Winter wonderland

I'm sitting in the Tower Room right now - it's a pleasant, sleep-inducing room with green velvety chairs and nice woodwork (it all looks very Ivy League collegiate, if that makes sense). The above pictures are me, obviously not studying, and the view from my chair in the Tower Room.

It snowed a lot last night, and it finally looks like I imagined Hanover winter would. I love seeing the tree branches covered in snow, but then they drop clumps of it on you when you're not expecting it. Later I'm going to go out onto the Green or the area right in front of the library and dance around for my parents on the Baker Tower webcam.

Dartmouth word cloud!

I have this obsession with a website called Wordle. You essentially just type in words (or copy and paste them from the Dartmouth Admission website!) and it will create a word cloud. The more times you type a word when you're creating your Wordle, the larger it will be. Like I said, I'm obsessed. I used one for a presentation in my writing class Fall Term and everyone was impressed. If only they knew how easy it was.

8 weeks here

Today I visited my little sister (through the Big Brother Big Sister program) Mariyah. It's nice to get off campus every once in a while and see the surrounding Upper Valley community. She's in first grade and still in the amused-by-being-picked-up-and-spun-around phase, which makes playing with her fun and easy. It made me miss my parents and my little brother, but we've been staying in touch in a bunch of little ways that make me less homesick. A text from my mom earlier today said, "Eating yogurt for lunch that expired in september. I will let you know how i feel tonight but it seems fine xoxo." Gotta love your parents. My dad called me the other day explicitly to ask if I needed a multipack of anything since he was going to CostCo. My one care package this year has consisted of instant coffee and a 12 pack of Chapstick.

I'm currently studying for my education midterm. Midterm is a misnomer though because really exams happen every other or every three weeks in the classes I'm taking now. I'm finally finding study spots that I like, but I still feel awkward when I walk into the library and it's silent and everyone stares at me while I try to find a place to sit. My favorite places are by the windows. It's calming to be looking at something other than people studying.

The weather here is still confusing to me. The other day it was in the 60s, but we had snow in the middle of October. I like when it's sort of warm and sprinkling and the air feels thick and velvety (sounds corny, but just wait till you get here and you feel it). I get a lot of weather appreciation time on my bike rides to and from the River. I like going towards main campus because the view of Baker Tower as you go up Tuck Mall truly is beautiful but coming home is wonderful because I can coast all the way back. I didn't really appreciate the aesthetic qualities of Dartmouth before coming here.