Work

As I found myself whistling to myself tonight at 11pm, nearly friendless in a city I still hardly know, I realized something: work makes me happy. Or, more specifically, work plus the people around me there makes me happy. This is a lot like Bates: the work you're doing and the things you're learning are cool, but the people that you share the experiences make things extra special. I had a couple of moments today when I was impressed but the people that surround me at work. So really, in a way, work is like being back at Bates having an epiphany as you're working on that sociology paper, trying to weave everything together (incidentally, "weave together" was my favorite catchphrase to write on writing tutees' reports.) Except my brain doesn't feel like it's working as hard. But in a good way. I'll probably crave more academic intellectual stimulation soon, but for now I'm enjoying not having to have to write papers and responses all the time. Maybe that's the difference; maybe what I'm really enjoying is not having homework. Sure, I check my email that has work stuff in it at home, and I can "work from home" (even though we're technically not supposed to, but everyone does from time to time) on somethings if I ever need/want to, but come 5pm (or 7pm, as the case was today), it's time to step away and take time for yourself. Apparently lots of people on the project are workaholics and might have some trouble with this, so it seems like the policy is to constantly remind each other of this. How very feminine.

In other news, there was a tornado here yesterday. Much to my dismay, I didn't see it or even hear the sirens go off, as I was currently in the gym (up on the 8th floor with two-story tall glass windows ripe for the breaking -- probably not my best idea, but I was originally running outside in the storm and turned around when I saw the well-defined lightning bolts.) I'm also being Bates-talgic (could you tell?), getting more into caffeinated beverages (coffee/tea), and composing songs about how I'm a human garbage disposal.

And as much as I leave work at the office/clinic/play area, it still follows me home. For example, I want to slash every plural (e.g.,"song/s") like we do for transcribing the kids' speech. That just makes me whistle more.