Thanksgiving Recap

Hello all! I hope you had a lovely holiday last week filled with an abundance of food and pleasantries with estranged cousins. Oh, and shopping too! Mustn't forget the shopping. I was going to say something akin to the message in a Charlie Brown Christmas about the commercialism of Thanksgiving and Black Friday but caught myself just in time.

Well, I certainly enjoyed my five days away from the daily grind here in Beloit. Put my final papers and semester wrap-up on hold to bask in the sunshine of familial togetherness. I left campus last Wednesday around 8:30 AM and didn't arrive in St. Paul, MN until 4:50 PM, which was amazingly quick if the truth be told. For those of you Minnesotans who won't have a car next year and wonder how the heck one gets home if your folks won't pick you up, let me break it down for you. I take the Greyhound to Minnesota and back to Beloit over breaks. There are variations on this theme of bus travel but it usually involves going south to go north which doesn't make much sense at all. Okay, so I take a campus shuttle to the Van Galder bus station in South Beloit, IL. Then I catch a Van Galder bus to Madison, WI. From there I walk back to the Greyhound station (unless a terribly friendly bus driver offers to drop you off on the corner during a red light like the last one did) and catch a bus going to St. Paul which usually arrives somewhat late at the specified destination. There is generally a lot of waiting around in bus depots too. It actually sounds worse than it is. You have so much time to do homework and get to meet lots of interesting people, which is a boon if you're a creative writing major like me. No wonder so many of my stories center around bus stations...

Anyway, the ride to St. Paul was pretty slick and I got to Minnesota early for once. The bus was crowded on account of the holiday and so I sat next to an exchange student from China who was very friendly. We ended up having some great conversations which made the time pass much more quickly and it even started to snow when the bus reached Tomah, WI which was pretty nice and holiday-ish. The fields were dusted with white and very lovely. Reminded me of a Mary Oliver poem--"Lonely White Fields." Check it out. Okay, so once in St. Paul I stayed at my sister's house and got to meet my brand-new nephew. He was so beautiful and sweet! I can assure you that I spent lots of time with him over break. Thanksgiving I spent at my grandmother's house which was fun. The day after my parents and I went shopping (but certainly not at 4 AM) and on Saturday I got to spend some time with my best pal and peruse my favorite used bookstore (it has two cats!).

The days just sped by and soon I was back on the bus heading to Beloit. I got back to campus on Sunday evening and had dinner with my friends followed by a low-key birthday celebration for one of them. And now I am back at work writing papers and compiling portfolios and weaving baskets (since I finished my rug). Ah, the life of a college student. But soon the semester will be done and I will be able to veg out at home for a month. Only 16 more days until winter break!