Chapters
New House, New Routine
I can definitely say now that living in my cousin’s house is a MUCH better experience than living in my own home. I get my own room (that I can actually sleep in), the kitchen feels bigger (even though it’s objectively smaller), there’s so many cool kitchen gadgets, and so much more.
My room is probably a little bit bigger than the average dorm room which definitely gives me enough space to make an entire work setup. The issue is that I’ll be moving again in about a month or two, so I don’t really see a point in doing that. So for now, the only purpose my room serves is a room for me to sleep in, charge my devices in, and store my clothes in.
I’ve felt a lot more inclined to cook for myself since moving in and there’s a few reasons for that. First of all, the kitchen feels more like a kitchen than the one in my own home. The knives are sharper, there are more cutting boards, the scissors can actually CUT, and the fridge isn’t STUFFED to the brim with absolute random herbs and expired condiments. Second of all, I actually have someone that will help me finish the food that I make: my cousin. We’re about the same age and we also have pretty good chemistry together. He drives me around with him to school and I cook him genuine slop meals. We specifically curated our schedules so that we both leave campus at around the same time, which helps the both of us A LOT. He’s basically my personal chauffeur and I’m his personal chef. The slop meals so far have mostly consisted of chicken & rice but it’s a really good place for me to start because the art of cooking is mostly throwing things that sound good into the same pot and calling it a day. Yesterday (as of writing this), I added some browned onion slices to our slop bowls, and even though it barely changed the flavor profile of the chicken & rice bowl, it made me feel so much better about myself that my dinner wasn’t ONLY chicken and rice.
I’ve also been very consistent with my morning and nighttime routines. In the morning, I wake up relatively early so I can cleanse my face and put sunscreen on. I also have a lot of time to eat breakfast and whatnot. At night, I have so much time to shower, water floss my teeth every night, and do my whole skin care routine. Not to mention, the bathroom is SO much bigger than the one I used to use. I can actually fit all of my skincare things on the sink counter, which saves me so much time. One very annoying thing is that the sink isn’t built exactly flat to the ground, so all of the water on the countertop always gathers up to the far-left side of it near the wall which is where I put all my skincare stuff. It’s just a small tradeoff for a bigger counter though. As for my sleep, I’ve been sleeping relatively early and averaging 1.5 hours of naptime per day. I’m feeling pretty energized every day which feels so good.
I used to not have to do any chores before since I had relatives that always did it in our household. I know that sounds pretty bad for me but my transition into this new household was very smooth. Here, the dishes rule is that you only have to clean the dishes that you use. I’m not sure why, but seeing dishes in the sink gives me a little anxiety so I tend to wash most of the dishes in the sink anyway alongside mine. I HATE doing the trash since I’m such a big germaphobe. So I usually compensate by washing more dishes which I’m perfectly fine doing instead of touching a trash bag covered in foreign germs.
The gym has been a bit iffy for me but I think I can work it into my schedule as the semester goes on. For some reason, the dress code at my school gym is even stricter than the one at Planet Fitness. Not only do they have more employees breathing down your neck, but they don’t allow jeans OR cargo pants. Since I just got back from vacation and wasn’t able to work out during then, all I did this week was “refresh” my lifting and hit at least one exercise of each muscle group (besides legs of course). I also made a much better gym spreadsheet this week than the one I used to use so I’m excited to use that one next week. I don’t really like revolving my life around the gym so I’ll stop here for now.
My routine has definitely improved since moving and I definitely feel the better version of myself. There’s so much more freedom that I feel like a whole entire new person. This year WILL be my year (I think).
Friendless Start
They weren’t lying when they said it was really hard for commuters to make friends.
This week was the first week of classes for me and it was really relaxing. I only have one day where I have to wake up early and that day is Monday. Even then, it’s not even that bad because the first class that I have is just a seminar where we talk to each other. Though, the people in my seminar class don’t seem that interesting. Mondays and Wednesdays are extremely light while Tuesdays and Thursdays are the doom days where I have to stay on campus till at least 8 PM. Especially on Tuesdays, since my cousin was assigned a graveyard shift from 8 PM to 12AM, I have to stay on campus until 12 AM EVERY Tuesday.
There’s nothing impressive about the campus. In fact, I’d say looking at it makes my mood slightly worse. Not only does it look so dull, but you can always see those large garbage buckets everywhere. I’m talking about the ones that are about the size of the average car in length. The library is what I’d call, “good enough” to work in. There are some good areas in the library but even then it’s still kind of dull. I won’t complain too much about it though because I know I’m definitely going to spend a lot of time there.
Basically all of my classes are extremely chill. My creative writing class looks like it’s going to be one of the most demanding with its assignments. We definitely will have to write a lot of random things and because I already have this blog, that might be bad for me in terms of burn out. My sociology class and communications class seem quite enjoyable. In just this past week alone, I’ve learned a lot of really cool ideas that appear quite often in normal society. The communications class touched a lot on our identities and feedback loops which are things I’ve thought a lot about before on my own. My sociology and U.S. politics professors are also really funny. They’re basically comedy shows with homework every once in a while. The only class that might prove to be a threat to my cortisol levels is my proofs class. I’ve set it upon myself that I’m going to review all my notes after every lecture so I can keep up. There’s this Chinese guy with a buzz cut that sits in the front beside me who keeps repeating everything the professor says. When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. The professor might say, “Blah blah…” and then the kid will say, “Mmmmm, Blah Blahhh…” He might start getting in my head later in the semester so let’s hope he stops doing that.
Even though my semester is light, my biggest issue is making friends. Being a commuter means I spend drastically less time on campus to meet new people. I think I’ve only made one friend in class this past week, which is a little unfortunate. Though, I think I’ve figured out the method for making a lot of friends. The method will entail me joining a few culture clubs and befriending everyone there. This Friday, there was a club fair that I attended and collected a lot of free things (I’m probably throwing most of them out). I did A LOT of research (stalking on Instagram) before the club fair and then scouted them all out at the club fair. So far, my quest to make many new friends is going quite well. One thing that I can take advantage of is my time on campus until 12 AM on Tuesdays. I’m thinking of attending club events during that time which can help me a lot.
Anyways, that’s all I have for updates in terms of my school life. The main goal right now is to make many good friendships. The progress is looking quite good so far so let’s hope I can keep it up.
Photo(s) Of The Week
Performative Frank 
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