Apple Pie Faction and Kon Bon Waaaaaaaa.

2 Days, 1 Post, 30 oz. Coffee.

I was very busy working last night, and simply couldn't muster up the strength to update after finishing up the readings around 3. Wednesday wound up being pretty exhausting, with the introduction of new classes, little time to relax, and the whirlwind completion of our presentation on Kenya for ICONS. It was the first day of real CLASS class for the subjects I had on monday, and it was very exciting to finally dive into discussions, and even the notes and lectures are sooo much more interesting at a college level.

While that was fun (you know, if learning's your thing), I do have one beef with the classes. They can be pretty sizable, and participation in discussions depends on raising your hand and getting called on. I like what our Japanese Culture teacher (Oshimo-Sensei) does: splits us into small groups of 8 or so, then one person reports on the group's conversation. Of course, this lends the teacher less control over the situation, but I think it can be a time-saver and equally effective in stimulating thought and conversation.

Small group times are really best--wing meetings are better than mandatory saftey lectures, going out to lunch (Say...Kiva Han?) with one or two friends (Say...Charna?) totally beats the cafeteria, hanging out in the grassy park for 10 minutes is much more relaxing than standing in a big blob of people outside of your next class. The small groups share ideas, and inside jokes, and food (Thai Tofu Salad yummmm) so much faster. Plus that's how you make those famed PGSE friendships--the ones that last a lifetime? Yeah, that starts by complaining about the lame library tour over cranberry trail mix with a few friends. Or deciding whether the hot dog stand cashier is cuter than the Rite Aid cashier with your suite mates while you should be doing your Civic Engagement homework. Or spending a few minutes taking a longer route to your next class so you can chat with a classmate about the lesson.

The same idea seems to apply with our teachers. Tuesday, I told Sara (ICONS leader and very cool prof. of International Relations) that I would love to have her help with finding resources for researching my grad. project paper, due pretty much ASAP when I get back from Gov School. So we had a little email exchange earlier today, and I made the happy mistake of running into her (while scarfing a clif bar--okay, that was embarassing) between shopping (bought a dress) and ICONS. Sara walks into Provost, headphones in her ears audibly blasting something remarkably UN-professor like. I assumed that those professors hip enough to own MP3 players listen to things like Beethoven's 2nd Violin Concerto on their way to class. This kinda sounded more like Blink 182. I guess I stand corrected. She and I very quickly fell into the subject of my paper, then her job, then Butte Montana, then foreign language--I don't know who messed up while programming my brain, but I get along with teachers so much better than I do with students. Always. So to finally have a talk with someone with that mentor status was a "great exhale" moment for me--I finally felt a little more relaxed and more comfortable around the people I should be concentrating on--the people my own age.

That interaction grows so quickly through things like ICONS. Kenya's presentation went pretty well--I was kinda bummed by all of my "um--uh...urrr..." moments but I guess it happened to a lot of people. Towards the end of the night, We were all surprised to hear a loud crack above us in the middle of a presentation. Yup, there was a thunderstorm rolling through Pittsburgh, reaching its peak as we were all leaving Provost. I was lucky enough to be one of the first people out, and began making my way back home, eyes towards the lightning illuminating the Cathedral of Learning.

Turns out that was a bad idea. I got totally lost and turned around--in the dark--in the rain--barefoot--uphill both ways. Well--it was raining, anyway. I circled around the Cathedral a few times before spotting Towers and realizing how dumb I was. I loped up into our room, dried off, checked in with Molly, and settled into the dorm for a long night's work. Sustenance has included at least 6 of those little Hershey bars, a handful of Special K Red Berry, and--most important--a Starbucks Doubleshot, surely invented just for Gov School Students to drink at 11 PM in order to keep us alive during the graveyard shift of learning...a surprisingly productive time for me.


ps. Advice: break the rules and bring a coffee maker. Living on Starbucks is ridiculously expensive and causes you to debate with yourself for 15 minutes before deciding whether going clothes shopping is a bad idea or not.

pps. Going clothes shopping is a bad idea, for the record.

ppps. 2130 on the SATs! 99th percentile in writing! Woohoooo!