Been a while...
It's been a while since I seriously updated this... think I left off with NODA and never finished that post... Whomp. Well, this time I'm gonna try to cram in everything in one post, so let's cross our fingers. (Beware, there may be ranting.)
First, this summer has been looooooong. Like, it seems like it's just gone on forever... May was soooo far away. So I guess I'll just go with June/July stuff real fast, then move on to vacation.
OTM is probably the most busy-making thing I've ever done. (Oh goodness, I'm using the pretty-talk from the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. GOOD books though. Marathoned them in the last few days.) But we had a long week of training that was actually rather fun (actually went grubbing for once!) and it was really cool. Ever since then, OTM has been pretty normal, and always interesting. I really do like this job, and I love helping the new students. I'm still torn between doing it again or not, but I guess I have a while to make up my mind about that... There are so many pros and cons on both sides. Eh, debate about that later. Anyways, Orientations have been fun, but I keep trying to explain what I do to people who are out of college, and even using the term "Orientation Leader" doesn't mean anything to them. *sigh* Oh well, whatever.
Actually, I really don't know how to describe an orientation... it's kinda like a guard performance all over again, but it's also different... it's more about making a... well, I guess it's still the same about making a lasting impression on people, but it's less about yourself and more about the University, which is very different. But the orientation also has the whole feeling of a performance, where each of us has to be in our own spots and has to do what we've practiced to make it all come together. And we do, and it's awesome. I really do think that this team works together really well. We have all different types of people and, even if some of us don't really "get along" we all are willing to put aside all of that to work together to get what needs to be done done. And that's really something awesome.
Okay, I'm feeling rather incoherent, so if this is jumpy-ish, that's why. I'm tried, sick from/of allergies, and ti-wait, no, I said that already - but yeah, not happy!Alyssa atm. *sigh* Well, what can you do?
Alright, vacation! So, after the fourth Orientation, ON my birthday, I drove back to Spring (where I sit writing this) and rested up before we got on a plane bound for St. Louis the next afternoon. Whee. That was fun. /sarcasm. Actually, getting all my presents that evening was kinda fun. It was sad that I didn't actually have time to play with some of the games I got before we took off, but fortunatly I asked for a bunch of DS games, so I took those with me. OMG, The World Ends With You is sooooooooooooo gooooooooood. The story is awesome, and the gameplay is certainly something I haven't really seen before. Beautiful. It's so intriguing, and I still have to finish it, but it is kinda short if you play it straight for a week or so, like I did. I've only got a bit more left on it to finish the plot, but there's more to do, so I'm excited. I suggest that anyone with a DS pick it up, especially RPGers. Art by Tetsuya Nomura, and it's just tooooo coooooooool. :D <33333333 (And Jupiter of the Monkey is SO the best brand out there. Totally my favorite. ^^)
But anyways, let's skip to landing... We landed in St. Louis, but didn't stay long. Got a rental car and headed for Springfield, IL, home of the adult Abe Lincoln. While there, we checked out the Lincoln Museum and saw a group of volunteers perform The Civil War musical on and outdoor stage. And for volunteers, they were AWESOME. And yes, I fangirled. Duncan, the guy who did "Tell My Father" was amazing, and made me cry so bad. And Ralph, who played the Confederate commander, was sooo coool, and said that he saw me smile and stuff during the show. ^///^ "Old Grey Coat" is just too fun of a song! I gotta remember to rip those songs before I head back to Dallas so I can share them. They're just so goooooood! *musical nut*
We also went to New Salem, which is just a bit north of Springfield, which is where Lincoln went from young man to older man. The town was interesting because it turns out that it was started just a bit before he got there, and as soon as he left, everyone began to leave... very odd. But it was a neat place, even if at this point I was TIRED from Orientation and driving, and still hadn't had a decent night of sleep. >_< That was my main problem throughout the vacation - my reserves were running dry, and I was only just keeping up with how much energy was being used. Probably why I'm sick now. >_< But onward.
After New Salem came Hannibal, Missouri, home of Sam Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. Now that was very interesting, as a lot of the world of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is based on the town of Hannibal and the adventures of the young Sam Clemens. It was a lovely little town, and we even road on a river boat and had dinner on it and everything, which was really fun. Met a lot of nice people, and saw a guy that I thought I knew, but I think he was a clone of my Physics teacher in high school... might be wrong though. Made me think of Turner, so who knows?
