The Cities

This past weekend I spent in the wonderful cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul (plus surrounding areas). I really wanted to see my friend Maren from Norway this past year, but it never seemed to work out- this weekend, however, it did!! After catching a ride from some friends here at Winona, I waited outside of the Mall of America for Corey, Maren's mom, to pick me up. I saw her and we went back to the car and then we'd drive to Maren's swim meet. There was this weird person in the back seat, though and I thought for a moment 'ummm who is this person in the back of the car' then I was like OMG MAREN!!! She and her mom totalllllly surprised me. Dang. But it was awesome. I met Maren's friends and we spent Saturday in Minneapolis hanging out in Uptown and biking around lake Calhoun. It was a beautiful afternoon. Sunday we went to the Minnesota State Fair and I saw cousin Ben. I'm pretty sure he was quite surprised to see me. At the fair we at Calzones on a stick, A bucketful of cookies and lemonade. I bought a pretty necklace and a Norwegian magnet for my fridge. All in all, very fun weekend.

MCOM 100

I had my last 'first class' this evening. The best way to describe it would be: a quaint class of about 432 students in a very personalized lecture format. Wow. Very interesting. Tonight was my first night ever in a class this large, and, in fact, the class I'm in has the largest class enrollment of any class offered at Winona State. I consider myself lucky...

We spent a good portion of the evening talking about personal communication. A little food for thought: The average vocabulary of a high school graduate 30 years ago (16,000 words). The average vocabulary of a high school graduate in current times (9,000) words. Fascinating yet terrifying. We were discussing why this could be. And we figure it is the mass media and communication to blame. We have become so dependent on other means of communication that we as people have actually begun to lose our ability to communicate effectively. Sad.

This class will be a lot of work, but it is totally worth it. I really love learning about this kind of stuff and I could definitely see myself working in this field someday.
Anyways, goodnight!





A little Winona State love

The first day of College Classes

Today was the first day of classes, and let me tell you, it was so easy! My music theory class consisted of taking attendance and filling out a survey and my Math 100 class began with the professor saying this: '10% of the things we will cover in this class you could have done without a problem in the fourth grade.' I don't think i have much to worry about with that class. We covered histograms and scatter plots today, not so hard at all.

Hypnotist

Tonight I went to a hypnotist show. Let me be more specific, a 18 and older hypnotist show... I went with some friends and I sat next to Mark, who specifically told me to wake him up if he got hypnotized. I didn't. And maybe it's karma, but he had to get up and be an exotic dancer for me. He almost gave me a lap dance in his hypnotized state but I screamed and wouldn't let him, it was sooo funny though!

Week Number One... Complete

So I've been out here at Winona for the good part of a week now... Including the crazzzyyy college weekend party life. Well, not to be a downer, but I'm not really into that whole party scene. In fact, last night Chelsea, Mark, and I were walking around Winona, you know, getting acquainted with the town, and we wanted to lay down in the middle of the football field and look at the starts. Well, much to our dismay, the fields were locked, so we walked around and eventually found a spot right next to Winona lake. We lay down on the damp grass and watched the stars (we even think we saw the space station) and we made Mrs. Peck proud... Canis Major, Cassiopeia, etc. While our little star gazing session was going on, almost every party around Winona got busted (the cops were given a grant to have more people on the force out and undercover at parties). This morning, while everyone was sleeping off their hangovers, Annamarie, Chelsea, Mark, and I biked across the Mississippi to Wisconsin. There are some nice trails and a beach there, actually. And Wisconsin is only about a 10 block plus a bridge (about 10 minute) bike ride. Pretty fabulous, actually. Well the plans for this evening include watching part of the volleyball tournament and going to a hypnotist. Classes start on Monday, and I'll update when I get the time.

Tomorrow is the Day

The count down has officially reached zero. I'm all packed up- all of the boxes are in the car. Now I'm just waiting to take off as the sun rises early tomorrow morning. Winona here I come!!!

Today's activites, however, consisted of last minute shopping for laundry detergent, garbage bags and the all imporant underwear and other college necessities. It's kind of strange bumping into friends at Target and knowing that this is the last time you'll see them for a year, or ever. Well as the winds change, so do we all and were all blown in our own seperate ways, and I guess that's a good thing. It'll never be boring. See you soon. Next time from good ole Winona.

One More Day In Mequon

I'm feeling quite strange today. Its a mixture between a bunch of emotions.

1. Excited- I'm finally getting out of this prision environment I've spent 17 years of my life in, which is known to us as the lovely Mequon, Wisconsin. FInally and adult. No more curfews. No more nagging parents. What else could a kid ask for?
2. Nervous- As shit, I must say. I'm leaving pretty much everything I've ever known- Which, I do have to say, I've liked in the past, HELLO Norway? So I have no idea why it's harder for me now. Possibly that I've settled down to the idea that I will be spending the rest of my life with Anders, so there's no like Big Search for me at college. No reason for me to go out and party and get drunk off my ass. Maybe I won't fit in. Then again, maybe I will.
3. Uber Depressed- After tomorrow I won't be able to talk to Anders for about 2 weeks. I'll be beginning my WInona State College Adventures and he'll be off the Poland and Germany once I'm done with my freshman orientation. It's always especially hard for us when we don't talk. We rely so much on each other for support to get through these years apart. I mean, it's so difficult, but it is definitely worth it. I wouldn't wait or be in so much emotional pain for anyone else. He's the love of my life, so I'll wait for him. And not talk to him for a while so we can each take care of what we need to do.
4. Stressed- I'm super stressed lately about money. Though I can afford my first year of college (with the help of scholarships and loans) I still need to find a way to help Anders get $18,000 so he can come study in the US next year. My parents adivse me to not help him out and take care of myself. What they don't realize is that when Anders and I committed ourselves to each other we meant we'd be a team forever. That includes in times of financial crisis. That would be now, and possibly forever if our loans get large enough...
5. Misplaced- My family is hosting a girl from Japan this year and she has now taken over what once was 'the marissa room.' The past few weeks have been filled with emptying out my closet and under the bed and getting EVERYTHING out of my room. It's very strange because I'm losing the idea of living at my parents home. I no longer have a room here, so I guess that means I'm supposed to be up and out on my own. Adios to the comforts of an always full refrigerator or washing machine right down the stairs. Hello to cafeterias and laundromats. Fun. It's so exciting. But so scary. I'm so ready for this new change in my life. I'm getting so bored and that's why I need to get out. It's my life. My life is an adventure. So I'll strap on my seat belt and go for a ride.