Tuesday, January 14, 2014

My winter so far

Merry Christmas! I haven't written for a long time, I know, but that's quite all right, because I'm writing now, and all is well with the world once again. It doesn't really feel like Christmas today; it's about 80 degrees outside (or it was, before the night fell), and there isn't much in the way of holiday spirit in our house. Oh dear, that's not to say that we live in some sort of Ebenezer Scrooge-esque garret or anything, it's just that we're really not ones to decorate and/or celebrate overmuch. We do have a tree though, a fact which should be profoundly magnificent, but this particular tree of ours is crafted out of three fallen pine branches that Dad managed to glean off the street three days ago. Also, lacking any other place to put it, we've assembled it on the landing of the staircase, where it leans up against the banister in a sort of haphazard way and obscures traffic. However, we did find some lights and ornaments in the garage, so at least it glows and shines with Christmas spirit in that regard. And although we didn't really have many presents this year, there were enough to keep all of us feeling like proper GDP boosters (except for Sungmin, the archetypal consumer). I really didn't want anything this year; I'm just so happy to be home that I could have gotten nothing, and I would still have been happy and excited. But I did get some stuff, and it's stuff that I can use, so I'm really happy. Austin got me a coat and gloves and a scarf so that I can stay warm in Ohio, and he left the price tags on by accident, so I could see that it cost a little more than 100 dollars for the whole ensemble. I feel terribly bad, because I gave him a stuffed guinea pig and a bunch of stuff from the 99¢ store with puns written on each article, but then again, his mom is a rich dentist, and he has money to burn, whereas I'm a broke violin teacher with a burn in my heart for money, so maybe it all evens out in the end. I still feel a bit bad, though. But man, he has a lovely taste in clothes! Tonight, when we go out to our grandma's house, I'm going to wear everything with pride, look like a rich person, and bask in the warmth that love brings.
It's probably pretty annoying to talk about him so much, but let me discuss my wonderful boyfriend with you all for just a moment so that we can all appreciate his numerous charms. So, even though he had a final the next day (well actually he didn't since it got cancelled, but never mind that), he came with Mom to pick me up from the airport. I was so happy to see him that I thought I was hallucinating at first, but then I realized he was real, and it was as if the whole world had started to sing in harmony (wait not that, that would be a little terrifying). It was the best welcome-home I've ever gotten, and I'm still surprised that I didn't cry. He gave me a present: the only Ayn Rand book I haven't read, penguin bookmarks, and my Disneyland ticket that he bought me (so we can go together later). It was so thoughtful, and I couldn't believe it. I've been spending so much time with him now that I'm back, and I think it's to the point where Zac is jealous, because since he's come back from Juilliard, he hasn't had much of a social life. Last night, Austin and Chris came over (the latter was much to Kitty's dismay), and Zac came in with his friend with the most challenging sort of manner ever. I thought he was going to ask all our guests to duel or something.
Okay, so now it's January 12th, and I'm back at school. Happy New Year, and all that! I forgot about this post, and it's only now that I've been able to find it. Many things have happened in this interim, truly, and I would like to tell you all about them. Oh yes, I've laughed, I've cried, I've collected porn in Vegas, and I've lived up to that beloved age-old bromide carpe diem as all the college students of the world are supposed to do. So, let me tell you now!
