Inauguration craziness has definitely hit DC, and we’re still a couple of days away from the actual event … I just spent all day out on the National Mall at the We Are One Inauguration concert, so I am dead tired, so suffice it to say that this is a truly awesome time to be in DC. Oh, and there are pictures up on my flickr A sample of the photos is below, and a complete overview blog post is forthcoming, sometime after it’s all over and things have settled down.

So, my break has been fabulous. I’m getting plenty of karate in (we did get snowed out a few times, but this is to be expected in New Hampshire in December), I’m reading and hanging out with the awesome people that make up my NH social circle and sleeping in and eating good food on my own eating schedule, thanks very much (which, for the record, involves random meals all somewhere between 9 AM and 11 PM, none of that ridiculous three meals a day nonsense), and basically life is good.

And I somehow also feel good about heading back down to DC; I’ll certainly miss home,  but you will not find me madly clinging to something in Boston Logan Airport and refusing to leave. Compounding my general feeling of non-stress is the fact that this time, unlike when I left for last semester, I actually know what to expect; the prospect of having classes for the next 3 months is not quite as unbelievably exciting, being as I’m now aware that classes = getting up early, heavy textbooks, and lots and lots of paper writing (woo), but at least I’ve got a very clear idea of what I’m going into, which as everyone knows is something that I’m very fond of having. I’ve also once again managed to save a bunch of money by renting my books ($204.20, to be exact), which is nice. That about covers it all—DC people, I will see you starting the 12th, NH people, you have 7 more days to catch up with me if you haven’t!

It hasn’t quite set in yet that I’m really finished, but officially I am done with my first college semester. I’m sure I’ll have some thoughts on it as a whole, given some time to reflect, but right now it works down to:

I’m glad I did well academically

I made some great friends

I’m not sure yet how living on my own in DC has affected who I am, but I’m sure it has in some way

I strongly dislike school food

I am so, so, so happy to be home.

I kind of can’t believe it yet, but this semester is well and truly nearly over. Thanksgiving Break is next week—New York! Food! And … other stuff I guess, but mainly food!—followed (for me almost immediately, because I am a final-week-skipping schedule ninja) by Winter Break. Followed of course by another semester, but I am not going to be particularly enamored of being reminded of that fact during the next couple of months, thanks very much. I’ve been having a really good time in DC, but I am still definitely looking forward to heading home; 5 weeks of New Hampshire, my friends, my family, and nothing on my schedule but karate classes.

In the meantime, I’ve been fairly busy; my school workload has picked up a bit, as we’re coming up on finals, although it’s nothing unmanageable, plus I’ve been apartment-hunting with one of my friends (no, dorm life doesn’t suck here, but I’m irked by the food and the guest policies, so I’m looking at other options), plus people keep inviting me out to lunch and things … so I’m comfortably busy. I hope everybody’s doing well

This is a beautiful day in America. That is all.

Just another brief entry, as I’ve not got anything new and earth-shattering to report. Aikido is still going well; my rolls are starting to look a bit more roll-y and a bit less like a collection of sharp edges hitting the floor, so that’s good. I’ve got a semi-ridiculous amount of homework to contend with at the moment (we’re talking 3 papers plus reading and problem sets due next week alone), but I’m managing it all OK.

I’ve got classes all next week, and am then heading up to New York on Thursday for the weekend (yes, my weekends start on Thursday—I love my schedule!). I’m looking forward to the elections, even though I (obnoxiously) can’t vote; I’ll definitely be needing some coffee before my Wednesday morning 9 AM class, because I’m sure to be up pretty late on that Tuesday. And 3 weeks after that, it’s Thanksgiving break in NY, immediately followed by winter break in NH (I’ll be home starting December 4th, for anyone that didn’t know), which, considering how much work my professors seem intent on piling on us in the last month of the semester, I am definitely looking forward to. Hope everyone’s doing well!

Just a quick update to say that I:

Survived the GJV weekend, which was intense and physically uncomfortable, but a valuable experience.

