HOLY CRAP I'M AT U OF M AND CLASSES START TOMORROW
Where the HECK did this summer go?
As a matter of fact, where the heck did 18 years go?
Side note: It’s really hard to talk to your little brother on the phone and then hear him start crying.
Yeah.
Side side note: Nelson the Gecko has arrived at our house and I’m super excited to meet him on Friday ^,^
Excuse me while I whip out the melodrama, but classes are starting tomorrow
And it sort of feels like everything I’ve been working towards since November last year has amounted to this moment… To that exact point where I start actually LEARNING on this whole exchange experience.
I’m nervous. I am SO nervous. I don’t have a clue what American standards are, or what I’m expected to be able to do. I know I should just trust that UCT wouldn’t have sent me here and they wouldn’t have accepted me if I wasn’t capable… But does capable mean that I’ll pass? Or does capable mean that I am within the limits of being able to get an A? The former is terrifying and the latter seems unlikely. Hence, nervous.
Tomorrow I only have one class though (x2) and I suspect that most of this week will be only introductory lectures and so on. I also think I am a lot more mentally prepared for this semester than I was for my first semester of this year back home. I will PROBABLY work a bit harder than I did last semester but I’m very unsure if that means I’ll do better than I did at home or come back with the same marks or worse. My GPA is my everything at the moment. It isn’t even as high as I want it to be and I’m really worried that going to such a famous and highly ranked school means that it will suffer no matter how hard I work here.
BUT I guess all I can do is my best at the end of the day. Because I am actually incapable of doing better than that. So what my best achieves is honestly what I should be happy with, as well as the fact that I am even able to go here.
On a less scary note, though, this evening a couple of my friends and I went to watch Casablanca at the local theatre. The theatre was built in the 1920s and except for introducing a tiny bit of modern technology and confectionery, it literally seems as though you’re watching it in that decade. And even though Casablanca was made in the 1940s, the black and white only makes it THAT MUCH MORE AWESOME. I had my first American movie popcorn with legit proper melted butter retrieved from a vat of butter and spooned in ladles into the container. I felt so unhealthy afterwards but I have to give credit to the deliciousness where it’s due.
It’s getting pretty late though, and even though my first class only starts at 1pm tomorrow, I can’t afford to give myself jetlag during the actual semester. I shall thus leave you with a couple of photos I took at the Theatre of Awesome (i.e. Michigan Theatre) this evening:
Popcorn, Emcee and old theatre. So much winning!
Casablanca: even though I had to study this film for my film course last semester, I didn’t actually get around to watching it properly from start to finish. I can now freely admit that just this single viewing of this movie has bumped it up to top 5. It was so good. Kudos to Classical Hollywood for this piece of cinematic brilliance.
This I did not experience today but it was a relatively significant occassion so I felt it was okay to mention it. This was my first experience in the Big House (University of Michigan football stadium) and it was fabulous. I apologise for the random gray area and the fact that Chloe’s face is squished but the panoramic software on my phone is super amateur at best. We watched the game that took place in Texas against Alabama from the stadium seats and got entry to the actual football field itself. And that was pretty legit. We didn’t win, but we had enough of a good time afterwards to either block that unfortunate detail out or to at least convince ourselves that we were partying because we did win.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, brings me to the end of today’s memoir. Have a faboulous day to the individual reading this :) If you’re from South Africa, I hope the weather is treating you nicely, and please enjoy some proper rugby (and braai, omg) for me :)
Vento na cara
Ontem, no feriado do dia do trabalho aqui nos EUA, aproveitamos para resolver algumas pendências, como arrumar o vidro quebrado do Iphone do Túlio e comprar um maiô de natação para a Bine. Em um desses trajetos, pedalei sozinha de casa até um dos vários shoppings de Ann Arbor (lembrando que a cidade tem pouco mais de 100 mil habitantes e, mesmo assim, tem vários shoppings!) O trajeto de cerca de 40 minutos fez com que eu me lembrasse de algo que há muito tempo eu tinha esquecido: a sensação de liberdade.
Hey fellow Wolverines,
Do you have books from past semesters you want to sell? Want to buy your books for wayyyyyy cheaper than Ulrichs? Come check out Student Book Exchange!
SBE is a student-run organization that let’s students sell their books at their own prices, without having to do any work! Today and Wednesday you can come in (Pendleton Room, Union 2nd Floor) and an SBE representative will help you set your book prices. Or you can go to our website (umsbe.com) and fill out the book form yourself. Then all you have to do is drop off you books to the Pendleton with your contract number.
Thursday and Friday are the buying days! You can come in a browse all the books. Taking intro classes that are always packed? We have tons of books for those classes (ex. psych 111, econ 101/102, physics, chem). Get University-specific editions for much less than at Ulrichs. But these days are busy, so make sure to get here early to avoid the long lines.
We’re open 10am-5pm each day, so stop on by and check us out!
*feel free to message me with any questions.
