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Northern Arizona University |
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2004 |
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Summer |
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2005 |
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Fall |
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Spring |
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LumberJack Welcome Week: |
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Before classes even started, that is when it all began. I was asked/volunteered with a few others to speak to the incoming international students to tell them something about life in Flagstaff and give them some general thoughts on living in another country. There were two of them I really noticed that day. Actually, one of them I had noticed a few days prior during some of the welcome week events. I called her the-girl-with-the-short-spikey-hair-and-the-perfect-hourglass-figure. She was fun to look at. Sometime later I found out her name, but I continually forget it as I never actually spoke with her. The other one was quiet, in a sort of seductive way. A short time later I found out her name, Annerieke, and the names of her three friends, Renee, Linda, and Lou. And that right there, my friends, was the end of what would have otherwise been a very peaceful year. |
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The School Year Starts: |
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I walk out of my room onto the balcony and I hear a bunch of Dutch girls shout in unison, "Coooryyyy!". I respond with a resounding "Hiiiiii!" <eyes rolling>, always glad to know I've got another troupe of girls yelling my name. So I eventually meander down the stairs to see what's up, but everybody is busy setting up the picnic (that I wasn't invited to) so I didn't get much talk out of anybody. I continually got Linda and Renee's names confused, for quite awhile, even after I was hanging out with everyone for awhile. Annerieke's name I never forgot, though, specifically because after she told me her name she said I would forget it in five minutes (and since I don't like being told what I am going to do..). It took me awhile to get the proper pronunciation down for Louisanne's name, but then everybody called her Lou so then I eventually kept forgetting what her full name was.
I finally got ahold of the French girl who calls herself Sophie. We met one time in Montpellier about a week before I returned to the states. The first, probably few, times we hung out were kinda interesting in an odd sort of way. The first time I met her I found myself strangely attracted to her, though I just attributed it to her being French. So in the beginning if it was just us walking around, there wasn't much conversation going on. I could definitely blame that on a few factors: her not so perfected English conversational skills, my relatively horrible French conversational skills, and my generally rediculously shy nature. It reminded me a lot of myself and my French girlfriend when we were going out, back when my French was really, Really bad. Sophie couldn't quite find the vocabulary quickly enough to keep a good conversation going and I was, well, me. So even though we could find almost nothing to talk about I still enjoyed just hanging out with her. |
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Summer I 2005: |
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Finally. My one last class for my CIS degree and I still thought I wouldn't make it. Almost didn't. I broke down on the last night I was trying to finish our first big paper. I wanted to do well but I just didn't have enough time. I never have enough time. Then I talked with Milica that night and she reminded me that I should probably get some rest, then gather my thoughts in the morning. What a concept: Relax a little.
I also met this really cute chica named Cassie. We hung out for almost two weeks. Even in that short time I thought we were becoming pretty good friends. Then she sorta, disappeared. Young girls... What can ya do? She did manage to teach me one thing that I've kind of gotten too "old" to remember: Sometimes, you've just gotta run through the sprinklers. |
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