The Primal Behaviour of College Students & an Interview

I don't know how much time you spend in a dining hall, but I'm there twice a day every day, with few exceptions. This isn't really a problem-- the food is pretty good-- but it's a nightmare because everyone else is there too. We are all swarming around, trying to get to the food. There's soup, there's a salad bar, there's an exhibition table, pizza, grill station, and a lot more; and there's a line for every single one of those. You have to figure out how to be distinctly part of the line, without getting in another line's way. It's almost impossible.

The term "feeding frenzy" definitely applies here. We all do our best to be polite and not get in the way, but it's essentially impossible. The dining hall is not that big, especially compared to the number of people trying to get food there. I've taken to dashing in, getting food as quickly as possible, and dashing out again to eat in my room. Because it's a whole separate complaint, how hard it is to find someplace to sit...

INTERVIEW

1. Why have you decided to start blogging for yourself?
I like to talk, and I enjoy sharing my opinions of what's going on. Sometimes funny things happen, and I just want other people to be laughing with me!
2. You say the adjective most used to describe you is "cute". If you could pick what was most used, would you pick cute or something else and why?

I would like a variety-- I mean, it gets kind of boring being "cute" all the time. Or maybe it's not that I want to be called a variety of adjectives, but I would like a different reaction than "You're so cute!" I think that's it. Instead of people describing me, I want them to join in! I want other people to slide on the wooden floors in their socks with me, I want them to roll down grassy hills with me, I want them to help me figure out if there's a way to make a chocolate chip cookie bake in a specific shape. Maybe there is-- but I might not figure it out on my own. Yeah, I think that's it. I don't feel any need for people to cry, "Blythe, you are so responsible!" or "Wow, you're so friendly." Those sorts of opinions are shown by what the person does.

3. Out of all the countries you've been to, which was your favorite?

That's like saying, "Of all of your children, who do you like best?" I like each country for different reasons. Taiwan will always hold a special places in my heart because I lived there from when I was 13 until I was 17. I had fabulous friends there, gained a lot of independance, learned some Chinese, you know. I just soaked it all in. It was glorious.

I think I'll simplify this for myself, and tell you my favourite holiday destination, and that is the Malaysian section of Borneo. Sabah is absolutely stunning, a paradise of rain forests, rivers, water falls, clear turquoise oceans, and more wildlife than you can imagine. I was this close to orangutans, saw a sea turtle lay her eggs, and drank rice wine in a long house lived in by the Iban people (formerly head hunters). It was a cultural and ecological experience, and the single most beautiful place I have ever been.

4. Is there a country you have not yet been to, but would like to see?

Of course! Greece, Spain, India, Egypt, South Africa,Tanzania, New Zealand and Brazil are the ones that come to me immediately, though I have no doubt that there are many more. There's a lot of the world I have yet to see, and I look forward to doing more exploring when time and money allow!

5. What is the most important quality to find in someone, in terms of friendship?

I think it's a blend. Trustworthiness is certainly a big one for me, and a sense of humour (preferably a sense of humour that I share) is also important. Beyond a sense of humour is a sense of fun. I like serious conversations very much, but I like to play too-- to go to Disneyland, to have picnics outside, to swim in waterfalls and so on.

I think I might know what it is, actually. I think it is mutual respect. That is the most important quality, because it manifests itself in so many different ways.

Now, Brandy Rose told me that I don't have to invite others to participate, but given that this is a fairly new blog, I don't think there's much of a chance of people taking me up on it. So, I feel like I'm pretty safe! If, however, you would like me to come up with some interview questions for you, here's what you do:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." (Or something more interesting) If you dare.

2. I will respond by emailing/commenting on your blog and giving you five questions. (I get to pick thequestions).

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interviewsomeone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

(You don't have to do 4 & 5. I don't care.)

25 Things

My friend just posted a list of 25 random things about herself, and I've decided to follow her example.

