So Gabe is off for another year of adventure, and duct-taping bananas to trees, on the sylvan grounds of Guilford College, and I sustained another 13 hour round-trip driving marathon. In addition to his regular tutor, he is under agreement with me that we will Skype twice a week for the purpose of studying semester 3 Japanese.
Gabe packed simply. I came downstairs the morning we were to depart to discover, in the front hall, one duffel full of clothing, one large throw pillow, and one laundry basket full of odds and ends. Gabe had agreed to organize his things there for easy car-loading in the morning, and that, evidently, was the extent of any needs he perceived. With some prodding from me, we filled one more basket before departing. But he’s been doing this for two years now. I guess he knows how simply he subsists.
Among the additions I suggested was his Nakama 1 Japanese textbook. Based on a study of the college bookstore website I had ascertained that Nakama 2 was the needed text for third semester, but I proposed to Gabe that he might want to refer back to concepts found in his first textbook, and he agreed. Un-kudos to me that I didn’t also throw in his matching workbook, because it turns out (now that I have downloaded the course syllabus,) that they will be beginning the semester with the final two chapters of Nakama 1. This necessitated two moves: One--I quickly bought THAT way overpriced set of texts from Amazon so I’ll know what to study, and two--I shipped him his workbook today, along with one jacket and one winter coat.
Gabe is living in a small wing in the walk-out basement level of what is otherwise an all-freshman dorm. Also in that wing will be residing 8 or so other sophomores who, presumably, also have the inclination to submit their housing applications late. Perhaps they will be a compatible and cohesive group.
Meanwhile, I am giving myself pep-talks. I CAN remember some Japanese and be useful as a study partner, right? I’m not always feeling sure about this. Between refreshing the Japanese, and studying some basic music theory this year, I feel at risk of brain implosion.
2 comments:
I have to laugh at how Gabe packs - my daughter is going back to PLU for her senior year and is worried that the van might not be big enough for all her stuff! This year she will be sharing a house off campus with 6 or 7 other young ladies, so in addition to her clothes and books, she wants a desk and an end table and some drawers for her clothes. Luckily one of the women who won't be there next year is letting Jenny have her bed so we didn't have to buy a bed. We'll be driving to Tacoma on Sunday - a week before school starts but Jenny is working on campus and needs to be there early for training.
I laugh too! But, believe me, I am very familiar with the female style of outfitting dorms. Not a one of my three could fit all her stuff in one car by the end. Usually they'd have to transport their stuff in shifts. My favorite "when I was your age" story (which is not, at this point their favorite,) is about how my sister and I packed all of both our college stuff in one VW Beetle to take to Ohio.
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