im nineteen!
this is my first birthday alone... i miss my family.
in celebration my pseudo-roommate took me to see the oklahoma city bombings memorial. and my other roommate gave me a fudge bar. and her boyfriend told me he actually doesnt dislike me at all like hes been telling me all week when he sees me.
in totality its been a lovely start to a lovely day.
i dont feel any older.
fun fact: my mom has told me for my whole life that i was born at 318. and then last year i was putting my baby ornament on the tree that has my legnth and weight and time of birth and guess what?!?! i was born at 338. how lame.
i still say i was born at 318. which means its my birthday in a little over an hour and a half! yay!
also, at 800 we leave for the dallas international airport ((which is the only place ive been bitten by a bug since 2000)) and at 1620 our plane takes off and ill be on my way!
ill have been nineteen for more than twelve hours by then. im certain ill feel much older.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
fascination, frustration, appreciation.
well, im still in the great state of oklahoma and nothing worth blogging about has happened but i figure if i have the opportunity yeah? who knows, i could be in the high, high swiss alps with heidi and her grandfather and nor have internet to write in a month and then at least youll have this post to read!
i like word tricks. it makes things easier to remember... like rhymes! the three above are the three stages of culture shock that we learned about in class this week. FASCINATION is the excited stage, the exuberant energy.. kinda my whole life actually. FRUSTRATION is the homesick, tired, cranky stage. today we learned that often people run into this in religious situations because our beliefs run so deep that its hard to accept anything different. but this too shall pass into APPRECIATION which is the adapting part of culture shock.
i find it hard to believe ((although everyone has said its true)) that when we reenter the states well have reverse culture shock. its amazing how resilient and flexible the human being is- that after eighteen years and fifty-one weeks i could change in just three months away from my original culture, and then change back!
i wrote a poem in class today to help me stay awake:
"Oh Hapsburgs Oh Hapsburgs
You were so clever and tricky,
It's hard to believe
You got into a situation so sticky.
You started a war,
Made lots of people poor,
And now your only politician is Otto."
dont applaud too loudly, i might go deaf and then i couldnt hear all the lovely austrian orchestral music. side note: i know otto doesnt fit but i couldnt remember his sons names and if they would have worked better.
so thats all really. im a little sick, partially from the plane ride and partially from the new climate. but im taking tylenol and drinking water so ill live.
"awe"ful moment: the week before i got to OCU i had a huge list of things to get for the trip. one of those things was a thumb drive to back my photos up and use for miscellaneous things, but it was on the second list, which meant that it was lower priority than, say, a camera. so the night before the trip i had everything from my first list and most things from my second list ((im a list freak yeah?)) and i was really worried that i wasnt prepared properly. so i prayed about it and about me having a good attitude and i went to go pack. anyway, skip forward a couple days. today after classes ended our sponsor, dr waldo, annouces that OCU has decided to donate a 1 gig thumb drive to each student going overseas. good work OCU. its not like i think that God nudged someone at OCU to give us thumb drives just because i gave it up to him... cause getting the thumb drive wasnt the point. i tried to make every problem i was having my own when really theres too much in this world to do anything without God. at least in my corner of the world there is. that was very long. all im saying is that its worthwhile, giving up control.
funny/exciting moment: so class is over and im walking across the middle of campus where its most densely populated and this huge bird comes out a bush at my face with a buzzing war cry. so i did what everyone would have done- i flung my notebook in the air and myself on the ground and screeched. and im loud, so i definitely wasnt a small yell. and after the danger had passed i got up and looked around, and no one had noticed! a lucky break for me. there was a guy who is going on the trip with me that ive not got a chance to meet yet about ten yards away snapping photos in the opposite direction and i walked up to him and described my attacker and guess what he said. ill tell you. "Oh, that wasnt a bird. it was a bee." are you kidding me?!?!
im adding this experience to my list of reasons i love washington.