1. Unlikely though this may be, I can remember breathing underwater as a child.
2. I have worked for the same family for the past 3 summers, and intend to work for them again this summer... even though I KNOW I should be getting an internship. Nope, I want to play with my kids!
3. When I'm at my house, I live with not only my human family, but 1 dog, 1 snake, 2 hedgehogs, and 4 tortoises. (At college, I only have 2 tortoises... they travel back and forth with me.)
4. I am always early, unless something untoward has happened.
5. This is the first semester I have worn make up regularly. I don't really know what I'm doing.
6. All things considered, I'd rather be barefoot.
7. I'm 21. The kids I nanny for are 8 and 5. People still call me "Mom."
8. I keep coloured paperclips in a martini glass on my desk.
9. I drink Diet Coke like it's water. Don't judge me.
10. I have been to somewhere between 21-23 countries (depending on whether you count Monaco and the Vatican) and I'm always ready to go somewhere new.
11. I always wish on stars and dandelions, kiss my fingers and touch the roof as I go through a yellow light, touch wood, and throw salt over my left shoulder-- but those are the only superstitions I adhere to . Black cats can walk wherever they want, and if I choose to open an umbrella inside, well then, I don't think that's so bad.
12. I love skirts that twirl.
13. I live for sunshine.
14. I stopped biting my fingernails as a New Year's resolution, and I've actually succeeded. I'm shocked.
15. My car has a name. It may be the only "real" name I'm going to put on this blog, but it's so darn cute I have to share it. Her name is Annabelle, and she's a pretty little silver bug.
16. I have been accused of having a room "like a kindergarten classroom" because I actually put up pictures that the kids send me... and I put them up everywhere.
17. I like routines, but I rarely form them intentionally. Sometimes I just look up and realise that I have fallen into a pattern.
18. Similarly, I really like lists-- especially if they can be neatly organised and possibly colour-coded (but I'm not actually organised, unless I have to be)
19. I have a paralysing fear of heights, but I have gone skydiving, parasailing, and paragliding. And I would do it again.
20. The adjective that is used most often to describe me is "cute."
21. I have selected Britishisms (mostly unintentionally)-- I say petrol (not gas) and boot (not trunk) and trousers (not pants). On the other hand, I have never in my life called the hood of my car the "bonnet," chips are not "crisps," and french fries are not "chips."
22. My hair would not hold curl if its life depended on it. It has one look: straight.
23. I hate cleaning, but I hate mess more.
24. I have a professor who calls me "Bubbles," because of all the days that I blew bubbles in his class.
25. My brain does not function in an A, then B, then C kind of way, but in a Q, then triangle, then 87 kind of way.

Squirrells

The school I go to is not just inhabited by squirrells, but essentially owned by them. They do not scurry off when they see you coming, instead they just stare at you intently, their beady black eyes challenging your right to be there. Sometimes they even yell at you if you walk too close to their branches.

The crowning glory of my time at college thus far was when I saw a squirrell fall out of a tree. I felt like I was back on equal footing again. I may do some pretty clumsy stuff, but I don't think a squirrell has ever witnessed me randomly toppling over (I tend to do that inside, on stairs and things like that). It was easily one of the funniest moments of my life. I longed to go over to the squirrel and whisper I saw that.

Today when I walked into my dorm, sure enough, there was a squirrell on the lilac bush outside the door. He was about eye-level, and we gazed at each other for a moment before I realised he was holding his little paw over his heart.

It's about time those squirrells showed me some respect!

Keeping it classy (hey look! a pun!)

There should be a law against how criminally boring my Energy and the Environment prof is. It should be an interesting class, right? After all, it's very relevant to our lives right now... right? If this man has been teaching for so long, it must be something he's passionate about-- right? I don't know why, but he cannot inject even a molecule of enthusiasm into his voice. After droning on about energy and electricity for an hour or so, my friend passed me a note. It said, "He could use some energy." Thank god TR and AC are also in the class, or I might go mad. At least we can work together on our projects, and poke each other to stay awake. Yep, that's true friendship.

Other than that, I think classes will be good. My visual arts of the theatre class will be a lot of work, but I like the prof, and at least there won't be big papers to write, for the most part-- and no exams. Instead, we'll do things like build model sets and design costumes. Now, my artistic skills about match those of the children I nanny for, but I hope that if I put enough time and effort in, the result will show that I tried. Plus, the theatre department supplies all the materials, so I think I might just have fun. I do like crafts, after all!

Language Development will be super. My friend, EB, is in the class with me and that is quite a perk. Besides, it's a psych class, and I do really love psych and have missed it this last semester while I've been abroad. It cracks me up, hearing what kids say. My favourite quote of last summer was, "Chaos can jump like a Cantalope!" ("Chaos" is my employers' family's crazyinsanebutextremelylovable poodle.) I am not sure how mixing up the words "antalope" and "cantalope" directly relate to language development, but I am sure I can tie it in eventually. I hope. I need an excuse to keep collecting those fabulous kid quotes! (Another favourite: "Are we going to drive through Spain?"-- during a family roadtrip on the continental United States.)

I haven't had a Reserach Design class yet, but I think that'll be good. Important for thesis after all. Oh, thesis.

And in conclusion, there should be a required acting class for all professors. No, I am not a biased actor (stop looking at me like that-- I'm not...). I just like a little vocal variety in my life.

Top Secret, Classified, etc

I'm of that generation where people no longer teach you how to deal with bullying at school, but instead declare that the internet is the single most dangerous place ever. Yeah, ok. So largely because I enjoy code names, I am going to conduct this blog in a top secret manner. It may make me feel like a secret agent, or it may make me feel like I'm making things unnecessarily complicated. Either way, sounds like fun to me!

I had a blog that I kept for my family and friends, and it was fairly private-like, and had more personal information on it. I so enjoyed writing it, though, that now I'm going to make a stab at joining the wider blogging community. I guess we'll see how that goes!