The Curious Case of the Mysterious Roommate and Other Stories

*Sorry for the LONG blogs guys. I can write but I can't edit (or be succinct).*

So, I have a roommate. It was a bit touch-and-go there for a while though. His name is Andy, at least I think it is--I haven't been able to clear that up yet--and he, or at least his family, is from Indonesia (or by way of Indonesia). The children, at least Andy, speak regular, American English based on the two very brief conversations I've had with him, while also speaking fluent Indonesian(?) or one of the other 700+ languages of that country. The parents speak less fluent English and it's heavily accented.

On Thursday, I was sitting in my apartment, lounging in my pajamas at 1:30 in the afternoon, watching Battlestar Galactica. At this point I had given up on having a roommate, when the door opened up and in walked one of the community assistants and this entire Asian family. It was very awkward. After making some small talk, they got to work in his bedroom and I hid in mine. After a little while they left, and I immediately seized the bathroom to shower and get dressed. Then I frantically cleaned the kitchen and the rest of the apartment. But they didn't show up again that day or the next.

I wondered if my fifteen bottles of liquor and liqueurs prominently displayed had scared the family away. At least I had thrown away the empty wine bottle. So I knocked on his door late that night and when there was no answer I decided to open it, to see if his stuff was still there, or if he had truly fled. Or at least I tried to--the door was locked. Compounding my morbid nature with my tendency to assume the worst, I wondered if this nice kid had come to college to lock himself in a room and commit suicide.

On Friday I woke up relatively early--10 am--for I had orientation that day. After the five-hour meeting and a bowling social--more on this later--I came home to find the apartment just as dark as I had left it. Except someone had been there. For instance I had left the toilet seat down and the bathroom door open, but when I came home the door was closed and the seat up. There were also some new cleaners in the cupboard. But still no roommate. Unless he was dead in the adjacent room, but if that was the case, I was determined to let lying bodies lie.

On Saturday, I slept in again, and was enjoying tea and a novel around noon in my pajamas, when again his family came in--but there were more of them this time--I quite calmly finished my tea and then took a shower and got dressed. At this point I went to meet Maggie to explore some more of the city, and left my roommate and his family to continue setting up his room--I did notice that he has a television that supports satellite hooked up in his bedroom, lucky bastard. But when I came home later that evening, he was once again gone. The mystery continues. He has not yet appeared today, but if and when he comes, I will be fully dressed and groomed.

So I'm trying to remember what I've actually been up to this week. On Wednesday, Maggie and I went to the zoo, which I found slightly ironic since Maggie is a vegetarian--but she's not militant and I think her vegetarianism has less to do with animal rights than other issues, but I don't really know. Anyway, shes loves animals and the Woodland Park Zoo is a nice little zoo that was also a bit pricey (which is a theme in Seattle). The animals were nice and active which is always more fun than when they're sleeping. After the zoo, we went and explored some more of Wallingford. We got dinner at this Greek pizzeria which was interesting, but I probably won't be going back there. The atmosphere was . . . weird. We planned on going to see Bright Star but had missed the 7:00 showing, so we walked all the way to the U District where there was another movie theater, but they didn't have any showings for the next hour, so we took the bus back--after a forty-minute wait--and decided to skip the movie and get tea instead at Teahouse Kaun Yin where we talked some more about movies and poetry and Germany.

On Thursday, after my roommate left, I didn't do a whole lot. Though I did spend way too much money and ate way too much food at a local Mexican restaurant chain called Azteca--there's one right across the street from me. So that was fun.

On Friday, it was orientation. This was a five-hour session--with coffee, food, and a few breaks--to learn a lot of information about a lot of different things at the iSchool. I don't remember everything, so thank goodness I took some notes and got a folder with lots of handouts. I decided to go to library school on a whim and sort of stumbled on UW, so I hope this all works out in the end. We'll have to see how classes go. Though the good news is that if I really need a lit class or something, I can always take an undergraduate class (not for credit) just as long as I'm not too busy already. After orientation there was an ALISS social which is the student organization for the iSchool, and that was fun. They had rented out the bowling alley at the union building and there was wine and beer and pizza. Hooray for campuses that allow alcohol! I didn't bowl, but I did talk to a few different students which was good.

And yesterday, Maggie and I went to see the Seattle Asian Art Museum since it was free or something (I think SAM admission is always suggested rather than enforced which was confusing because we had this paper for free admission). Anyway, it was all right, there were some beautiful ceramics and wall paintings, but I have realized that I am thoroughly Western; however, it did make me want to take out my World Lit anthology and read Li Bai and some other Chinese poets. Also, I prefer paintings to sculptures and ceramics, which is one reason why the British Museum was such a let down after the National Gallery, the Musee d'Orsay, and the Louvre--also, I was really tired of museums by then.

The museum was in Volunteer Park where there's also this water tower where you can climb to the top. As we were climbing up the stairs, I had a distinct reminder of climbing to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral--so many steps! The water tower wasn't really that high, but it did offer fantastic views of the city especially since it was a clear and sunny day. (I'm wondering how long this fantastic weather can last in Seattle. *knock on wood*) Then we walked toward Broadway in Capitol Hill without knowing where or how exactly to get there. Anyway, Capitol Hill is the city's alternative neighborhood and the center of the gay population. Broadway was fun to walk down and we stopped to grab some dinner at a cafe. We also stopped at a giant record store where I got me some more Tori Amos. We then rode the bus back to campus and I walked home. It was a most excellent day.

Today I need to buy some more things before University Village closes. I also need to learn how to live on my own again. Living at home for the last two years, and only working part-time for the last year, has really been a very unstructured way of life. Buying weekly groceries and cooking for myself is something I haven't done for a long, long time. And while I've done my own laundry since moving to college the first time, I haven't had to use a complex's laundry facility since sophomore year. I miss free laundry--and doing it anytime in my own apartment/house. And I'm not so good with chores without my mom (or Melissa) to enforce them. (We also don't have a vacuum.) I'm staying up too late and sleeping in too long. At least classes should give me some structure, but I only have one class each day Monday through Thursday, and they're all in the afternoon. I should look for a part-time job, but what with the economy and my total lack of motivation to do so, we'll see how that goes. Well, I better stop writing and get to it. "Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You're gonna love it."