Do you remember how I talked about swing dancing in the beginning of the year? Well in a couple of weeks, there’s going to be something SO EXCITING happening. It’s called Hawkeye Swing Festival, and it’s going to be awesome. We are getting a bunch of the best dance instructors and musicians not only in the country, but in the world. They are coming to IOWA to teach us and dance with us, and it’s just going to be a really swell time.
I am so happy that I found this club. I’ve made so many friends, and even found my roommates for next year! Before coming here, I heard all about how important it was to join a club, and to do something that interests you outside of school. It sounds a little cliche, but it really is the most important thing to do, in my opinion. Finding something your passionate about makes the first year of school so much easier. Without the swing club, I don’t know what I’d be doing today!
I know that’s what you’ve all been thinking. I’d like to tell you that I’ve been hibernating, on account of this freezing Iowa winter. That, of course, would be ridiculous because this has been one of the warmest winters I’ve ever experienced! When I pictured winter in Iowa, I imagined towering snowdrifts, howling wind, and many cups of hot chocolate. However, all I’ve gotten is maybe a foot of snow, a couple of strong breezes every now and then, and I don’t like hot chocolate so there’s been none of that business.
Although, I’m sure I’ve jinxed it. Just wait, and tomorrow we’ll all be snowed in! My uncle, who was Herky while he went to school here, told me in November to talk to him about the weather in February, because I was sure to stop being such a weather Snooty McSnooterson. Well, tomorrow’s the 29th, and I think I will be making that phone call. I imagine it won’t be quite as he planned, though.
Next week, it’s supposed to be in the 60’s everyone! Hello spring!
Okay everyone, this year is flying by so quickly! It feels like just last week that I posted about my first exams, and now I’ve already completed round two! I am really, really loving my college experience so far. Sure, I’m a little bit homesick. Sure, I miss my friends at home, but I wouldn’t give up this experience for anything.
To kick off the fall season, my roommate and I decided to redecorate our room! We’ve got some SWEET glow in the dark ghosts on our mirrors and a bunch of Christmas lights lining the walls! Also, we’ve changed the scent in our candle warmer to apple pie, which I’m seriously diggin’. Our room is really becoming more of a home than it was before.
Also, while we’re on the subject of roommates, I feel like I got very lucky with mine. We get along great! There have been no disagreements at all. I hope that everyone is having as good of a roommate experience as I am!
My mom also keeps on sending me those care packages, and there are no complaints here! I was desperately low on junk food, so good thing the bottom of the box was lined with smarties! The most hilarious care package was probably the one that only had two things in it: hot rollers for my hair (you know, for that princess look!) and the Goofy Movie.
Basically, college is awesome. And, even though it doesn’t have any mountains, I am really enjoying living in Iowa so far. (The 80 degree weather in October may or may not have a little something to do with it.)
So last week I had my first two exams, one in Russian and one in French… so THAT got a little confusing! I’m feeling pretty confident about them though, so we’ll see what the grades say! This whole taking two different languages at the same time is producing some pretty hilarious results. I’ll start a sentence in Russian and end it in French. Apparently on the phone to one of my friends I just started speaking a different language entirely! It was the exam pressure, I know it! Now that they’re both done, I think my brain has a little time to sort itself out before the next round of tests!
What I didn’t expect at college was so much homework! I was counting on a strictly testing-friendly semester! Seems like that will not be the case! That’s alright though, because I actually have been doing my homework. *insert shocked gasps from the high school friends*
One of my favorite things about college has been this whole care package business! A package every couple of weeks, stocked with delicious treats and magazines galore? Yes, please! My favorite piece in the care package, however, would have to be this drawing from my little brother.
I started school and Mrs. Golden rocks. "Let's Party! Oons oons oons oons!"
Awesome.
So far college is going along swimmingly! The weather is getting colder, which I realize I’m not entirely prepared for, but that’s okay! What I’d want to know if I lived out-of-state and decided to go to Iowa would be this: IT RAINS HERE! So bring an umbrella.
