Hello everyone,
First of all, yes I am aware that I fail at regular blogging. It was definitely one of those things that was pushed to the back burners of my mind. So, let's see, it's been a month-and-a-half.
I don't exactly remember a lot of the specifics of April. I spent Easter weekend (or at least part of it) with Jen and her family, which included egg coloring and old school N64. If I didn't comment on this already, I was part of another murder mystery with people on the floor. It was a 1920's style party where I was Capo Tequila from New York. I ended up getting my personal tasks done (some more so than others), as well as being voted "Best Dressed"... I was decked out in a suit coat and shirt, dress pants, fedora, cape and cane. :-) Overall, April and May have been fun and enjoyable... with some studying thrown in there to break up the weekends. :-P
Then there were finals. I had a pretty decent finals schedule: math on tuesday night, math on wednesday morning, and sociology on friday morning. Early music ensemble (one of my music performance groups) had a finale concert one and a half weeks before finals; the concert went well, although I didn't realize there were so many ensembles under the EME umbrella. Chamber singers wrapped up the year beautifully with a performance of St Matthew Passion with the University Symphony Orchestra, choral grad students, and the main soloist was flown in from Germany. It was really awesome. Now that I'm talking about classes, all these memories are coming back. The night of the St. Matthew Passion concert was also our floor's surprise graduation party for our CA. So, still clad in full tuxedo, I escorted Linse to the floor where at least fifty people were hiding with cake, pizza, pop, and Kyle's slideshow of the year. We also gave Linse a UMN blanket, a gift card from Midwest Mountaineering, and a recycle bin that the floor signed. It's funny... she'll only be like two blocks away, but since she's graduating, she could feel like another world away.
...and I'm starting a new paragraph because this one was getting really long. Oh, and for theatre class, the final project was putting on a piece of a production, while involving some central theme relating to revolution and change (which was the main theme of the class). My group put on scenes from Moliere's "The Miser" which is a really funny play that you should read some time. I was the director in addition to playing the part of Harpagon, who is a really stingy old skinflint. The production was a really fun experience and our group did really well on functioning as a collection of individual *in addition* to functioning as a group. We also had to make a presentation about the production and write a final paper, and since they weren't as fun, I won't write about them as much. :-P Oh and besides our own presentation, the class got tickets to see Arabian Nights, which was AMAZING!!
So anyways, back to the finals. The math ones were both harder than normal/anticipated/the midterms, and even though they both knocked the air out of me, I felt I did well overall. I ended up with an A- in one math class and a B+ in the other one. I also felt like the sociology test went fairly well, and I did go into the final with good midterm scores. I haven't gotten any news back about the grades for sociology, chamber singers (although I know I'll get an a, since the grade is mainly attendance based for the choral ensembles), and theatre.
My theatre ta did email everyone to say that the finals grades were decided, so I should find out in a day or three.
Besides last week being finals, it was also my last week with working at UDS. I was expecting the managers to try to get me to sign up for shifts for next year, or interrogate me as to why I wouldn't return in the fall... but nothing like that happened. One of the reasons is that I was less involved with UDS because I had evening classes, so I didn't take dinner shifts (I took breakfast shifts instead, and I'm glad to be done with that). Or maybe they just don't expect second-year students to return... or they could have heard through Chris or someone that I'll be a CA next year and they just figured I'd do that instead of UDS. Anyway, my last day at work was a little bittersweet, but altogether satisfying. I'll miss some of the other student workers, but I'll probably miss the teamsters (the non-management full-time staff)... but I'll probably see them next year since I'll still be eating there.
Then of course, the year ended up the saddest way... leaving everyone. Okay, so I know I'll be seeing Ben, Kyle, Denise, Sara, Chris, and Grandpa Jack in mid-August for CA training, and I know I'll find time in my schedule for people like Mike and Aubree, Towey and Adem, Gina, and Becky... but excluding the other CAs, I don't actually know when I'll see people again. It's a dramatic thought, I know, but it was hard saying goodbye to the people that I had spent two years of my life with, day and night. I'm glad people like Currier and Weinburg kept all the memory board and quote board stuff.
