White Reflections

Wow. I got to registration at around 1:10 PM Thursday. I took the day off from school (was originally going to go) because

1. I didn’t want to do homework.
2. I didn’t do any homework on Wednesday.
3. I was coming down with a cold?

‘Nywho, my dad dropped me off at Steele House for registration. I went up and got my packet (I was a actually a bit afraid that I wouldn’t be on their list of attendees, despite having already received a confirmation e-mail. Don’t ask why. I’m paranoid like that. -.- Maybe I wasn’t accepted in the first place. =_=) So, I was totally eyeing that Caltech Prefrosh Weekend pen (you know how much I like swag?)… but I didn’t get one (until later)… My dad went to find parking, and err one of the Techers? xD showed me what I should do. The shirts weren’t really umm… eye-catchy this year. I hate writing on stuff, so even though they told me to fill out my name, hobbies, major, etc. (whatever it was), I just left without doing that. *meep*

I was escorted to Lloyd, where I was staying for the weekend (she was really nice!). I was actually a bit surprised at how old everything was (lol?)… The weather sucked too. Grr! It went from being really nice to being cool and cloudy. =_= Okay okay, back to the story xP… Caltech has cool locks (or umm… not locks, but ehh whatever). So my escort helped me carry things up the stairs (yes, I typed stares) annd err… My host was at class, but she left me a really welcoming message on her whiteboard (everyone has one?). Ironically, her roommate forgot it was April 3, and she was sleeping aha. We ended up talking for a bit. I got to meet the producer for one of the One-Act Theatre performances (although I think I ended up missing her performance, because it was really getting too cold for me to take). =\ Well, my host is an EECS major. Annd my host’s roommate is a math major. They’re both really cool! We talked about random things (yes, really random).

Most of the houses (hovses?) at Caltech are umm… highly decorated? Practically every wall in Lloyd was covered with some sort of (funky) mural or another. o_o It was kind of messy… or umm… really messy… Well, the dorm I was staying at had a bunk bed (?) buut both beds were on top? so it stretched the width of the room. I guess that’s pretty customary. I slept (or umm… sat) on the couch, even though I brought a sleeping bag. Couch = soft/comfy = Angie likes. There was a window to Olive Walk, so I saw the fireworks there on the last night. There are soo many shelves, and a random sink. xP (the way everything’s set up reminds me of a storage room… o_O)…

My friend was supposed to show up. ._. So, I took a walk back to registration (my host’s roommate had a ton of work to do – Wow! When I left Sunday morning, she was just getting ready to sleep @_@). Err… and he arrived right about then… But then I just wandered around, feeling quite lost, before going back to the dorm and meeting my host.

I went to the bookstore with my friend… but we didn’t buy anything… and then we went to Olive Walk, because a lot of people were hanging out there? aha… and we saw my friend’s friend from Olin… annnd for the longest time, I didn’t really talk to him, or I did, but umm… not in the more care-free way I would talk to a close friend, I guess? Formal? Maybe… We just stood around for a long time…

And they started throwing water balloons at us. I think I was an unlucky half of a target. =_=

Then my friend left to hang out with one of his Caltech friends… and my friend’s friend and I decided to go to the bookstore… ‘cept we met the friend of my friend’s friend (I should just give these people names?), and we wandered back to registration, where I got a packet of Skittles and a pen. Then onto the orientation-type presentation. There was a jazz band playing. They were pretty good. It wasn’t the most memorable presentation… (presentations are usually like that?), and my friend’s friend dozed off? xD

Dinner was… err… ahhh… uhhh… interesting. Expected, but unexpected. I knew they did crazy things at dinner… But I came kind of late with my host… annnd I got a slice of cheesecake… annnd… some kind of funky mushroom and beef (my host became a vegetarian after she came to Caltech…)… yeaah… Even though Caltech and JPL are managed by the same dining service, there seems to be a huge discrepancy in the quality of the food. ‘Anywho… I ate maybe 3/4 of the mushroom when they unveiled their… crazy looking fort. o_O Again, your typical LA art? … and started throwing bread and waterballoons and the whatnot. o_O I chose a very bad place to sit… My food didn’t survive the war (poor cheesecake)… People seriously have maybe 15 minutes max. to finish all the food they can eat… x_x (unless you want to get some more after the “festivities”…) It was raining water and bread… and people had their waterguns (my host and her roommate aren’t that into this kind of craziness) annd umm… yeahh… Caltech people seemed pretty crazy, but maybe because it was just Prefrosh Weekend… or maybe that’s one of their only means to… uhh… have fun? (I hope not. *sweatdrop*). All in all, I thought thet dinner was pretty cool.

