I've got an overload of information from these past two weeks -- hopefully this will get rid of it.
At the end of november as the exam crunch was dawning and temperatures were falling -- going outside was something I'd avoid at all costs. -4 degrees seemed bitter cold and I would bundle up coats and hats and gloves for my walks to-and-fro campus. Then, just as things looked like they couldn't get any worse -- mother nature and the University of Waterloo took a shit on my daily life. Studying for exams plus -11 degree (sometimes more) air temperature made my life horrid. Chapped lips, dry hands, frozen toes -- it was horrible! Then I had a nice (cold) relaxing break. Then, back at school the temperatures felt the same until an interesting event. I guess skiing for four hours in -10 re-acclimatizes you for this winter shit. Now that the temperature has gone down, (-4 - 1) it's like spring again! I honestly walk to class with one jacket, no gloves! Hands aren't even in pockets!
And that my friends, is the redundant story of how I've come acclimatized to the strange Waterloo weather trends.
Why weekends are potentially awesomely dangerous (sort of)...
Remember back in September when I described how boring Waterloo is? Yeah, well it's still boring. The weather (and extenuating circumstances) has restricted hacky-sac sessions and wal-mart trips. The weather as eliminated galavanting around town on a saturday night. In fact, weather in Waterloo can be blamed for most of my woes these days. That was until last weekend when we all got together to go skiing at Chicopee (Waterloo's excuse for a ski hill.) We looked goofy lining up for the bus that takes us right to the slopes with all our gear and funny coats. I guess everyone in Waterloo is so rich that they don't need the bus -- they just drive to Chicopee. We were the only ones on the Chicopee bus...
Funny story about the bus. Apparently it's against the rules to bring uncovered skis and poles on to a city bus. This is obviously due to some legal action somebody took agains the GRT in revolt of some freak ski pole stabbing. So evidently, getting our equipment on the bus was a bit of an ordeal. There are three types of bus drivers in Waterloo. Probably about 10% of them are nice people. The other 40% are anti-social and terrible at driving. The last 40% are not bad at driving but are complete ass-hat retards that actually enforce the ski equipment rule.
To make a long story short -- let's just say that we had a mixture of those drivers.
Skiing was awesome -- but cold (for me at least) -- and the slopes weren't that busy (and covered in powder.) Getting back wasn't that bad either. In fact, I think I slept on the bus! A city bus! The potentially dangerous part of these adventures is the price. 20 dollars for a 4 hour ticket and 39 for an all day ticket. This could get expensive. But we're working on a solution. There is a school club that we can join that gets us 15 dollar all day tickets -- the horizon looks cheap and awesome. Per se.
Why Computer Science is stupid...
Right now I'm an English major. Most people scoff at me when I tell them that. I try to explain that "Hey -- fuck you, I love english" or "I'm working on getting out." The reality is that I want to get admitted in to the Geography and Aviation program so I can get my commercial license. Since my retarded guidance counsellor in high school told me I didn't need math for this program, I dropped math in high school. Only to find out that I did need it -- and I can go ahead and be an english major.
Side note:I'd just like to take this opportunity to address that guidance counsellor if she were to ever read this blog. I hate you... I wish sadness and plunder upon your career.
That's better.
Anyways to get in to Geo and Aviation I'm told to take Math 103, and Computer Science 115 (for some unknown reason) I have no idea why a university math course AND a ridiculously hard CS course constitute a high school data management course...
Anyways, the reason I think comp sci is stupid is because the way the faculty of engineering teaches. First of all, my assigned professor does not speak english. I'm serious -- I can not understand what this man says. I asked for help and got a foreign language lesson instead. Then there are these labs and assignments. Labs are not marked -- you go to a comp lab and complete a list of questions with the help of the inadequate T.As but then you're supposed to do an assignment that a) You don't get help with. And b) They didn't teach you in the first place. So how I am supposed to code these bizarre questions is beyond me. Asking T.As is like asking another student for help. They are not qualified and have no idea how to actually teach a concept -- they just give you stupid clues. Anyways, the bottom line is I think I might fail CS. This means I might have to get my english major and get a pilot license elsewhere. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try my hardest mom and dad. Don't worry, I'm getting all the help I can and I've even started going to the other class with an english speaking professor.
