The past month has been a whirlwind for me! I have been devoting my life to school, studying, and sleeping a little in between. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break, which started for me this afternoon, (SO EXCITED) and I cannot wait to relax and not even THINK about school. Well, except for the two papers that I have to write and the Political Science exam I need to start studying for. Man, it never ends.
As many of you probably know from my endless stories, I take a badminton class; The the course is coming to a close. In fact, I attended class yesterday and learned that it was the last day I would actually be playing. Though I will definitely enjoy not waking up at 6:45 AM Monday and Wednesday for my 8 am class, I will say that this particular class has made me extremely happy. As you can probably guess, I suck at badminton. I mean I am absolutely terrible. My doubles partner and old friend, Jordan Kilkenny, and I actually came in the very last place in the doubles tournament. Since she later beat me in the singles tournament, I guess that statistically I am, in fact, the worst player in the class. I think that this is hilarious, especially since I do sometimes, despite my class ranking, put some effort into winning a match even though it is very clear that I will lose. I wish that everyone I know could be in this class for just one day to simply observe the diversity in it. I have made friends with almost everyone in the class, a huge shocker to you all, I'm sure. Let me tell you about the interesting people that I have met, and I apologize in advance if I offend anyone by "stereotyping", but I probably will.
Pedro- Hispanic boy with a huge accent. He wears the whitest tennis shoes that I have ever seen in my life, and he wears them every day. Jordan and I have come to the conclusion that he must clean them daily. He isn't the best badminton player, and I gather that, much like the others in the course, he isn't much of an athlete in general. Every time he makes a mistake in the game, he seems to mentally beat himself up about it, which breaks my heart. It feels like I am watching pee wee league baseball with my sweet Ryan (kid I nanny), and noticing that one boy lacking confidence and, sadly, skill, clearly falling behind the others and noticing it himself. So sad. But I am way too emotional for my own good so it probably isn't even that big of a deal. Moving on. He also wears an A&M shirt quite frequently that is, in fact, a women's shirt. Its clear to Jordan and I, but we highly doubt he realizes that. I have struggled the whole semester with trying to decide whether or not to tell this poor guy that the cut of that shirt is clearly for women. I have yet to tell him.
Freddy- African American senior who is the FUNNIEST guy I have ever met. He's from New Orleans and tells us that almost every day. He usually plays with Jordan and I in a group of three, and we love talking with him. He also sucks, and is hilarious to watch play. He tells us things about college and what to expect and he also educated us on "real" rap music, telling us that the songs he plays us are what he listens to in order to get "pumped up" for the weekend. You might be thinking he is a "thug" by the description I have given you, but he is definitely not. He is one of the nicest people I have met since being away. We actually think he might be gay. He also loves Shipley's donuts more than anyone I have ever met.
LI- pronounced like "Lee", yes, my father's name. He came to A&M straight from Korea for engineering and he has played badminton for years. I took to this kid immediately on the first day, not only because he is Asian, (JUST KIDDING, MOM AND DAD), but because he constantly looks lost. He walks so hectically and always appears to need help, so naturally I come to the rescue even when I am unneeded. I asked him if he knew anyone here and he told me no, but that his roommates are really nice. When asked what he does in his free time, he told me that he likes to watch seasons of TV shows on Hulu and that he is currently watch The Big Bang Theory. I told him that he should watch Jersey Shore. Still not sure if he has yet. Li is the best badminton player in our class, and he is so serious about it except for when he plays as my partner and he tells me, "It's ok, it does not matter to me if we win or lose." He tells me that he really misses his family back in Korea and that he can't wait to see them, but doesn't know when that will be. He is such a softy.
Greg- A boy that is probably four foot nine (no exaggeration) and is really good at the sport, as well. He is always smiling and likes to play with Li because he is "just so good, man!" He was the first person that Jordan and I met in class and we played with him for a while until he got too good for us and was placed in the advanced bracket, while we were placed in the beginners. Ya win some, ya lose some.
The Corps boys- three boys in the class that are, as you can guess by their nickname, in the Corps. They stick together, but one guy often gets left out when playing doubles because he isn't as good at badminton as the other two. His name is Chase, and he can't stop talking about the tennis shoes that he bought last summer. They are "seriously awesome".
There are so many more people in that class that I could tell you about, but it would take forever. I have loved my time in this class and getting to know so many different types of people. My day is made every morning by observing the people in this class (sounds creepy, but its really not) and my mornings are always full of happiness and laughter- just the way I like it.
Something else I love: There are so many different kinds of people on the Texas A&M campus. Some people I find nice, some I find rude, and some I find odd. I usually like the odd people, though, because they make me laugh. I think it's great that they have the audacity to go out into public and dress/act the way that they do- for example, my roommate with HOT PINK hair- and I still get a kick out of it every time. Actually, I get such a kick out of it that if I find myself walking behind one of these individuals, I often try to be sneaky and snap a quick picture of them to tweet, send to my family and friends, ect., in hopes that it might brighten their day as much as it brightens mine and to serve as a reminder that being different is not the same as being wrong.
A random observation: the way that kids walk on this campus. I come across certain people that walk with "swagger," as this motion is commonly referred to. I don't get it. I even overheard the conversation between a couple of elderly professors walking a little in front of me and discussing the meaning of this word, and observing a prime suspect about twenty feet ahead of us. These poor men were very confused and eventually settled on it either being a new type of dance or that these "kids are just hoodlums." Either way, I think that these people look ridiculous. Some even look like different animal walks, and it really seems like such a struggle. It might even start to hurt one leg after a while. Again, I love to watch this. I might have to try it sometime. ;)
I apologize for the lack of photos in this post, but I definitely have not had near enough time to take any. I hope that you enjoyed reading about the quirky things that make me smile, though you now probably think I'm just creepy. I will be sure to post about my thanksgiving break once it is coming to a close with pictures from the adventures I went on during it. Thanks for reading!