I went back to the dorm and talked with my host and her roommate some more. Haha, we ended up looking for dresses online. Then my host went off to a tango class (turns out it’s going to start next week), and I stayed a bit more to chat. My friend convinced me to check out some of the events (I’m not one to take the iniative… in an event like this…)… And I think walking to Avery was one of the loneliest journeys (?) I’ve ever experienced? So few people! And it was dark, and I wasn’t sure if I was going in the right direction. D:

Oh, by the way, Stephen Hawking was on campus. I didn’t see him. He’s giving a lecture this Wednesday (when a friend and I fly out to Boston for MIT’s CPW n_n), so I guess I’m a bit disappointed that I missed him… one guy saw him. or so he said (but who am I to not believe him?)…

And Ricketts had a goat. Goat cries.

Okay, back to Avery. They were having a DDR + karaoke-isc event… The DDR area smelled like trash. x__x The karaoke event was… who knew there was a karaoke game? I expected one of those nifty Asian karaoke machines *disappointment*. Watching people DDR was pretty cool (Bemani?)… It’s kinda funny watching nerdy guys DDR… (or maybe because half the time I watched, “Wsuh” was DDRing? xP)… Yeah, inside joke? Or not…

There was one Prefrosh girl who was really good! o_o She was a bit more… outgoing than I expected? Aha… too much so to intimidate me. ^^; Yeah, I didn’t really make too many new friends. *disappointed*

My friend told me my other friend was on campus. I was expecting him to come on Friday, actually… and I was just talking to him on AIM! Gosh, I get everything wrong. ^^;

Well, I really wanted to see my friend’s friend DDR, because I heard he was amazing. He was pretty good My other friend Jordy’s pretty good too, but I haven’t seen him DDR since sophomore year.

And randomly, I see a green light appear out of no where annd O_O HE IS HERE. I totally didn’t believe my other friend. Aha.

*hug*

Tho, the next thing I knew, they disappeared. =_= So after a while, I aksed one of the guys I met if he wanted to go outside and check out other stuff. =\ We bumped into another guy, who was going tunneling… and since none of us really had a clear idea of what we were going to do……. I dunno. He was a bit annoying. I’m dead serious. If you ever think I start talking too much, or if you ever think I’m just plain annoying, tell me please? Ughh… You feel really bad if you leave someone behind, buuut just listening to someone go on and on when all you want to do is enjoy the peaceful atmosphere is just a bit… bleehh… I guess I sound mean. >.<

'Nywho, we bumped into my 2 friends again... and went to the extra dry Thursday Night Drinking. I had grape juice! Banzai!

Then we walked around a lot. It would've been better if my feet didn't feel like they were on fire. =_= Wrong time to decide to wear new shoes, no?

My nose was also running? (wrong word? or word form? I can't think...), although it wasn't quite as bad...

We made a stop back to the dorm, so I could get another jacket on (way too cold >.<)... annnd they totally read my prefrosh form thing D: Yep yep. A bunch of the prefrosh went to play capture the flag.

We went tunneling with my friend's friend and co. That was seriously the most amazing/thrilling experience I've had in a long time. o_o It was soo hot! (I just had to put on that extra jacket), but at points, it was so cold! Yes, yes, undergorund tunnels with random "art" and "poetry," amidst pipes and wires and lights and some pitch black tunnels and freakish things and broken CRT monitors and more "art" and wooden boards and really steep ladder climbs... and WOOOW a 3D maze they used for ditch day. Amazing! Rooftop climbing and Angie!afraidofheigths!=true *dies* How many times did I feel like I was about to fall off the ladders? It's all in good fun. No, it isn't really supposed to be allowed, but everyone does it?

