I’m not sure why, but I feel bad if I go longer than a week without updating this. I think part of it is that it’s supposed to pass for a semester report for the Internationalization office at UPEI, so I feel like it should be work, and part of it is that I feel like that would be like ignoring my family. So, for whatever reason, here is another brief anecdote about Ithaca.

One of the things they like doing here, at IC and apparently all over the place, is Humans Versus Zombies, or HVZ for short. It involves Nerf guns, bandanas, and some other things, but I don’t really understand the rules. In essence, the zombies chase the humans and the humans shoot the zombies. A game usually lasts about a week, full time. So people carry their Nerf guns and balled-up socks to class and meals and take up all the space on the table, but it’s all in good fun. I myself am not playing because a) I can’t handle that degree of commitment and b) I can’t muster up the amount of devotion to intentionally ridiculous behaviour that seems to be a prerequisite. Still, I get plenty of exposure to it because a few of my friends play, and I go for kind of a civilian VIP role. Since this is a school well known for its journalism program, that makes me an embedded journalist. See:

Now, earlier you may have thought, “What, Willy, you so do have that amount of devotion to intentionally ridiculous behaviour,” and to that I say, did you see that guy in the tactical vest? I didn’t even know they made those. America.

Hi, folks, just thought I should write a quick post here to let you know what I’ve been up to. Now I have to try to remember what that is, exactly. So, starting… when was my last post? Last Thursday, man, time flies. Well, that weekend I went to the closest thing Ithaca has to a redneck bar to see an AC/DC cover band. It was an experience that’s hard to describe. Walking back to campus afterwards, we saw a bowling alley and, of course, couldn’t resist playing a game. There turned out to be what looked like an entire fraternity in there having some kind of party, with several of them performing a rousing chorus of “American Pie”. Good background noise for bowling. I actually got a strike and two spares, and once they left I threw six consecutive gutter balls. C’est la vie.

So that was that weekend, and I don’t really remember anything special after that until this past weekend, when I went to Applefest. Applefest is something I can’t think of an exact word for – something between carnival and street market – that started out with all the farmers in the area coming in to town to peddle their wares at the same time, and it seems that their wares were mostly apples. That was what it started as, and how it got its name, but now there are a bunch of booths selling food and crafts and things, and bands, and other stuff. It’s neat, but it was freaking cold. It was probably around 5 degrees that day, and that feels pretty cold in September.

I nearly lost that arm while I was waiting for that henna to dry. You’re probably curious: làska is Slovak for love. This is one of the things in the “other stuff” category, the To Write Love On Her Arms booth. Suicide prevention and all that, very worthy cause and cool booth. They did this thing where you write one of your fears and one of your dreams and then they take a picture – actually I’ll just show you.

I thought that was a neat idea. And they had funnel cakes and apple cider and all kinds of stuff. That was a good day.

The only other thing I can think of is last night was Asaad’s (my friend from Pakistan) birthday. We had the lamest party in the world in one of the study lounges in our dorm, and it was after quiet hours so we had to keep hushing each other, and we still got a warning from an RA. Still, cheesecake + Sunny D = pretty good time.

I think that’s about it, all I can remember, anyway. Keep in touch!