When I left this entry before, I was talking about Austin, so let me continue, because he was an integral part of my break. I saw him every single day except one, and I think that's quite the accomplishment, seeing as we're both busy people with busy schedules of our own! Sometimes we went out, but more often, we stayed at his house (and later, mine, but that'll be forthcoming) and talked or played video games or did myriad other things, and it was relaxing and wonderful. Strange as it may seem, I can't ever get tired of him, no matter how much I see him! It's not that we don't have our disputes, just as every couple does, but even when we're fighting, I still love him, and (he says) he still loves me. Also, we can work things out, usually fairly quickly, so that's another excellent facet. But where was I? Right, so he got acquainted with my family somewhat during the summer, but now he got a chance to really get integrated into our dynamic. Surprisingly, everyone likes him, or at least approves of him, which is more than I can say for most people, friends or not (we're somewhat of a clan of misanthropes, but that's neither here nor there). Sungmin even gets along with him, and you know that's hard to do. He came along with us to three of our performances, and even though he didn't play or sing with us (we tried to urge him to, but he was too nervous), he watched, and helped us carry our stuff, and was just generally wonderful. After awhile, he got comfortable enough with my family, and they with him, that he came over to our house and hung out with me there. At first, we only let him stay in the front room, since that's the only clean room (it's where we teach our students), but then finally, we let him stay to dinner, and he saw the horrific kitchen and the slightly-less-horrific-but-still-frightening family room (that's what it's called, right? That's what we call it). And he politely sat down, not even presuming to move the eighty-seven books and twice as many papers littering most of the area (I cleaned up for him in subsequent visits). He was so polite about everything that if he hadn't won Mom's heart before, he did now, and he was allowed to come over as often as he (or I) liked. While all this bonding was happening on my side, it was also happening on his side, since I got the doubtful privilege of meeting what seemed to be the entire Philippines when his family came over. Being who I am, I was naturally fairly nervous about meeting them all, but I managed it, and I like to think that I managed it with poise and grace. Oh, wait, I didn't meet them all at once, I realize I made it sound like I did. But no, thankfully, it was incremental. First, I met his little adorable brother, who's a freshman, and the most socially awkward little dork I've ever seen. It took awhile, but finally he got comfortable with me, and I was happy, because he's a little cutie, and it's nice to be accepted by your boyfriend's family, you know? After that, I met the parents. I wasn't really sure how to feel about them, because of how they treated Austin and Adam when they were younger (and kind of now too), but they were nice enough, though scary. Fortunately, they approve of me, and the mom even gave me a really cute pair of shoes, since apparently, I'm the closest thing she has to a daughter, and she wants to treat me as such (again, I'm not sure how good of a thing that would be, considering her parental track record, but it's a lovely sentiment, and I do appreciate it very much). After that, I got to meet the grandparents, and they're both the very picture of a sweet old couple. They didn't speak English, but that didn't stop them from giving me food and being lovely to me. After that, I got to meet various cousins and uncles and aunties (his family tree could rival that of Henry IV's), and they were all very nice people, though intimidatingly rich and successful. All the cousins were very attractive too, and smart, and I think it runs in the family. But everyone was very nice to me, so I didn't feel that inadequate. Having met everyone thus, Austin asked his mom if he could bring me on their family vacation to Vegas, and she acquiesced happily, so that's how I found myself in pecuniary paradise with ten of the richest people I've ever met. Goodness me, that was a little stressful! I'm not exactly affluent, and though I can act like a sophisticate if need be, I'm distinctly middle class. I didn't want to be presumptuous, so I was prepared to buy all of my own food, but when the median price for a hot dog is seventeen dollars, there's only so much you can do. Fortunately, the mom bought everyone food in a block the whole time, so I didn't even get the chance to ask for my share of the bill. I still tried to be considerate, but I guess I wasn't as inconspicuous as I thought I was, because Austin kept asking his mom to get more food for me, and she would act all concerned, and do it. Very nice of them, of course, but it's a bit awkward to have people being solicitous on your behalf all the time when it costs them undue expense to do so (of course, I don't imagine that they thought the expense was undue). Overall, though, I had an amazing time, and the memories will get me through these dark days of winter here. After we got back, we went to Disneyland the next day, which sounds like it should be tiring, but it wasn't, really. Everything seemed to be closed, and there were huge crowds, but we had fun anyway, and I was really happy to be able to go. Mom got free tickets from her department at work, so she and Kitty and Sungmin, and Zac, and Zac's friend Carlos all went too. It was quite the party, and our families got to meet, and everything was sunshine and daisies. The next week, which was the last week of break, Austin and I tried to pack in all the things we'd wanted to do earlier but hadn't. We went to LA for a day and went to the LACMA and to this fancy bookstore, and we attempted to go to Francisco's performance, but they wouldn't let us in, and finally, we met up with some of the hard-partying La Sierra crew. That last part was the only unhappy part of the day, ugh, I don't know how I got through it. But I did get through it, and lived to do other things! Finally, though, it came to be the last day of break. My plane left at 6 in the morning on Sunday, so I had to leave the house at about 3:50 in order to get to the airport on time (Zac too, incidentally; we both had the same flight to Dallas, on our respective ways to New York and Ohio). I stayed up all night, and Austin stayed with me, which I appreciated more than I can say. We slept on the couch for a couple hours, but mostly we sat in teary-eyed wakefulness and tried to grasp the fact that I was leaving again, and we'd have to be apart for four more interminable months. Leaving this time was even harder than it was in August, because in August, I didn't really know what I'd be missing once I was gone. But now I do, and it already seems so long. I don't know how I'm going to stand this. Anyway, I cried gallons all the way to Columbus, and it was really traumatic. Why I ever decided it would be a good idea to move 2110 miles from everyone and everything I love, I have no idea.