After Saturday, which was the big move out day, I played some video games with Kyle, played Bang, watched the end of Battle Royale (messed up movie), and then packed. and packed. and packed. My goodness, I have a lot of stuff in my possession. Hopefully I can take time this summer to sort through it. Anyway, after I packed for a while, I decided to wander around and find a place to watch the sunrise. I had already planned on staying up the entire night, and it was nice way to encompass two years because my first night of college involved staying up all night (well, I went to bed 3/4 ish) with Mike, Towey, and Beth, and they went to the Washington Ave Bridge to watch the sunrise... I tried that and couldn't find a good spot. I ended up at East River Flats wandering around, watching the skies, and stumbling across a family of Canadian geese. After that, I went back to the Brook, packed the last of my stuff (okay, I was packing really slowly too), and then went to church. After that, I brought McDonald's for breakfast (UDS was closed as of Saturday brunch) and then ate, saw people off, helped clean stuff and when Mike came, packed my own stuff into the van. Fortunately everything fit into the van with one trip... even if I had to hold the fridge in my lap. After some errands and unpacking the stuff from the van, I crashed... and woke up just as everyone else was going to bed. I ended up playing some video games and then sleeping again for another five hours to get back to a somewhat normal sleep schedule. Yesterday was a combination of little chores and recreational time (like sifting through old emails and writing back to people via facebook).
Then last night came... however inevitable, it happened. Mike and I said our goodbyes. It was a little hard, saying goodbye to the guy I've lived with for two years. We started out college as randomly assigned roommates, but now I feel like I can talk to Mike about anything, and we've certainly shared some awesome experiences. Plus, he's been so hospitable over these two years... like letting me live at his house multiple times. It'll be different living without a roommate next year, but I think I'm ready to give the CA job a try. :-P Out of all the people to say goodbye to, Mike's was definitely one of the hardest.
So, today, my mom came to Forest Lake, picked up my stuff, and she and I made the long (and windy) trip back to Bemidji. My mom commented multiple times about the amount of stuff I had and I just hope I can sift through the stuff and shrink my pile o' stuff before the fall. I'm really glad she's been able to help me move back and forth during the past two years.
When we got back into Bemidji, we went into Leuken's where Erik was working. I'm glad Erik was the first person I saw after getting back from college. He was restocking frozen food so we didn't get to talk long, but I hope to hang out with him before I go to camp.
Oh yeah, not sure if everyone knows this, but I'll be a camp counselor at Catholic Youth Camp in McGregor this summer. That is, I hope that still works... I haven't heard from the camp director in a while, but I'm just assuming he's busy.
Anyway, now I'm back home. I was able to unpack my stuff, but now my room is stuffed with boxes. I have this week to organize everything and then my sister moves into the house. Then, I'll have two weeks when she's also here (working with Dr. Pillar at the vet clinic) to get my last stuff in order before I leave for camp. It'll certainly be a full house again with four people, four dogs, and boxes of stuff...
I miss UMN people already. Like I've told some people online, I'm missing college home more than I'm glad to be back in Bemidji home. Then again, it'll be amazing to see people again and see what's happened since last August. I just hope to live out these three weeks to their full extent. Plus, I can't wait for camp and it sounds like an amazing experience. Then, right after I get back from camp, I pack up again and head back to the Cities for CA training... these three weeks are really all I have for relaxation... but I can't wait for it to start. :-)
Well, I should get sleep... and by that I mean I should at least get off the computer so I can let my parents sleep. I hope everyone is doing well and either wrapping up their school year or getting a good start to the summer. For you Bemidji folk, if you want to hang out, I'll be in Bemidji for about two-and-a-half weeks, so get a hold of me now. For the Cities folk, I miss you, and I'll be back mid-August for CA training. And for everyone, I miss you as well, and I hope we can get in contact soon. Now, I'll leave you with some lyrics...:
I'll be seeing you
in all the old familiar places
that this heart of mine embraces
all day through
I'll find you in the morning sun
and when the night is through
I'll be looking at the moon
but I'll be seeing you.
Talk to everyone later, take care, and God bless.
~Matt dB
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