Greetings from the ‘Ham, all.
I know what you’re thinking - “Hey! what New and Interesting Things has Nathaniel Jones been up to today?” Because I’m psychic I know stuff like that. And because I know that you had that question, I’m posting this entry to answer it even before you ASK! ooooo
First I’ll go back and fill in the Missing Bits and Pieces from Days Past: First off, in my last B-ham update, I told you all that “I got here a few years ago and have just now finished unpacking.” You see, when I arrived in Bellingham and walked into my apartment, apparently I stepped into some kind of Time Vortex that transported me into another dimension, where I lived for several years until I somehow stepped into another Time Vortex that brought me back to the present time without me ever knowing that it had happened. Thus, while it would appear to you all that I had only been in B-ham for a few hours, I had actually been here for a few years. In case you thought that it had been a typo, now you know the real reason.
Once that whole time vortex issue had sorted itself out, I got on to more factually accurate things. That day I was horribly tired, so after drawing the Patriot Day cartoon, I went to bed early - but not before finding out that the person the stuff in the apartment belonged to Hero, my suitemate from Japan. I did not talk to him long that night, for I was sleepy, and had to get up early the next morning for Help training.
Help training Friday morning was exactly the same as Help training last year, except for a few video clips had been updated to more recent movies. After Help training, I walked about campus for a while, went to lunch at the dining hall, and worked my first Help shift until dinnertime (dining hall once again - part of the payment for being a help is that they give you a dining plan for two days). After dinner I walked to rite-aid to pick up a lamp, a shower poof, and some hangers. Did you know they have all sorts of wondrous things at Rite Aid now? I very nearly bought a CD case, a color-changing light fountain, a massage chair, and a hot pot, but I was able to gather up the will power to put everything back except for what I originally went in to get. Then I went to Haggen’s to put my food money into my BoA checking account, but the bank was closed, so I went back to the apartment for bed time (somehow there are a few hours that dissappeared between dinner and Haggen, because I didn’t think it was possible that 5 hours had passed between them, but apparently they did. I can only assume there was another time vortex.
Today was the most exciting day yet - I started it off by sleeping, and then I walked up to campus. I walked around the PAC to see if there was anyone in there (there wasn’t), and then to the bookstore to pick up my books. I only ended up getting one (for 360) because my Physics book was only available in ‘new’ edition, and I didn’t feel like spending $130 on it, and then I couldn’t remember the course numbers for my other classes. So a trip to the College Store is in order, and if that fails, it’s to the Internet to get my books. After that it was time for lunch, so back to the dining hall I went (it would be my last meal in the dining hall - I skipped breakfast because I wanted to sleep later than 8:15, and I would skip dinner for exciting reasons yet to come.
After lunch I went for Help shift #2. This was a better shift, because I was indoors and there were people to talk to, rather than shift #1 when I was out in the cold all alone (it was quite boring until I started entertaining myself by having a dance party with my cellphone ringtones, and teaching myself how to talk using only whistling). Once that shift was over, I went back to Haggens and put my money in the bank and picked up a bag of pears and a box of tea, and went back to the apartment. there I checked my e-mail and played some games until 7, when Hero got back and it was time for us to go out to dinner - he was going to take me to have sushi for the very first time.
For sushi we went to the Kyoto Steakhouse a couple blocks from our apartment. Half of the restaurant was the type where the chef comes out and cooks your food at your table and does fancy tricks with the knives and things, and the other half is a sushi bar (the latter is where we dined). Since I know nothing about the world of sushi, Hero ordered for me - we both had the tempura veggies and shrimp with an assortment of 7 types of sushi. Based on what I just researched on the internet, I can tell you that what I had was ‘nigiri sushi,’ and based on pictures found online, I’d say that the specific types we had were tuna, eel, squid, salmon, shrimp, and some other ones. In addition to the seven, Hero ordered us each Ikura - caviar sushi. It was quite an experience - some of it was quite delicious, others no so much. My favorite was the eel. And the tempura shrimp and veggies was delicious. Also delicious was dessert - tempura fried icecream. Yum.
After dinner we came back to the apartment and watched “A Hard Day’s Night” on my computer (because there’s no TV). I had to explain what was going on to Hero, who couldn’t understand most of what they were saying, but he liked the movie. It was a lovely evening exploring other cultures for all. And now, since it’s 1am, I’m going to sleep, because tomorrow will be a long day moving in the 600 people left to move in to birnam wood… excitement indeed.