Today = September 7, 2004

Today was my first day of school. Grad school. I woke up this morning having barely slept the night before and anxious about how the day would go. It felt almost exactly like that day I first went to my now-Alma Mater for Orientation, without the comfort of driving to campus with two other friends from high-school. I remember that anxiety well. Even though I didn't have to pick the colour of my t-shirt (it was purple because that was my faculty's colour), it was still nerve-wracking figuring out the other details. What pants to wear, whether to wear a sweater or not, what to bring in my backpack, whether to take a smaller bag instead, whether I'd actually talk to anyone throughout the day, whether they'd have a vegetarian option for lunch, whether I'd have fun etc etc. Intense and insane.

That first day was ok. Nothing special. My second time at Orientation (as a volunteer/MUG leader) was much better. I was more confident and enjoyed the festivities much more than I had as a freshie. Plus, not having an insanely weird group leader (who sent us some email about houses burning down and cars getting crashed) helped - although, it is highly possible that my freshies saw me in the same light. My first day of real classes was definitely better than Orientation. I felt much more in my element (even though I started off horribly - and my marks dropped about 25% that first term), and actually got to know a bunch of the people in my class.

Today, was interesting. I was completely freaked out this morning. I set my alarm for 6am, and ended up getting out of bed at 7:30am. Thankfully, I'm a 15 minute walk away from campus, so I was on time (well - early) for my 9am class. I'd planned ahead, knowing that I wouldn't be in the best state of mind this morning, and had already decided what to wear and had put it out on the chair. All I had to do this morning was to iron my top and put on my clothes. So easy. Then, I decided not to take my carry-mug of tea with me (that'll depend on whether or not tea-drinking during class is a common occurrence here - the coffee/tea mug is almost ubiquitous back in YVR) and started walking towards campus.

I got into my class about 5 minutes before it was supposed to start, and saw a bunch of students there. Now, I'm really bad at telling who's a grad student and who's not, so I figured they were grad students. Ends up they weren't - but were undergrads who had already studied the language for a couple of years. My prof walked in, and class started.

During the routine intros, my prof and I started talking - about a common professor we'd both had (at Alma Mater incidentally). It broke the ice, and after she said she'd gone through my file, it made me realize how lucky I was to have had some awesome experiences during my undergrad. Example of how awesome they were - I didn't have to take this language placement exam the others had had to, and was asked whether I wanted to work for this certain prof. Not sure how things will play out, but fingers crossed.

Haha. So afterwards, I went to this awesome bookstore and picked up a translation of the Yoga Sutras, and then got my NYPL library card. Then, I had to use the washroom. Now, over the course of 5 years, I'd figured out where the cleanest washrooms were on campus. Being new to Columbia, I had no idea where to go, and so (because I had 1.5 hours until the department orientation), I walked back home. I found it hilarious. During my undergrad, I went home to eat and sleep. Here, I can go home whenever I want/need to. Lol.

The Department orientation was also cool. The craziness of the PhD program (i.e. how difficult it is) made me want to do my PhD (I'm weird - I know), but I feel as if I need to go out into the real world. Who knows. Maybe I'll end up sticking around for another 6 years. Maybe I'll be gone by February 2011.

Right. So I'm going to finish watching this Monfils/Nadal match. Rooting for Nadal so I can see a Fed/Rafa final on Sunday. I'm going to the final! Woot!