Hey everyone! I’m writing this blog IN IOWA CITY! I just finished moving in. I’m a bit tired, so this’ll end up being a pretty short post. I’ll give you some of today’s stats.
Trips to the car for stuff: 3
Diet Cokes consumed: 5
Days until roommate arrives: 3
Trips to the store: 2
Times I hit my head on the bed: 6
So, pretty eventful day there! Surprising, though, how my room can already be such a mess.
WHO made this mess??
I was thankful that my dad was here to help. He built all kinds of things for my room, like a chair and a bookcase.
Now putting a lampshade on, that's more my pace.
All in all, I’m very excited to be here! I can’t wait until later this week when On Iowa! starts, and I’m even more excited for classes next week!
I asked what I think is a pretty strange question while I was at my orientation a couple of weeks ago. My Hawkeye Guide was talking about how she got a mountain climbing certification (or something of that nature), and I got all excited.
“Are there mountains here?” I asked, relieved for some reason. From what I’d heard, there simply weren’t any mountains around the University of Iowa. And while those hills may seem treacherous, they’re nothing compared to my mountains. It turned out her certification was for indoor rock climbing, but the question made me laugh throughout the day anyway. It’s a silly question! It ranks up there with “So, you get tornadoes here, right?” and “Is this how humid it always is?” (I asked those, too.)
What struck me upon returning home was how much I loved the mountains. Whenever people visit and get excited about the view, it’s hard to understand what they’re all on about. I didn’t realize how much I took the Grand Valley for granted until I spent a week away from it.
So, to give you all a little glimpse into the Grand Valley, I decided to take some pictures! Withing fifteen minutes of my house sit a nice bit of desert, three different mountainous landmarks, a big ol’ river, and a bunch of farms. We’ll start with the desert.
Look! It's some desert! And behind that bit of desert we see the Bookcliffs, named for their remarkable likeness to books, I'd imagine.
The Bookcliffs line one entire side of the Grand Valley. While the Bookcliffs seem to go on endlessly to the west, they come to a halt at Mt. Garfield — the bookend of sorts.
This is Mt. Garfield. I like to think it was named after the cat.
The Bookcliffs and Mt. Garfield are north of my house. To the east is the Grand Mesa.
This is the Grand Mesa -- the largest mesa in all the world!It's just a really big, flat mountain.
In the south is the Colorado National Monument. It’s important to remember, while looking at this monument, something that all the Colorado kids learn in 4th grade. Colorado means “colored red.” Got it?
Get it? See the red? Eh, eh?Now THAT is a monument. (Or so I'm told.)
Here’s a quick peek at the Colorado River.
Oooo, aaaah.
We are also pretty well known for our fruit. Those Palisade Peaches are deliiiiiicious!
Mmmmm, peaches.
And we also have something that you Iowa folk may be familiar with!
Is that corn?! I guess my town isn't all that different.
Keep in mind, all of this is 15 minutes from my house. To give you some perspective, I went to my Grandma’s house. You can see every bit of the valley very clearly from her porch.
A view of the Bookcliffs from my Grandma's porch.A view of Mt. Garfield with the Grand Mesa behind it. Taken from my Grandma's back porch.A view of the Monument from my Grandma's porch.
So as you can probably tell by now, moving away from all of this will be a big change. Although I’ll miss it like crazy, I am very excited to get on with a new part of my life. This adventure across the valley gave me a chance to really appreciate the beauty that I’d always taken for granted.
The last stop on my adventure was my front yard!
After my adventure across the Grand Valley... also, there's my car!
From the very beginning of my time at Iowa, I knew that the Old Capital and the buildings surrounding it were called the Pentacrest. This is why I was so mystified when my mom and dad insisted on calling it the quad. One day, fed up with their improper reverence for this “quad,” I muttered words that will always come back to haunt me.
“It’s called the Pentacrest.” At the time, I did not realize what a can of worms I had opened.