Why everything except Computer Science is awesome...
First of all, distance Math is great. I take this course online. Some people don't work well in these conditions -- I on the other hand flourish. I love having the ability to pause the professor (.mp3 track) so that I can take notes. I can also go back and re-listen to lectures if I get lost. There are weekly assignments that I try to finish early. They are pretty good indicators of what I need to study. I'm not great with numbers, well I'm terrible -- so I'm thankful that my roommate is a math savant and Mohamed is back at home to give my Skype tutorials when said roommate is busy. That's why Distance Math 103 is awesome. Geography is like, so cool. I hope it stays cool. It's so practical and aviation related that I actually enjoy learning about it.
I also have ENG 208 Travel Lit -- and I'm seriously the youngest person in my class (it being a 2nd year course) and probably the only guy without a beard. That class is going to be a cakewalk since it covers my expertise being colonial literature, travel, Kapuscinski, and asian literature. I find I actually want to contribute to that class. It's nothing like 20th century literature where I usually dozed off and stared at the hawks outside the window.
WHICH brings me to another thing...
Raptors are awesome (and terrorizing)
Raptors; you know, birds of prey. They are everywhere in Waterloo. At least I think they are. Some people call me crazy -- but I think there is some sort of Evan->Raptor attraction because I always see them in the most insane situations. Here's a list;
-The tree outside my room
-The lamp post outside my door
-The ledge outside my class
-The middle of the road
All in incredibly close proximity!
Coming from a relatively large city -- birds of prey are rare, so these encounters excite me greatly.
The most incredibly encounter was when I saw a GIANT Red Tail Hawk with a Falcon just chillin' right in front of me (like 3m) The hawk had a dead squirrel in it's talons and the Falcon was chirping like crazy. Then, another type of Hawk (the name escapes me) shows up and it almost looks like he signalled them that I was approaching with my camera and they all flew away right over my head. Call me crazy -- but I think this was best thing that's happened to me all month.
I have huge respect for raptors -- they really fascinate me.
Why bridges and tunnels are awesome...
In my last post I described the extensive connectivity of the buildings in Waterloo. A few days ago I exploited that quality in a fun expedition through the engineering quad. I managed to get from one end of campus to the other using bridges and hallways that never went outside. With that I learned a lot about the the depths of the engineering buildings which are scary... and full of engineers. Showing the route to my equatorial friends has enlightened them -- they never have to experience the Canadian winter again!
Why people at Waterloo can be extremely rude...
I may have high standards -- or I may be crazy, but lately I've noticed I'm like a ghost on campus and everyone wants to cut line in front of me, or throw snowballs at people beside me, or sit in front of me and block my view of the projection when they really don't have to.
It may be the winter, it may be that everyone hates going to school (especially when they can't understand their prof.) Yesterday as I was getting a slice of pizza, some guy just blatantly stepped in front of me and got the last slice of hawaiian. Before that, as I was waiting to ask my prof. a question. Three tiny girls scurried in front of me and looked back at my disgust before promptly stealing my time with the professor. The list goes on. And I might just be too critical about this whole situation but I think I'm rather courteous to Waterloo people, but I never get courtesy in return. Which is why I think I'm gaining the super power of invisibility -- which is awesome.
Why, despite all of this -- I still love Waterloo...
When it's sunny outside; it looks gorgeous.
It's not Hamilton.
My residence has good heating -- it's always warm.
There's lots of raptors.
The arts faculty is still humble and happy -- as always.
Despite all this work, I can still muster the free time to write these trivial, redundant, and amusing blogs...
-ev
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