So I've just wrapped up the 1st week of classes (well we only had classes on Thursday and Friday though), and my first weekend after classes await me now. And here's a bunch of thoughts I have about college so far.
Living in a residential hall:
It's incredibly lively. At least, our floor is. Everyone's really friendly and social, but I'm still not really fitting in. If my roomies weren't here, then I probably would have kept the door closed all the time, when keeping the door open in a res. hall is practically a must. Most of the kids living here are from California, and there are so little international students on this floor. At least, I haven't seen a lot of them, but what I've heard is that most of them are keeping their doors closed and keeping themselves unseen from the non-international kids. I recently learned that if you keep the door closed in a res. hall, you're gonna be considered anti-social, and people will question it. I'm still not comfortable with the door open all the time when I'm in the room (I really do value alone time), but I'm trying to get used to it. I first didn't really like the people on my floor, but I'm trying hard to see the good things in them, and trying to get to know them better. Because all these people are actually really friendly and nice, and they actually want to get to know every single person on the floor. So I hope I will get used to living on this floor soon.
Friends:
I don't really have a specific clique I hang out in, but I do hang out with my roomies a lot. They're both really nice and friendly as well, and I find them easy to talk to. One of my roomies is from Cali, and I initially had this assumption that since she's American, I probably won't be able to get along with her due to cultural differences. I was very wrong - we're kind of alike in a way that we like to stay quiet and chat, rather than lead a huge group of friends and socialize in a big one. Well she's still better at socializing than me, but we're not opposite individuals. We've been hanging out and eating meals together almost every single day, which has been really nice. She's also very chill and she even shares her tea with me. T____T She's so good to me that I feel like a really bad person for not repaying her equally...sigh. Anyway, the conclusion is, I am blessed to have a roomie like her. The other roomie is from Tai Wan, and I like how she always chats with a smile on her face. She also always tries to start a conversation and stuff so smoothly. She moved in late so I haven't been able to know her as much as I got to know my other roomie, but I know that I do have really awesome roomies. ^___^ And omg yesterday both of them texted me asking to have dinner with me, I think we make a pretty close bunch of roommates. Hohoho.
I'm also happy that kids from my orientation group remember me and don't hesitate to say hi to me whenever they see me. I'm gonna be seeing them often since we're all Physics majors, so that's good :) I just recently found out that one of the girls from my orientation group is in the same physics discussion class + calc lecture with me, so that's good ^___^ Oh and there's another girl who I became acquaintances with through Facebook - she's also Korean, which makes it easier for us to communicate with each other (we can use both Korean and English with each other). She's in the same physics lecture as me as well, so I'm assuming we're gonna have a lot of working-together-on-homework+ studying-for-tests-together sessions haha.
There's another Korean girl I became friends with, and now we're comfortable with each other on a level that we text each other often and talk with each other comfortably. We just made plans today to hang out in Santa Monica this weekend, so I'm looking forward to that. ^__^
So I'm glad that I'm not feeling very insecure about not having friends anymore. But I would love to make more friends, and I'm looking forward to meeting new people in my classes. Woot woot! ^___^
Getting around on campus/in LA:
I've got the hang of it. It is quite exhausting to come downhill from the dorms to campus and go back up the hill back to the dorms once classes are over though. It takes about 15 ~ 20 minutes every time. Plus, it's not helping that it's freaking hot in LA in the day. I'm desperately waiting for the weather to cool down in October. And plus I recently got my brand new scooter and I've got the hang of riding it around campus. What annoys me is that there are so many dismount zones where all kinds of wheel riding are prohibited...I feel like there's no point in me riding a scooter then. But screw it, they only have those zones so that there aren't any accidents like for example, someone on a bike crashing into a pedestrian or something. I won't let anyone stop me from my scooter riding! >___< But I promise to be careful of crashing into other students walking in front of me though.
I've also taken the courage to walk around downtown/outside campus on my own. I did get lost on my first outing, but I managed to get to my destination, and get back on campus safely. I'm glad I feel more comfortable around here now, and I'm looking forward to exploring more places in LA and learning how to get there by public transport.
Classes:
I just had my first lecture today. It was a fresh experience, being in a hugeass classroom filled with nearly 200 students. We haven't really started learning anything yet, so I can't say whether my classes are difficult or not...but I am looking forward to them. And I also like how professors don't check attendance - heck they probably won't even get to know my face at all. Not that I'm implying that I'm gonna be skipping classes, it's just that I will probably late for my calc lecture a LOT, thanks to some weird scheduling (it was the only way to get the classes I wanted though). And I probably will never be marked down for being late...and thankfully the lecture hall my calc lecture is held in has doors on the sides, and there are seats right next to the door, so I can just sneak in quietly and take a seat without the professor noticing. I hope.
But omg it would suck to be late for my mid-terms. I hope they're not on those days where I have weird scheduling times.
Well that's pretty much mostly what I'm feeling about college right now. I hope things will get better and better as time passes.
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