So many stories attached to it all~

The one guy wanted to keep on going. I don't think I could have taken it any more. -.- I think we finished tunneling at about 2:30. I slept at around 3 AM? People were still playing capture the flag at 2...

Next day~ I went to check out the kinematics + robotics class with my friend. I wish I had no nose (figuratively, really)... It didn't seem too bad, granted I couldn't understand much ._.;; But the professor (you don't call people teachers any more, right? aha) seemed really nice! And I'm sure that if I had some more background, I could understand a lot more. Hwaiting!

Then afterwards, we went to check out a physics roundtable, although the presenter spent most of his time talking about core classes instead. My stomach growled, so afterwards, we went to lunch. Ahh~ I felt horrible for leaving my friend. annd I ended up tagging along with the guy in front of me in line. He was from Iowa! (and he left Saturday morning, as opposed to Sunday)... and I think he's definitely going to Caltech (majoring in biology?)...

On the up side, I saw (err... I fail at life?) Shotaro Makisumi. Or rather, he was a couple of places behind me in the lunch line and he sat across from my Iowa friend and me during lunch. Uwah~ Even though I can't solve a Rubik's Cube... One very very very amazing guy (prefrosh too! :o) USAMO? :O Annnd I thought he was very fashionable.

Enough of that. xP

I am a slow eater. My host found me, and we chatted some more. Then my Iowa friend and I went to the gym. o_o We just looked around (tennis! swimming! etc. etc.) annd went to Milikan. The library is so cool! The view of the campus from the 9th floor is gorgeous~ (there's a hidden camera...........)... annd most of the book shelves are... umm... *press button --> bookshelf moves O_O*

Then we sat in on a SURF presentation~ definitely a plus if you go to Caltech~ Research as an undergrad! although MIT… well… we’ll see this week.

And my friend joined us :3

Lab tour after. =_= Should have chosen a bio/chem lab… because as great as the DARPA challenges are… Caltech doesn’t do very well… and looking at a car that isn’t doing anything spectacular at the moment/looking at polygons isn’t that eye-catching? So we left before the presentation finished~ Went to the gym again… went to Fleming (yes, one M; I’ll remember that…) My other friend and my friend’s friend, who I will now refer to as my friend, were playing Brawl before that, but uhh… when we got there, they had left for the soccer field. =_= Wild goose chase? We ran and caught up to them… And my friend played soccer for a bit…

Then we went to Milikan again. My other 2 friends ditched us. D: They ditched us a lot. ~_~;; Stop with the random jokes, please. T_T;

Then we went back to Fleming. I mostly watched them play Brawl… annd then we went to dinner?

Dinner was a shock. I had dinner at Ricketts… and seriously, I completely freaked out. When we got there, they were finishing up their uhh announcement of rules… so I guess I missed the point of the whole prefrosh sit at places where plates are turned over thing… and I sat at a place with a regularly oriented plate, so the house members got mad at me… and I asked if I could sit across from me, soo I crawled over… =_= (I think I touched bubble gum again?! *hates self*) and some girl came to the place and said FUCK YOU THIS IS MY SEAT. So I kind of died and felt like I wanted to cry. =_= And then they were like… I dunno… bears… taking all the food before I even realized it. o_O Freaked me out so much. srsly. I asked one guy to pass over the coke (which turned out to be diet, so I wanted to… well yeah, I hate diet coke)… and then they started throwing meat, which totally got all over me and my prefrosh booklet… and then they threw ice cream (did I mention they kept on shouting ANNOUNCEMENTS at the Lloyd dinner?)… and one hit the chandelier above me… sooo I freaked out… annd I had some leftover vegetables… annd like part of an ice cream… and then they started floating people. =_= The guy next to me got floated. I should have moved away. They dumped people’s drinks into a pitcher and poured it all over him ehhh and I got some of it on me too. NASTY. Then the next thing I knew, dinner was over. They got mad at us for trying to leave? And people were sling shotting something or anothers over to the next house…

Total shock? I started crying. ._. I don’t know how my friends could have enjoyed that. >_>;

Yep. I went to change. Then err… I guess we all went to play Brawl. I was bored out of my mind watching my friends play. As much as I love video games… >_>;;;;;;;;;;

Yeaah… So my friend and I left to play mini golf. I think Ruddock left the best impression on me. (I guess I like Avery, because it’s new…)… But Ruddock had anime-isc murals? And the people there are wonderful.