i like word tricks. it makes things easier to remember... like rhymes! the three above are the three stages of culture shock that we learned about in class this week. FASCINATION is the excited stage, the exuberant energy.. kinda my whole life actually. FRUSTRATION is the homesick, tired, cranky stage. today we learned that often people run into this in religious situations because our beliefs run so deep that its hard to accept anything different. but this too shall pass into APPRECIATION which is the adapting part of culture shock.
i find it hard to believe ((although everyone has said its true)) that when we reenter the states well have reverse culture shock. its amazing how resilient and flexible the human being is- that after eighteen years and fifty-one weeks i could change in just three months away from my original culture, and then change back!
i wrote a poem in class today to help me stay awake:
"Oh Hapsburgs Oh Hapsburgs
You were so clever and tricky,
It's hard to believe
You got into a situation so sticky.
You started a war,
Made lots of people poor,
And now your only politician is Otto."
dont applaud too loudly, i might go deaf and then i couldnt hear all the lovely austrian orchestral music. side note: i know otto doesnt fit but i couldnt remember his sons names and if they would have worked better.
so thats all really. im a little sick, partially from the plane ride and partially from the new climate. but im taking tylenol and drinking water so ill live.
"awe"ful moment: the week before i got to OCU i had a huge list of things to get for the trip. one of those things was a thumb drive to back my photos up and use for miscellaneous things, but it was on the second list, which meant that it was lower priority than, say, a camera. so the night before the trip i had everything from my first list and most things from my second list ((im a list freak yeah?)) and i was really worried that i wasnt prepared properly. so i prayed about it and about me having a good attitude and i went to go pack. anyway, skip forward a couple days. today after classes ended our sponsor, dr waldo, annouces that OCU has decided to donate a 1 gig thumb drive to each student going overseas. good work OCU. its not like i think that God nudged someone at OCU to give us thumb drives just because i gave it up to him... cause getting the thumb drive wasnt the point. i tried to make every problem i was having my own when really theres too much in this world to do anything without God. at least in my corner of the world there is. that was very long. all im saying is that its worthwhile, giving up control.
funny/exciting moment: so class is over and im walking across the middle of campus where its most densely populated and this huge bird comes out a bush at my face with a buzzing war cry. so i did what everyone would have done- i flung my notebook in the air and myself on the ground and screeched. and im loud, so i definitely wasnt a small yell. and after the danger had passed i got up and looked around, and no one had noticed! a lucky break for me. there was a guy who is going on the trip with me that ive not got a chance to meet yet about ten yards away snapping photos in the opposite direction and i walked up to him and described my attacker and guess what he said. ill tell you. "Oh, that wasnt a bird. it was a bee." are you kidding me?!?!
im adding this experience to my list of reasons i love washington.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
IM OFF! ...after a small "not off" glitch
"you can have either freedom or stability"
-dr norton.
instead of catching the 655 am plane to okc i caught the 1305 plane which put me into town seven hours later than planned. did mention this was unplanned? however they served dried fruit and ritz cheese crackers on the first leg so i forgave the situation soon into the flight.
i got off the plane in kansas city ((which is built on the border of two states and the cops have to turn on their lights in pusuit before they cross the border to arrest someone- i learned that from my seatmates, both from kansas city.)). stepping off the plane it was 87 degrees.. at 7 o'clock at night! it was like stepping into anther world. i left the airport and stared at the setting sun- i could actually see the movement of the sun the horizon was so far away. it felt like what i imagine africa to feel like. i've never seen so much.. nothing. It makes me a little nervous actually, i mean what if someone was shooting at me? where would i hide? i guess ive been watching too many scary movies lately.
so i sat in the waiting room all alone with my pink corsage, my pink cake, and my backpack ((not pink)) with the nfl blaring out of the tiniest tv ever. The corsage was to make me feel lovely and was a gift from a lady at church, the cake was also a gift from a lady at church to be saved for my birthday, and the backpack i bought with my mom. the game i watched with something close to manic intensity- it was my last monday night game before i leave after all. also my first. so thats kansas for me.
the second flight had seats made of leather, slippery and cold. the flight attendant for the back half of the plane, all ten of us, snuck me an extra blanket because i smiled at his offer of a gourmet dinner of honey roasted peanuts. the guy next to me shivered the whole flight, he should have been nicer to danny ((that's what i named the flight attendant cause he didnt have a name tag)).
so now im in OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! klahoma. I'm staying with a friend from back home which is nice, it makes being here more cozy.
