Cornell and Beyond

zzzzz…

Well, sorry I’ve been a bit MIA, but you see, I have been tres busy…

Doing NOTHING!

That’s right. Unless you count sleeping for 12 hours a day as something, which I personally disagree with. It’s OK though, I need a break now and then. Hopefully things will get more exciting when I do my Cornell externship and start packing for the UK. Haha, packing, now that will be exciting. Actually, what’s going to be exciting is to see whether I can follow the rule I’ve been seeing everywhere from guide books to e-mails: pick everything you’re planning to take and make a big pile. Then, cut that pile in half! Hah! We’ll see how that works out.

packing and stuff

Well, looking around my room I can hardly believe it. It took several days, many a sweaty brow, and lots of luggage and boxes but our dorm room is finally empty.

It’s a bit surreal, realizing these are my last few hours in Ithaca for many months to come. I had an awesome last couple of days here, just hanging out with friends and chillaxing. My friends had a Hanukah party last night, complete with gelt (sp?) and latkes. And of course, holiday merry-making.

Now, 4 hour drive to my friend’s house, 1 hour drive to my brother’s place, and 3 hour plane ride home tomorrow. I’m almost hoooommmmeee….

a fudgy finals week

What happens when it’s finals week and you don’t want to study?  You have a bake-off!

My friends and I stopped by the store to pick up some chocolate cookie mix when one of them came up with the BRILLIANT idea of having a bake-off.  We divided into two teams, chose recipes, shopped, and headed back to their apartment to begin the bake-off.  Rachel and I made several varieties of fudge.  We took the basic recipe off the back of a bag of chocolate chips, but made up our own original spin-offs. 

We had coconut fudge, peanut butter fudge, walnut fudge, cookies and cream fudge, and mint fudge.  We also made a “special surprise fudge” that my friend Katie particularly seemed to enjoy.  (I’ll only say this as a hint: recall Rachel’s trifle incident in the show Friends.)

The opposing sad excuse for a team made Oreo Pudding Layer Cake, or “goop” as I like to call it.  I’m just kidding, it was actually awesome; they made home-made whipped cream.  And when I say “they” I use the term loosely, they clearly had outside help from one of the judges. 

Anyway, we then proceeded to invite some friends over to judge.  They got much more into it than anticipated and came up with some quirky categories, such as Scent, Aftertaste, Profanity, and Tardiness.  After nearly 2 hours of deliberating (I kid you not.) the verdict was in.

Needless to say, Team Fudge won by a land slide.  But a good time was had by all.  What a better way to spend  Friday night than studying. = )

Finally Finals

Finals.  The mere word sends shivers down my spine.  Well, most of the time that is.  Not so much this year.  The reason for this is that this year I only have 2, count ‘em, 2 finals.  This is a significant decrease from past semesters, where I’ve had as many as 5. 

How can I describe finals week to you? Terror filled eyes, caffeine induced all-nighters, stumbling back from the library at 5 AM. Haha, I jest, a little. 

First “study week” paves the way.  I put “study week” in quotations because it’s not much of a week.  Classes end on Friday, and this year the first finals started on the following Wednesday, which I think is a day earlier than usual.  More like “study couple of days.”  (You can’t expect students to study the weekend that classes are over, after all! = ) ) 

Anyway, you know it’s study week and final time because all of a sudden, the libraries become the HUB of all activity on the campus.  The streets of Collegetown, usually full of late night partiers empties and the study rooms in the various libraries fill up.  And when I say fill up, I mean FILL UP.  For me it almost is a little overwhelming walking into places like the Dean’s Room in Uris and seeing EVERY SINGLE SEAT OCCUPIED.  And it’s not like there are only a few seats.  There are tons of seats! And unfortunately, tons of students studying away.

The worst is walking through the silent madness and seeing other people you don’t know studying for the same classes you are in.  Particularly for those huge classes like Orgo.  You see these people, chapters and chapters ahead of you, and it can be very disheartening.

