Dude, this entry is long!

[arisha]

Today our Japanese prof opened the class with "きのうはたいへんでしたね。" Hahaha. :P So let's see. There weren't any buses running, or if there were they were being driven by the management; bus drivers weren't working in support of the teachers. My friend's mother drove my friend and I to school, and the streets were crazy empty. Of course, that could have been because it was seven in the morning (after my two hours of sleep, how exciting), but it's more interesting to believe it was because of all the people not going to work in protest. When we got to the university, there was a line of cars from the entrance almost all the way back to the intersection, none of them really moving. We could sort of see a picket line further into the university but I couldn't tell how many people there were or anything. We had driven as far as the intersection, but when we saw the stuck cars we backed up and got out almost by the last bus stop before the entrance, so that my friend's mom could get to work on time. We crossed over to the entrance but in order to avoid the picket line we took the path over the hill rather than following the sidewalk. Sneaky!! Also, very rainy, but not so much rain as a weird sort of mist. I mean, it was bizarre. I tried to block it from hitting my face because I didn't like the way it felt, but it didn't really work. >_<;;

I saw another friend on the bus this morning and she'd heard that the picketers were stopping cars at the entrance and asking the occupants why they were crossing the lines. How intimidating! I expect they got a lot of answers like "Dude, I have a midterm today!!" >P The friend that my friend heard this from was supposedly asked this question and then just drove through anyway. I expect that even if you answered the question they'd have to let you through ... I mean, what are they gonna do, really? >_<;; When we were walking along the path we saw a few cars in the parking lots, but I speculated that they had arrived at like six in the morning, to avoid all the picketing business. xD;;;;;

It was a very wet day yesterday. >_<;; After her glasses got too wet to wear, my friend just took them off. I am not so brave as to do that because I am afraid I'll lose my glasses or break my glasses or whatever, so I just suffered. xD;

Hmm, what else. We went to go see if the computer lab was open, because my friend had been planning to write her essay and hadn't even considered that the lab might be closed, which it was. I was thinking, well, it's pretty early, maybe it usually isn't open yet, but when I checked the schedule afterwards it's supposed to be open at 8:00, and we arrived at the university at 8:10. So I guess it really was closed. For a while we stood outside the room my Japanese lab was going to be in, but the prof had sent an e-mail to tell us the TA might not be able to make it so at around 8:25 I figured no one else was showing up either and we went to my friend's biology class. Man, I expected to understand something in this class, but I seriously understood nothing. For the first part of it I pretended like I was practicing kanji but then I gave up on that and just sat there thinking about my NaNoWriMo. XD

My favourite part of the biology class, though, was at the beginning when the prof noted that a lot of people were missing and wondered if everyone who was there lived on or close enough to campus that they could walk or bike. Most of the class mumbled "No" but there was this one guy who bitterly snapped, "No. I had to hitchhike to school." Apologies to the bitter guy, but ... that's pretty funny. xD;;

Blah blah blah, afterwards we were trying to think of somewhere dry that would be open where we could go to eat or something, and my friend mentioned the bookstore and the library (even though you're not allowed to eat in there ???), and I had the brilliant realization that there are computers in the library where she could write her essay, and so we went to the library and to my surprise it was open and she wrote her essay while I read her copy of Pride & Prejudice (and took notes on the characters, because the last time I tried to read it I couldn't keep track!! xD;; ), and then I went to my class where the prof was bitter because he had to bike to the university because his car set itself on fire on Sunday (!!), and we watched movie clips and an awkward slideshow and afterwards I asked my burning question of why Heian women did not get fat and then I went back to the library and read more Prejudice but started getting bored of it and I suggested I would go scout out some place that was open and selling food and I'd sneak some back to my friend but then we ended up going in search together. And because the SUB was closed and the Centre cafeteria was closed (and as I learned today, the coffeeshop was closed and the res. cafeterias were open only to people in res. - I think?) we had a very vending machine sort of lunch. ^^;;;

We sat on the second floor of the Centre eating and my friend supposedly saw a bus driving into the bus loop but I didn't see it. I don't know if the management going around driving buses really helped anyone ... I mean, that's gotta be a very small percentage of the usual buses, right, and if you don't know when or if or which buses are coming, you're not going to go stand out in the rain waiting for one, right? ... But anyway, I guess they were determined to keep up some semblance of normality, or ... something. I found out later that the UVic picket lines were down by 11:00. I didn't see any when I half-heartedly looked at the entrance by the bus loop, but at the time I figured it would just be an awkward place for a picket line. (I'm dumb, all right?!) And buses were running again by 8:00 last night, and there was a rally at the Parliament Buildings in the afternoon that, according to the newspaper today, was attended by about 12,000 people. (Although I know a lot of people weren't able to go because of the buses not running - how ironic!) I dunno, this whole thing is kind of like, argh, with the teachers being all "OMG talk to us or we won't go back to work!!!" and the government being all "OMG go back to work or we won't talk to you!!!," but if the government ignores the capital city shutting down and a rally of thousands of people, uhm, that's kind of stupid.