The week at OCU is full of lots of things but mostly getting to know everyone and listening to lectures. lots and lots of lectures. the rochester group is smaller than expected so there are only six people going who arent from OCU. everyone is so nice though, weve already blended into one big excited group. all morning people asked me if i was the delayed person and it took me two or three times to figure out last night someone must have referred to me as being delayed from the first session. glad i figured that out!
"awe"ful moment: taking my first step into the little hallway leading to the plane. that was the first time it really hit me that i was really truly leaving. and not just to portland or even to the other side of the us.. but to the other side of the world!
funny moment: the very first lecture i sat next to this guy who had a southern drawl and a constant monologue and after the speaker mentioned lunch being catered ((chic-fil-a, subway, etc.)) he says, "well thats right! thats what im paying the big bucks for. dont want cat food. shoot."
-dr norton.
instead of catching the 655 am plane to okc i caught the 1305 plane which put me into town seven hours later than planned. did mention this was unplanned? however they served dried fruit and ritz cheese crackers on the first leg so i forgave the situation soon into the flight.
i got off the plane in kansas city ((which is built on the border of two states and the cops have to turn on their lights in pusuit before they cross the border to arrest someone- i learned that from my seatmates, both from kansas city.)). stepping off the plane it was 87 degrees.. at 7 o'clock at night! it was like stepping into anther world. i left the airport and stared at the setting sun- i could actually see the movement of the sun the horizon was so far away. it felt like what i imagine africa to feel like. i've never seen so much.. nothing. It makes me a little nervous actually, i mean what if someone was shooting at me? where would i hide? i guess ive been watching too many scary movies lately.
so i sat in the waiting room all alone with my pink corsage, my pink cake, and my backpack ((not pink)) with the nfl blaring out of the tiniest tv ever. The corsage was to make me feel lovely and was a gift from a lady at church, the cake was also a gift from a lady at church to be saved for my birthday, and the backpack i bought with my mom. the game i watched with something close to manic intensity- it was my last monday night game before i leave after all. also my first. so thats kansas for me.
the second flight had seats made of leather, slippery and cold. the flight attendant for the back half of the plane, all ten of us, snuck me an extra blanket because i smiled at his offer of a gourmet dinner of honey roasted peanuts. the guy next to me shivered the whole flight, he should have been nicer to danny ((that's what i named the flight attendant cause he didnt have a name tag)).
so now im in OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! klahoma. I'm staying with a friend from back home which is nice, it makes being here more cozy.
The week at OCU is full of lots of things but mostly getting to know everyone and listening to lectures. lots and lots of lectures. the rochester group is smaller than expected so there are only six people going who arent from OCU. everyone is so nice though, weve already blended into one big excited group. all morning people asked me if i was the delayed person and it took me two or three times to figure out last night someone must have referred to me as being delayed from the first session. glad i figured that out!
"awe"ful moment: taking my first step into the little hallway leading to the plane. that was the first time it really hit me that i was really truly leaving. and not just to portland or even to the other side of the us.. but to the other side of the world!
funny moment: the very first lecture i sat next to this guy who had a southern drawl and a constant monologue and after the speaker mentioned lunch being catered ((chic-fil-a, subway, etc.)) he says, "well thats right! thats what im paying the big bucks for. dont want cat food. shoot."
