#there were pictures of one walking around the ku campus

[two-calicos-in-a-trenchcoat]

Surprisingly see more animals with the sidewalk in my backyard than before they cleared out the trees

Like i know those animals were there before and were just hidden by the trees but I thought the sidewalk would scare them off

Apparently not

[iraacundus]

Butterfly Lies - TWO

previous ✭ CHAPTER 2 ✭ next ✭ masterlist

mafialeader kun x reader

words: 4k

genre: fluff, smut (in later chapters), angst

warnings: injury, weapons, swearing

money makes people do strange things, is what people would say, it can even motivate them to murder. kun didn’t have people killed for the money, he had them killed for the power, he was a monster among men, is what people would say. in reality kun had only ever been motivated by one thing, his love for you

✭  ✭  ✭  ✭  ✭

You sat in the university lecture, not really listening, instead using all your energy to push Kun and the gun to the back of your mind. You didn’t really have to listen anyway; you had watched the lecture from last year online before you had even gotten there. You were a model student.

Your friend Yuyan nudged you, flicking her head towards a group of boys sitting in front of you.

“Is he new?” she asked, “I think I would have noticed if such a good-looking guy was on our course.”

“Which one do you mean?” you queried, no idea who she was referencing.

“There third on the left, brown hair, glasses,”

You pulled your own reading glasses down slightly so you could look over them to see who she was talking about.

You spotted him and for a moment felt slightly annoyed before a small smirk settled on your face. You had seen that guy before, standing behind Ten at the apartment, making a phone call to Kun.

“I think he has always been in our class,” you said to her, lying through your teeth. You didn’t know whether to continue to be annoyed or become reassured at the sight of Xiaojun sitting in your history of economics lecture. Either way you thought it was best to keep his identity somewhat secret.

You could have chosen to believe it was a coincidence, that Xiaojun really had just transferred to your class. Somehow you didn’t think he looked old enough to be in a final year class though. He was evidently not as old as you.

Therefore, you chose to be suspicious.

Kun had clearly sent him after your gun freak out. You were somewhat insulted that he thought you needed a babysitter, but you couldn’t be annoyed at him because you knew Kun always acted with good intentions.

As the lecturer droned on about the economic plans the Chinese government had after the war, you began to formulate your own plan.

If Kun wanted to play the game where he essentially sent someone to spy on you for what he considered your own safety, you were going to use it to your own advantage.

You hadn’t wanted to ask Kun questions because it was clearly uncomfortable for him. However, you had no qualms about trying to get the answers to those same questions out of Xiaojun. You just had to somehow befriend him first.

The difficulty of that task depended on two things. The first one being how loyal he was to Kun. You had to guess pretty loyal if Kun trusted him to make sure you didn’t get attacked or report him to the police. The second was if Kun had specifically instructed him to say nothing to you.

If that was the case, you had about zero chance of getting through to him. You had to hope the only thing Kun had banned them from was letting you into the apartment.

As soon as the lecturer began to wrap up you jumped out of your seat and half ran after Xiaojun who had left early, seemingly in the hope you wouldn’t have spotted him.

When it became very apparent you were jogging after him Xiaojun stopped and let you catch up with him. At the same time Yuyan texted you asking if you knew the cute boy and why you ran after him. A text which you sadly had to ignore.

“Hey, Xiaojun right? You were in the apartment behind Ten that day, right?” you asked, knowing the answer, but curious to see if he would try and lie.

“How did you even see me?” he asked, fixing the position of his glasses slightly.

“Good eyesight, well only the long-distance aspect of it but still,” you explained taking your own glasses off, realising you couldn’t see him properly with them on as you were no longer meant to be reading.

Xiaojun was clearly nervous, he was shifting his weight from foot to foot awkwardly, playing with the adjustment strap on his backpack.

“I didn’t know you were an economics student?” you said, smiling at him slightly deviously which only made him appear more awkward and maybe slightly fearful. Maybe he thought that friends of gang leaders were all worth fearing. You didn’t think that would have been an unfair conclusion to draw even if it didn’t apply to you.

Xiaojun looked down at his watch.

“Sorry, I’m busy right now, I have something I can’t be late for, can we chat some other time?” he said. You shook your head, linking your arm with his.

“That is not going to work as an escape ploy, instead I think we should go for coffee, any friend of Kun’s is a friend of mine.”

You began to walk him toward the nearest coffee shop to the university campus. He didn’t protest or struggle and seeing as you could tell he would have defiantly won in a fight; you took it as a sign he was willing to go along with whatever you were doing.

“How did you know I would know you?” Xiaojun asked, “Like that we knew what you looked like not just your name?”

You didn’t really know why you had assumed that. You began to laugh to yourself imagining a meeting with all these tough guys in which Kun just stood at the front with an A4 picture of your face.

Something along those lines must have occurred seeing as Xiaojun did know your face when he saw you. Still you didn’t answer his question. As you opened the door of the coffee shop and pulled him inside you changed the topic.

“What do you want? I’ll pay seeing as I dragged you here,” you said, Xiaojun didn’t bother to argue with you and just told you the one he wanted.

