Dining With the Ambassador of Zimbabwe

On Wednesday, I had the honor and privilege of being selected to dine with Ambassador Machivenyika Mapuranga of Zimbabwe. His Excellency and his wife joined two representatives of the Reading World Affairs Council, three professors, a representative of President Lex McMillan and two other students. Although conversation revolved around fairly "safe" issues (such as history, even though that can be a bit touchy), it was an enlightening and enjoyable experience. Not to mention that the food was actually palatable (though the chicken cordon bleu was a bit dry).

Afterwards, Amb. Mapuranga gave a talk on the history of Zimbabwe, and then opened the floor for questions. Though I'd researched Zimbabwe for the previous two days and had quite a few questions, I was afraid of offending him and didn't ask. One of the other students, however, did ask a couple of questions about corruption and President Mugabe -- though neither of her questions was really answered. . . .

I would not have survived segregation.

Today was an awareness day for Black history. I went to the caf for lunch and noticed signs at either entrance door. As I approached, I noticed that one said "COLORED" and the other said "WHITES ONLY." So, I paused. Just which door was the door I was supposed to use?
And then I realized that the two representatives of the African-American Students Association were handing out pamphlets to create awareness about the fact that, because of change, things aren't like that today. Which is why I could use either door I wanted to.
Seriously. Don't confuse me like that.

Also, at lunch a friend told me a story about her friend, whose grandfather was Japanese-American. A businessman, he once flew to Atlanta but decided to take the train home. He was stuck at the train station for three days because neither the Whites Only line nor the Colored Only line would sell him a ticket.

Dessert

This was my oh-so-healthy dessert this evening. Beneath the Twix and Snickers, there's yogurt. I swear. And surprisingly, I haven't gained the Freshman 15. But if you saw what I ate before dessert, I'm sure you'd see why.

Twenty-Four Pages and Snow

And this would be how I manage to remember all of my tasks for the week. Ripping each Post-It off of my desk and throwing it away gives me a huge amount of satisfaction, and I prefer to clicking the little checkmarks on Remember the Milk.
There's no color coding system, I simply ran out of green Post-Its (which stinks, because the pretty pink ones keep falling down).

This packet, the bane of my existence, has just recently been completed. As you can see, it's rather large. Twenty-four pages, to be exact (excluding the cover page). This was the infamous Chinese Final. I finished thirteen pages in the one hour and fifty (or maybe twenty) minutes that the exam lasted. It took me no less than four hours to finish the last eleven! And the funny part is that the last few pages were translations like, "I am American," while the ones on the first page were translations like, "Teacher Li likes noodles but only on Wednesdays when he's riding his bike and he's a very strict teacher and there are three people in his family but he doesn't have any sons." :P

Fortunately, the pretty snow diverted me most of the four hours (although not having studied Chinese for six weeks definitely didn't help matters any). Unfortunately, the flakes are small and wet, so they're not laying. Seriously. I want blizzard conditions or nothing at all.
Speaking of laying, today I learned another term: sticking. Some of my friends have never heard of snow "laying" on the ground. It "sticks." And, according to Kat, it "adheres" . . . but that's Kat.

Background Noise

I realized that, when I'm alone in my dorm room, I have to have an almost constant stream of background noise. So whether I'm listening to music on YouTube, singing to myself (which I do rather frequently), or watching a movie, there's almost always some sort of noise bouncing around the room. Take this weekend for example:

Saturday
Spirited Away (DVD)
Howl's Moving Castle (DVD)
V for Vendetta (DVD)
Home of the Brave (DVD)
An American Carol (DVD)

Sunday
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours (YouTube)
Lady Gaga - Just Dance (YouTube)
I don't remember - The Final Countdown (YouTube)
Spirited Away (DVD)
Howl's Moving Castle (DVD)
The Patriot (DVD)
An American Carol (DVD)

Typically, when I have a lot of studying to do, I watch The Fountain, because it has an amazing soundtrack. Maybe next weekend.