Adventures in Matriculating

Well, I'm back. Back here where it all began, at ol' Alma Mater U. I have now had two days of classes and work in my assistantship, so I have a pretty good basis to begin telling you what it's like.

It's kinda weird.

It's mostly cool.

Well, actually, hot. Those of you who went here before will probably not believe me, but I am not lying: the parking situation is twice as bad as it was before. The Powers That Be have built several new parking garages which are, of course, stunningly beautiful in addition to being functional and all that. However, they have also grassed over several centrally-located parking lots in what I can assume is an effort to discourage driving on campus, and eventually lead to a pedestrian campus. The square parking lot in the middle of North and South Marrying-Kind Hall? Grass! The big parking lot in front of South Marrying-Kind Hall? GRASS! The mini-lot across from the student union and next to the tennis courts? A memorial garden to two professors who unexpectedly passed away last year... oh, okay, fine, that one's better than a useless mini-parking-lot. But anyway. I have given up the car and am walking everywhere. Fine. It's faster. Healthier, too. However, I am not accustomed to arriving at my destination sweaty. Sweaty is for immediately pre-shower workout time only. I'm having to get used to it, and it makes me slightly cranky.

My professors (I have two professors for my three classes, which are located in three rooms, the farthest-flung of which are ten paces from each other) are nice. One of them is this extremely dry, slightly nerdy but funny pregnant lady. We get to cut the semester three weeks short so she can have her baby--hooray! Babies are awesome, especially when they make the semester end before Thanksgiving. The other is an absolutely adorable elderly gent who came to class today wearing a seersucker suit and a pink-and-blue diagonally-striped tie. He proceeded to lecture us on the wonders and benefits of capitalism. He could not have charmed me more if charming me were his express purpose. He is an old "newspaper man" with loads of experience and a remarkably upbeat attitude toward emerging media technology. I'm going to love him. He is making us subscribe to the NYT, but after the seersucker suit, I can forgive him almost anything.

Regarding technology, clearly it's a hot-button issue in the journalism field. (When I'm a professional journalist, I vow to avoid cliches like "hot-button issue." Just now, I'm too tired to care.) I already know the topic of my big class project in one of my classes, and it's to do with blogs. So you, my darling blog-friends, will likely be the topic of discussion 'round the conference table. (It's a small class.) I promise to keep your identities a secret, and to represent our little blog-ring well... without telling any of my classmates or professors how to find us on here. I would never sully our special trysting-place like that!

Must sleep now.
~A-Dub

PS. Today at 5 I was walking past Puff Net Hall (a pseudonym) talking on my cell phone (must fit in!) when our resident Quasimodo-or-Quasimodette began playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" on the carillon. It warmed the cockles of my withered heart. That may sound like a snarky statement, but really, it made me happy.

PS. Yesterday I saw an underclassman girl walking to class wearing a pair of leggings and a tank top (the kind with spaghetti straps, not the wife-beater kind). That's all. No pants. Not even what I would consider a shirt (though I'm obviously in the minority on that one). Essentially, she was wearing long underwear and some kicky sandals. I was appropriately appalled. The fact that no one else seemed particularly appalled made me feel like a granny.

PS. I miss you all. I hope things here will get more regular soon!