The Doors

No, not the band. XP

Well, the second week of classes has started and I am about 63.1692870% prepared. I spent the weekend reading most of the books for the week. Tis a lot of reading, but all of it was very interesting. For this week the books I have to read, know, and understand are:

Musui's Story ~Katsu Kokichi (Japanese History)
Robinson Crusoe ~Daniel Defoe (British Empire)
The Consolation of Philosophy ~Boethius (Medieval)
The Marriage of Figaro ~Beaumarchais (Enlightenment)

These are only the novels I have to read. There are Blackboard readings and other smaller book sections that have to be read as well. >.<

Also, Japanese language adds to the amount of homework. In a previous post I stated that I had to take a placement test to make sure that the 203 class was the next logical step for me. Well, on the first day of that class (Wednesday 8 September) the sensei (professor) handed out last semester's final to those students who had had his class. Naturally, they went over it and I looked on another students paper. As it turns out, the test I had to take was parts of that final. However, this being said, I should confess that I did not pay strict attention when they were going over the exam in class. Thus, when I went to take the placement test I really did have to use my own knowledge for the majority of it. I did fine, missing a couple conjugations and translations, but overall the sensei said that I am in the right class. \^o^/ So I say "Doomo arigatou gozaimasu Li Sensei" (at UNC) for teaching me Japanese for two years.

But anyway, the purpose of this post is about the doors here at Skidmore. THEY ARE VERY LOUD. The majority of the people on my floor slam their doors and there is no rubber edging in the door frame to soften the sounds. >.< This makes for very interesting evenings when people are going in and out of their rooms. I think even the doors in Decker and at UNC in general do not make this much noise, even when you do let them shut on their own. This is something I am going to have to get used to, since I doubt many people are going to change and take the time to make sure they do not slam their doors when they leave or enter their rooms. Granted, I sometimes let the door shut and make a loud noise, but I do my part to not let it become a habit.

Also, the locks here are different. In Decker the door locks on the inside automatically. Here, you have a dead bolt you can lock on the inside, but you have to use your key on the outside to lock the door when you go out. About half the time I forget to lock my door. >.< Am working on that. Also, in Decker it is much easier to get in the room. When you put the key in the lock and turn it, it opens the latch and you can get in with one swift movement of the hand. At Skidmore, the deadbolt lock and the door latch are in two different locations. So you have to unlock the door first and then move your hand to the doorknob and turn it to open the door. So much work to get into the room. So, I have created a shortcut for my door. I have taped the door latch so that it does not click nor make as much noise when I open and close the door. This way, I only have to unlock the door and push it open when I am carrying books or what ever else in my arms. However this has caused some problems. The doors here are not as heavy as those at UNC. Thus, my door often swings open and closed, since it has nothing to keep it shut (unless I bolt my door). Oh well, I would much rather have an easily open-able door than one that makes noise all the time.

Anyway, this will probably one of the weirdest postings about Skidmore, but it served as a nice break from reading. n_n

Until next time,

"Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be." ~A. Einstein