UW Update #1

Hello y’all! This is my first attempt to keep everyone posted on what I’ve been doing at the UW. If you’ve seen Grace’s email from Whitman, this is like that: a weekly update, intended for delivery Sunday, likely ship date Monday or Tuesday. This one only covers up to Sunday night since I ran out of writing time.

My first few days at the UW have been interesting and altogether a lot of fun. I think the best way to present my experiences is in a chronological timeline along with a few key points. Key points first, then timeline.

Key points:

Instagram: To get photo updates, follow me (spencerjpeters) on Instagram.

Hecticity: Things have been hectic in a good way, with just the right amount of downtime.

Dorm room: I love my room. I really do. It’s quite ample, properly configured, with a great closet and a window looking out on a beautiful tree.

Jamie: I also love my roommate. I know this sounds like something I’d be saying even if it weren’t true, but it is. We’re fairly similar, especially where it counts: we’re both polite and express preferences straightforwardly, have similar expectations of each other, and are willing to let each other make pretty much any decision that affects both of us under the assumption that the decisions will be reasonable (room decisions, meal decisions, etc.) And we have a similar idea of reasonableness.

Eleanor: I met Eleanor from WCC; we’re taking the same physics class. I think it’ll be a lot of fun. Jamie and Eleanor get along well, which is awesome. The three of us had a great conversation on Monday (sorry, not posted yet). More data forthcoming.

Other Honors floormates: I’m getting to know names pretty well. Everyone I’ve met so far is friendly and outgoing. We had a hall dinner for just our hall (the odd rooms) and that was fun. Info on that is below.

Timeline with annotations of varying and often random density:

1.     Friday Sept. 19

a.     Moved in to Haggett

b.     Met roommate, Jamie Housen, and his family

                                               i.     Jamie plays ultimate Frisbee! Yes!

c.      Ate dinner with my family in cafeteria underneath McMahon, the dorm adjacent to Haggett

d.     Went back to Haggett for the mandatory floor meeting.

                                               i.     I run into Eleanor from math classes in WCC. I had known that she was considering attending the UW and doing the Honors program, and literally had looked her up in the student database earlier in the day.

                                              ii.     I was astonished and elated not only to find her in Haggett but in the room across the way from mine (I’m in 621, she’s in 620).

                                            iii.     We talk for a little bit, then the floor meeting began.

                                            iv.     Did an icebreaker where each person says their name and an alliterative adjective.

                                              v.     Established ground rules for the hall.

e.     Met up with Jamie and trekked down to quad to watch a mystery movie.

                                               i.     Turned out to be 22 Jump Street, a cheesy, R-rated, but entertaining comedy about cops infiltrating a college to bust drug dealers.

                                              ii.     Before the movie, we were introduced to the Twitter-feed screen that we would see all over campus, which would grab and loop live Twitter comments.

                                            iii.     The volume was so loud that I was shocked when I acclimated to it.

f.      Afterwards watched UW Band play a few songs.

g.     Returned to dorm, checked email, set up Office.

                                               i.     Jamie had kindly brought a router to broadcast Ethernet into Wifi.

2.     Saturday Sept. 20

a.     Woke up at 9:30

b.     Took shower

                                               i.     I had to put both my shampoo and soap into a plastic bag since I hadn’t ordered my shower caddy yet. It worked pretty well but the shampoo bottle is covered with soap now.

                                              ii.     The men’s bathroom is very close to our room, which is awesome, so I could just walk out in a towel and change in our room. It’s odd, because most of the rooms on our floor have female occupants.

c.      Jamie suggested that we go to Lander Hall for all-you-can eat breakfast. Lander is a dorm on West Campus and Haggett is on North Campus, so it took us about 10min to get there.

d.     But it was closed, so we walked back towards campus.

e.     We heard that Lander should be open at 10, so we had a moment of indecision (Jamie and I share indecisiveness: he’s a very soft-spoken and easygoing fellow.) Then we went back towards Lander.

f.      Not only was it not open, but the fire alarm was sounding. Brilliant! So I look up a place on Yelp that’s 0.6 miles away on the Ave. No1 breakfast place in the area! We start walking—figure it’s an excuse to explore the Ave.

                                               i.     The Ave is where a lot of student-targeted restaurants and other businesses have set up shop near UW.

                                              ii.     We pass a self-conscious homeless encampment.

                                            iii.     We pass the UW Bookstore.

