Greetings from Washington, DC!

For the first years who don’t know me, I’m awesome, and you should be anticipating my arrival eagerly.

And I’m back, well at least in an online capacity.  Taking a chunk out of my incredibly busy schedule to write a post is no small task.  There are a lot of things that we take for granted at Kenyon, so I would like to tug on your ear for a second about a few that you should take a step back and appreciate further.

1. Extendo — I easily miss extendo the most.  A bagel with cream cheese and raspberry jam?  Well you are going to just have to wait until dinner or pony up the big bucks to go out for one.  Never leave Kenyon, there is no extendo.  I fear what you heard was cherish Kenyon, and I would like to clarify what I meant.  There is no Extendo. Never. Leave. Kenyon.
2. Things Not Being Close — This one is pretty tough to deal with.  If I want a reasonably priced coffee I have to take the Metro six stops to Gallery Place for Dunkin Donuts (get at me New England!)  If I want to go to the library, that’s a ten minute bus ride.  A party you ask?  That’s a four-mile walk (not an exaggeration, I made that walk, I am down five dignity points and up one stolen football helmet).
3. Not Being A First Year — Yay! Orientation all over again! It’s all the worst parts of your first year at Kenyon minus the four years of permanence.  It’s good that we all went to Kenyon though.
4. People Not Smiling — Fact: Strangers do not smile at each other on the street in the rest of the world.  If you find yourselves on the streets of strange city, don’t act like you are on Middle Path and give them a friendly glance, they do not like it, in fact they are positively disturbed by it.  This is an incredibly hard habit to break.
5. Having Bells — Surprisingly, I actually rely on the Church of the Holy Spirit to reset my internal clock.  I have never really noticed how comforting it is to hear the chime of the bells with 15 minutes left in that history lecture that just won’t seem to end…the rest of the world though, no such luck.  Are there 5 minutes left, 20 minutes? You’ll never know without doing the awkward phone-cupped-in-my-hands-below-my-desk-not-obviously-but-obviously.

*Full disclosure, I am abroad in the loosest sense of the word.