dorm life

as i write this i am laying in my bunk bed in a triple in a uc berkeley dorm. it is fantastic. i am literally reliving the first day of my college career. no, more than that, i am reliving the first day of my summer camp experience at the ncssm summer program after my sophomore year of high school. the bunks are squeaky and the mattress is bumpy, the sheets smell like generic laundering, the walls and carpet smell like a dorm. my dorm room is so devoid of personality and life that it is like a clean slate. and that's what you feel when you first move in - it's a clean slate.

the US team met up today - most of us got here by 4 pm, and we had a team meeting in the berkeley dorm called unit 3. they gave us keys on a clunky keychain and a meal card to be used at the dining hall. this whole experience has made me feel so new again - in a "i have nothing and am ready to set up shop" way, but also in a "i am allowed nothing. all these restrictions are stupid" way. dorm administration is geared toward freshmen who have no understanding of how to control their lives the moment their parents are out of the picture. it's not like we're living in a hotel and the service staff are minimally seen at best.

the other feeling i got from getting into my dorm was the enjoyment of choosing which desk and bed i would be occupying. i am getting some roommate who is support staff later, i think. this happened during my freshman preorientation as well - i was supposed to be in a double but my roommate never showed up, so i ended up having to exit my hallway and follow the sounds of talking. but then sometimes i'd just sit in my room, listen to people outside, think, "i should go socialize" but then end up doing stuff on my computer instead. that is what an mit student does.

the rest of the day was spent kind of working out. we were supposed to have a full workout but because of the weighin schedule, we didn't have time either before or after to have a training session. some of the competitors who were cutting weight went to kick and train a little bit on the mats, and alicia, carissa, stephanie and i went to practice poomse. we went sort of from 4 - 7 pm, then realized that the only other team competing was canada. so this was a bit of a letdown, because i really would have liked competing against many countries - including some that actually put in work for poomse.

but tonight we have a curfew at 12, which is way late for me anyways. tomorrow morning we have to go back to the disgusting dining hall for breakfast at 8:30, which is not worth it except to be with the team. and apparently there's organic chocolate milk. there's a practice session at 10 am, then we'll probably do some other poomse work throughout the day until opening ceremonies in the evening.

i think a part of me is going to enjoy a morning workout. because we literally have nothing else to do but train. if only the US had a training camp for the team - that would be a pretty good experience too.

so now i'm lying on my bunk bed, in the top bunk, blogging to record this experience down. so far it's been fun because it's been a living flashback. except i am older - way older - and i still end up feeling more isolated from everyone else because they are a bit younger, more doing sparring, and located on the opposite end of the hall. but it's ok. we'll all be representing team usa soon, whether we're all wearing usa jerseys or the ragtag school shirts everyone was supposed to bring.