                                            iv.     We get to where the restaurant, Morsel, should be but it’s not there.

                                              v.     We ask a local and realize we walked right by it.

                                            vi.     Finally, we find it and realize that there is a line stretching far out the door and maybe two tables in the whole place.

                                           vii.     Cursing my poor intuition, I realize that in Bellingham a great Yelp review signals a good restaurant, but in Seattle a great Yelp review (the number one breakfast place next to UW) signals a cult like the one our family witnessed when we went to NY and ordered burgers at the Shake Shack. 2 hour line, ‘nuff said.

g.     We stop in at the bookstore on the way back. Poor Jamie, whom I’ve just dragged all the way to Morsel and back (hey, he didn’t want to make a decision) grabs something at the bookstore café. I didn’t really want to eat a big breakfast anyway and now it’s almost 11, so I decide to wait until lunch and get my textbooks.

                                               i.     Amazon has this sweet app where you can take a picture of the barcode on a textbook and get search results. So I go around doing this to every one of my textbooks.

                                              ii.     I save money on my physics textbooks, but Amazon’s offering for the CS textbook, the third edition of a book I already have, is no cheaper than the $103 asked at the bookstore for a used copy.

                                            iii.     I steel myself to buy it, even consulting my dad, then go back into the bookstore and realize there are no used copies left! (As a matter of fact, says the lady behind the counter, there’s exactly one left, but if you don’t see it on the shelf, someone is probably carrying it around with them.)

                                            iv.     I curse and run around the bookstore looking for someone carrying that last precious used copy. Then I waited by the shelf for someone to return the used copy to the shelf upon further reflection. Yes, I knew that this was irrational. If they have it, they probably are going to buy it. So finally my brain woke up and I looked at the Amazon rental price and it was a great deal and I lived happily ever after.

                                              v.     Well, more or less. I bought the one thing I actually needed at the bookstore, a lab manual for physics, picked up a coupon book, and went back to the dorm to meet up with Jamie. I put the rest in my Amazon cart.

h.     Jamie and I get lunch in Lander. It’s not all-you-can-eat, which is disappointing for one who has foregone breakfast, but I’m happy with my two incredible slices of Pagliacci’s pizza.

i.       I meet up with my family at Husky Stadium to watch the game against Georgia State. 

j.       We scalp tickets and enter the stadium.

k.     We watch the most bizarre game of Husky football ever played.

                                               i.     The Huskies play ridiculously badly in the first half and end up running a 0-14 deficit to a lower-division team with a losing record. Everyone is freaking out.

                                              ii.     In the second half, the Huskies get their act together and score 45 unanswered points. Everyone is jubilant if a little confused.

                                            iii.     Later I talk to Jamie. He’s a big football fan. He tells me that Georgia state had a 16-game losing streak (in the lower division!) before one recent win, and that if the Huskies had lost, he would have been so embarrassed that he would have to leave the UW.

l.       It’s 6:45 and there’s a comedy event at 7. I had heard to arrive early to have any chance of getting a seat. I say goodbye to the family and I run to the dorm to meet with Jamie. He’s not there and I realize he’s already left. I text him frantically to save me a seat, but he replies that this is impossible. I sprint down the quad to Meany hall, see a line, and scramble to its back. More people pour into the line behind me. A staffer counts out 16 people in front of me, then tells us to wait. After “counting seats” inside the hall, she counts out 10 more. I am 7^th. Phew! Once I’m in the hall and seated, the show begins. The first comedian (a guy) does routines about colonoscopy and the most manly way to remove one’s socks. It’s strongly R-rated, but funny. The second, a very petite Asian woman who looked about 4 feet tall, talks about the emotional impact of a breakup with her boyfriend and co-musician and appeals to him that they should get back together. I can’t tell whether it’s an act or real or both. She sings and accompanies herself on guitar. She talks about how she met him, and how she no longer did not fear death after they met, etcetera. It sounds silly, but it was very touching. In the end, the co-musician boyfriend? ex-boyfriend? comes out onto the stage and plays the last song with her.

m.   I go to the HUB (Husky Union Building) Crawl.

n.     I run into Jamie on the way there after walking backwards at half speed to sample successive slices of the crowd.

o.     Then I run into Eleanor. Who says that she’s just run into Vivian, another WCC Math Club acquaintance. Crazy.