“Hey Savannah, go stand at the Pantomime for a picture,” insisted my mom.
“Savannah, do you have to cross the Parallelogram to get to class?” asked my dad.
“Hey, how snowy is the Pineapple in the winter?”
“Can you sled down the side of the Polka Dot?”
“Savannah, you should study on the Penelope when it’s nice out.”
You can imagine how tiresome this has gotten. Recently, on a phone call with my dad, I tried to correct this troubling trend.
“It’s a pretty easy word, Dad. Pentacrest.”
“Pentegram?” he asked.
“Pentacrest.”
“Paradox? Pentagon? Penthouse? Peninsula? Oh no, I’ve got it. The pergola, right?”
I guess the only thing left for me to do at this point is to wait until they run out of “P” words. I wouldn’t put it past them to whip out the dictionary, though, so it looks like this is going to last a long, long while.
I’ll be living at the University of Iowa in the fall, and the drive to Iowa City from my little town in Colorado takes about 17 hours. To pass the time, we decided to look up roadside attractions. Turns out, there are a LOT of them. This, my friends, is the trek to Iowa City!
We begin our adventure somewhere near the border of Nebraska. Ask me exactly where and I will have no idea, because everything looks the same in Nebraska… With no mountains to guide you, I don’t know how you Plains folk get around! Our first stop was Fort Cody, which offered some DELIGHTFUL photo opportunities.
They sure do grow people big around these parts.I told him not to do it!!
After much merriment, we journeyed onward, as Iowa City waits for no man! After driving for another 537 hours (or maybe just five), we spied something intriguing. Disguised as an overpass was a museum! Our curiosity forced us off of the highway for another stop, this time at the Great Platte River Road Archway!
Seriously... an overpass.Real, live prospectors! Huzzah!
The next stop was just… just brilliant. We actually went out of our way to visit it, because… well, because it’s hilarious. I give you… CARHENGE!
Oh, you're a henge.The second greatest henge I've ever seen!
After a trip to the Kool-Aid museum:
OH YEAAAAH!
And the Danish Heritage Museum:
Danish Heritage Museum
We FINALLY found ourselves in Iowa.
We FINALLY found ourselves in Iowa.
The moral of the story, ladies and gentlemen, is that even something really boring can be fun if you make it so… or if there are ridiculous roadside attractions nearby.
First of all, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Savannah, I’m from Colorado, and I will be a freshman at the University of Iowa this coming fall. I know what you’re thinking… Colorado isn’t, in fact, snowy all the time, and no, I’ve never been skiing OR snowboarding. I’ll allow you a moment to gape at the screen in shock…
…
Welcome back. If you ask me why I chose Iowa, I’d tell you that I was brainwashed from a very young age by my uncle, who was the crazy guy in the Herky outfit while he was at Iowa. (I have enough back issues of that alumni magazine to… well, I just have a lot of them.) After I visited the campus, I fell in love with it myself, and knew that no matter what I was going to major in, I was going to attend. A few years, an acceptance, and orientation later, I’m proud to say that I am a Hawkeye!
Orientation was so, so helpful. It was a day and a half long program, and despite achy feet (THOSE HILLS!), I was happy that the experience was so informative and entertaining. Explore Iowa, which was the program where the Hawkeye Guides led us all around campus, gave me the chance to talk with a bunch of people that were feeling exactly like I was — excited, nervous, a little shy, and ready to register for classes!
Although I am nervous about living so far away from home, I know that I’m ready to be out on my own. My friends and family will always be a phone call away. Skype will be the HOLY GRAIL for those first few weeks. But despite the homesickness, the humidity (I live in the desert!!), and my workload, I know that these years at Iowa will be so, so worth it.
Top Three Orientation Moments
I met my roommate! Huzzah for Burge!
I picked the classes I wanted. (Let’s get a WOOP WOOP for 11:30 start times!)
I got all my ducks in a row and am now ready to move to Iowa!