So yeah yeah… I suck at mini golfing. Ahahaha…. But they had some crazy obstacles. I wish I had my camera with me. >.< They filled up a dorm room (or what room was it?) with water and people were swimming in it. O_O They had another room... that was completely dark, 'cept the course was glow-in-the-dark. :O Annd then they had this aweeesome wooden pinball thing that you put your golf ball into. xDDD annd sling shot! :o I totally missed. I hope I didn't hurt anyone. x_x

Uhhh then milkshake afterwards. :3

I guess afterwards, my friends, who joined us later? went back to play Brawl and we joined them? I don't quite remember. -.- I think I started feeling pretty terrible around then, and I was so sleepy. x_x I wanted to go to Casino Night, but part of me just didn't feel like getting up. ~_~;

Then my friend had to go home~ so I followed him. I went back to my dorm~ annd my host introduced me to her boyfriend (who was from Ricketts and was surprised I didn't enjoy dinner aha ^^;; but he was really nice annd I think he's going to Yuri's night :o) annd um... on my way out~ my friend was writing on the whiteboard.

Haha, it's late tonight anyways, so hmm~ *wonders if you'll actually read this* Buuut if you do, good night to you too :3

/shoutout

Then I talked with my friends for a bit... Wsuh and random Marth and plastic surgery and the random realization that there was a girl in the room...

oh boy...

It was pretty late when I got back. I fell asleep in a sitting position. Ow?

Then I went to breakfast on Saturday with my... Olin? (differentiate?) friend because my other friend hadn't woken up. Uhh... we listened in on an exchange program presentation, before proceeding to admissions and getting a few extra folders... then I went to the store, and bought an MIT prank shirt "replica" haha... and err... went back to the dorm... and went to Pasadena.

We walked around a lot. My feet started hurting. We ate at Noodle World. It smelled like the sewer... and the food was over-priced, and I couldn't taste anything... annnnd... it was weird. (not exactly sure how clean that place was x_x). I wanted to go to the Cheesecake Factory. Oh well. I tried the mango flavor at Jamba Juice! Next time, I'll try pineapple.

We walked around some more. I was totally unproductive...

We came back around 2. I went to the dorm. I chatted online for a bit, and then I found myself waking up at around 5. I missed most of the club fair. GAH. I saw the Fuild Dynamics err "table"? annd the rubik's cube club (uwah, he was there!)... and the anime club... maybe 'cause they're just all tables... I'm hoping the MIT anime club will have some showing or something. I should check. Did I mention that Caltech's guest wireless was kinda meh? I guess that's why it's guest. JPL's guest wireless was better. D:

And DDR... yeah... DDR... Oh, the dunk tank~

Then I had In-n-Out. I didn't eat much at Caltech (I forgot to mention I did get some extra food after the Ricketts fiasco... but it wasn't very good. =.=), annd I wish I went for seconds... 'cause I had a cheeseburger, and I normally get a double-doubt with fries (when I've been eating normally?)...

Hmm... then more DDR... Then One-Act Theatre. I already mentioned it was cold. I was sitting on wet grass. I couldn't see anything, because I was a n00b, and I didn't feel like moving up. 2 friends kept on cracking annoying jokes...

I didn't stay for all of it. One friend went back to DDRing. My other friend... spent an hour on my laptop... chatting. =_=

I was bored out of my mind.

Then I went to my room, chatted, checked what I had to do for homework... I didn't feel like going back outside. I felt really sick and tired... I watched the fireworks. I wanted to go to that other event what with the smash things and thte LN2 ice cream... but I just didn't feel like going out. I fell asleep with my computer on my lap... and I woke up at 2 some. My host stayed up all night. I left at about 8:30, got home, and slept.

Yep.

I feel a lot better than I did an hour and some more ago, when I decided I'd finish this entry. Hopefully, that means my cold will be gone by Wednesday. Forget about school! MIT > school.

I still think I like MIT more, but we’ll see.

I hate this. Ugh.