Whatever I Feel Like I Wanna Do, Gosh!

Sorry I've been such a bad little blogger lately. It's mostly because I've actually been exploring. It's also partially because of this:

Yep. I redo this baby at least every other day.
You should see it now. It's color coded and beautiful.

BUT on the I've-Actually-Been-Leaving-My-Room front, here's a short rundown of what I've been doing for the last week or so:

- I started my job. So far, so good. It's pretty straightforward and easy. It might get boring, but I'm happy to be working from home... at least I can play good music!

- I met the 2nd year students in my program. There are 8 of them (there are 3 of us), and they all seem really great. Two of them already have jobs, which they're using for their student teaching. Myself and the other two first years kinda see that as living the dream.

- I've been bonding with the people in my program, whom we'll refer to as Miss M and Mister M, no relation. We went out to dinner on Tuesday night, and I really think we got to know each other quite well. We haven't aired all of our baggage or anything yet, but we really do love each other already. It's nice that all of us jumped in and felt the same way: We're going to be a close-knit group. Let's skip the awkward phase and just be best friends.

- I've been taking pictures with my iPhone. Not of people though. Still working on that part.

This is the courtyard between my dorm and my school building.
Seriously, sometimes I feel like I go to Hogwarts. And this isn't even the pretty part.

- I went out with Roomie S's college friends, which was super fun. I got to explore Midtown East, which is a totally new area for me. Sure, there's some touristy stuff around there that I've seen, but the NYC bar scene is a whole new world for me.

- I watched the Gator game at one of the local Gotham Gators bars with my good friend and fellow Gator-transplant Jungle K. It was much more low-key than the Atlanta Gator bar I went to with my sister. But it was nice to see an old friend, make some new ones, and be served by a funny bartender. Overall, a good experience.

- I also got to explore Greenwich Village a little, since the Gator bar was downtown. Not too much to report except that I'm growing less afraid of it. And Washington Square Park is the best place in the world for people watching.

Today it was also a wonderful place for clear blue sky watching

Nothing too crazy, but it's been a good week. Too much time spent in bars for my liking, but I guess that's the standard "get to know the people around you" place for 20somethings. Oh well, at least we're getting pretty good at finding cheap drinks!

Hooray for School! Part II

Why yes, I am only taking four classes and still taking two full posts to write about them. Thanks for asking. Here's the rest of them!

Language Development & Habituation: The Foundations
My first linguistics class! I'm still unsure how I feel about this one, other than that I'm excited to learn more about the subject. We don't focus on ASL linguistics or teaching language to any special populations, but the class is a foundation for those classes which we will take later. We also share this class with the Deaf Ed program.

Cognition & Learning
I'm taking this psychology class online. Unlike UF's online courses, there is no taped lecture for me to watch or optional class for me to attend. It's basically a distance learning course, so most of the people in my class don't even live in NYC. What on earth do you do in a class that doesn't have a lecture? You read. A lot. You read textbooks, articles, and lecture notes. It seems ridiculous to pay the amount I pay in tuition to just read a book and not actually have someone lecturing, which is why the other people in my program have chosen to take the in-person option for this class, which meets on Monday nights.

So why on earth have I chosen to pay full tuition to read lecture notes instead of just taking the class like a normal human being? First, some background info: TC's classes started on a Wednesday, so no Monday or Tuesday classes. These missed dates are made up for during Thanksgiving, when Wed/Thurs/Fri classes are all canceled. HOWEVER, the second week of classes was Labor Day, so STILL no Monday classes. That's right, Monday classes will not meet for the first time until the third week of school. So how is TC making up for this? Fall semester ends on Monday, Dec 20th. Since I have yet to meet a single person with Friday classes, classes for most other people end on Thursday, Dec 16th. That's a whole four days earlier, folks.

Yep. That's my reason. It is not a good one. But traditionally, the weekend before Christmas is very important to my family. We lost my cousin to Hodgkin's Lymphoma on December 19th, 2005. Since then, we have spent the days surrounding Dec 19th celebrating his life and legacy, which is the love that our family shares. I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend the five year anniversary of his passing writing a final paper. Online class it is.

Hooray for School! Part I

There are a few reasons I haven't talked about my classes yet. First, I had yet to have all of my classes. Well, we're a week in, so that one is taken care of.

Second, I wasn't sure how personal I wanted this blog to be. It was originally just going to be about New York City in general, no thoughts or anecdotes about my education at all. Recently I've decided that I'd rather use it to keep up with everyone that's far away than try to be Carrie Bradshaw and create a publishable character (a girl can dream). I don't want to feel like I can't say something on here because it doesn't fit with the "theme" of my blog. So basically, screw it, I'm going to write about school. I didn't move to New York to be a writer. I moved to New York to be a student, and eventually a teacher. School is my life. My life is school.

