The First Day

Today has been my first day at Ryerson and it has been quite interesting. First I got up at 3 in the morning after MAYBE two and a half hours of sleep, probably due to anxiety.Once I woke up I had this horrendous naesous feeling in my stomach. Was it the anxiety of leaving, was it the fact that I only had 2 and a half hours of sleep? I don't know. But I finished packing my crap and we were off to the air port at 4:30.
As expected, Mom cried instantly when I hugged her at security. We had been waiting for that moment for a few weeks now, not with anticipation but just in knowing that it was inevitable. Security sucked but made me feel safe, the flight was long, I kind slept, blah blah same old shit.
My Aunt Michelle and Aunt Jackie picked me up from the airport and we went to lunch which I tried extremly hard to pay for but - being the loving Aunts they are they kept shoving money into my pocket. So I ended up buying toilet paper, crackers and shampoo with it. Next step, a towel!
But what I really want totell you about is the INSANITY of the orientation. Not totally in a good way. It's not like "Whoa Dude, that was awesome! It was totally insane!" Not at all. It's the enthusiasm that is insane if not down-right cult like.
I hate orientations with a passion. You go trhough all this bullshit that is mainly commen sense and there is always one tool in the crowd who has to make up ridiculous hypothetical scenarios to, I don't know, test the limits of authority? attempt to be funny in front of all the new people? Either way it's been drilled into me that we can't walk around with open alcohol and can't dink if we are underage, as most people are. Sweet. I'm with a shat load of 17 and 18 year old. Swell.
Then there was the pep ralley. Seriously. We had a pep ralley where we all chanted really crappy chants with the rest of the people from our building. Then we did this strange team building, bango smashing group thing - that was actually kind of fun. What got me here was a couple of things. The first of which are the RA and the Council Presidents. They must be either high on speed or at least a little mentally retarded. They were running around with their heads cut off trying to hype the crowd like we were a fleet of tweens going to see Hannah Montana. Better yet, a fleet of tweens going to see Hannah Montana with the Jonas Brothers opening up for her. Again, at least a little bit mentally retarded.
Secondly, this is REALLY what gets me, is how they tell us we are going to be a family. Ew. No. Absolutely not. I don't want to be your family. I don't know who you are. You can't throw 783 people in a gymnasium, have them smash some drumbs and expect them to be the best of friends. It is so bizzare and strange and probably the most unnatural way to make friends. You don't make friends through forced activity, you make them through experience. You make them in an environment where they aren't pressured to be open with every flippin person they meet. (I remembered two names today) You don't make them because you are in a new place and you so desperatly need someone next to you to make you feel likeable. You make them because you get along with them and it would be stupid not to be friends with them. Socialization is so awkward and strange to begin with and it's even stranger when it's forced. Why can't I just ease into it like I have with every other successful friendship I've ever had? Why can't we slowly get to understand each other's humour so that I can slip in an inappropriate joke about someone that annoys us both? or about dead babies? Why does it matter if our dorm building wins the cultish chanting competition? Because maybe, when we throw ourselves into these ridiculous situations, we will find others that respond to it in the same way. There's gotta be someone else that is going to try to avoid Orientation Week and wait for a chance to build friendships in a normal social environment. . . maybe I should hunt him/her/them down.

Peace

Chris