p.     We eat a late-night breakfast courtesy of Dawg Daze and head into the HUB building.

q.     The crowds are crazy. Jamie and I manage to get a slot at the giant checkerboard and play a game of checkers.

r.      Then we go to the Lyceum where the League of Legends league is recruiting and all manner of video games are going on. I get humiliated at Smash Bros. Brawl.

s.      We explore the area downstairs, where I score free popcorn and a delicious bar and walk past 12 pool tables, all in use.

t.      Finally, Jamie and I split up and I get into a game of Settlers (I walked around holding a piece of paper reading Anyone for Settlers of CATAN?), but we’re kicked out of the HUB before we can finish.

u.     I go back home, check email, etc. then go to bed.

3.     Sunday

a.     Wake up, shower, grab a muffin (thanks Mom!), sprint down to meet my parents for the Freshman Convocation (described shortly).

b.     We go to the basketball arena turned auditorium near the football stadium and get seats.

c.      There’s a full orchestra playing. A few minutes in, the President of UW and the Deans and other important faculty march in in medieval regalia and claim their seats. Speeches are made.

d.     After the Convocation, we claim our t-shirts and make our way to the picnic. The shuttle directions mislead Grandma, but eventually we all get there and eat some delicious food.

e.     I run to Mary Gates Hall for the Honors open house and talk to some people.

f.      I return to the dorm, get stuff from my parents, say goodbye, and make my way to the football stadium, where our class photo will be taken as we are arrayed in a giant W.

g.     But first, after convoluted circumnavigation, we go to a soccer field where I’m taken through a high-five tunnel and then form its end. It’s sweltering and the Astroturf is reflecting all of the bright sunlight.

h.     We do a whole bunch of icebreakers and meeting activities that seem a little pointless in that we’re breaking the ice with people that we are highly unlikely to see on a regular basis, since the fact that two students are both freshmen is a very weak association.

i.       The classwide rock-paper-scissors tourney is kind of fun.

j.       Everyone bonds in the most general sense by commiserating over the heat and the general insanity.

k.     Finally we go to the stadium and have our class photo taken!

l.       I go back to the dorm and remember that our floormates Emily and Evie have invited us to a hall dinner. So we all go down to the 8 dining hall under McMahon and eat pasta and enjoy lively conversation and reinforce those fragile neural connections that map each other’s faces to the corresponding names.

m.   At 6:30 we go to the IMA (Intramural Activities building, read gym, but like 3 gyms and a whole load of classrooms and dance studios and a pool and an archery range and a rock climbing wall. We browse the club tables and then split up. There’s a ton to do, including dodgeball, but I decide to try badminton first. Basically, like Ultimate, whoever made a mistake would rotate out. It was so much fun that I got caught up in it and never tried the dodgeball. I sucked horribly at first until my reflexes caught up with my intentions, and then I had a ball.

n.     I leave the IMA and freak out upon reading a text from Eleanor, sent at 6:30 when I had left for the IMA with my phone still silenced from the convocation and secured in my pocket with duct tape over the mouth of the pocket. She had asked if I wanted to get dinner. So I sprint up to the showers, then head over to her room. I was thinking that we could get Rick’s $1 ice cream—good we didn’t try, since as you’ll learn later Rick’s has not opened its doors yet. Instead she invites me in for some tea and a Feynman lecture. (I had read a bunch of transcriptions of Feynman lectures but never watched one, so this was great. She had found a site listing seven general lectures explaining some of the most interesting features of physics, not the lectures I had read that were transcribed from a Caltech course. This had been the source of an amusing conversation earlier: Eleanor had asked “Have you watched all the lectures? Wait, of course you have, you’re Spencer.” Jeez, I said, I’ve only read 25 of like 150. I hope you don’t hold me in that level of esteem! Eleanor, of course, was referring to the seven lectures she had seen.

o.     Anyway, we had a good conversation while watching the lecture and resolved to do it again. Eleanor goes to bed early, so it was about 10 when I left her room. I went out into the hall and found something going on.

p.     Jamie, I, and a lot of other floormates ended up playing Cards Against Humanity, basically a perverse, R-rated version of Apples to Apples. It was pretty funny—but what was also amusing is how quickly I was discovered to be the ignorant homeschooler and made victim of attempts to shelter me from the more egregious terminology.

q.     Then I read some of The Name of The Wind, a book Ken Cooper recommended me and that I heartily recommend, before falling asleep.