fahrenheit conversion thing it translated to Southern California’s winter lows. HA!
This is pretty lame, but I’m concerned that I’ll miss my favorite shows on TV. Date My Ex: Jo and Slade is getting pretty intense, and I’ve been patiently awaiting the return of Greek all summer! Hopefully they’ll pop up on Youtube or something; otherwise I’ll find myself convincing my friends to TiVo it for me.
Speaking of my friends, only now is it dawning on me that I won’t see any of my friends until mid-December. I don’t think I’ve ever gone more than a couple of weeks without seeing at least one of my friends, and suddenly we’ll all be apart for 3 ½ months! As I type one of my friends may be on a plane on his way to his college in Virginia, and the day after I leave another will fly out to Texas! I haven’t really allowed myself to get sad before this, but now I find myself thinking of everything I do with friends as “the last”. I know without a doubt that we’ll all see each other again, but I know that it won’t ever be exactly the same as it is right now. In a way it’s thrilling that we’re all setting off to start our own lives, but at the same time it’s terrifying because we’ll be doing it miles away from each other. I’m already mentally preparing myself for the inevitable best-friend-withdrawals. *sigh*
Sadness aside, I am SO EXCITED to start UBC!! Every time I even glance at my new dorm sheets or see my UBC sweatshirt I get so incredibly thrilled that I wish I were already there. And it’s funny because never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I’d end up going to UBC. I had first heard about the place around the beginning of my junior year through one of those college-matchmaker services, and I remember I really liked it. I just let myself forget about it though; who leaves the country for college! Flash forward to near the end of February of this year, and I’m feeling pretty good about my college applications. I had already sent everything in, and was in that odd limbo where you’re waiting to hear if you got in anywhere. I found myself back on the college-matchmaker site, and before I knew it I was filling out UBC’s application and asking the counselor to print out my transcript to send in. When I was actually accepted, even then I almost didn’t choose UBC, but once I did I absolutely knew without a doubt that I had made the right choice. Now, looking at old pieces of mail from the other colleges I considered, I can’t even imagine myself anywhere other than UBC! Perhaps it was fate that I stumbled upon UBC again mere days before the application was due!
I’m already starting to miss my cat. Every time I see him I get a bit teary-eyed and pick him up. It’s really hard leaving the dogs too; Cookie and Bear just had two little puppies (we really need to name them…), and they’re SO FREAKING ADORABLE I’m considering getting a puppy-agent so they can be in K9 Advantix commercials or something (you know, the one with the puppy singing at camp).

The next time I write a post it will probably be from my dorm room (Kwakiutl in Totem Park, in case you’re curious). By then hopefully these UBC blogs will be all set up so I can put pictures in as well. Until then, wish me luck with packing and saying goodbye to the United States! Vancouver here I come!