And blah blah blah, this entry was not as interesting as I thought it would be.

But this morning, in Japanese class ...
Classmate: Is that a list of Pride & Prejudice characters in your pencil case?
Sarah: ... Maybe?

;D

~~

Haha, how awesome! My brother and his girlfriend were hanging around today, whining about how bored they were and driving my mother up the wall, so Mom gave them $20 to go see a movie, and then to be fair she just now gave me $20 too. Hahaha, my brother being jobless does have its perks. XD;;; I was offered two shifts at work this weekend but didn't take them because I was pretending to work on my essay for Japanese history ... kind of frustrating because lately I have been on a OMG NEED MONEY kick, seeing as how I'll have to pay for a trip to Vancouver in December and we're going to do some crazy bookstore shopping I hope! XD XD;; Since my night of two hours' sleep my throat has been hurting ... I hope I don't get sick again, I'm still coughing from the last time and I still have two shifts this week!!! ;_;

Oh, and then this morning I had a test during which I forgot everything I ever learned about keigo. BOSS!! Maybe I'll get points for creativity. I am feeling much more like your stereotypical university student this year. Well, not so much the wild parties, but the lack of sleep and then today I visited the campus coffeeshop for the first time and read Bodas de Sangre for my Spanish Lit. class while my friend from said class studied Spanish cinema with her friend using the notes of another of her friends. XD;; I don't know why this makes me feel so much more like a university student, it just does. ^^;;

You can tell I am procrastinating studying by the length of this entry already, but never mind never mind. Okay, so on the weekends CMT does this bizarre thing where they show the same two episodes of Reba some six times, and I do this bizarre thing where I watch them every time they come on. Basically I need a hobby, but never mind that. In this weekend's batch was a scene that the first time I watched it, I totally thought it was supposed to be serious and a little upsetting.* But then the laugh track kicked in and threw me off!!! When I saw it again I was expecting the laugh track and could see how it could be sort of light-hearted, although I kind of like it better as a serious scene and am annoyed at the laugh track for butting in. >_<; But anyway, in Bodas de Sangre there's like exactly the same scene!!! Leonardo's all "¿Vas a llorar ahora?" and I was like MAN!!!! And so now I'm going to write a scene like that into my current novel project, because obviously it is a SIGN.

Also, I have no idea why they're rereleasing Tarzan only six years after it came out, but every time I see the commercials I get all excited. Shut up, I love that movie.

My brother and his girlfriend just came back. Apparently there is a shop in the mall called "LOL," but the stuff they sell isn't funny. Pretty well this is the best thing ever.

* The scene where Cheyenne and Van find out that it's their fault Kyra moved out and Kyra's being rude and all "Oh, and now you're gonna cry," and then Cheyenne whips around and yells "No, I'm not gonna cry!" and is obviously crying. Yes I know I'm a pansy, but a scene like this seems pretty dramatic when your favourite show is Full House.

And now it's 3:47pm. It weirds me out when I spend more than an hour writing an entry. ^^; S'all good, s'all good.

Edit a day later: I forgot to mention! There was no mail on Monday either, and though most midterms were moved one of my friends from Japanese class missed her English class and apparently it was like the only class in the whole university whose midterm wasn't adjusted, and and and there was a lone picketer wandering around the quad in front of the Education building, which my friend and I couldn't help but giggle at, but afterwards I felt bad.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I mean it's a parking lot like all the movie people have parked their thousands of cars, trucks and trailers all over the place. I guess the actual parking lots were too far away. The movie is supposed to be taking place at the University of North West Washington, so there's a bunch of signs up all over the UBC ones saying that, as well as a bunch of "campus security" cars. Also, many fire trucks, police cars and ambulances, all with Seattle written on their sides. ^^;; Also, extras in police uniforms. ^^;;;;

[arisha.livejournal.com]

DUDE. What if someone comes to UBC, sees the "University of North West Washington" signs, and FREAKS. OUT?????????

(My brother wants to know if my icon is a picture of Al Pacino.)

[(Anonymous)]

I like your new icon! So much! Actually, it's just that it's not scary... ^^;; Yes. I think you should keep it forever. A.