That’s why I usually avoid the libes during study week, and study at home instead.  Unfortunately for me, this is a problem because for some reason when I’m home all I end up doing is going on every single website in existence, except for of course Blackboard.  (Blackboard is the website that many teachers use to put up past years exams, homework, grades, etc.) 

So, I’ve had to face my demons and deal with the massively overcrowded libraries.  I would tell you my secret quiet spots I’ve found where you don’t have to feel so claustrophobic, but then they wouldn’t be my secret quiet spots anymore : ).  You’ll just have to find them for yourself. 

And don’t get me wrong, it’s not that bad.  Lots of organizations on campus take pity on us poor students and go all out.  There are *FREE* massages every day, random bowls of free snacks, study breaks organized by residence halls, and the one you can always count on, friends to distract you = )

Working the Ho

I must explain to you the intricacies of “working the Ho.” By Ho, I refer to the Ho Plaza of course, the lovely square in front of the Cornell Store. And by working it, I mean tabling for something. Friday I tabled for Tradition, selling hot chocolate for a local not for profit. People fundraise and quarter card here cause there’s always people going through Willard and the store. I’ve noticed there are several techniques to “working the Ho” and I thought I might elaborate.

I’ll let people come to me: This technique involves passively sitting behind your table and letting your sign do all the talking. You may occasionally say in a raised voice, “Buy a ticket for our next show.” This is often employed by the Acapella groups, since they can let their music speak for them: they often bring out CD players and play their music.

I’m going to get in your face, and you’re going to do what I say: This technique is a bit more proactive. The quarter card is practically forced into your hands as the seller/advertiser tells you assertively “I know you want to go,” or “It’s going to be awesome,” etc. The seller/advertiser may border on invasion of personal space, although this may be unintentional.

I have no shame: This is my personal favorite. Shouting out like a carnival game operator, you will use anything to get the pedestrians to take notice or buy whatever you are selling. We were raising money for Cayuga Dog Rescue, so I printed out pictures of some of the (insanely cute) puppies they’ve helped, telling people, and “Isn’t he so cute? You can’t say no to him!” I also like to add touches of humor, such as “Enjoy a delicious cup of hot chocolate and help a dog, it’s a win win situation!”

I know you, so you should do this: This technique can be used in conjunction with any of the above techniques. Basically if you see someone you know, you blatantly take advantage of your friendship and ask them (with a sad plaintive look on your face for added points) “Do you want to help support us?”

Well, anyway, I like the “no shame” technique cause it makes it more fun. But any of the above are effective.

Despite having a hard time selling our hot chocolate (they were giving out FREE hot chocolate inside the Cornell Store, it started pouring half way through, etc.), we managed to make a few bucks for the cause. Speaking of which, visit their site and donate yourself! www.cayugadogrescue.org

back in a flash and gone just as fast

Thanksgiving Break went by like that.  I arrived at home at 10 PM on Thanksgiving Day, and enjoyed a late night Thanksgiving feast, making up for the Thai wrap I had for lunch at the airport.  Complete with turkey, stuffing, mashed taters, sweet taters, and cheesecake.  Yum.  The rest of the week I spent relaxing with family and going to Barnes and Nobles to do some studying.  (I know, I know, but if you had 3 biochem units due and a genetics test in one week, you would want to get ahead too!) I also got to see some old high school friends, who caught me up on all the gossip. The one thing that’s interesting about college is that (in my case at least) I don’t see high school people that often while I’m home at all.  That’s OK though, it just makes it more fun when I do see them.

On a completely unrelated note, I realized that today I took my last class as a Cornell University junior.  OK, technically I will still be a Cornell student while I’m in England, but it was still a little sad and very unreal.  College has gone by soooooo fast. They say these are the best 4 years of my life.  I want to know, where did the first two years go? College has been great, but it’s going by too fast in my opinion.  Let’s figure out how to slow time.  Or better yet, let’s stay in college forever, and never leave to face the so-called “real world.”  With me? Yeah!

oh so lonely

I love Cornell, but when it gets empty, it gets empty.

This is how it goes every Fall, Thanksgiving, Winter, and Spring Breaks.  One second, everyone is right alongside you, laughing and having a good time.  The next, everyone is gone.  Everyone. 

