The fruits of my labor
Every President's Day, my university coordinates an open house sort-of-thing for high school students to experience the university. There are classroom sit-ins, campus tours, residence hall tours, and lots and lots of free stuff. I happened to go to this last year, so I knew all the free merch hot spots. So what did I do today? Posed as a high school student, naturally.
After Japanese, my friend Raye and I went to the location in which the Asian Studies program had information, games, Japanese candy, and other such things. Raye and I (mostly me) grabbed SO MUCH candy. We also watched a Taiko performance by the university's somewhat prestigious Taiko group, 風の大地 (Kaze no Daichi; Land of Wind. If you spend two days in Bowling Green, you'll realize this is a very apt name). Raye was goofy; While we were watching the performance, she was tapping out many of the songs, as she herself is in a Taiko group. There was a point in which the performers invited the audience on stage to dance. Raye, Shelby (a friend from our Japanese class) and I did so. I have no doubt in my mind that I looked liked an absolute idiot up there. When the performance was over, our Japanese teacher from last semester, Saito-sensei, thanked us for supporting Japanese Club/the Asian Studies Program/the various Taiko groups at our school. It was kind of embarrassing. Saito-sensei is an awkward guy. Nice, but awkward nonetheless.
Afterward, Raye and I went to the ballroom in the Student Union where dozens and dozens of booths were set up. We, of course, pretended to be high schoolers on a college visit, and collected our free stuff accordingly. The fruits of our labor:
Of course, it wasn't entirely free; We did have to listen to many people bantering about the university and all of its programs. It was sort of hilarious when we got to the Arts Village table. Literally everyone there lives on my floor/has been in a class with me/both, and they asked, "Are you guys pretending to be in high school to get free stuff?" And Raye and I were like, "Um, maybe?" They laughed and jokingly gave us information on the Arts Village. There was one point earlier in which Raye and I went to the Honors Program booth, and we were forced to listen to fifteen minutes of information about it. One guy managing the booth asked if we are planning to come to BG, and Raye and I were trying very hard not to laugh. This guy also said something like, "You girls look smart--well, you look smart," (to me,) "and you look artsy" (to Raye). Then he backtracked so fast, you wouldn't believe. He was like, "Not to say you're not smart, but you're artsy," blahblahblah. Apparently you can't be both smart and artistic/creative at the same time?
At the end of the day, Raye and I got so much stuff. It was definitely a successful day. We got a number of pens, a pencil, a brain-shaped stress reliever, sticky notes, chap stick, an eraser, candy, gum, and a literary magazine--we even won free 4GB flash drives! That was all sorts of amazing; I've been needing one desperately.
We definitely had fun. Pretty sure we're going to do this every year. I always used to complain about how much younger I look than I actually am (last summer, some lady at a party thought I was 12, to which I was like, Hurr, no, betch.), and my mom always told me I would appreciate this aspect of my appearance someday. Well, that day was today. XD
After Japanese, my friend Raye and I went to the location in which the Asian Studies program had information, games, Japanese candy, and other such things. Raye and I (mostly me) grabbed SO MUCH candy. We also watched a Taiko performance by the university's somewhat prestigious Taiko group, 風の大地 (Kaze no Daichi; Land of Wind. If you spend two days in Bowling Green, you'll realize this is a very apt name). Raye was goofy; While we were watching the performance, she was tapping out many of the songs, as she herself is in a Taiko group. There was a point in which the performers invited the audience on stage to dance. Raye, Shelby (a friend from our Japanese class) and I did so. I have no doubt in my mind that I looked liked an absolute idiot up there. When the performance was over, our Japanese teacher from last semester, Saito-sensei, thanked us for supporting Japanese Club/the Asian Studies Program/the various Taiko groups at our school. It was kind of embarrassing. Saito-sensei is an awkward guy. Nice, but awkward nonetheless.
Afterward, Raye and I went to the ballroom in the Student Union where dozens and dozens of booths were set up. We, of course, pretended to be high schoolers on a college visit, and collected our free stuff accordingly. The fruits of our labor:
Of course, it wasn't entirely free; We did have to listen to many people bantering about the university and all of its programs. It was sort of hilarious when we got to the Arts Village table. Literally everyone there lives on my floor/has been in a class with me/both, and they asked, "Are you guys pretending to be in high school to get free stuff?" And Raye and I were like, "Um, maybe?" They laughed and jokingly gave us information on the Arts Village. There was one point earlier in which Raye and I went to the Honors Program booth, and we were forced to listen to fifteen minutes of information about it. One guy managing the booth asked if we are planning to come to BG, and Raye and I were trying very hard not to laugh. This guy also said something like, "You girls look smart--well, you look smart," (to me,) "and you look artsy" (to Raye). Then he backtracked so fast, you wouldn't believe. He was like, "Not to say you're not smart, but you're artsy," blahblahblah. Apparently you can't be both smart and artistic/creative at the same time?
At the end of the day, Raye and I got so much stuff. It was definitely a successful day. We got a number of pens, a pencil, a brain-shaped stress reliever, sticky notes, chap stick, an eraser, candy, gum, and a literary magazine--we even won free 4GB flash drives! That was all sorts of amazing; I've been needing one desperately.
We definitely had fun. Pretty sure we're going to do this every year. I always used to complain about how much younger I look than I actually am (last summer, some lady at a party thought I was 12, to which I was like, Hurr, no, betch.), and my mom always told me I would appreciate this aspect of my appearance someday. Well, that day was today. XD