I can't believe I did this.

And so close to the end too. I mean really, the last week of my first year of university. And look at what I've done.

I skipped class.

My italian class. To be fair, we were just watching more presentations and doing some exam review. But since the exam isn't cumulative and she already handed out the review, so I didn't see the need to go. And I mean it's not like I decided to skip ahead of time. I was working on my digital art assignment cause I had some time before class started, and I just really got into my art I guess. I had only missed about 15 minutes of class by the time I noticed I was late. But then I figured, why go? So I didn't. I feel kind of guilty. But I also had this huge adrenaline rush and felt like a total rebel. :)

130. What do you want to do after high school?
(One would hope that the upcoming answer is "what I'm doing right now").
Yeah, probably what I'm doing right now. Not as in skipping class, but going to university, being in GBDA. It's a good life.

131. If you're being extremely quiet, what does it mean?
Usually I'm embarrassed/nervous.

Maybe the Internet raised us, or maybe people are jerks

- A World Alone, Lorde

Oh, and Happy April Fool's Day!

Italian Lesson

In English when you say the year, 1995 for example, you can say it either as "one thousand nine hundred ninety-five" or as "nineteen ninety-five". Most go with the latter. However, in Italian, you don't have that option. You have to say it all out. So 1995, for example, would be: millenovecentonovantacinque. All one word, too. To break it down: mille-nove-cento-novanta-cinque, which is thousand-nine-hundred-ninety-five.
Hope you enjoyed your lesson!
(I was more doing this to point out the length of saying the date, rather than actually teach you anything.)

QOTD #21

21. Are you in a good mood?
Well, while I should have been studying, I was watching vlogbrothers videos about The Fault in our Stars movie which I am SO EXCITED FOR. It comes out on June 6th, 2014. I also learned that Ansel Elgort, who plays Augustus Waters in TFioS, is also in the movie for Divergent, which I am ALSO VERY EXCITED FOR (he plays Tris's brother). So that was some fun fangirling. But it is also RIDICULOUSLY COLD ON MY FLOOR AND ESPECIALLY IN MY ROOM. The entire wing that my floor is on is cold, the heating isn't working. Probably how the mould got started. Or I guess mould would thrive in warmer temperatures...? Anyways, I've been wearing sweaters and multiple pairs of sock for the past week. There was even a time I put gloves on I was so cold. Being at the end of the hall (and not the end attached to the building), my room and the room across from me are the coldest. Somebody had a thermometer and the end rooms are AN ENTIRE 10 DEGREES COLDER than the rest of the building. They put two dinky heaters in the hall, which is kind of warming up the hall, BUT THAT DOESN'T HELP MY ROOM. The room across from me had been given a heater when it first started to get cold and they say that it only raised the temperature 2 degrees. The girls in that room don't even sleep in their room anymore. They go sleep on other floors WHERE THE TEMPERATURE IS NOT COMPARABLE TO THAT OF OUTSIDE. So if you're still looking for a Christmas gift idea, a heater would be greatly appreciated. At least I'm only here for 5 more days and then I'm home! So to answer the question, yes. I am in a good mood. TFioS tipped the scale. Had I decided to to what I was supposed to be doing (studying for Italian), I would not be in a good mood.

What scares me is...
The unknown. And I know a lot of people probably say that. But I don't mean the unknown as in "what's outside our galaxy?" kind of unknown (although that's probably pretty scary as well). I mean if somebody has a surprise or something. The little unknowns. For example, when the bus to TO left before I was on it and there was nobody around to tell me what was going on, that was scary. Situations where I am doing something and there is nobody to reassure me that what I'm doing it correct, that scares me.

QOTD #20

20. Are you starting to realize anything?
Studying for a language is different from studying for something else. More difficult, more effort. Also, the internet is very distracting (but I guess I knew that).

I wish I was better at...
Turning my art/creative ideas into art (and actually finishing them). Also, studying for languages.

