An Update and a Meme

I had a really good day today. I went and had lunch with the Ph.D. student I told you about yesterday, and we had a really good time. She probably needs a pseudonym because I imagine we'll be interacting more in the future, so I'll call her Mari. She's older than I assumed she would be (37, although she doesn't look it at all) but in spite of the age difference we hit it off right away. We ended up hanging out for three hours and we chattered away the whole time. Although we have a lot in common and clearly get along well, she's married with a family and lives an hour away so I doubt she'll become a drinking buddy or anything like that. And let's face it, I need to find some single people to hang out with if I want a hope of any sort of social life. Still, we definitely hit it off and I think she definitely has potential to become a friend.
She took me to lunch at a fun microbrewery near campus and also showed me a little of the campus. She showed me where the main library is, took me over to the campus bookstore (where I was able to look at the books for the various seminars and start to think about which ones I might want to register for next week), and gave me a tour of our department's building. Our facilities are amazing. I'm really excited to have such a nice-looking place to work and study. Just by coincidence one of the department secretaries happened to be in her office when we walked by, and she gave me the key to my office. I have an office space! This is sort of exciting to me because I never had an office at my old school. I could have had one if I wanted it, but for various reasons that I can't get into here without giving out too much information about my job, I didn't use the office space at all. Plus it wasn't really an official office, it was more like a storage space with three desks shoved into it. This, however, is an actual office, down the hall with all the faculty offices. I even have my name and office number on the directory when you walk into the building, which makes me feel very official. True, I share the office with three people, and it's not a huge office. I don't mind, though. It's just kind of cool to have my own desk (and my own computer!!). The nice thing is that apparently one of my officemates didn't really use his space much last year, so maybe he won't want to use it this year, either. Both of my officemates are men, which should be interesting. Mari says the one guy who uses the office is really cool, though, so I hope that's true. Anyway, we also randomly ran into one of the Ph.D. faculty members in the bookstore, so Mari introduced me to her. I was a bit taken aback when Mari said, "Dr. S., this is *A*, one of the new Ph.D. students," and Dr. S. just said, "Ah, yes, *A*." I realize that obviously there was a committee to choose the new Ph.D. students and that many of the faculty members will have read my papers and statement of purpose, etc., but it's still disconcerting to realize that these people already know a bit about me and have probably made assumptions of what sort of person I will be. I wonder if I'll be what they are expecting.
I think I have already surprised a few people because I look so much younger than I actually am. Last week when I went up to campus to give one of the secretaries my tax info, she said, "Oh, I bet you're here to see [Undergraduate Secretary] and I said, "No, actually, I'm one of the new graduate assistants," and she went, "Oh! I'm sorry, I just assumed..." and I laughed and said it was fine and that was that. And today when I went to pick up my parking pass, the student working there said I needed my ID to get it and I explained that I didn't have a student ID yet, so he said, "Oh, okay. Well, you'll get one at orientation." Orientation. Clearly he assumed I am an incoming freshman. (At least he gave me my parking pass anyway). I get annoyed sometimes with how young I look. I feel like I have to work harder than other people to get respect because I quite literally look at least five years younger than I actually am. Maybe even younger than that. I think without makeup on I could probably pass as a junior in high school. I think I am probably in for several more years of being mistaken for one of my students. But I'm used to it by now, I'll just deal with it as I always have. Ten years from now I'll be grateful. I'm grateful right now, in fact. But it's still a tiny challenge at times.

But yeah. All in all I had a good day. And now that I have an office space and a parking pass and have met a few people on campus, this whole thing is finally becoming very, very real for me. I'm really ready to get into classes to see what I have really gotten myself into.

And now for a meme, since I have a lot of time to kill tonight.

Accent: I don't think I really have an accent at all. To my own ears I'm pretty much American standard, although it will be interesting to see if anyone up here in yankee land thinks I have an accent. I did pick up a few southern tics in college.

Booze: I enjoy it, in moderation...if moderation means not drinking at all (or very minimally, as in one drink with dinner) for a week or two and then having two drinks too many when I actually do go out for the sole purpose of drinking. I suppose that's actually called "binge drinking." Oh well. I'm definitely a social drinker only, though. It never even crosses my mind to drink when I'm home by myself. I don't know if I'd drink more often if I lived with someone; I probably would. There's just something about drinking alone that seems sad to me, even when it's just the above-mentioned glass-of-wine-with-dinner sort of drinking. I guess I just equate alcohol with celebrating and flirting, two things that one can't (or doesn't want) to do alone. I drink just about anything, too, but my favorites are dark and cider beers, vodka tonics, and pretty much any flavor of martini. The only thing I can't drink anymore are Cape Cods, I got way too sick off of them on my 21st and haven't wanted one since.

Chore I hate: Cleaning the cat's litter box.

Dog or cat: Both!! I adore both my cat and my dog (happily snuggled together on the couch right now, by the way). If I have to pick I guess I would say I'm more of a dog person, but I hope to always have both dogs and cats.

Essential electronics: Cell phone and lap top that is connected to the internet. The internet connection is imperative.

Favorite cologne: I don't really have one. None of the guys I've dated have had a signature cologne. They either didn't wear cologne much at all or switched it up often.

Gold or silver: Silver

Hometown: I have a much greater appreciation for it now that I don't live there anymore.

Job title: Graduate assistant

Kids: I don't have any yet, although I hope my life path includes a couple someday

Living arrangements: I share a one bedroom apartment with a cat and a dog

Most admirable trait: Someone else would have to answer this for me. It's really hard for me to ascertain what my best qualities would be.

Number of sexual partners: Depends on how broadly or narrowly you define "sex". No matter how I count it, it's a single digit number that's greater than 2. That's enough detail.

Overnight hospital stays: None (knock on wood). Actually, I had eye surgery when I was two so maybe I stayed overnight at the hospital then, but I barely remember it.

Phobias: None officially

Quote: Here's one that I have been pondering recently: "It is good that the avenues of art are obstructed by those brambles which repulse all but the strong-willed."-Victor Hugo

Religion: I was raised Lutheran, now I suppose I'm agnostic.

Siblings: Two, a sister and a brother. I'm the oldest.

Time I wake up: Whenever I have to wake up. If I have no appointments or obligations I can easily sleep until one in the afternoon. Generally I have to wake up sometime between 9 and 11. Any earlier than 9 and I'm mad. I'm a bit of a morning person in that once I'm up I'm wide awake and ready to get going, it's just the actual getting out of bed part that's hard if it's early.

Unusual talent or skill: Here's my most pathetic one: I text message really, REALLY fast. When I was bartending over the summer I'd often answer texts behind the bar when it wasn't too busy, and every time someone saw me do it they gave me a wide-eyed, "WOW!" I also read really fast, although I don't know that that is necessarily unusual, just useful considering my profession.

Vegetable I refuse to eat: I'll eat any vegetable, although I'm not a huge fan of lima beans.

X-rays: My teeth, and my right ankle the time I sprained it falling down a stairwell in a parking garage.

Yummy foods I make: Nothing. I mean, I am getting a lot better about cooking for myself on a semi-regular basis, but every single thing I make is from someone else's recipe.

Zodiac sign: Scorpio, which is by far the coolest one.