Well it has been a while since my last posting. A few things have happened - my Mom and sister came to visit for a weekend, had my 2nd round of midterms, and Halloween. Now I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break - only 2 more weeks for me!
I would say the highlight of my month was when my Mum and sister Michaela visited. They were only here for about 36 hours but we got in as much as we could. We ate at this awesome southern restaurant, Ajax, on the square, and ohmigod it was one of the best meals of my life. I now know why Southern cooking is so infamous. Take a look at the menu:
http://www.ajaxdiner.net/Ajax_Diner/Dinner_Menu.html
We had the fried pickles (which taste like dill pickle potato chips on steriods), Matty's mom's meatloaf, chicken and dumplings, red beans and rice, with sides of sweet potato casserole and cornbread dressing. UH-mazing.
I've had some bad bouts of homesickness recently. It is hard because I do like it here, but it's so hard being away from home sometimes! It's also tough doing a second freshman year - trying to meet people and build friendship and figure out what the hell the school is all about. But it is different here than St. Thomas was, because you can tell most people are excited to be here. People here are seriously so friendly. I mean, I come from "Minnesota Nice", but I think that refers to a more passive-aggressive nice, like "I won't say anything politically incorrect" or "I won't say anything to offend you." People here greet me as I pass and just come up and talk to me. I often get invited to eat lunch and dinner with people I hardly know; they just recognize me and say "come sit here!" Even today, after my music class, this girl who I had never seen before came up to me and asked how I did on the test, out of the blue. I had to look behind me to see if she was indeed talking to me. She was, and we talked as we walked back to the Grove, and I made a new friend just like that.
Those are the good things. There are bad things, like dorm life - girls screaming at eachother in the hall at 2am, public bathrooms, shower drains getting clogged by pieces of girls' weaves (something I definitely didn't have to deal with at St. Thomas), being bored to death when I have nothing to do and no car, and I don't have anywhere to go anyways. Calling home and hearing what my Mom made for dinner, missing birthdays, not being there for everyday events. But I think I'll stick it out here, probably do a semester or two abroad and maybe a semester back home at the U of M. It is scary to invest time and energy into building a life in a completely new place. It feels vulnerable. It's so much easier to be in your comfort zone - your home, the places and people you know. I get homesick when I'm tired, when I want things to be easy and don't have the energy to build friendships or make a place for myself. But I think I am happy. I have only been completely happy a couple of times in my life, but I think this place has potential.
