Working for the weekend

This past weekend I had my very first day of work at my third job (I also work here at Admissions and then at the Neese Theatre box office selling tickets for Beloit shows.) This new job of mine is of the hard, physical labor variety working for my FYI advisor, who recently purchased a beautiful, old Victorian mansion and needs help renovating it. She was generous enough to offer me a job doing odds and ends around the place to help whip it into shape, so Saturday I walked on over and proceeded to rake, scrub and paint. It was actually kind of nice to take a break from mental labor and do physical labor instead. I'd forgotten how rewarding it is to put a lot of physical work into something and then sit back to bask in the results.
(Though I still haven't been able to completely get all the paint splotches off my hands...)
I'm financing my study abroad completely on my own, so every little drop in the bucket counts and I'm currently drudging up jobs wherever I can. (I have two more possibly in the pipeline.) My schedule is already full as it is, but when I make a goal to do something (like study abroad), I don't give up until I reach it. (I'm a little stubborn that way.)
A good number of students who enroll at Beloit do work-study and work-study jobs can range from stocking shelves in the library to washing dishes in commons to being a writing tutor at the writing center to working in Admissions and keeping a blog.


After work, my friend Ellen and I drove to Hollywood video to rent a couple movies. (We got Matchstick Men and Maria Full of Grace.) Unfortunately, we somehow got turned around and wound up driving in the exact opposite direction of the college for roughly twenty minutes. We'd known from the start that we were on the wrong road, but in our infinite wisdom, we thought we would be able to sort ourselves out eventually. In the end, we had to stop at a gas station and shamefacedly ask which way the college was.
We did finally get back safe and sound (and watched Matchstick Men), but I've decided it's time to reactivate my Netflix account in order to avoid further incident.
I spent most of today working on my study abroad application for Lancaster. It's so close to being done, yet so far from it. The due date for the application is Nov. 3, so it's getting down to the wire. Luckily, there's been a slight lull in my schoolwork load, so I'll be able to finish it in time.

There you are, Blog. Right where I left you.

Fall break ended a mere three days ago, but it feels like I never even left. The only signs of my having been gone are the balding treetops, the thick blanket of leaves on the ground, and Chamberlin looking more and more destroyed. (It's pretty neat to watch, actually. It sort of looks like Godzilla stormed Beloit and Chamberlin was a casualty.)
My fall break was wonderful, but uneventful (which was probably what made it so wonderful in the first place). I knew that pretty much all my friends from home would still be at college, so I dragged home a friend from Beloit for the first half of break and I was able to show her around Racine. We sat by Lake Michigan and pondered our place in the universe, baked lots of cookies, watched The Rescuers Down Under, and strolled through River Bend Nature Center while brainstorming for NaNoWriMo. After she left, my brother and I clocked in some serious Rock Band 2 play, my dog and I napped more than is healthy for human or canine, and I spent ridiculous amounts of time strolling around our nearby Barnes and Noble. I also managed to be slightly productive by beginning work on my study abroad application. It's nowhere near polished, but I know I'll get it where it needs to be in time for the Nov. 3 deadline.
Study abroad seems to be on almost every second-year's mind right now. Usually students study abroad their junior year, but studying abroad can't usually be a last minute decision. There are applications to write (yes, applications plural), recommendations to get, finances to work out, and just general research on wherever it is you want to go. This may seem like a lot of work, but the more and more I prepare for study abroad and work on my application, the more excited I get about going. (P.S. That would be Lancaster University in England.) Some of the places my friends are thinking about studying abroad are: Wales, France, Japan, Ireland, and New Zealand.

月見

I finally, finally was able to go to a Japan Club event (at least partially). My schedule is packed tight with class and work, and unfortunately there's always some other obligation I have that interferes with Japan Club events, but last night I had a window of time in which I could actually go off and participate in Japan Club's tsukimi (moon viewing) event. Although I didn't actually get to go up to the roof of the science center and check out the moon with everyone else (I had to rush off to work), I was able to help make tsukimi dango or rice cakes, which are basically dumplings made of rice. (And eat them too. Yum!) I like trying new foods out, so I was eager to give the tsukimi dango a whirl. I wasn't sure I would like them, but they tasted pretty good.
In case you're curious, other Japan Club events in the pipeline are an origami workshop, a tea ceremony demonstration, a visit to the Anderson Japanese Gardens, and hopefully a trip to Mistuwa later this semester.