SO without further ado, thoughts after my first week of classes:

Designing Curriculum & Instruction
The first thing I learned in this class is that my professor is a Gator, so that was pretty awesome. Apart from that, this class freekin terrifies me. There's an unwritten prerequisite (Principles of Teaching & Learning), which is also on my program's course of study. Unfortunately, that class wasn't offered this semester, so we plunged head first into this class. Almost everyone else in the class is a second year student and/or has teaching experience. I'm bound and determined to do my damnedest in this class, but that 200-page curriculum project at the end of the semester is pretty daunting. Luckily the other people in my program are all in my section, so we should be able to form a group and create an actual ASL curriculum, which will basically be the coolest thing in the world, assuming we decode the language of our crazy textbooks and actually figure out how this curriculum design stuff works.

Intellectual History of the Deaf
This class is listed on my course of study as "Psychosocial Aspects of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Part I." Needless to say, I was overjoyed when I showed up and SURPRISE it's a history class. If you haven't noticed already, I'm a total history geek. I really liked learning Deaf culture in sign language classes because I enjoyed the historical aspect of it. On our first day, we learned about references to deaf people in the Torah and Talmud, so I was basically overjoyed. Let's just combine everything I love learning about into one class. I actually liked doing the reading for this class today. I'm sure my fellow teaching assistants down in the Swamp can understand how excited I was to read about Clerc, Gallaudet, Stoeke, Public Law 94-142 and the IDEA (bonus points if you all just did the signs for those things/heard Tuccelli in your head while reading this).

We're combined with the Deaf Education students for this class, and not everyone understands ASL. My program coordinator, who is Deaf, teaches the class entirely in sign, so we have a pair of voice interpreters. They are amazingly talented interpreters, and it was cool for me to actually see a pair working together, taking turns and feeding each other things that the one currently voicing might have missed. The professor's fingerspelling is INSANELY fast, and it's usually crazy words like "epistemes," so the fact that they were catching everything is pretty darn cool.

However, as my friend Gator B over at The Boston Buzz pointed out, hearing a voice interpreter say something when you're trying to focus on the signs that you've already seen and could probably comprehend is REALLY DIFFICULT. For me, it's easy to fall back into depending on my ears to receive the information instead of my eyes, which is really bad since it's my receptive signing skills that need the most work. Unlike Gator B's ASL class, the voice interpreter will NOT be going away since some people in the Deaf Ed program here don't know a single sign. I'm seriously considering ear plugs for tomorrow's class.

Lots of words and no pictures? Sounds like a two-part post to me.

The British Are Coming (Today's Fun Fact)

Tonight's Fun Fact about NYC comes courtesy of one of the lovely people in my program. Lady M's friend is a tour guide for Columbia's main campus and shared this little nugget of information with her earlier this week:

All Columbia University undergraduate students are required to take a physical education course, but they are also required to pass a swimming test. There are several theories about how this started (and why it still exists), but my favorite has something to do with the possibility of a British invasion.

No not THAT British Invasion!
(Source: BlogCritics.com)

I mean an ACTUAL British attack on the United States, as in the revolutionary war. You see, Columbia administrators way back in the day needed an escape plan for their students in the event that the Red Coats took over the city.

I know, crazy hacked road sign in Texas, it's a scary thought
(Source - KCBD and Arbroath)

They wanted to ensure that should the British intrude on their hollowed halls, all of their Ivy League men could swim across the Hudson. That's right. Swim. Across. The Hudson. To New Jersey. One major was (and still is) exempt, however: engineers. Why? Because they could build a boat.

Pretty solid, as long as the Others don't destroy it before you reach Joisey.
(Source - Lost Hatch)

So is it true? Who cares. It's great fun.

Guys... Where Are We?

Living near Columbia, it's really easy to forget you actually live in one of the biggest, busiest cities in the world. I know that's kind of silly. It's clearly Manhattan. I look outside my window and see big buildings and yellow taxis. I walk five blocks in either direction and I hit a subway stop. But I'm serious - it's easy to sink into college mode and forget to enjoy the wonders of the city.

Yesterday was the first time I left my neighborhood in a week. Sure, I've been wandering around roughly a 20-block radius, but until yesterday, I hadn't gotten on the subway and gone anywhere for a looong time, which is why I haven't been blogging lately. Nothing to say, and nothing to show. And let me tell you, I had cabin fever. But I've had so much work to do and so many errands to run and so many people to catch up with. But yesterday, I simply refused.

I woke up early, finished my five page paper (welcome to the first week of grad school), ran a few errands, and hopped on the subway to the Upper West Side. After a few glasses of wine on Jungle M's rooftop, we followed a friend a few blocks away to a tiny Thai restaurant for late night spring rolls and drunken noodles. Then we went our separate ways - the boys to their nearby Fordham Law dorms, and Jungle M and I back to her studio apartment to watch 30 Rock and PTFO. And right before I fell asleep on an air mattress on the floor of one of my oldest friends, I thought, "this right here, is New York City."

