raw talent

My friends on the Table Tennis team stole this for me:

… because I thought he was incredibly cute and was obsessing for a while. Later, upon closer inspection and after experiencing my friends’ disbelief & mockery, I’ve come to realize that isn’t that physically attractive. But rather… that it was his awesome, AWESOME table tennis skills that got me.

This is comforting in some ways, and really not that novel in others. Socially, women have always been attracted to men with talent,  or power (or both), while men seemed to go for the pure physical attributes of the other sex. It’s good to know that I’m perhaps not attracted only to people themselves (ie. Big D), but rather to the skills or talent that make them who they are (ie. physics, pilot, swimming)… It’s comforting to know that it’s looking more like I am only in love with the idea of him… and ideas are can be more easily replaced than people.

On the other hand, as a girl of modest looks and awesome talents (and modest, too!), I seem to be at a sexual disadvantage. No wonder I’m mostly single.

there’s no place like home

Thursday, at noon, marked the end of my Freshman career. Pretty epic, huh? It really just happened so quickly that I’m not sure I did anything substantial, much less everything I wanted to do. I spent the next couple of days fitting my room – or rather, a year of my life – into boxes. My entire Freshman year: fears, joys, tears, struggles and laughter, all fit into the back of one Acura SUV.

There is always a strange transition period for me every time I return home. Living in residence and having half of my stuff in Montreal plays with my sense of independence somewhat; it’s like a limbo between the kid I used to be and the adult I’ve become. I gather that my feelings of anxiety and … stagnancy are somewhat different from the average American students. It’s curious how the ‘College Culture’ of Canada and USA differ so much. Most of my friends are still living at home, going to McGill, in a city in which they have pretty much stayed since they were born. Whenever I step back into la belle province, it feels like I travel back in time…. my house is the same, my friends are the same… have I really changed at all?

The transition, however, is always less anxious or bumpy than I anticipate. It just feels so natural to be in this city that I know so well; a city that has been so good to me since my arrival nearly 13 years ago.