Home at Last
So far it's been a wonderful break and yet fast one. I'd like to draw it out a little longer, but soon enough I'll be heading back to campus after church tomorrow morning. I spent a lot of time at the beginning of this week with friends and practicing. The only downside was that I had to make about a forty minute drive up to Fort Wayne for each practice. It was worth it though to keep up with the training regimen by getting to see old teammates and coaches. Something that others occasionally find interesting is that my best friend from home goes to and swims at DePauw. So training with each other back home is second nature to us although it would be a very rare site for many people of either college to see. Other than that, Thanksgiving was a very relaxing and fun day. I happened to try a few dishes I never knew existed. One was called flan cake. It was actually pretty good and tasted a bit like pudding even though at a first glance I made sure to move towards the back of the room so that I wouldn’t be the first asked to try it. That first guinea pig ended up being my dad since he blatantly asked, “Well, what is it?”
I’m still caught off guard every year when I turn on the radio sometime during the week of Thanksgiving and out comes an endless amount of Christmas music. I’ve got no problem with it and really enjoy it except that when Christmas is anticipated for too long it just seems to make the days and weeks until then go even slower. With that, I can already predict that the few weeks we’ll have on campus before next break will most likely be long ones, but you never know. I’m sure there will be a lot going on at school.
Though I hate to bring up any unpleasant memories from last weekend, I’m still going to write some about it since I didn’t get a chance to this week. It was a very fun and exciting Bell weekend, at least until the end of the game. I was incredibly pleased to see the size of our fan base compared to the numbers on DePauw’s home side. I think about this while comparing last year’s game in which I don’t quite even know if you could say they brought half the support that we did. This probably isn’t true, but I can remember seeing the few DePauw shirts overcome by the extensive mass of red. The best part was that they started to leave the game before it finished. I did not see any hint of that this year, but it was a much closer game. Although, I thought they’d be all over the Bell the moment they won; I know we would be.
I’m in desperate want of this Thanksgiving break. I think I can say I’ve worked harder these past two months than ever before. The thought of being away from assignments and getting close to my couch and TV…ehhem, I mean family, is very refreshing. You might think I’d be at home at this point writing this, but the team has its ‘Patrick Woenker Invitational’ which is done for this evening and will resume on Saturday for a good part of the morning and afternoon. I hope to maybe put something up after the meet by early next week, but if not, there are always results on the college sports page and Lanelines. Hopefully, you’ll also hear from me over break. Until then, enjoy the holiday…I know I will.
Bell Week is here and if you're on campus, it's not too hard to tell. It's a nice feeling to know you can hear the bell from your bedroom window, although it's probably not as pleasing for me as it is to those who know what it's like not to have the bell. As a freshman, I was fortunate enough to experience the midnight cookouts on the chapel steps with the bell; This year is the same. For some reason, I'll always crack a little smile when I hear the chants and shouts across campus in the middle of the night. However, the load of studying that somehow always seems to simultaneously coincide with bell week is relentless. I'll have had three tests this week and a paper due, but that's nothing compared to some other students. By the weekend, most won't care and will have just been glad to make it through the week. 
Last night I played with the jazz band in a joint concert with the brass ensemble. I actually really enjoyed myself and was excited to perform for my first time this year. Overall, I think it went extremely well. Though I've only been active in the music department the short year and a half that I've been here, I think it's improved a lot. I was able to play in the brass ensemble last year, and after listening to them this year, I thought they sounded superb.
I think this weekend was a good refresher from last week. I had a couple of major tests to study for, but I was able to keep my head up, have a good laugh, and look forward to things once again.
Sunday then followed with studying and football. Unfortunately, I’ll have to listen to the whining and moaning of most Colts fans. Don’t get me wrong, as I’m big fan as well, but I'm always amazed at how psyched some people get for football… never mind that. I just remembered it’s Bell Week! (and yes, I ironically did just hear the bell ring.)