So, I found out recently, much to my relief, that there is room for me in the dorms! Because I am not only a transfer but also applied extremely late, there was barely space for me, but they managed to fit me in. I will be spending this semester in McManis Hall, which is one of the big dorms for soph, junior, and senior men and women (divided into "gender-specific wings"), located almost at the heart of campus, right on the Quad. This will be an unprecedented experience and I plan to take advantage of it...let's see, it will take me about 5 mins. to get to class from my dorm now, instead of the average 45-50 commuting to Seattle back at the U of W. So I guess this means I can sleep late.

I have two roommates, Susanna and Katie, both of whom are transfers also, have never lived in this area before, and are both from North Carolina. It's interesting, because at Wheaton apparently, the majority of students are from out of state and quite a lot are international. I think it was kind of Those In Charge to place me with fellow transfers, I always find it rather comforting to have comrades when I feel like I'm the "newbie" somewhere. :)
I just found out that our "triple" isn't actually a dorm room--they were so crunched for space that it is instead a lounge area. Which, now that I think about it, will likely be an advantage, because we may have more space than the standard rooms. I just hope we don't have that icky fluorescent lighting. :P Well, it will certainly be an adventure, and I am quite ready to move in! I have my new 5-subject notebooks and favorite Pilot pens, my yoga gear, electric kettle and coffee mugs, horse-head bookends, a big thick stack of my absolutely "essential" books to take (which is silly, since I never seem to have time for reading other than assigned work in college, but I feel a compulsory need to take them anyway), my Latin dictionaries, my pea coat, a new purple hat, and a pair of warm gray boots for when it gets cold...what else could I need? :) The lucky thing is, if I do happen to forget something (which I will) I can walk the mile and a half to my parents' house on Stoddard Ave, haha. I have it really easy, I can keep most of my winter clothes and extra books, etc, there...my roommates are having to plan ahead and bring what they'll need for a year, while I only really have to look ahead a few weeks. :)

I have a tendency to overload myself with commitments and plans, and I've already dropped a couple...I don't think I'll audit that poly-sci class after all this first semester, I'll just focus on adjusting to this whole semester system and taking 5 classes instead of the 3 I was used to at UW. I've always wished I could audit tons and tons of classes at school, because there is so much I feel very ignorant about (poly-sci, economics, and physics in particular :P) and I want to LEARN all this stuff that I don't have any elective credit left to use on...but then life happens and I never end up doing it. Maybe next semester...haha....

Also, I decided that right now is not the best time to try to learn Italian. I tried off and on for a couple weeks, instead of reviewing the Latin that I've already forgotten since spring, but I don't think I have time to spend on it now that school's about to begin. It's going on my To Do List, along with taking a martial art, learning calligraphy, attending a culinary school in Paris, writing haiku, exploring Italy, and starting my own used bookstore/coffeehouse. I like to be optimistic. :P

However, I did manage to learn ONE very useful conversation, which nevertheless I probably won't dare use if I visit Rome, because I will pronounce it atrociously, but here it is anyway:

"Cameriere, un altro caffe, per piacere." (Waiter, another coffee, please.)
"Subito, signorina." (At once, miss.)
"Grazie."

You know, I think I'd like to try it out after all. :)

Ciao!