Am doing fine in my classes, just trying to keep up with the crush of midterms-season homework, and am looking forward to having this Monday off (yay for the historically inconsequential psuedo-holiday that is Columbus Day).

Get to see Daddy when he comes down this weekend, so yay!

And am doing pretty well with Aikido, it’s a lot of new stuff to learn (like, for instance, how to do a forward roll without landing on my head, my neck, my elbows, my knees, and every other part of my body simultaneously), but I’m enjoying the process. Also, I got my weight back up, for those that were privy to that particular fun episode and might have been worried. But that doesn’t mean you can’t all send me food

I’ve officially done my first full week of Aikido: class Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. It’s been good, I’ve met some really nice people, and I’m starting to get a feel for the rhythyms of the dojo, although I’ve still got a long way to go before it begins to feel really comfortable for me. But I’m worked out and happily sore (the “ow” would be referring to my knees, my back, my shoulders … no, that’s not a bad thing, that’s a good workout), so it’s good.

As a reminder, I will be gone this weekend, Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. This means no cell phone availability (shock! horror!), so if you call or text, expect a response no earlier than Monday afternoon. And next weekend, assuming everything works out, Daddy should be coming down to visit me, so yay! Then it’s less than two months to Thanksgiving break, which I am looking forward to; it’s not like I don’t like school, not at all, but I can tell that I’ll be somewhat burned out by November, and will welcome the time off. In other news, this week and next week is MIDTERMS oh boy! Most of my teachers aren’t doing actual midterms, but many of them are taking the opportunity apparently presented by there being midterms to start handing out assignments like they’re afraid we’ll float away if we’re not weighed down by 5-foot stacks of paper. Thus, having just finished 2 papers, about 30 pages of reading, and 2 assignments for my geography class, I still have homework left. I’m just determined not to get bogged down and burned out on this schedule; if I can manage to keep my head up, I think I can maintain the really good grades I’ve been managing to garner so far. That’s all for now, wish me luck as I go off to brave the wilds of West VA

I just got confirmation today that I will be participating in the Global Jubilee Village, which will hopefully be fun and interesting! Practically, this means that I will be gone and without phone/email/etc, October 3-5.

Aside from that, I went to my Aikido trial lesson last night, which went pretty well, and I’ll be starting classes there next week—there are some areas where it’s pretty different from karate, so I’ve got some adjusting to do, but hopefully training there will be a positive experience nonetheless! I’m also somewhat buried in homework at the moment, and am still missing home quite a bit, but I should be fine. More verbiage to come at some later point

So, I went in to an Aikido dojo here in DC to watch a class and meet with the instructor, and it went really well! It’ll definitely be a challenge starting a new art, especially having done karate for 5 years, but I really feel the need to be training in something while I’m here, and I think that this is a really good dojo. The instructor seems like a super nice person, he’s got a good rapport with his students, and the atmosphere at the class was serious but positive, which is great. I’m still training in karate on my own, and nothing’s going to fill my karate space, but I think that training in a dojo will really help restore some of my equilibrium while I’m here. So, I have a trial lesson on Thursday, and then will probably start classes next week; fingers crossed I don’t fall on my head the first day

In other news, coffee with my cousin Raina was lovely, and she actually lives in the same neighborhood as the Aikido dojo, so maybe we’ll get together again soon. I’m going to see Romeo and Juliet with my friend Aracely tonight (I’m sure I’ll have pictures to post), I’ve got reading to do and essays to write (woo?), and then Cap and Gown is this weekend; which, due to an obnoxious policy engineered by the administration here, at least 75% of the freshmen class has to participate in, or we don’t get visitation in October. So yeah, hopefully everybody shows up that needs to show up, because no visitation is stupid. And FYI everybody, pretty much none of my teachers are doing midterms, so I’m liable to be fairly available through October/November, around all of my regular classes and fabulous extracurricular activities. So if you want to chat, ring me and I should get back to you in pretty short order.