I’m still shell-shocked from enduring the first week of
classes, and the second week is already under way. For some reason,
transitioning back to school has been a little harder this semester than usual,
but I’m doing better now that the first few days are behind me. It’s just hard
to juggle schoolwork and applying to study abroad and finding a place to live
next fall while also dealing with the excitement of seeing everybody again –
whether I haven’t seen them in one month or in eight. It's so good to be back though. I truly love my residence
hall! We’re just a big family.
A few things we’ve done together since we’ve all been back:
Had a “cuddle-puddle” in the lounge. This became normal during the stress of finals last term. Shortbread and cookies made from chocolate cake batter were involved. The caption refers to Akin, the name of the residence hall.
Took a trip downtown to eat pad Thai at the food carts
and go to Salt N Straw ice cream in the Pearl District. My friend Sarah’s
friend Salim was visiting from Belgium, so he got to come and experience
Portland with us! It’s his first time in America.
Several of us played Ninja over the weekend. This
fantastic event is sort of like capture the flag, but is so much more than that.
It begins at 12am and involves running around campus wearing all black and
carrying foam swords. No pictures available. Ninjas cannot be caught on camera.
Watched Rurouni Kenshin: a live-action adaptation of an
anime. It was in Japanese, of course, with English subtitles. I think I caught
like four words I knew in Japanese. The fighting was awesome – we were all screaming at the
television in excitement! What’s even better… it’s the first movie in a
trilogy. I know what we’re doing for study breaks next weekend.
As for my schoolwork, there hasn't been a crazy amount
yet, but it’ll get there. Right now my time is devoted to reading the poetry of
Wordsworth, as well as More’s Utopia. Plus, there's a lot of studying Japanese and thinking about current issues in American education.
Extracurriculars are starting up now too. This week, I’ll be starting to attend sessions
at the on-campus yoga club again. I’m also getting ready to continue the volunteer position
I had last semester in the kindergarten classroom. Finally, I’m taking a
2-credit class in the theatre department that involves building the set and
constructing the costumes for the production this spring (a play called Exit the King), so work will start
for that soon. Plus, I’ve got to keep blogging! And sleeping. Maybe I’ll have
time for that at some point, but not in the foreseeable future.
If you have any questions about whether Lewis and Clark
might be a good fit for you, contact me at jessicakostka@lclark.edu. I’m happy
to answer any and all questions. Have you all heard back about your admissions
decisions by now? Hope it was good news!
Jess