After Hannibal, we returned to St. Louis and made it to the arch and the Lewis and Clark museum before they closed that night (so we would have the entire next day for the zoo, which was a VERY good idea). My dad and I were the ones who actually went up in the arch cuz my sister was scared and my mom didn't want to go up (probably slightly scared too). I really don't blame them for not, but I mean, come ON, it's St. Louis! You're SUPPOSED to do it! I was scared too, but when I got up there, it wasn't that bad, so long as you didn't try to look straight down. There was even a fireworks display going on at a stadium nearby, and that was really fun to watch from the top of the arch. ^^ Best fireworks ever! Makes up for missing fireworks on July 4th for the 1776 musical. But we eventually came down and told my mom and sister about the whole thing, and then headed back to the hotel.
Might I mention that I was navigator during this whole thing... Other than the missing the note that there was only one exit before you left Missouri at one point, the roads in St. Louis weren't too bad. Better than other cities. *cough*HoustonandDallas*cough* At least getting to the zoo and the arch weren't bad. And the country roads to get to our cabin weren't bad either. Maps are my friends. They do not lie to you, but they can hide the truth. ^^
But the St. Louis zoo... OMG. PENGUINS. The penguin exibit was the coolest thing EVER. (Actually, literally.) On the outside of the Penguin house they had this one species that could stand even a Houston summer, but they were RIGHT THERE. Like, 4.5 ft wall that was 3-4 inches thick between you and them. You could reach over and TOUCH them if you felt like getting in trouble with the zoo people who were watching the whole time. ^^ But when you went inside the Penguin house, it was a blessed 42 degrees and they would SPLASH you! :D It was so funny cuz it was like they were sometimes TRYING to get people wet. And then the walls were a bit higher, but there was water, so they could come up REALLY close to you. Again though, there were zoo people watching to make sure no one tried to touch any of the birds. It was such a neat exhibit though, and the rest of the zoo didn't disappoint either. The bears were out, all the cats and such, and it was just so cool! I don't know how to describe it really (without going on for 20 mins), but it was an awesome zoo. I can see why it got such high ratings from magazines and such. If you're ever in the St. Louis area, do stop in, it's worth it. Oh, and did I mention that it's FREE? Yes, I'm not kidding you. You can walk in, grab a map, and go walk around the zoo. I was set a little off-balance because of that, but got over it quick enough. But srsly, amazing zoo. I'll be comparing others to it for the rest of my life. ^^
But after that day in St. Louis, we headed south to a little town called Lesterville to go stay in some cabins there. FINALLY I managed to get some time to myself to sleep in and lounge around and generally recover from orientaiton/driving/busy-vacationing. My 'rents didn't seem to happy with me, but I really don't care. I was TIRED. And my dad kept going on about how this might be our last vacation together, and I really wanted to scream at him that this would be if he kept on acting like that and pissing me off. Alas for the fact that I cannot yell at my parents. >_< Sometimes I envy people who can get their parents to understand them. I understand mine, but I really don't think they get me. *sigh* Oh well, what can you do?
So, Lesterville was nice. Relaxing. We got some really good food, and I made friends with one of the girls that was working there for the summer. It was really fun to talk to her, and I hope things go well from here, cuz she really reminded me of me... of Katy too. She REALLY wanted out of Missouri. Really badly. I hope she finds a place to be happy. But after some well earned relaxation (and a number of bug bites, cuz I managed to be dragged out of the cabin a few times) we finally had to leave, but we managed to find a place about a half-hour away that had horses that we could go ride, which we did. That was one of the coolest parts of this trip, cuz the guide actually took us into different gaits, so we got to try the trot and the gallop (though that one was kinda an accident cuz Amber's horse and mine just decided to do it ^^), and that was too cool. First time I've gotten to do that for a prolonged time, which was exciting.
But after that we checked out of the cabins and headed for a place called Johnson's Shut-ins. Now, I had never known what a shut-in was, but it was probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Basically, a shut-in is an area where water gets trapped and... okay, so I'm really bad at summing it up, but just wiki it. It's like a bunch of rocks all close-ish together with a river running thorugh them all, so you end up with a bunch of little rapids and some pools and other neat things. Amber and I ended up climbing all over everything and jumping in to the water all the time (watch out for the crotch rocks in the rapids!) while our 'rents were up enjoying a cool hot tub-ish area with a waterfall. It was basically like a naturally-made Splashtown, but definitely cooler because it was natural. The water was a perfect temperature, and the rocks were fun to climb around on. If you ever see a shut-in somewhere, I suggest you go check it out. It could be something AWESOME, cuz the one we found certainly was.
But after doing all that and drying off and such, we went back to St. Louis and flew out to come back to Spring the next day. This was definitely a fun vacation, even if my 'rents drove me nuts for half of it, and I really don't want these vacations to ever stop. Well, we'll see what happens.
