Thursday 25 August 2005

It's Raining Pens?

It’s raining in St. John’s! How happy does this make me? Very.

It’s lovely when it rains here and there is no harsh wind or cold or snow or ice. It’s very much like Vancouver then… And yes, I get that this is very sad of me…here I am, experiencing a different culture and place, a different sense of space, and all I want to do is force it into the same package I just came from. And yet, it gives me joy and comfort, so please—cram it with walnuts, people!

The only thing about rain in St. John’s is that I no longer carry an umbrella as a regular thing. In fact, I no longer own an umbrella. Let me tell you, this thought keeps me up at nights…but it’s usually just too windy and crazy here to use one. The first time I whipped my little folding, backpack-sized, push-button controlled, black umbrella from my bag, it was promptly ripped from my hands like matches from a two-year old and hurdled mercilessly into a ditch. I went to retrieve it and as soon as I was holding it in my hands again the wind gusted so hard that it blew the prongs inside out. I admit, though it was not very environmental of me, and just plain mental, I tossed it back in the ditch, and that was the last umbrella I owned in Newfoundland.

However, without an umbrella, and without the rain-proof hoodies everyone here seems to have, it gets a might soggy. Especially when one is wearing a distinctly UNwater-proof hoodie made of fleece, such as I was wearing yesterday. I had to go from work to the tailor to pick up a pair of pants that were being repaired. I really wanted my pants back, as they are my favourite pair, so even though, as the bus carried on through the streets of St. John’s, the rain began to really sluice down I decided that nothing was going to keep me from my pants. (Yes, I am aware that was a huge run-on sentence...but I am so lazy that it makes more sense to just keep typing on then to actually use the delete key and change it...)

I got off the bus a few blocks from the tailors, and by the time I walked into the shop I was completely soaked through. My shoes, pants, sweater, etc. were saturated with water. Plus, I’d been splashed by quite a few passing cars since most people in St. John’s don’t know how to drive in the rain, and any nooks or crannies that were left somewhat undampened were now as drenched as the rest of me. We will not discuss the nooks and crannies further. Once I picked up the pants I realized that there was no use in waiting for the bus, it being a physical impossibility to get any wetter, so I walked home. It was so ridiculous that I couldn’t help chuckling a bit, so I must of looked insane to the cars driving past. This drenched maroon hoodie with a fat grinning face coming at you in the rain...it makes you shudder to think about it. No wonder they continued to splash me. They were probably saying, "Get away from me, scary drenched hoodie!" Poor things. I was so wet by the time I got home that my clothes were actually heavy on my body, so I got a nice workout as well.

And the pants are mine at last!

I finally have all the paperwork in and am registered for grad classes. I can’t believe they start in less than 2 weeks. I haven’t had any holiday yet!! Wah. I’m feeling a distinct mix of awe and fear towards the Masters Program…someone in the know might call it a “numinous” experience…heh heh. Those of you not in the know, mind your own business. I will get my own mailbox in the grad room, and important messages will be placed there for me. Things like, “Hi Grad Student, can we interest you in spending some more of your hard earned money?” or "Hi Grad Student, I am another grad student with nothing really important to say but just wanted to put something in your mailbox in the hopes that someone will put something in my mailbox."

Still working on my thesis topic, and trying to decide what exactly I want to spend the next 2 years studying, researching and writing on. I am apparently interested in everything and nothing at the same time and am a complete freak of nature.

Well, cheers, and here’s to coming in from out of the rain.
(oooh, lots of prepositions…)

VF

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