Thursday

No photos on this post, I’m terribly sorry!

On thursday, we met our Professor and advisor. At the entrance to his office, we were greeted by a golden maneki-neko, a Japanese beckoning cat. That was cute. Back in his office, however, I noticed that this man actually seems to be interested quite a bit in Southeastern and Eastern Asia. Various figurines and artifacts which I do not know the names for were on display all over the furniture. That makes his office very charming, and I feel like it does reflect its owner. He's kind of a unique, some would say spacy, man, and I guess I will come to like that. Oh, and he said that he did actually shake hands with Allen Ginsberg after a reading back in the days! He seems like an interesting and intelligent guy, so it’s a pity I do not have a class on the Beat Generation with him.

On my way home, I stopped at the Diner because I was craving for a coffee. I decided to get a chocolate milk shake as well, and it was good. Like the coffee, the shake was very very much, and I guess I’m gonna take some of it back to Leipzig in the form of body fat. Anyway, I had picked up a copy of The Athens News (which is free), and I skimmed through it while I drank my coffee and milk shake. The section with the letters to the editor caught the major part of my attention. It looks like really anyone can write about whatever’s on their minds. Here are some of the most interesting quotes (they’re all anonymous):

“If solar energy actually worked, wouldn’t people be more energetic when working in the sun, than when working in cloudy conditions? But actually, if the sun is shining hot enough, it actually makes you less energetic! It’s actually just common sense, people!”

“Ha, I knew it! This cold snap [referring to the ‘polar vortex’] proves once and for all that climate change is an elaborate hoax foisted upon the world by greedy scientists intent on ballooning their research budgets. It’s so obvious.”

“Is someone making up ‘Athens Voices’? Some of them are so idiotic. I have to think it’s creative writing. Nobody’s that stupid!”

In the evening, ISU hosted a game night where I played the most competitive Pictionary session of my life. Things got kinda crazy towards the end when both teams were tied and everyone wanted to win. After that, when we left the building, we found that it was snowing. Very nice puffy and fluffy snow. Immediately, three Atheneans threw themselves on the ground to make snow angels. Then, the group kinda split, and I went to Broney’s with two others because I thought that’s where we would meet Sam. It’s a big bar, and hardly anyone was there, including no Sam. So Majed, Sophia, and I had a beer (Budweiser’s not that bad! Still I spilled half of mine…), and then went to Tony’s, where Sam had been all the time with a friend of his. Tony’s is a great bar with cozy booths and blackboards on the tables. So we exercised our skills at drawing animals and had some Hot Nuts, shots of coffee and almond liquor. Good stuff. Good times!