But for now, onward to a new semester!
Hobey-ho!
First, this summer has been looooooong. Like, it seems like it's just gone on forever... May was soooo far away. So I guess I'll just go with June/July stuff real fast, then move on to vacation.
OTM is probably the most busy-making thing I've ever done. (Oh goodness, I'm using the pretty-talk from the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. GOOD books though. Marathoned them in the last few days.) But we had a long week of training that was actually rather fun (actually went grubbing for once!) and it was really cool. Ever since then, OTM has been pretty normal, and always interesting. I really do like this job, and I love helping the new students. I'm still torn between doing it again or not, but I guess I have a while to make up my mind about that... There are so many pros and cons on both sides. Eh, debate about that later. Anyways, Orientations have been fun, but I keep trying to explain what I do to people who are out of college, and even using the term "Orientation Leader" doesn't mean anything to them. *sigh* Oh well, whatever.
Actually, I really don't know how to describe an orientation... it's kinda like a guard performance all over again, but it's also different... it's more about making a... well, I guess it's still the same about making a lasting impression on people, but it's less about yourself and more about the University, which is very different. But the orientation also has the whole feeling of a performance, where each of us has to be in our own spots and has to do what we've practiced to make it all come together. And we do, and it's awesome. I really do think that this team works together really well. We have all different types of people and, even if some of us don't really "get along" we all are willing to put aside all of that to work together to get what needs to be done done. And that's really something awesome.
Okay, I'm feeling rather incoherent, so if this is jumpy-ish, that's why. I'm tried, sick from/of allergies, and ti-wait, no, I said that already - but yeah, not happy!Alyssa atm. *sigh* Well, what can you do?
Alright, vacation! So, after the fourth Orientation, ON my birthday, I drove back to Spring (where I sit writing this) and rested up before we got on a plane bound for St. Louis the next afternoon. Whee. That was fun. /sarcasm. Actually, getting all my presents that evening was kinda fun. It was sad that I didn't actually have time to play with some of the games I got before we took off, but fortunatly I asked for a bunch of DS games, so I took those with me. OMG, The World Ends With You is sooooooooooooo gooooooooood. The story is awesome, and the gameplay is certainly something I haven't really seen before. Beautiful. It's so intriguing, and I still have to finish it, but it is kinda short if you play it straight for a week or so, like I did. I've only got a bit more left on it to finish the plot, but there's more to do, so I'm excited. I suggest that anyone with a DS pick it up, especially RPGers. Art by Tetsuya Nomura, and it's just tooooo coooooooool. :D <33333333 (And Jupiter of the Monkey is SO the best brand out there. Totally my favorite. ^^)
But anyways, let's skip to landing... We landed in St. Louis, but didn't stay long. Got a rental car and headed for Springfield, IL, home of the adult Abe Lincoln. While there, we checked out the Lincoln Museum and saw a group of volunteers perform The Civil War musical on and outdoor stage. And for volunteers, they were AWESOME. And yes, I fangirled. Duncan, the guy who did "Tell My Father" was amazing, and made me cry so bad. And Ralph, who played the Confederate commander, was sooo coool, and said that he saw me smile and stuff during the show. ^///^ "Old Grey Coat" is just too fun of a song! I gotta remember to rip those songs before I head back to Dallas so I can share them. They're just so goooooood! *musical nut*
We also went to New Salem, which is just a bit north of Springfield, which is where Lincoln went from young man to older man. The town was interesting because it turns out that it was started just a bit before he got there, and as soon as he left, everyone began to leave... very odd. But it was a neat place, even if at this point I was TIRED from Orientation and driving, and still hadn't had a decent night of sleep. >_< That was my main problem throughout the vacation - my reserves were running dry, and I was only just keeping up with how much energy was being used. Probably why I'm sick now. >_< But onward.
After New Salem came Hannibal, Missouri, home of Sam Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. Now that was very interesting, as a lot of the world of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is based on the town of Hannibal and the adventures of the young Sam Clemens. It was a lovely little town, and we even road on a river boat and had dinner on it and everything, which was really fun. Met a lot of nice people, and saw a guy that I thought I knew, but I think he was a clone of my Physics teacher in high school... might be wrong though. Made me think of Turner, so who knows?