Now I'm back again! Goodness me, I just keep leaving this poor post for days at a time, letting it marinate in the heat of my forgetfulness, all by itself. Quite a pity. But that's all right now, because I'm here! So, where was I? I was talking about my baby winter break, wasn't I. So! I finally got to see Allie and Sonia, and I was so happy, because I hadn't seen them for months, and I'd missed them a lot. We all got to catch up and talk about our new lives, and it was extremely exciting to feel so sophisticated. I mean, we're college students now; we're practically adults! Soon we'll be paying bills and mortgages and taxes and all that fun stuff. Maybe, if we're very lucky, we'll even get culled for jury duty someday! Life is so full of excitement.
Oh, okay, so life is actually kind of full of excitement at the moment for real. I feel like it shouldn't be, though. See, Melissa decided to move into the church house this semester, so I have the room to myself. And though I feel ashamed to be so happy about her moving out, it's the next best thing to paradise for an introvert like me to get to live in solitude all semester. Honestly, it's nothing on her; she was a perfect roommate in every way, and I like her a lot, but even the loveliest people can get in the way of your personal space sometimes if you just want to be alone, and it's really nice to have a fortress of isolation to return to after a long, hard, day of socializing (okay, well, maybe that last word is a bit of an exaggeration, but you know). So that's one nice thing, and also, I really like my classes! Syntax and grammar are wonderful, and feed my inner logician, and though I thought Dystopian Lit was going to be sub-par (it fulfilled my last humanities GE as well as one of my English minor requirements, so I had to take it), it's actually really cool, and full of real literary analysis. My other linguistics class turned out to be more on the computational side, and is basically a statistics class with computer programming, which you'd think I'd be terrible at, but so far, the challenge is really stimulating and fun, and I like it a lot. This class also serves double duty as my last math GE and a prerequisite for the linguistics major as a whole, so it's perfect. My schedule is really nicely chosen, I think. Oh, well except for one thing. Physics is proving to be extremely difficult, not because I'm bad at physics, but because the teachers (there are about five of them) make it a policy to not teach us anything. The class is meant to be based on the inquiry method, which sounds good in theory, but in actuality is anything but. Every Tuesday and Thursday, for three hours, I sit with my lab group, and we try to puzzle through interminable labs on our own without reliable assistance. There's no lecture, there are no notes, and there is no learning. Everything is done in the group, and although there's not much homework, attendance is mandatory, and there are three midterms, which are done individually, and which cover all the things we've never learned. I'm really thankful that my physics teacher in high school was good, and that I saved every last thing I did in that class, because otherwise I'd be more lost than an uneducated voter on election day. I got my mom to mail me my physics binder, and I intend to make very good use of it throughout this difficult semester. Today, we were going over circuits, which were never my favorite phenomena anyway, and which become 100% more confusing when you have to figure out everything on your own with some burned-out bulbs, a pair of half-dead batteries, and a vaguely cheery pothead for a TA. While Michael earnestly tried to convince us that parallel circuits were basically the same as series, only prettier, Kayla and I tried out what seemed like every single permutation possible, given our equipment, in a vain attempt to figure out the mathematical relationship between the resistors in a parallel circuit. However hard we tried though, it was all useless, and now we know even less than we did when we started. I honestly think lecture is the best way to learn, and if someone gave me a set of notes to study, I wouldn't contest their validity. This is the worst class in my schedule, and it really doesn't help that it starts at 9:00 AM (well, 9:10 really, but I have to tell myself it's earlier than it is just so that I'll get up on time). Oh well, it's nothing I can't handle, I think, and maybe it will get better. We'll see.
Speaking of school, I really should be doing homework now, since I have a lot due, so I will see you later! Goodbye now!