firbush weekend part 1
When I walked to class Friday morning, it was cold, but the inches of snow that covered the ground as I rushed to the bus were nonexistent. The snow began to melt as the rain began, but this only created a thick layer of slush on the sidewalk which made my shoes damp and my steps precarious. I walked to the university sports center, where we would meet for the weekend trip, after a lazy afternoon of eating grocery store samosas, playing with GPG for my computer security assignment, and watching a very stoned Iain exchange sheepish glances at me from across the common room. When I got to the meeting place, I loaded my bag into the trailer and waited about making small talk with people whose name I had long since forgotten from study abroad orientation.
The van ride to Firbush, the university’s outdoor center, took nearly two and a half hours on account of the inclement weather. The ride was excruciating at first as I found myself engaged in more small talk with some girl from Denison. We talked for a bit about racial diversity and racism on college campuses which was interesting, but nothing I hadn’t heard before. The conversation continued and I felt like I kept talking and talking just so I wouldn’t seem rude and have to deal with the awkwardness of an abrupt end to the conversation. The conversation eventually ended and I found myself engaged in another conversation that basically involved arguing the finer points of the revolutionary war with one kid, sarcastically, using “The Patriot” as his primary source of refutation. This was amusing and entertaining until we felt the van sliding backwards down the hill.
It turned out all the weight of the van’s occupants, as well as the trailer full of luggage was too much given the snowy hill. We had to get out, unhitch the trailer, move it to the side of the road, and then push the van up the hill. It was cold and snowy, but it was just the kind of ridiculous hassle that ends up being good fun. When we finally got the van to the outdoor center, a meal of Pizza, soup, and salad were waiting. I couldn’t partake in the pizza, but the soup and salad were allright.
After dinner was pretty much a repeat of the initial Arcadia orientation, where I had met all the kids before. The outdoor center had a bar, and most of the kids partook in its offerings. I’m not really uncomfortable around less than sober kids, provided that I know them pretty well, but when it’s a bunch of strangers, it’s awkward as hell. I didn’t want to deal with it. Too much like the American scene that I came here to get away from. So, I spent the rest of the evening like a nerd, playing chess on my Palm Pilot, and reading the textbook for my computer architecture class. That was the most work I got done all weekend. It was kind of a bad scene. I had that all too familiar feeling of being pretty frustrated, and feeling really, really out of place. I just hoped that the next day would be more what I expected when I signed up for the trip – crazy outdoor activities and scenery, as opposed to drunk American kids acting like drunk American kids.