My AMAZING Weekend

While my weekend was amazing, it didn't start off that way. The bus was half an hour late, time which I was standing in line outside in the freezing temperatures. Eventually the bus did show up. But then it left before everyone in line was on. The bus wasn't even full. Then I started panicking a bit because I didn't know why it had left. But then another bus showed up, so it was all good. And what a coincidence, I got the same bus driver as I had when I was coming back from a weekend at home. The bus ride was fine, there was hardly anybody on the bus. My BFFLAAT met me at the bus station in Toronto. It was great to finally see her again. It was already kind of late so we just hung out in her room. I also met a lot of her friends and floormates. One of boys (whom I had actual met over skype before) complemented me and said that I was beautiful. I said thank you but I just thought he was saying that to be nice. But then my BFFLAAT said that when he gives a compliment, he really means it. So that was nice :) Too bad he's gay. (When I say too bad, I'm not saying I have a problem with him being gay, I'm just saying that it wouldn't be able to go anywhere, if you know what I mean).  I met this other guy as well who gave me a donut, which is always nice, but then I found that he watches Sherlock and we have similar movie and book tastes. We would get along well. On Saturday morning we went out for brunch at one of the caf's on campus with a couple other people. Then my BFFLAAT and I fangirled over Hunger Games characters (actors). We read a special edition magazine about The Hunger Games Catching Fire movie and started watching the first Hunger Games. And then Dylan Sprouse happened. Then we headed out for an early dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. When we arrived they told us it would be a 5 to 10 minute wait and so we got one of those buzzer things but after two minutes it buzzed and we were led through the restaurant to our table. My BFFLAAT and I laughed because even though we were told that there would be a 5 to 10 minute wait the restaurant was completely empty. Why would we be told there is a 5 to 10 minute wait if the restaurant was completely empty? It was funny.  For those who don't know, The Old Spaghetti Factory was a blacksmith shop a century ago. Inside they have a bunch of cool things hanging from the walls and all the dividers are stainglass windows. They even have a carousel and a caboose train that you can sit in. The dinner was really delicious. There was this ice cream flavour called Spumoni. It is chocolate, vanilla and pistachio all mixed together. It was so good.  After we were done we walked back to my BFFLAAT’s residence to pick up her friend and head over to the movie. We were seeing the movie in the Scotia Bank theater which is this really huge theater with a lot of specialized theatres. It was assigned seating so we didn't have to worry about getting there really early which was nice. They have this pre-movie show that was interactive with their mobile app which is really cool but we didn't have their app so we couldn’t play, but it was cool to see the other people do it. The movie was amazing. I can't find anything in it to complain about. Obviously they couldn't fit everything in the book in but they were pretty close and it was so amazing. I cried at one point. I loved it so much. I would even go so far as to say it was better than the first movie. Morning we had a lazy morning and went to Starbucks for lunch.  Then my BFFLAAT and I watch some Catching Fire interviews with the actors. Then, since my BFFLAAT knew that I missed it, we watch the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special episode.  I don't even know what to say about it.  It was really well done and I really liked the storyline.  However that amazing story line changes absolutely everything.  It basically goes back in time and changes one of the main time points in the Doctor’s timeline.  I won't going to great detail because I know most of you don't watch Dr. Who and won't understand it but just know that it was amazing but also that it changes everything and I don't even know how to handle it right now. (I'm using this dictation feature on my Mac right now to type this blog post out because I'm too lazy to type it all out so that's why there's a lot of run-on sentences. Sorry). After that we headed out to the bus station. I almost missed my bus because I couldn’t see the bus and I wasn't sure when it started boarding. It all worked out in the end of course. But at every stop I panicked because I was freaked out it wouldn't go to my stop which was unrealistic but, you know, stuff happens. When I got to the bus terminal I was really tired and didn't want to have to wait for the city bus to come around so I just ended up taking a taxi home.  (Another note on this whole dictation thing. I never realized how much I say “just”. I've been editing the sentences after I speak them just to make sure that the sentence makes sense and I say “just” so much it's ridiculous). When I got back to residence I talked to my Doctor Who friend about the episode because it changes everything and we also chatted about the Catching Fire movie, which she has yet to see. Then we talked about exam schedules and I realized that I'm going home in eight days, which also means that my Italian exam is in eight days, which I completely not ready for. I've started writing review notes but I havn’t actually started studying for it yet so I’ll have to do that. I also have two astronomy assignments that I need to finish, not to mention studying for astronomy which I'm not looking forward to. Having heard about all the snow in London and thinking about how I'm going to be going home soon I just really want to go home right now. I'm really excited to be at home over December for a good chunk of time. So yeah. That was my amazing weekend with my BFFLAAT. I had so much fun (and once again I apologize for this whole dictation thing, the run-on sentences are really horrible. But using the dictation really sped up the speed of writing out this blog post, so there).

How Did it Go?

The Italian poem, that is. Let me tell you how it went. After my half-hearted attempts to memorize it, I felt guilty and tried a different route. I put the words to the tune of the song Royals by Lorde, hoping that maybe the familiar tune would help me remember it. It didn't. More often I just got distracted by the actually lyrics. Going to bed feeling guilty having not memorized it, only to go to class this morning and. And. AND. He goes over the poem again with us, focusing on the days of the week in includes and then drops it. IT WAS COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY TO MEMORIZE IT.

This was basically my train of emotions when I realized that there was not need to memorize it. 

The Lazy Shoemaker

My italian prof asked us to memorize a nursery rhyme about a lazy shoemaker. Now, memorizing 12 lines in a day is hard enough, let alone lines of a different language. I'm pretty good about the first half, but it pretty much falls apart after that. But! It's important to remember that

If only I had the will- and brain-power to make it happen. I'm not feeling great. I think it's a mix of the food I ate and I'm tired. Which I'm slightly confused about, because I've been sleeping fine lately. And my left forearm hurts. I'm not sure why. At first I thought it was just from leaning on it, but the feeling hasn't gone away. It almost feels like I've pulled something.
I'm going to try a new approach to memorizing this poem. I've recorded myself saying it and put it on replay in the background. Maybe it will seep into my mind. No, but then seriously, I'm going to read along with the recording and just hope for the best, cause I'm going to bed soon.

92%!

I GOT 18.5/20 ON MY FIRST EVER UNIVERSITY QUIZ!!!!! It was for Italian. I'm pretty happy.

