un haiduc
It's time for an update:
I'm now in my second term of being an RA for Duke TIP at Kansas and things are sailing pretty smoothly so far. Move-in day was difficult, as always; 18 hour days often are. My new group of girls seems a lot older than the last group, even though they're about the same age. I miss those who are no longer on staff, but the new additions are nice. I think I may be going to a midnight party for Harry Potter Friday night as the new female RA is also an avid fan of HP. On Saturday I am supposed to receive my copy of the British adult edition of HBP. (Yes, I am obsessed, thank you very much. I'm glad you noticed).
At the end of last term, after the kids were gone, I stayed up for what I believe is the longest I've been awake in one go. And it was after getting only three hours of sleep the previous night due to work the last night of camp for the kiddos. However, it was a lot of fun. The evening/night/morning after the students left:
evening: eat dinner with all the staff, give Courtney her balls back (juggling balls, that is) and get invited at the last minute to go to Ryan's apartment. Watched "Saved!" again and caught a few more jokes that I'd missed the last time. Then we looked at a copy of KU's The Annual which made me nostalgic for Headrush lit mag and the PHOenix design concept. (Maybe I should look into doing layout for one of the magazines on the w&m campus next year...or junior year?) More of the instructional staff arrived and I sat around awkwardly (and sleepily) as they started to drink. They decided to go out to Alex's house for more alcoholic festivities (using a designated driver, thank goodness), but I decided to give them more space in the crowded car (and save myself from going to a party that would consist mainly of drinking when I don't drink) and went to find the rest of the residential staff.
11-midnight: found the rest of the residential staff at the bowling alley. I sat around and took pictures because I arrived after the games had started and didn't really have money to spend anyways. Lots of merriment ensued - elaborate high fives, two steps, and crazy bowling styles. At midnight the lanes closed so we...
midnight 'til 2ish: ...went to Steak 'N' Shake; evidently a very Lawrence thing to do. James attempted to teach Bryce how to be a gentleman (opening doors, car-doors, and pulling out chairs for the ladies of the group) and Allison, Samantha, and I modeled the new style: Steak 'N' Shake paper hats. After all the shakes and fries were finished we...
2ish 'til 3ish: ...headed back to the dorm where we debated what to do for an unnecessarily long time. We eventually decided on a plan.
3ish-4:30 am: We took my car (deemed the most "ghettofied" car of the bunch by Samantha because of its age, its lack of air conditioning, tinny speakers, and use of a red tissue paper-covered book-light for dash-lights) to a park and proceeded to play on the playground. Swinging hurts if you do it for too long! We explored the bandstand/gazebo, and, prompted by Samantha's comment that the gazebo reminded her of the "Sixteen going on Seventeen" dance in Sound of Music, James and I waltzed around a couple of times (I had just learned how to waltz two nights previous). Then the seven of us (Allison, Bryce, James, moi, Samantha, Sarah, Vince) played Extreme Red Rover.
4:30ish-7 am: Afterward the former five of us decided to watch the sunrise at Clinton Lake. We got to the shore just before dawn, the sky was an iridescent, nebulous sort of blue and the stars were still visible. There were just enough clouds to make the sunrise a spectacular show of glowing and shadowy cumulus with visible rays spreading down to the water. By the time the sun finally came up over the trees we were all dead exhausted, so we headed back to the dorm to catch a few hours of sleep before we said goodbye to those not coming back for term II.
Some amusing quotes to come from the evening of merriment:
"I'll just become the Salvador Dali of ketchup." - Courtney
"Duke TIP: We wing idiocy" - Vince
"Hello. I'm Andrew Jackson!" - James
"Oh god. This thing vibrates." - James
"It's ridiculous o-clock, guys." - Sarah
"In cahoots, it's like N-Sync." - Allison
"Then I shall get a barge..." - Bryce
I'm now in my second term of being an RA for Duke TIP at Kansas and things are sailing pretty smoothly so far. Move-in day was difficult, as always; 18 hour days often are. My new group of girls seems a lot older than the last group, even though they're about the same age. I miss those who are no longer on staff, but the new additions are nice. I think I may be going to a midnight party for Harry Potter Friday night as the new female RA is also an avid fan of HP. On Saturday I am supposed to receive my copy of the British adult edition of HBP. (Yes, I am obsessed, thank you very much. I'm glad you noticed).
At the end of last term, after the kids were gone, I stayed up for what I believe is the longest I've been awake in one go. And it was after getting only three hours of sleep the previous night due to work the last night of camp for the kiddos. However, it was a lot of fun. The evening/night/morning after the students left:
evening: eat dinner with all the staff, give Courtney her balls back (juggling balls, that is) and get invited at the last minute to go to Ryan's apartment. Watched "Saved!" again and caught a few more jokes that I'd missed the last time. Then we looked at a copy of KU's The Annual which made me nostalgic for Headrush lit mag and the PHOenix design concept. (Maybe I should look into doing layout for one of the magazines on the w&m campus next year...or junior year?) More of the instructional staff arrived and I sat around awkwardly (and sleepily) as they started to drink. They decided to go out to Alex's house for more alcoholic festivities (using a designated driver, thank goodness), but I decided to give them more space in the crowded car (and save myself from going to a party that would consist mainly of drinking when I don't drink) and went to find the rest of the residential staff.
11-midnight: found the rest of the residential staff at the bowling alley. I sat around and took pictures because I arrived after the games had started and didn't really have money to spend anyways. Lots of merriment ensued - elaborate high fives, two steps, and crazy bowling styles. At midnight the lanes closed so we...
midnight 'til 2ish: ...went to Steak 'N' Shake; evidently a very Lawrence thing to do. James attempted to teach Bryce how to be a gentleman (opening doors, car-doors, and pulling out chairs for the ladies of the group) and Allison, Samantha, and I modeled the new style: Steak 'N' Shake paper hats. After all the shakes and fries were finished we...
2ish 'til 3ish: ...headed back to the dorm where we debated what to do for an unnecessarily long time. We eventually decided on a plan.
3ish-4:30 am: We took my car (deemed the most "ghettofied" car of the bunch by Samantha because of its age, its lack of air conditioning, tinny speakers, and use of a red tissue paper-covered book-light for dash-lights) to a park and proceeded to play on the playground. Swinging hurts if you do it for too long! We explored the bandstand/gazebo, and, prompted by Samantha's comment that the gazebo reminded her of the "Sixteen going on Seventeen" dance in Sound of Music, James and I waltzed around a couple of times (I had just learned how to waltz two nights previous). Then the seven of us (Allison, Bryce, James, moi, Samantha, Sarah, Vince) played Extreme Red Rover.
4:30ish-7 am: Afterward the former five of us decided to watch the sunrise at Clinton Lake. We got to the shore just before dawn, the sky was an iridescent, nebulous sort of blue and the stars were still visible. There were just enough clouds to make the sunrise a spectacular show of glowing and shadowy cumulus with visible rays spreading down to the water. By the time the sun finally came up over the trees we were all dead exhausted, so we headed back to the dorm to catch a few hours of sleep before we said goodbye to those not coming back for term II.
Some amusing quotes to come from the evening of merriment:
"I'll just become the Salvador Dali of ketchup." - Courtney
"Duke TIP: We wing idiocy" - Vince
"Hello. I'm Andrew Jackson!" - James
"Oh god. This thing vibrates." - James
"It's ridiculous o-clock, guys." - Sarah
"In cahoots, it's like N-Sync." - Allison
"Then I shall get a barge..." - Bryce