Week 2

So, several late-nighters, ice-cream socials, and Chinese essays later, I find myself in my 3rd week here. Yay.

Things haven't been tough yet. There's always something to do, but that's just because I put it off until night--and then I procrastinate by going on Facebook instead of doing my work. Still, I've been managing pretty well.

I did have to spend 3 hours on a Chinese essay, though, which was assigned on Thursday afternoon and due Friday afternoon. Most frustrating experience here so far. On the other hand, I love my Expos Writing class, since mine is themed around Contemporary Immigrant Fiction [which I read a lot of in Tracy's class last semester!] and the one short story I've had to read so far was pretty interesting. Very critical of the American Dream, very realistic, and very Upton Sinclair-esque [minus the Socialism].

Socially, I've found a nice bunch of friends. I do sometimes feel more like a tag-along rather than as a member of the group, but maybe that's because I spend so much time alone or in my room. They're also somewhat distinct [roommates, Arizonans, Weld 24, etc.], but some of them are very conducive to meshing [i.e. my roommates [Weld 32] are often in Weld 24 because those girls down there are such great people]. I don't feel an absolute sense of belonging yet--it's still a sort of tenuous attachment that I have to make a bit of an effort to maintain. I guess the best simile is that it's a lot like my last year of Jr. High--"friends" with a bunch of people, but no one who I'm really fitting in with effortlessly [like the group I found at the end of Senior year or with Speech and Debate. <3]

Something eventful....well, I finally got to running. Ran yesterday with one of my new friends, Carlos. He, I, and Curtis [another guy from Arizona] have formed somewhat of a trio [or rather a duo + me], but Carlos and I get along in that we're both able to make snide comments to each other about Curtis. We ran along the path to MIT, and I started dying before we even hit the 1 mile mark. By the time we got to 2 miles [or rather, HE got to 2 miles] I was dead and basically jogging in place. He was good and stopped/slowed down for me a few times--which made me feel like I was dragging him down--but we eventually made it back to Hahvahd. I'm hoping to hit the gym up tonight and get some exercise, since I didn't wake up early enough to go jogging with him again today. Really need to get back in shape--my thighs are sooo sore today from running yesterday; walking up and down the stairs is painful.

Tonight is the Mid-Autumn Festival, which typically means eating mooncakes and gazing at the moon at home. I didn't expect to be able to do it here [in fact, I thought the holiday was tomorrow night] but the Chinese-American Society is having a Mooncake Study Break tonight in the Observatory, so I will hopefully be able to snag some [really fattening] mooncake and look briefly at the full moon after running and before finishing my readings.

One more thing: today I thought again about how it's even possible that I got into Harvard. Most everyone else has done some really amazing things--some internships, lots of non-obligatory volunteer work with young children, 1st place in multiple events at national tournaments, multiple leadership positions in various clubs, rich parents, etc. etc. And here I am, a very average kid who doesn't have any real discernible talent [especially when so many people here can learn languages really quickly too]. It's a really big quandary. But I'll accept the fact that I'm an average person at Harvard, at least for now. Hopefully I'll be able to make the most of this incredible opportunity.

Ta ta for now.