After Hannibal, we returned to St. Louis and made it to the arch and the Lewis and Clark museum before they closed that night (so we would have the entire next day for the zoo, which was a VERY good idea). My dad and I were the ones who actually went up in the arch cuz my sister was scared and my mom didn't want to go up (probably slightly scared too). I really don't blame them for not, but I mean, come ON, it's St. Louis! You're SUPPOSED to do it! I was scared too, but when I got up there, it wasn't that bad, so long as you didn't try to look straight down. There was even a fireworks display going on at a stadium nearby, and that was really fun to watch from the top of the arch. ^^ Best fireworks ever! Makes up for missing fireworks on July 4th for the 1776 musical. But we eventually came down and told my mom and sister about the whole thing, and then headed back to the hotel.
Might I mention that I was navigator during this whole thing... Other than the missing the note that there was only one exit before you left Missouri at one point, the roads in St. Louis weren't too bad. Better than other cities. *cough*HoustonandDallas*cough* At least getting to the zoo and the arch weren't bad. And the country roads to get to our cabin weren't bad either. Maps are my friends. They do not lie to you, but they can hide the truth. ^^
But the St. Louis zoo... OMG. PENGUINS. The penguin exibit was the coolest thing EVER. (Actually, literally.) On the outside of the Penguin house they had this one species that could stand even a Houston summer, but they were RIGHT THERE. Like, 4.5 ft wall that was 3-4 inches thick between you and them. You could reach over and TOUCH them if you felt like getting in trouble with the zoo people who were watching the whole time. ^^ But when you went inside the Penguin house, it was a blessed 42 degrees and they would SPLASH you! :D It was so funny cuz it was like they were sometimes TRYING to get people wet. And then the walls were a bit higher, but there was water, so they could come up REALLY close to you. Again though, there were zoo people watching to make sure no one tried to touch any of the birds. It was such a neat exhibit though, and the rest of the zoo didn't disappoint either. The bears were out, all the cats and such, and it was just so cool! I don't know how to describe it really (without going on for 20 mins), but it was an awesome zoo. I can see why it got such high ratings from magazines and such. If you're ever in the St. Louis area, do stop in, it's worth it. Oh, and did I mention that it's FREE? Yes, I'm not kidding you. You can walk in, grab a map, and go walk around the zoo. I was set a little off-balance because of that, but got over it quick enough. But srsly, amazing zoo. I'll be comparing others to it for the rest of my life. ^^
But after that day in St. Louis, we headed south to a little town called Lesterville to go stay in some cabins there. FINALLY I managed to get some time to myself to sleep in and lounge around and generally recover from orientaiton/driving/busy-vacationing. My 'rents didn't seem to happy with me, but I really don't care. I was TIRED. And my dad kept going on about how this might be our last vacation together, and I really wanted to scream at him that this would be if he kept on acting like that and pissing me off. Alas for the fact that I cannot yell at my parents. >_< Sometimes I envy people who can get their parents to understand them. I understand mine, but I really don't think they get me. *sigh* Oh well, what can you do?
So, Lesterville was nice. Relaxing. We got some really good food, and I made friends with one of the girls that was working there for the summer. It was really fun to talk to her, and I hope things go well from here, cuz she really reminded me of me... of Katy too. She REALLY wanted out of Missouri. Really badly. I hope she finds a place to be happy. But after some well earned relaxation (and a number of bug bites, cuz I managed to be dragged out of the cabin a few times) we finally had to leave, but we managed to find a place about a half-hour away that had horses that we could go ride, which we did. That was one of the coolest parts of this trip, cuz the guide actually took us into different gaits, so we got to try the trot and the gallop (though that one was kinda an accident cuz Amber's horse and mine just decided to do it ^^), and that was too cool. First time I've gotten to do that for a prolonged time, which was exciting.
But after that we checked out of the cabins and headed for a place called Johnson's Shut-ins. Now, I had never known what a shut-in was, but it was probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Basically, a shut-in is an area where water gets trapped and... okay, so I'm really bad at summing it up, but just wiki it. It's like a bunch of rocks all close-ish together with a river running thorugh them all, so you end up with a bunch of little rapids and some pools and other neat things. Amber and I ended up climbing all over everything and jumping in to the water all the time (watch out for the crotch rocks in the rapids!) while our 'rents were up enjoying a cool hot tub-ish area with a waterfall. It was basically like a naturally-made Splashtown, but definitely cooler because it was natural. The water was a perfect temperature, and the rocks were fun to climb around on. If you ever see a shut-in somewhere, I suggest you go check it out. It could be something AWESOME, cuz the one we found certainly was.
But after doing all that and drying off and such, we went back to St. Louis and flew out to come back to Spring the next day. This was definitely a fun vacation, even if my 'rents drove me nuts for half of it, and I really don't want these vacations to ever stop. Well, we'll see what happens.
But for now, onward to a new semester!
Hobey-ho!