Sure, you can drink beer at a friends house anywhere you live. But can you do it on a rooftop overlooking Central Park?

Not our view exactly but pretty close

Source - Oyster Travel Guides

So I decided last night that starting today, I will do something to make me appreciate the beautiful city in which I live every single day. And if you know the right Twitter accounts to follow, you know that there are a million things going on in this city every single day. And so many of them are free! Now, obviously there are going to be days where I can't just take in a Broadway show. But even if the only thing I have time to do is walk down to The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, or grab an apple turnover at the Hungarian Pastry Shop, or just sit on the quad of Columbia's campus and take in the magnificent, ancient buildings, that's okay.

So what's up first? Tonight, Jungle M and I are taking in one of the Metropolitan Opera's free outdoor screenings. Because why not?

First Impressions Can Be Tough

Sorry folks, I've been in NYC since Friday, and I have had absolutely no time to blog. But now that I have a free second... some first impressions and common misconceptions from my first few days:

Common Misconception: All New Yorkers are angry, rude people.

Whenever I tell someone I'm from South Florida, they mention how rude the people are there, and cite the transplanted New Yorkers as the source of negative energy. In movies, everyone always has that thick Jersey accent, rushing you in and out of a place, refusing to smile at anyone. So far, that's completely and totally untrue. Sure, people are in a hurry, and of course, there are rude people in New York City. But there are rude people EVERYWHERE you go. I haven't met a single person, much less every person so far, that has been unduly short with me. I am pleasantly surprised.

First Impression: People. Walk. Everywhere.

I've been taking the subway around to most places, which is completely normal when you're going to Brooklyn or the Bronx. But when I called my friend, Jungle M, in the Upper West Side to tell her I was on my way to her, she asked if I was walking or taking the train. It's 50 blocks, of course I was taking the train. She said she was planning on walking to Columbia's library later that day. So yesterday we trekked around Central Park, Columbus Circle, down close to Times Square and then back around to get to the train to me, no problem. That kind of walking I can handle. A 50 block stroll to pick up a friend? We'll see about that.

Common Misconception: It's a big scary city that's so easy to get lost in.

The day before my ungrad graduation, a few friends and I were tubing down a river near the Swamp. We missed our exit, and ended up staying on the river until we found some random strangers who could escort us back to our car - 4 hours, in river floating time, upstream. We had a lot of time to talk, mostly about Disney movies, but a little about getting lost and how I was ready for the big city. One of my friends pointed out that she'd so much rather get lost in the forest, like we basically were, than in the concrete jungle. I've been thinking a lot about this, and I have never felt lost or out of control in my surroundings in NYC. The streets are a grid, which is easy enough without GPS, but having a smart phone makes it next to impossible to get lost. The sketchy areas are easy to spot, and YES you know you're not supposed to walk through them alone, but sometimes you have to, and you just learn to deal with it. I picked up on that last summer, but that didn't dispel all my anxiety walking home from the subway, alone, at night, for the first time. But I knew my route, and once I got off the train onto Columbia's campus, there were people everywhere, bright street lights, and a million and one public safety officers. So dear friends who are worried I'm going to get mugged on a daily basis, calm down. Crime does happen in NYC, but based on 2008 FBI statistics, violent crime rates are quite comparable to where I spent my undergrad years.

First Impression: Ivy League school kids are just as diverse and nervous as public school kids. Ivy League parents do not all look like Upper East Side royalty.

Just some non-exclusive to New York City insight, since the freshmen have been wandering around the quad for orientation (and that area is the fastest way to the subway), so I've seen quite a few of them. Their parents look like my parents. They look like I looked four years ago. Hell, some of them look like I look now. I expected boys in blue blazers with American flag lapel pins being dropped off by their nannies, or girls that look like Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries, pre-makeover, bogged down with piles of books. I'm not really surprised by this, I just thought it was worth mentioning.

Common Misconception: All the women in NYC dress and look like supermodels.

Um, false. Okay, so there's a large number of young, fashionable women wearing sundresses and sandals that I cannot imagine walking around in for miles. But there are also people who look totally normal - T-shirts, jean shorts, sneakers, gym clothes. Also, not an abundance of rompers or leggings yet, so I'm okay as far as my pet peeve fashion items go. In short, I don't think I'll be needing a whole new wardrobe to fit in.

First Impression: It gets hot during the day. It gets cold at night.

There are climate changes here! It's going to rain on Friday, and ONLY on Friday! And then, after it rains, we're going to get a cold front! I wonder if the leaves will change color and my allergies will react to the pollen changes! Okay, so some of this stuff happened in the Swamp. But NEVER near the beaches back home. It's been 15 years since I've really had to deal with snow. Call me crazy, but I don't think my first winter in New York will be worse than my last summer in Florida.

Overall thoughts: I am excited. Nothing right now could make me NOT excited. Not even the list of textbooks I just looked at, and the thought that financial aid hasn't kicked in yet. I think I'm gunna like it here.