Class, Lozenges and Geese, Oh My!

Ok, so I woke up with a sore throat this morning. All day I've been coughing and drinking water and peeing like never before because of all the water. Anyways, I just went to International News, a convenience store on campus. When I walked in I saw all the typical chips and candy that usually accompany the fridges full of pop. But there was things that were obviously directed at university students. Things such as Red Bulls and Rockstars. Coffee and chocolate. "STUDENT FRIENDLY PRICING" signs. There were these chocolate bars that advertised the fact that they had caffeine in them. News flash: chocolate already contains caffeine. I guess they just put more in? Anyways, I was worried I wasn't going to find cough drops. So after walking around the entire store (which is about the size of two dorm rooms), just as I was about to give up on them having any, I see them. A tiny little stand on the counter, almost hidden by a glass panel with ad stickers on it: there it was. Three tiny boxes half-full with Fisherman's Friend Lozenges. Target located, I deliberated on which flavour to get, cherry, mint or citrus (all of which are sucrose free), I choose cherry. I pay the cashier $2.25 for a package the size of my credit card (if I had one) and leave the building: mission completed. As I walk away with my little package, I think to how $2.25 for 22 lozenges doesn't seem like STUDENT FRIENDLY PRICING to me. Sorry about the dramatics, just felt like doing a bit of creative writing. Anyways. I was really tired this morning because my roommate didn't turn the lights off till after 1am. I asked her if this was going to be a normal thing. To my dismay, she said yes. So I asked her if she would consider doing whatever it was that she was doing in a lounge or in the Great Hall so that I could get some sleep. She asked if I could get a sleep mask, which is fair, but where do you buy a sleep mask? I did try tying a bandana over my eyes last night to block out the light but it was not soft and very annoying. Maybe a proper sleep mask would be better. (Theres a birthday gift idea for you all, a sleep mask. But not one with any stupid image on the front).  Because I was so tired, I took a nap this morning after Italian. ARBUS (Principles of Entrepreneurship) was not bad except for the fact that I was sitting on a metal folding chair for 3 HOURS. Brutal. The plus side is that he basically told stories the entire time and that class ended an hour early. See, it's a 3 hour lecture with an hour long practicum immediately after. However, the practicum will be used for group work to be completed, he won't be teaching anything. But since it's the first day and we don't have any assignments yet, we didn't need to stay. Talk about brightening my dreary day. Literally, it was pouring during class but it stopped just as we were dismissed.
I would like to introduce you to some of my new neighbours:

This is outside my bedroom window. The geese are everywhere. And I mean everywhere. They are in the fields, grassy areas, the pathways, the roads, basically everywhere that you will be, there will be geese. I'm not even kidding, the Waterloo clothing store has t-shirts that say "I survived nesting season" with a picture of a goose. Another one says "They know where you park.". They even have goose stuffed animals. No joke, these geese are a big deal here at UWaterloo. But man are they annoying, honking all the time, crapping all over the place. You get my drift.

I am just about to head off to a 4 hour class. 4 HOURS. It is going to seem to take forever. And then I have a 3 hour lecture this evening. Along with Italian this morning, that a whooping 8.5 hours of class today. So maybe if I find some time, I'll post again, but don't hold your breath.

I Guess You Could Say I'm Officially A University STUDENT Now

So, I guess you could say this marks the beginning of my "mini" weekend. I have an Italian class on Monday 9-10:20AM. I don't have another class until Wednesday at 9AM, so it's a good chunk of time off. It's almost too bad that my first Italian class isn't on Tuesday afternoon. That way, if I was going home for the weekend, I could stay for Monday as well.  Speaking of class, I JUST HAD MY FIRST EVER UNIVERSITY LECTURE. And half of it was spoken in Italian. When the prof came in he started speaking in Italian and my thoughts were somewhat along these lines: "OH GOD (I know, I know, don't use the Lord's name in vain but it was MY FIRST EVER UNIVERSITY LECTURE and I was panicking a little) I HAVE MADE A MAJOR MISTAKE THIS ISN'T A BEGINNERS COURSE HE EXPECTS US TO KNOW ITALIAN OH CRAP I'M GOING TO LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT MAYBE I SHOULD DROP THE CLASS WAIT THEN WHAT OTHER LANGUAGE AM I GOING TO TAKE? DUTCH? FRENCH? LOLNOPE." That may have been a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. In the end, the prof did say that it is a beginners course and when he asked, only one person has Italian experience. It is not a very big class, I'm guessing only about 35-40 of us. I now know how to ask you your name in Italian. Fun Fact: the direct translation of asking your name in Italian is "what are you called?" I could tell you that I also know how to tell you my name, but I forget and I'm too lazy to go look it up in my notes.  I'm planning on doing a review of everything he told us later on. Maybe while I'm waiting for laundry to wash/dry. I am going to attempt laundry today. I've done it before, but always just after my mom has told me what to do. Also, I have no drying rack and I am nervous about putting some things in the dryer. I'll get back to you on how that goes. I am 92% done The Help, so close!!!!!!! I wanna finish it tonight.