Autumn Happenings and a Eventful Weekend

Last weekend, I could finally say midterms were over for good. I was behind on my work, exhausted, and sick of studying, but the midterms had been passed! Even though I had a quantum assignment from a month ago to finish (Our professor doesn’t really care about deadlines) and another E&M assignment due that day, I decided to unwind and have an enjoyable weekend. Travis, Jake, and Elan had invited me hiking half a dozen times, but I had never gone (despite my intentions). This time would be different!

First, though, I had to survive Friday night TGs, the drinking event between all the Science buildings where grad students get together for cheap beers and hangouts. I had an agenda this week, too. A girl from the geophysics department had checked out my profile on OKCupid, exchanged a message or two with me, and planned to maybe ‘bump into’ each other at TGs. Things took a strange turn even before I got there, though, when Joe talked to me in the Physics lounge. “So, Sarah?” he asked, referring to a girl I had talked to at TGs the week before.

“Yeah, I asked her to make out, but nothing happened,” I replied.
“Oh yeah, I know.”
“What?” I was a bit aghast. “Well, I thought she was somewhat into me because we talked for so long.”
“Oh yeah, I live with her so I heard all about it.” He chuckled.
“Anyway, I talked to this other Sarah…”
“I know about that too.”

At this point my jaw was just hanging open.

He went on, “We’re on an island here. Get used to it.”

So, apparently my dating experiences are a major topic of discussion in Joe’s apartment. It’s just my luck that he ended up rooming with both girls that I’ve talked to AND Lydia, the organizer of TGs who claimed I was creeping on her after I introduced myself the first week. O_O

By the time I got downstairs and got ready to drink, I was in reputation repair mode. I had some beers, generally hung out with the Physics guys, and tried not to make an ass of myself. But then Joe or somebody pointed out that the other Sarah was nearby, and she and I kind of locked eyes. The details are a bit blurry now because I get drunk fast these days (less drinking, more smoking), but we ended up talking for quite a bit and generally avoiding the whole OKCupid topic. She turned out to be a pretty cool girl (and cute too!).

Eventually the Geophysics crowd left to go to a bar and the rest of us kind of hung around between the buildings. “You want to go to the bar?” Jake asked? “I’ll be your wingman, dude.”

“Sure!”

It was quite a treck, way over beyond my apartment and Long’s drug store, but we showed up and played it cool over by the bar before Lydia invited us to sit down. Again, I ended up talking to Sarah for quite a while, though the details are still blurry. More importantly, though, she invited me on a real date set for Sunday night at the tea hour near my dorm.

The next day, I was extremely hungover, having passed out in bed before taking a single sip from the gatorade I bought the night before. I still woke myself and managed to bike over to Jake’s place for some hiking, though. The bike ride woke me up, but my head was pounding. I kept drinking more of the gatorade and refilling it with water along the way (I had to stop to pick up his backpack for him at the office). Jeong-wan joined us and we road the bus to a spot near a Korean temple. After some photos, we set off up a suburban street, into the woods, around a ‘no entry sign’ and up a path to hike along a river. It was super fun! We got to swim in a pool below a waterfall and walk around a crater filled with swamp water that reminded me of Jurassic park.

The hike wasn’t too long or strenuous, though – just a half-day because we were planning on going to a rave later. I grabbed some food and showered up when I got home, but I was so tired. Still, the rave was calling me and I dragged myself out of bed, biked to school, and met Jake in the office. Neither of us knew exactly what to expect, but it turned out to be really awesome. There were lots of people there at Aloha Tower (same venue as the Reggae concert), and most of them had rave costumes with fuzzy ears, boots, and glowsticks. I managed to snag one that got thrown through the crowd, but other than that I had to live with just wearing my sun-shine and rainbows t-shirt.

Brianne and Erin met us, along with another friend, and we danced until about 2 a.m. It was pretty sweet.

Needless to say, I wasn’t too happy when my roommates woke me at 8 a.m. screaming at the football game on TV. Those guys can be really annoying sometimes and at this point, I seriously want to move out as soon as possible. I signed a lease for a year, but maybe I can work it out if I find someone to take my place. We’ll have to see…

I spent the day finishing E&M as much as possible, then went to shower and head over to the tea house. Despite my experience in such matters, I was really nervous. The tea was good and we talked about Physics for quite a while. Eventually, this weird Asian guy behind us interrupted, too, and started asking all these questions about grad school and physics. It was so surreal. He kept talking and talking and Sarah and I were rolling our eyes, but it was sort of funny too. At another point, I whispered something to her like “wow, it’s really quiet in here except for us” because a lot of people were doing homework, but some guy nearby totally nodded and gave me a secret thumbs up.

I hadn’t intended to because I still had so much work to do, but we moved onto Rock Bottom (bar) afterward for a beer or two. I really wanted to make out, but after what happened with the other Sarah, I was a bit nervous about committing another faux-pas that would get discussed the department over. We talked about dogs (she likes black lab sized dogs), Idaho (where shes from), Star Trek, books, and other nerdy stuff. It was going really well, but she wasn’t flirting or touching me very much, so I couldn’t tell how to read her feelings about me.

Eventually, we walked off and got ready to say goodbye. As we came to the street across from my dorm, we hugged and I finally did it and leaned in for a kiss. As first she was a bit flustered and we just kissed quickly. She started to mumble something and saying goodbye, then leaned in and held my arm and started kissing me again. This time I was surprised. I wanted to run off somewhere with her and make-out, but we said goodbye. Still, as I road home, I felt like the whole thing had gone pretty well and hadn’t been some sort of fluke after all.

It was late and I was a bit drunk, but finally I returned to the department to stare and Panofsky and the pile of lab books I hadn’t even begun to grade. The week ahead would be long, but the price had been worth it.