What I Plan to Teach Myself

Remember how I said I was really good at riding the tram in Heidelberg? Well, I am now getting pretty good at the bus system in my new town. That is...if you count riding the bus twice by myself "good at the bus system".  Unsurprisingly, perhaps, I have braved the bus both times because of a need to shop. Thankfully for my bank account, it was grocery shopping.
There's a little shopping center down the hill from my university that you all shall know as S. Village. I maybe would've liked to go to Fred Meyer simply because I'm accustomed to it, but ultimately I decided that it'd be a wise to explore S. Village.
I caught a bus down there and wondered around. There's a grocery store, a Rite-Aid, a pet store, massage clinic, REI, beauty shop and a couple other little things. All of that is wonderful news for me because S. Village is a tad most convenient than Fred Meyer. (S. Village is kind of within walking distance while I have to ride the bus to Fred Meyer.) Here's where part one of my planned lessons come into play.
I went into the beauty shop, desiring new nail polish; I only have one purple right now and felt the need for more. Of course, I splurged and bought OPI. (For anybody who doesn't understand the significance of that, OPI is a $10 bottle of polish.) But, see, I forgot about that price since I've been buying OPI on military bases, and they believe in discounts. At first, I was a little worried. "That's a lot of money," ran through my mind quite a few times. I've come to a conclusion that I think fits the situation wonderfully. Yes, $10 is a lot for a bottle of polish. However, I really like the color and know that I'll use it. Additionally, this polish can count as a little bit of a reward. I've been in college for almost two weeks now; I've survived. My finances can handle a little reward for not completely breaking down. I also know this...when I want to buy nail polish in the future, I'll just go to Rite-Aid and get the cheap stuff.
I know Rite-Aid has the cheap stuff partially because it's a Rite-Aid and, seriously, what drug store doesn't have almost everything you could need? But I also know because I stopped in there to buy envelopes and index cards. The envelopes are, yes, for letters because I like sending mail almost as much as I like receiving it. (Almost). The index cards were suggested by my Art History professor as a way to remember all of the objects we talk about and their significance.
Lastly came my stop at the grocery store. Since there'll be a picture, I won't list everything I bought; mostly, it's just snack food for in my dorm. The lesson I learned there is that I am going to be spending money in an unavoidable way now. (Buying new clothes and new CDs on a whim is avoidable; buying fruit is not.) I'm not used to that kind of spending. So I'll get to have a fun time easing into the mentality of, "It's okay to be spending money right now, Robyn. You have a job and you're not overspending. You have a real use for everything you're buying."
Now, the promised picture...

My rice cakes are butter flavored :D

Look, I'm a relatively healthy college student...crackers and fruit. Another observation of mine is that yellow is apparently becoming my new favorite color. I see four shades of it in this picture alone, and would see five if my pillow was in the photo.
But, yeah, these are the things I shop for.

rawr

This is the postcard that Kris sent me. (Yes, it's another Navy postcard.) It was intended as a tester item because I wasn't sure that my address would work.
It did.
And now I have this to add to my cork board.
That's really what I plan to do with any bits of artwork that I come across (whether I find them or if they're given to me). Hopefully it won't take too long for my cork board to be all decorated.
Side note for my Harry Potter fanatic-friends reading: my suite mate has an amazing poster of Alan Rickman on her board. SME, not SMH. SMH's board is covered in pictures of her with her friends.

Observation Time: Oct 3, 2012

• Asking bus drivers if their route goes through campus is an okay question to ask
• I always think it's funny when a new person comes up to the group you're in and starts talking as though they were asked a question. I don't mind that they want to be included but it makes the assumption that there wasn't another conversation going already. That puts me on edge a little bit.
• It's harder to come up with story ideas when you are representing a group with your writing. We're going a little film project for my theatre class and I'm script writer. Luckily, my director is being pretty nice about letting me work with one the genres I'm good at writing.
• Lots of people in my Psych class have Macs (thank the boys who sit behind me for this one)
• Sigmund Freud knew 11 languages
• I get to go to Swing Kids tonight :D I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am that everything worked out with our schedule rearranging at work.