You paid and after an uncomfortable silence between the two of you as you waited for them to be made, the barista handed you the drinks.

You sat down in a chair opposite him and drank your coffee for a moment, waiting to see if he would say anything first, to judge how chatty he was.

Sadly, he didn’t say anything and didn’t seem like the chatty type which wasn’t the greatest start to your plan.

“What’s your job then?” you asked him, placing your drink back town on the table. Xiaojun looked in thought and for a moment you wondered if he would even answer at all, or if he just planned to sit with you silently.

“Management,” he replied, clearly deciding that was an appropriate response.

“Most managers don’t stalk their bosses’ friends at their university,” you raised one eyebrow slightly, “what’s your real job?”

When he didn’t reply and just began to fiddle nervously, you realised you were being kind of harsh on him, it must have been hard for him to work out what he could say and what he couldn’t,

“I’m just being annoying, I’m sorry.”

Xiaojun shrugged.

“I wouldn’t ‘stalk’ you as your calling it, if I had the choice, nor is it my usual job. It’s a personal favour I’m doing for your rather scary friend Kun.”

You chuckled slightly at his eventual response. You couldn’t believe that people were scared of Kun. While the situation frightened you slightly, you had never been scared of Kun, he was too sweet a person for that.

“In what way is Kun scary?” you asked, unbelievably curious about how he acted around the rest of the people in his life, the people who had the same kind of job he did.

“You are literally the only person he is actually nice to apart from Ten, well at least I assume. He is big on rules and doing well and when you fuck up, he is mad scary man. I mean he’s the boss that’s how he has to be to succeed in our business. He is a cold man with big plans, not the Easter bunny,” Xiaojun explained.

You struggled to imagine any other version of Kun than the kind-hearted one you knew who would watch cartoons with you and got sprinkles on his ice cream.

“He’s a good guy,” you said, for some reason feeling the sudden need to defend him, you for some reason wished that Xiaojun saw Kun the way you did.

“I never said I thought he wasn’t. Doesn’t make him not terrifying.”

Xiao Jun’s phone started to ring, the shrill tone cutting through the pause in conversation. You could see Kun was the caller ID.

“Sorry, I’ve got to take this,” Xiaojun said, standing up and walking a few meters away.

As soon as the call had started you could see that whatever Kun was saying wasn’t good. You heard Xiaojun swear loudly enough that other people looked around. You stood up and ushered him out the door, still on the phone, mouthing sorry to the people in the coffee shop.

“I will come right now, yes she is literally standing right behind me,” Xiaojun said, hanging up the phone by pressing the screen rather aggressively.

“What’s wrong, is Kun okay?” you asked him. He just shook his head.

“What do you mean no, is he in the hospital or something, what happened?” You started to panic for approximately the fourth time that week. Cool and collected was not your prerogative.

“In our line of work, we never go to the hospital, it’s not really an option, the hospital asks questions we cannot answer without being arrested…”

You don’t know whether he just didn’t have time to deal with your questions or if he had taken pity on the worried expression on your face, but he gave in.

“Kun has been stabbed, they’re at the office, it’s like a four-minute run from here, how good at running are you?” He said the words all seeming to explode out of his mouth at once.

Xiaojun didn’t wait for an answer, he just took off running towards the centre of town.

You were frozen for a few seconds. Kun had been stabbed and yet he wasn’t going to the hospital. If you hadn’t been so worried you really would have been inclined to kill him.

You realised that Xiaojun was fast, after only a few seconds he was already far ahead so you forced your body to run after him despite the shock.

After a few minutes you saw him run into the entrance of a building that said Qian Industries on the side. Which in itself was insane to you, but you didn’t have time to be surprised that Kun owned a building.

Thankfully Xiaojun had waited briefly for you inside so you didn’t have to guess which floor to go to in the lift. Xiaojun hurried you in and pressed the button for the fourteenth flour.

The short time in the lift gave you a second to think that you hadn’t yet had and for whatever reason tears began to well up in your eyes.

“Is he going to die?” you asked, looking up at Xiaojun, who was realising that had no idea how to comfort a crying girl in a lift.

“He will be fine, just try to look less upset, that will probably help,” he said, pushing you out of the lift when the doors opened as you hadn’t moved by yourself. He grabbed a tissue from a box that had been in the corridor and handed it to you, “just try and pull it together slightly before you come in, crying really won’t be helpful, it’s the second door on the left,” Xiaojun said, “Sorry I don’t mean to sound so harsh,” he added.

He walked away into the office where a heated argument was clearly occurring between a group of people.

You used the tissue to wipe your face. Xiaojun was right, if Kun saw you crying he would probably be concerned, and it wasn’t you he needed to be concerned about. You had to somehow convince him to go to a hospital.

You threw the tissue in the nearest bin and took a deep breath before pushing down the handle to the office and opening the door.

You were immediately met with the sight of Kun stitching up a rather large wound on his arm through gritted teeth. Luckily for you, you had never been squeamish. Next to him Ten was attempting to reset some guys nose. From the other man shouting at him you deciphered the guy with the broken nose was named Yangyang.