It’s as if there is some machine in Ithaca that says, “Oh, it’s two days before break already? What have I been thinking?” And then it magically makes everybody on campus disappear. 

There are some good things about being on campus when everybody is gone.  No more fighting for the prime library seating, it gives you an excuse to order in, you have the dining halls/bathrooms/dorm all to yourself.  (If they’re open, of course.)

But mostly it’s a little lonely.  I would easily say that one of my favorite things about Cornell is the huge number of wacky, lovable people who go here.  And when they all leave, it’s like a little piece of Ithaca is missing : )

How poetic, right?

Anyway, I will not be getting home till 10 PM Turkey Day.  Ugh, I know.  Let this be a cruel reminder to you all to get your tickets early, and don’t let owning a “travel voucher” lull you into compliance.  I had one from being bumped off a flight last year, and thought that all I had to worry about were blackout days.  Nope.  Apparently there are reserved number of seats for “voucher passengers” which basically means if you are planning on using it you need to make your reservation 6 + months in advance.  Live and learn.

I have some exciting plans for Thanksgiving Break, such as studying, studying, and studying.  I’m also planning to squeeze some cuddle time in with my cat MiMi.  I suppose I’ll see some family and friends also.

Just kidding, family is the best part of going back for break!  You may not believe me now, but go away to college for a couple of months and you’ll be changing your tune.  Home will never look so good.  Seriously : )

I know you were waiting impatiently…

Pirate, Dalmation #1, Cruella, Dalmation #2, Tooth Fairy, Santa’s Helper, Santa
Better late than never, I say! We are all kids at heart <3

Wombat Traps and Bob Saget

This past weekend was wacky, and I’ll tell you why.

beyond the fish and chips

So today I made it to my General Orientation Meeting for Study Abroad. Let’s just say now I am even more pumped!

When I got there, we all received packets of information. Hefty packets of information. Really hefty packets.

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? This thick. I’m not even kidding you.

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I have several different brochures (Pre-Departure Guide, Study Abroad Handbook, Cornell Brown Penn Center Guide, United Kingdom Handbook, the list goes on) at this point, several forms still to fill in (insurance, “I promise not to leave early,” “I promise not to hold Cornell liable for anything,” permission to release information, etc.) and countless other flyers on everything from avoiding pickpockets to saving money while living in London. It was a little intimidating browsing through all the material, particularly since I don’t think I’ve seen so much paperwork since I was applying to college! It’s also intimidating because you realize there are about a billion things you need to do ASAP. Things I hadn’t even considered. Such as

-Purchasing insurance for a laptop or other valuables

-Registering with SOS, which helps you out in case of an emergency. This is actually pretty cool because Cornell automatically provides this for you, which is a relief since they mentioned an emergency medical evacuation could otherwise cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars. (Can you say gasp?)

-Learning about the country by reading online newspapers and finding out about their national sports culture.

-Even more surprising: Learn more about America. Turns out it would be nice if we didn’t look like ignorant Americans who don’t even know what’s happening in their own country.

-Getting a visa! I still have no idea how to go about this, but will let you know how this goes.

-Turn in about 93784329874 different forms to the CUAbroad Office. OK, maybe more like 5. Still a lot to keep track of.

-Consult with a physician before going abroad.

-Figure out how my university is doing housing, and when I will get more information about it.

-Get my plane ticket. (Maybe this one was a bit obvious.)

-Figure out if I’ll be able to open a bank account once there.

-Figure out if I’ll be able to work when I get there. To do this I need to figure out if I have “restricted” status or “prohibited” status. I have no idea how I would be either.

Everything is so overwhelming, yet also so exciting. By the end of the meeting, my excitement was increased quadruple fold! England, here I come!

PS- Favorite warning from all the papers, found in ‘Don’t be a victim’: “Blend in…this means not wearing those oh-so American articles of clothing: white tennis shoes, white socks, white T-shirts with “funny” logos.”

Favorite Random Fact: 50% of the terrain in the UK is meadow and pasture.

I swear I think this packet has every single factoid about studying abroad I will ever need to know!