Quick disclaimer...I just reread my last post and wow. That was full of spelling mistakes, grammar errors and just nonsense. I swear, I'm a college educated person and I hope to be better! (I also recently found out that my Nana, who was a middle school teacher, reads this...sorry for the swearing, Nana! I'll try to keep it PG rated!!)
Where were we? Oh right. This weekend. WHOA.
On Friday I finished up class which took excruciatingly longer than normal. Even as a grad student, we all still sit there watching the clock, just hoping, wishing, praying, literally pleading with the Time Gods that just this once, time will go faster.
But it never happens but when that time does come, all of us mature, rational, educated, contributing adults rush into the hall doing the happy dance.
On Friday though, the recreation department was in full Residence Advisor Training mode. Basically we're just showing the RA's what the Rec center has and to give them a little info on team building exercises, etc. There were different areas we covered like the team building, working together as a team and then just playing around int the Rec Center. I was in charge of the creative thinking group.
Creative thinking?? This is a joke right? There's a reason I went into business, I'm not creative at all.
But here we go.
My boss gave me an idea to start with and we then just kinda ran with it. Take a towel and take your group of RA's and make them stand on it. Just the towel, not the ground. I should have called it the "This Is Really Awkward, You're Totally Invading My Personal Space" game as people were climbing on top of each other, hugging and clinging like crazy to get all 12 people to fit on that little towel. And then I made them fold the towel in half. Picture this. Twelve 12-21 year old RA's attempting to stand on a workout towel or about a 12x12 in square. Lots of laughs, yelling, and falling ensued and it was a lot of fun. I had to relate it back to creative thinking and problem solving which meant some public speaking on my part (YIKES) but I think it went well overall! Not too bad for my first little assignment as a GA, woohoo!
That night I was pretty tired and school hasn't started yet officially so my roommate and I didn't go out. I was actually pretty thankful though as I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.
But Saturday. Saturday was another story.
One of the people who also works in the Rec Center had mentioned that she would be at one of the local wineries Saturday afternoon if we wanted to join. So Bridget, my roomie, and I head out to what's called Rustle Winery. Wine country in Southern Illinois is BEAUTIFUL. It's hilly and there are vineyards and old style houses and barns, it's just super cool. It totally reminded me of California's wine country and made me super nostalgic but I was very much glad from the change of view from corn and pasture to trees vines.
We enjoyed a bottle of wine and some live music and I got a chance to talk and get to know some of the other employees I'll be working with. Molly, the one who invited us there, loved asking me about San Francisco and Davis and how she wants to see the West Coast. One of the fitness GAs, Ryder, had met us there as well. He's a pretty down to earth guy with tattoos and long hair but very nice and really easy to talk to. He told me about how he loves to fish and all about his favorite fishing spots on the Mississippi River. Honestly, the idea of fishing on the Mississippi is soooo cool and the nerdy girl who loves Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn is looking forward to that day real bad.
The sunsets are really pretty out here too.
Oh holy mother of pearl this is not how I want my co-workers to know me as That One Drunk Girl From Cali. My tongue is thick and I am vaguely aware that unless I switch from wine to water I'm going to be in some real trouble.
But luckily, Bridgett had driven and so we go home. As soon as we get into the car she says "You Wine-o, need to get ahold of yourself cuz we're going out tonight." Damn. I thought I only knew how drunk I was.
Fast forward to about 3 hours later. I tried to drink water and take a nap but now I'm not feeling too hot. Ugh. Why do I do that? It's like I'm new to the drinking game and I'm a little freshman who doesn't know her limits and gets way too drunk at her first party. NOOB MOVE
Bridgett wakes me up and I start getting ready to leave. We live pretty close to some bars so we start walking. I swear we barely make it out of the drive way and I can't do it. I run to the side of the road near the grass and well... I'm just gonna leave it at that.
Bridgett: "Are you serious? We're going home. You Cali folk obviously can't hang."
Me: "No, I'm fine. Honestly, I'm good."
Bridgett: "No way, dude. You just upchucked your Steak and Shake burger. You're donezo."
Me: "Exactly, I'm good now. I feel so much better now. I'm good, I'll rally. Let's go."
So we go.
Now that I don't have a bucketful of toxins swimming around in my stomach I can actually start to look forward to going out. We go to Saluki Bar first. The place is pretty well lit, and there's a large wooden bar on one side with high tables and chairs on the other. Behind the bar is a wall full of liquor to the ceiling and the bartenders use a ladder that wheels from one side to the other. That's pretty cool. Connected to Saluki Bar is another bar, Cali's. It's an Irish like pub but it has a dance floor. Well a dance floor with 3 levels. It kinda looks like a 3-tiered cake but with railings and a DJ table at the top of the tier like a cake topper. Ok, that's pretty cool. The bar scene is looking pretty promising. I can dig it.
But so far it's not that hoppin' of a night as school doesn't start for 2 weeks but there's a decent crowd. I'm just sitting back taking it all in when Bridgett goes "Hey, let's go over and check out Pinch." Pinch? What the hell?
Turns out "Pinch" is short for the Penny Pincher, a pub that's oh probably 200 feet away from Saluki Bar/Cali's. Sweet. I like their style, don't have to walk far, it's nice. Pinch has a live band, a cover band but they're pretty good. They're playing all the newer/more popular songs and Ryder is there!
After dancing the night away, I become exhausted and walk home. Bridgett is a go-getter and stayed much much longer but I just couldn't do it. A quick walk home and I was done, lights out, finished.
And this was Sunday.
To be continued!
No comments:
Post a Comment