For background on this series of blogs, see this intro post.
Commentary
While all the journal entries so far have made it seem like this trip was all fun and games, it really wasn’t like that every day. There were plenty of fun and games days early in the trip, but as the semester went on, there were plenty of “normal college student” days as well, just like the day in this journal entry. Walking to classes, eating lunch at some building on campus, getting a run in, doing homework, etc. So while there is the part about having fun and experiencing a different culture, don’t forget the part about being a student.
The Journal Entry
Written on April 2 about April 1
Yesterday I got up at 7. It was a normal morning. I walked to campus with Michael and Kaarin. That was nice. 2211 lab was interesting, to say the least. We had to walk from the comp lab where we met to a science building to take soil temp and flux measurements. There was one measurement where we were supposed to wait 30 minutes, but our tutor said we didn’t need it, so we walked back. We started working on the lab when we got back. After a few minutes, it became apparent that our numbers were way off from what we were supposed to be getting. From there it just went downhill. The depths we took the measurements at were different than the depth specified in the lab. This was not our fault, as the lab was set up before we got there. We discovered we needed that measurement we didn’t take so the tutor went and got that measurement. The tutor had to go ask our professor about several things. Needless to say, it was a mess. It was so bad it was kind of entertaining. Our tutor finally just said to use the numbers we had and not worry about them being way off. After 2211 lab we went to 2020 tute. That wasn’t too bad. I already had the problems done, so I helped Elizabeth some and worked on our assignment for that class. Our professor came in and told us that he could look up our preliminary final times for us. So we all told him our classes and he pulled up when our finals are currently scheduled for. It was great to hear reactions from everybody. Someone commented it sounded like “finals bingo” or something like that. Anyway, that part of the tute was pretty entertaining. My finals schedule isn’t too bad. I have one on the first day, which may make scheduling my diving trip fun. I also have about 8 days after my last final before I leave. After 2020 tute I went to the math building to eat lunch. After I was finished with lunch I worked on the 2020 assignment some more and then went to 3040. 3040 was kind of nice because we didn’t really have to do any math or derivations or anything. After 3040 I came back to my room. I went on a run at about 3:45. Partway into the run my knee hurt really bad for a few seconds, and then felt funky afterwards. I don’t know what happened. It kinda freaked me out though. After my workout I got a shower and then got dinner. I made a pancake mix that you just have to add water to. It wasn’t too bad. After dinner I worked on getting a list of places to eat together. At about 8 I went down to the courtyard for a little while. At about 8:30 I came up to my room and then went to the loft to watch a movie. It was Pat, Stacey, Nadia, and I up there. We watched Momento. It was another mind bender movie. It wasn’t too bad. I think I need to watch it again for it to make complete sense though. After that I came back to my room and got ready for bed.
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