Sunday, August 26, 2007
dog days.
its my last day at home. so im washing all my clothes, cleaning the house from my party last night and buying garlic bread for church tonight... what ever college student does the night before leaving. i mean, who packs early? im sure ill regret it if i forget my toothbrush- although im pretty sure they sell toothbrushes in europe too.
my mom is working otherwise shed be telling me i should already be packed.
OTHER EXCITING NEWS FROM THIS WEEK:
- i got a camera, and a 2 gig card ((2000 photos)) so get ready for pictures!
- i went to portland to say goodbye to all my friends and then i came home. thats not so exciting but...
- i got the soundtrack to Once. very chill.
- i had a party last night and we had chicken. it was excellent. photos above. ((tanya, melvin and barbara, and the "kid" table))
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Have A Harrison Day!
My family went to the company picnic today for my Mother.
Nice work taking care of your people Harrison.
Walked a 5k.
Listened to a cheesy dj say things like, "Have a Harrison day!"
Got free t-shirts and bandaid holders.
Played on the blowup obstacle course ((my brother Jarrod and Terry beat Mom and I soundly. Nuts.)).
And I won a water bottle! From the 5k raffle. It's perfect for the trip.
Which is why I posted this fantastic story of my day.
Nice work taking care of your people Harrison.
Walked a 5k.
Listened to a cheesy dj say things like, "Have a Harrison day!"
Got free t-shirts and bandaid holders.
Played on the blowup obstacle course ((my brother Jarrod and Terry beat Mom and I soundly. Nuts.)).
And I won a water bottle! From the 5k raffle. It's perfect for the trip.
Which is why I posted this fantastic story of my day.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
T minus...
Only three weeks left until I leave for Oklahoma Christian! My friend who is graduating this year from OCU is letting me stay with her for the week we're on campus which is nice because I can do laundry and relax and catch up with her. So the last planning hurdle before we leave for overseas is done.
Not that I'm completely ready though! My Mom and I went shopping last night for little things- I finally chose a backpack! Now she's watching Guarding Tess. It's a nice background to have while writing. I mention my Mother to say two things: first that I love her. And second that I don't think that I would be motivated to be in college if it weren't for her. She lets me call her all the time, even now that I'm home and talk about school. Or whatever else I need to vent. So thanks Mom. I'm stressful to shop with apparently but she did it anyway. Lovely woman, my Mother.
It's been weird having all my friends talk about going back to campus and all the stuff they are going to buy for their apartments while I essentially pack an entire semester into a carry on suitcase.
Some of the advice on traveling overseas is to put everything on a bed that you intend to take and then put half of it back. Isn't that the craziest thing?!?! I'm such an overpacker so I'm making my Mom hold me accountable. Actually I'm more of a panic packer. At the last minute I freak out that I might not have what I need and then I cram useless stuff into my bag. Regardless packing is going to be nuts! But I'm excited. I bought a new toothbrush, and I'm not using it until the trip. Something else to look forward to!
Not that I'm completely ready though! My Mom and I went shopping last night for little things- I finally chose a backpack! Now she's watching Guarding Tess. It's a nice background to have while writing. I mention my Mother to say two things: first that I love her. And second that I don't think that I would be motivated to be in college if it weren't for her. She lets me call her all the time, even now that I'm home and talk about school. Or whatever else I need to vent. So thanks Mom. I'm stressful to shop with apparently but she did it anyway. Lovely woman, my Mother.
It's been weird having all my friends talk about going back to campus and all the stuff they are going to buy for their apartments while I essentially pack an entire semester into a carry on suitcase.
Some of the advice on traveling overseas is to put everything on a bed that you intend to take and then put half of it back. Isn't that the craziest thing?!?! I'm such an overpacker so I'm making my Mom hold me accountable. Actually I'm more of a panic packer. At the last minute I freak out that I might not have what I need and then I cram useless stuff into my bag. Regardless packing is going to be nuts! But I'm excited. I bought a new toothbrush, and I'm not using it until the trip. Something else to look forward to!
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