Pet Peeves

I've been here for awhile now, and there are some things that irk me. Some are unique to the south, Nashville, or Vandy, and others are universal. Regardless, I decided to list my pet peeves.

• These stupid little tree seed thingies. They are perfectly round, slightly sticky, and cover the sidewalk as I walk to school. Because my shoes are cheap, Old Navy flip-flops, by the time I get to school, they are EMBEDDED in the bottom of my shoe. So then I have to spend time picking the little tree seeds out of my shoe and then sticking to the floor as I walk. I don't know what kind of tree it is, but I never cease to be annoyed.
• Squirrels. More specifically, squirrels on college campuses. They are spoiled and eat people food. Squirrels should be wild, not fearless and staring at me. I got back at them one day though. I scared one when he was too brave and went into a trash can right next to me. I pounded on the trash can and he came flying out of there like it was the end of the world. Reckless and spoiled squirrel. Grrr.
• My Greek professor's obsession with accents. It's hard enough to learn the declensions and vocabulary. I do not care where the accent mark on the word goes. The 3 people in our class who took Greek in undergrad all said that their profs in the past shrugged it off as unnecessary, as does our textbook. I understand his enthusiasm, but I do not share it. Don't grade me on it.
• The fact that my roommate has a ginormous flatscreen TV, but won't pay for the HD channels. Or DVR.
• At coffee hour every Friday, the bagel slicer isn't sharp enough and it squishes my bagel. Totally flattens it. Then I have to somehow unflatten it in order to put cream cheese on it. It's a minor inconvenience, but still, annoying.
• The chairs in one of the rooms I have a discussion class in don't fit underneath the table. The arms go right up the edge, but don't quite go underneath, so we sit perched at the edge of the table without being able to put our legs underneath. It's very awkward.
• Nashville doesn't sell Diet Cherry Coke. At least not at Target or Kroger. This upsets me. I LOVE Diet Cherry Coke. It is my favorite. I have been drinking plain Diet Coke since I got here. And no, Cherry Coke Zero is not the same. I don't know what to do. It's driving me crazy.
• There is a girl in my program who looks just like my friend Laura. And the fact that Laura is my one friend from college who is also in Nashville, freaks me out even more. It's like there are two of her. This isn't exactly a pet peeve, but it's really freakin weird.
• I need new shoes and I don't know where to go to get some.
• You know that awkward moment when you're friends with someone but they're better friends with a mutual friend? And then you have to try to make conversation when the mutual friend isn't there? I have to do that once a week with this one guy when our friend goes one way after class and he and I walk the other direction, and I end up being the awkward conversation-babbler who is trying too hard to come up with things to say. It's annoying.
• Nashville doesn't seem to have right turn lanes.
• When walking across campus, people are texting and walking and weaving all over the sidewalk because they can't text and walk at the same time. This is a universal college-wide phenomenon.
• My GPS decides not to work when I need it the most.
• My belt buckle pokes a tiny hole in every single one of my t-shirts.
• And last but not least, because so many of my classes are with the same people or in the same classrooms, I can never remember who is in what class when. Even after two months, it's a constant surprise when I go to my discussion groups to see who I am discussing with.

Time flies when you're... well, really busy actually.

So I've been in Nashville for a month already. I can't believe it's September. Part of that disbelief is because for the last 4 days it has been 100 degrees here while in MN it's been 75. I think if I continue living here, September might no longer be my favorite month, I may just have to push it back to November or something. Call me a yankee, but it's too hot down here.

What have I been doing for the last month, you may ask? I have actually been surprisingly busy. I spent the first week by myself being bored, but once orientation came around, I became a social butterfly! (Okay, not quite. I don't think any circumstance could turn ME into a social butterfly, but I did make a few friends). For starters, my roommate and a few of her friends took me out to a place called the Bluebird Cafe, where local singers/songwriters play music. It's a really laid back environment- it's even in a strip mall off the highway- and we just had appetizers and beer while listening to them play for a few hours. Nothing fancy, but I got a taste of the music side of music city USA.

A few friends from orientation and I decided to make a day trip out to the Jack Daniels distillery about an hour outside of Nashville (which, ironically, is in a dry county). So we took the tour of the distillery and spent the afternoon in a tiny town that looked like it was still in the 1800s, except for all the tourists and motorcycle gangs.

As for my classes, I am taking two big lecture courses that are required for all first year divinity students- Hebrew Bible and Formation of the Christian Tradition. The Hebrew Bible prof likes to joke and thinks he's funny, which he is, but when it's monday morning and we're all still half sleeping, he doesn't understand why our laughter is only half-hearted. I'm also taking Koine Greek, which is royally kicking my ass. I'm hoping it gets easier, but not counting on it. And last but not least, Contemporary Issues in American Religion, which is small and discussion based (reminds me fondly of Macalester), and should be really interesting, especially since it's broken into modules of discussion based on politics, sexuality, and the decline of church attendance. What I have learned thus far is that I am more prepared for grad school than most people. When other people see 10 books on the syllabus they think OMG WHAT?! and I think, "Oh, this prof is like Paula." Or when we had to read Perpetua for my Christianity class, I only half read it because this was my 4th time. Clearly my undergrad did something for me.

My work study ended up being in the library, and it is a completely pointless job. I get paid $9 an hour to sit at a desk, check books back into the library, sort them, sometimes shelve them, and on saturday nights, it's so dead that I just do my homework. It's pathetic that I get paid more to do that than I have at any previous job. But hey, it pays for groceries.

I also found a karate club on campus that I joined and am practicing with. It's goju-ryu instead of shorin-ryu, which is what I did at home, but they are both Okinawan and therefore VERY similar. I love the people and we have a lot in common. I can tell already I'm going to like it.

Last but not least, Shawn and I are moving forward with wedding planning for next summer. We reserved a venue in Cold Spring, and are having our ceremony at his church in Paynesville. So in addition to all the other junk I'm doing, I'm trying to plan a wedding from 5 states away. YAY!!!

As usual, my updates seem to be running long and I'm not sure how much actual substance is present. All I know is that I'm having a grand ol' time here in Nashville (hehe, pun intended). I'll try and keep you posted on a monthly basis unless anything major happens in the meantime :)