Swirling clouds and plugged nasal cavities

The pounding of rain against the window screen came much too quickly for my clouded head last night as I sat on my bed writing. Technically I sat on the mattress and box spring (? That is what it's called...?) on the floor of the spare bedroom, but it was still half of "my" bed. My room, next to the spare, was being taped and prepped for painting by Angie and her dear mother. A tickle in the left side of my nose made me cringe with fear at the thought of getting sick and I passed it off as bad allergies that wouldn't go away despite how many Reactin I'd taken. So, afraid I wouldn't sleep the night before classes began, I popped 3 melatonin into my mouth and lay my head down in a hot bed. The humidity and heat of the previous days had worn me out as I fell asleep rather quickly once my head touched the pillow. My eyes had continually flickered to the sky expecting thunderstorms all week with this kind of weather, but being so close to the ocean one needs to remind themselves that such would not be the case. The growing humidity level however only triggered thoughts of rain in everyone and even an older lady sitting on the bus next to me shook her head and stated "looks like rains coming" with her heavy accent that caused me to lean closer so that I might hear clearer. And so the rain came...thankfully after my two days of pointless orientation. Hundreds of bodies packed into a "cool" gym that only grew hotter with the addition of more people. Loud music and voices blared out of speakers trying to get the audience "pumped" for school and filled with school spirit. I suddenly felt like I'd been thrown back into grade nine orientation or a pep rally in high school. Unorganized and the day too jam packed with activities, I soon found myself lost within the crowd and leaving through the nearest exit in an attempt to calm myself down from having a panic attack. Who needed to stay for campus tours anyway? My classes were within two buildings and I'd already visited both. I. Was. Set. Then the rain came. And the howling wind. I thought our house might blow down, but it seems the Newfoundlanders really know how to build a house to stand up against the weather. It didn't shift, it didn't creak, it hardly let out a crack and despite the rain pounding against the windows it wasn't noisy at all. Thoughts of whether I'd actually be able to stand at the bus stop without being blown over rattled me from my sleep and determinedly I told myself "Go back to sleep and take a taxi!". However...this did not calm my nerves and by 7.40 I was up and getting ready with a nervous feeling starting to boil in my stomach. An hour and twenty minutes later I was standing at the bus stop, not a drop of rain to be seen (despite swirling clouds whipping past at rather quick speeds), I waited patiently for my late bus. Now I've been told the bus system isn't very reliable in St. John's...but now I understand why. The traffic within this city is worse then what I counted in Calgary! I've never head so many horns blaring and so many tires screeching. It amazes me anyone can get anywhere in a vehicle. So I hopped onto the bus and had a rather terrifying bus ride as I'm already nervous in small cars and this thing was about three car lengths long. The school seemed like a different place with thousands of students wondering about the halls of the UC. I wove my way in and out of people and despite being confident about knowing where my classes were...ended up in the wrong building. But such mistakes were quickly corrected and I made my way to my firsts class, Intermediate Russian. Sitting down I did not expect a large class to begin with and simply smirked when one of the other five students mentioned how tiny the class was and wondered how they could even offer it. This was what I had hoped for, a small class so that we might all focus on what we need to and work hard on increasing our skills. Our professor...well he was interesting. His humor was as dry as dirt and his tone was rather monotonous. However I think I will enjoy the class as it is clear he knows his stuff and enjoys the topic. Opportunities already seem to be towering over us in this class. The next class, Russian Literature in Translation: Nineteenth Century, was a mystery to me. I knew I had the same professor as my Russian course and that I had a lot of books to buy. Once I came out of the class I'd discovered that we had /many/ books to read and wasn't sure how interesting it would be. But once I'd bought the first book and sat down on my two hour break, I opened Eugene Onegin written by Alexander Pushkin and can't seem to put it down since. I never thought I'd actually be interested in a novel written in poetry. So we shall see how it goes. Oh and did I mention? This professor doesn't like final exams...so I have two final exams in my other two courses. Bonus! Linguistics was...iffy. The material we will be covering is a mix of what I had completed last year, some of it I had enjoyed while others I had detested. However that goes without saying I disliked the class I was in and hope this class will be much more enjoyable. My professor was very clear in everything he said, kindly giving us the definition of every. word. he. said. It was a little slow, but it may move along once we get into it. Plus he's cancelled class on Friday, so he's near the top of favorite professors so far. Lastly English. I haven't written an essay in two years and was a bit worried about this class. But now that I've gone there, listened to the prof who was rather...cheerful, yet clearly laid down some rules, I think I'll manage. My goal for this one? Blow him out of the water with some good writing. We'll see how long that lasts however as my motivation may dwindle off at the end of the semester. Also...we have to write a weekly blog...unfortunately it has to be on topics he picks. So yes, that was my first day of school in a nut shell. My room has been painted and tomorrow I am going to sleep and drag myself around the house setting up my room and doing homework while attempting to get rid of this cold. Expect an update...in a week or so. Toodles.