the first mass email from the land of Academia from (9/7/08)

Good Sunday morning! Forgive me sending out another mass email, but it seemed the best way to fill everyone in and also finish the crushing load of homework I've acquired for the weekend.

Today, I cooked pancakes for about twenty people in my dorm. It was loads of fun. My friend John who lives next door bought ten pounds of just-add-water-pancake mix at the Fred Meyer (which is sort of like a wal-mart for those that don't know) and maple syrup and nutella and peanut butter. Then we all went to the Bone (the cafeteria which is officially known as the Bon Appetit) and filched bagels to store in our cupboards for midnight study snacks. My dormmates are all excellent people and it's fabulous having class with so many of them.

When I applied for campus housing, I applied to a new theme hall called Living and Learning, which is basically an experimental project in which we all have our Core Exploration and Discovery class together and we also live in the same dorm. It's a very exciting way to live. Almost every night, most of us hang out in the common room and discuss all kinds of fascinating things... Topics have ranged from Darwin's possible role as a spiritual guide, to the dangers of cloning, to the correlation between food and community... and much much more. Quite fascinating and frequently catalytic to long bouts of laughter.

This semester, I am taking:

the aforementioned Exploration and Discovery class

Intro to International Affairs

Origins of Islam

and French 201...

I spent the last hour reading the Koran, the Bible and my international affairs book... all very interesting though I'm not sure I entirely understand the Bible. Or the Koran (which is actually nothing like the Bible. I can kiss that assumption goodbye). Or some of the theories in my IA book (though it's not so much understanding the theories themselves as it is comprehending how someone could actually ascribe to said theories).

In spite of many warnings that the weather here would be terrible, it has thus far only rained twice in the two weeks that I've been around. Every non-rainy day has been sunny and warm and today actually feels a little bit like home. However, I am certain that the weather is crafty and is trying to lure me into thinking it will be survivable and any day now, it's going to become a solid block of cold, drizzly days which will pile up until late April.

Homesickness has as of yet remained at a manageable level, but we'll see what happens in the next few weeks. Any contact is appreciated (especially letters. I'll put my address at the bottom of this email) as is general good thinking in my direction. Now my homework calls with a shrill and unignorable (is that a word? I think not.) voice. Enormous love to all.