So today I got my changing-how-long-I’m-gonna-stay form from Elisabeth, our RC. I decided a little while ago to come back for second semester, but was planning to keep it a secret from all my friends at Midd – indeed I’d already revealed this plan to Miss Jones and Mr. Bestor, soliciting their discretion. The point of this plan was to make everyone happier to see me by surprising them, to REALLY surprise them, and to generally pull off a stunt.

I’ve chosen not to do this cause it’s too hard. I’m not sure why but, the idea of telling all my friends at Midd I’m not coming back for sure, and making them sad, is too difficult, and I don’t think I’ll be able to keep that secret anyway – I’m too excited!

I’m really looking forward to next semester. Mainly because the last semester at Midd was so great once the Arockening got going, and I am making it my declared intention to make (or to continue) the Arockening every day operating prodecure. This will be enhanced by the fact that, for my first time ever at Midd, I will NOT be taking a class that meets every weekday morning. I will be taking as many history seminars as possible, and the results of this will be numerous and universally positive.

1-It will be so much fun. Nothing is more fun than history seminars. It will be exactly what I want to do.
2-I will be learning exactly the kinds of things I want to be learning.
3-It will be what I should be doing, academically.
4-It will easy.
5-It will provide a ridiculously flexible schedule. This will facilitate lots of rocking out, Arrested Development marathons, Dota marathons, spontaneous trips to the Burlington Denny’s, crazy parties, and so on. The overall, and most-anticipated, aspect of this, however, will be that I can completely re-arrange my sleeping schedule, and make an utter mockery of the hours normal people keep. Not only will I stay up all night QUITE OFTEN, and then make up for it in numerous moderate-length day-naps, I will strive to keep no order of any kind. I will sleep when I am tired, and only then. I will pull sufficient feats of staying-up in order to keep this as uneven as possible. Also, I will be able to work at 3 am a lot, which, despite my own incredulity, is my most productive time of “day”. Last semester, which included perhaps two weeks’ worth of all-nighters, was my best semester by a comfortable margine.

ANYWAY, what about Russia?! Today I went to class and ate pozi, which are the national buryatski dish. I’ve had them a few times before. They’re meat-balls wrapped loosely in dough and boiled. You get this, like, dough-bag with meat in it. You’re supposed to bit a hole in it and suck the hot meat-water out, which I am less a fan of. But I like eating them a lot.

I think we’re going to some island on Baikal this weekend? There we will probably drink vodka while banya-ing. A sauna but with steam and you hit each other with tree-branches/bundles of some certain kind of leaf. Quiet, mellow Vanya is quite the dominatrix, I can assure you. Also you usually jump in Baikal after this. Baikal’s going to be pretty damn cold by next weekend, but it was pretty damn cold all those other times we jumped in it after sitting in hot little banya rooms/hot springs, etc.

The weekend after that, we have another break – the whole week of October 29th to November 2nd, plus the weekends around it and that last Monday (cause we never have class on Mondays). I’ll be spending it in Petersburg, which I’m turrible excited about.

I bougth toothpaste today! Hoo-ray! Given the responses to my toenail-details (heh!) I won’t explain just how rarely I engage in dental hygeine. Hint: rarely!

Did I tell everyone I fought a volume of Nietzsche in Russian? I bought it but have yet to make an attempt to read any of it. The best part though is that I found it in a train station bookstore. No Stephen King or Michael Crichton for the Russians, видно.

I am really, really starved for history. None all summer (usually I pick at a book or two), and none this semester. I only have one short little Napoleon biography with me (though it IS a good one), and I've already read almost all of it by nipping around here and there for so long.