Friday, June 16, 2006

Commitment, it's what's for Dinner

Recently, there have been an alarming number of people who have begun dating within the Washington Seminar. This, to me, prompts several different feelings. There's an adorable couple that can speak German and so no one understands them being sappy, and they're just really cute together. There's a couple, who are in my group of friends, incidentally, who have recently begun canoodling on a regular basis, who people don't really expect to last past the summer (if that long). There's a couple that started dating in the first few weeks of the Seminar, and then broke up, and now it's really awkward for both of them. It's these last two couples that prompt my small rant tonight.

Now, the program has, at most, 30 students in it. We all live in the same little house. We're all part of a really huge ward, but because the ward is so stinkin' huge, we all end up mostly hanging around each other every day of the week, for quite a bit of time. Normally, I would simply enjoy this interaction. In fact, I really like having a group of friends that I can go on adventures with, and that I can just hang out with. It makes life more convenient, to say the least.

Once people within the group start to pair off, however, you cause some issues. First, before you're actually dating, there's that terrible time where everyone knows that you want to date each other because you're like...Touching each other and rubbing noses and talking in baby voices and flirting by faking arguments and all that stuff that can be really unfortunate to watch. Why not just stop watching it then, right? Well, that's another problem. There are only a few places in which this canoodling can be done. There is the rec room downstairs in the basement, and the lobbies on both floors. Either way, it's not pleasant for anyone who stumbles upon you. Thirdly, once you start dating, you remove yourself from a social group that you had likely been a part of. If you started dating at the beginning of the semester and now find yourself single, you have to figure out how to fit into groups of people who don't involve your ex.

That's the worst part. How on earth do you make it work when you break up? The group is only so big, and there's no where that you can hide. Once you start dating, everyone in the program knows it, and once you break up, they also ALL know it. Now, if you don't end up breaking up, and things just work out (as I think they will for the cute couple that can speak German together), then you're great. Congratulations, you're on the road to eternal happiness--collect $200 as you pass GO.

If it weren't for this German Couple, I would suggest that Washington Seminar start to add some rules about not dating while doing the program. Sure, it's not going to happen, but I plan on doing my part to avoid the drama.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Mondays

Sometimes, I hate Mondays. This is a pretty common sentiment among the masses. No one likes Mondays, because Mondays equal the start of the week, right?

Not for me. Monday, for me, equals the end of the weekend. See, I have work on Saturday, and as a trade-off, I get Mondays off. This should be really great, right? Sometimes.

The problem is that I have to do everything that I do alone. Yup...Just little old me, wandering around DC. Granted, sometimes this is great. Especially when I just want to explore and I can't think of anyone out here who would just explore with me. Other times, it's kinda lame.

Things I can do on my own that don't feel lame:
Museum touring--this occasionally prompts me to talk to myself, however, because I like to tell people interesting facts.
-Ways to fix this:
-Give unofficial tours of various museums, wear the badge so that people think they're official.
Exploring--this one works out well. I might get completely lost, but I'm the only one who knows that I'm lost, so I can figure out how to get home without causing anyone else annoyance or alarm.

Things that are lame to do on your own:
Going to the Zoo--sure, this could probably be fun on my own...But it just kinda seems lame. Maybe it's just me there...We'll see.
Going to the Jefferson Memorial--again...Maybe not actually lame...But it feels more lonely.
Going to most anything for the first time.
-Ways to fix this:
-find a homeless friend, start a program where they make 5 dollars a day for being your DC buddy. Start advertising the program and use the profits to make more homeless buddy friends. Stipulate that they must be drug and alcohol free when they're acting as your friend. Reputations must be kept intact.

Now to convince my Piquant friend to come out and run the advertising campaign. Course, guess if she was out here running the ad campaign...I wouldn't really need the company anymore. Hrmm....

See--Mondays are too complicated. I'm off soon to go and tour some gift shops for some presents.