“Well shit,” was all you managed to say, causing them to all stop shouting at one and other and look over. Xiaojun who had just sat down on the desk could do nothing but put his head in his hands at the situation.

“y/n!” Kun said out of surprise, before groaning, his stitch had missed due to the distraction of your entrance. You walked straight over to him and crouched down in front of where he was sitting.

“You should really go to a hospital or at least get a doctor,” you said to him, struggling to see him when he was in so much pain. Kun just shook his head.

“That is not a viable option, I would die before I went to the hospital, luckily I was only stabbed in the arm, so I won’t be dying today.”

“I am so mad at you Kun,” you said, when really you were just upset that he was taking such a serious injury so nonchalantly.

“You can’t be mad at me, I’m injured,” he joked, flashing a smile at you before finishing the last stich, tying the thread and cutting it, “see… I’m fine now.”

He was right you couldn’t be mad at him.

“If I hug you in front of your associates,” you tried to think of the best way to refer to his fellow gang members, “would that be embarrassing for you,” you said, quietly enough that the associates as you were calling them, couldn’t hear over their yelling

“I’m the boss, I can do what I want,” he replied. With the go ahead, you carefully wrapped your arms around him, taking special attention not to touch his arm,

“Do you need pain killers or something, I don’t think the ibuprofen in my bag will help you much though?”

“You’re the only comfort I need,” he joked. You pulled away your lips settling into a firm line.

“While that would be a good line at any other time I admit, be serious, I’m worried about you.”

You crouched back down in front of him.

“Worry not, my work often involves illegal drugs and so always have a supply of anything I could ever need, in this case, local anaesthetic, I can barely feel my arm.”

You got up and went to the water machine you had spotted on the other side of the office and filled up a cup with water before bringing it back. Trying to do something to help.

“Drink,” you encouraged, handing the water to Kun, he smiled, taking a sip, “then talk… how the hell did you get stabbed Kun? You said there was nothing to worry about, that you could protect yourself.”

“Can we talk later?” he asked. You nodded understanding he had stuff to deal with.

“Stop shouting Lucas!” He called, focusing his attention to the chaos unfolding in the office. You stood up from where you were crouched and went to lean against the desk next to Xiaojun.

He was tapping a beat lightly on the counter, clearly not very invested in what was going on now he had ascertained that no one was going to die.

He had a wry smile on his face.

“I have never seen Kun smile, not in the three years I have known him, not before you talked to him just now,” he said, “are you magic, have you placed him under a spell or something?”

You felt like that was somehow an insult, but you laughed anyway in response.

“Not magic no, just an old friend of his.”

“So, you are seriously not dating? Like he clearly loves you, bro”

“We are not close enough friends for this conversation … bro,” you replied. Xiaojun didn’t seem to care, he just went back to tapping the table.

You turned your own attention to Kun sorting out the mess in front of him. He had managed to get them to stop arguing and listen to him straight away. Even if they found him scary you could tell they respected him more so than anything else.

You felt a weird sense of pride rise in your chest. Kun may not have been the same boy you had met at fifteen, but he had made something of his life. His line of work may have been illegal, but he had people who respected him and with a building this big, you figured he had to have been good at his job.

“If I hadn’t shown up in time, you and five other guys would have died Yangyang, you understand that.” Kun said to him. The boy named Yangyang nodded and hung his head slightly, his newly reset nose starting to bruise horribly.

So Kun had been protecting him? He had clearly gotten him out of trouble, even as a gang member he was a good guy.

“I would show up to save any of you, you all know that, but I shouldn’t have too, Yangyang you’re clearly too young for this position so you are gonna have to go back to working for Ten. I would shout at you more, but I think Lucas has done that for me, you should all just go home, get some rest. I’ll contact you sometime later this week,” he said sitting down in the chair behind the desk where you were leaning.

They all got up and walked out as soon as he asked them too. Yangyang leaving last, waiting at the door last, to personally thank Kun, who just told him to get some sleep.

You turned around moving a few items before climbing up and sitting cross legged on the desk facing Kun once again.

“So, you own a building these days Qian Kun? That’s slightly impressive I will give it too you,” you fiddled with the items on the desk, all the pens and all the paper with the name Qian Industries at the top, “yet somehow I don’t believe this is an engineering company.”

You were filled with nervous energy, unable to sit still so you began to draw a star on your hand slowly.

“We are good at forging documents what can I say,” Kun replied, eyes focused on where you were drawing on your hand, “I’m sorry I worried you,” he said, his gaze lifting up to look you in the eyes.

You stopped drawing.

“Only you are considerate enough to apologise for getting stabbed. I heard that you only were in that situation to help that kid. I might not love what you do but as I said, I won’t deny that you’re not impressive.”

Kun paused for a moment, searching through some of the papers on the desk before handing you and article he had printed out from the country’s biggest newspaper.

It referred to the unknown leader of Gang V, calling him a monster who killed people not for the money, but to make himself feel powerful. The article attributed many crimes to Kun, some that couldn’t ever have been him, as far as you knew Kun had never been to Sao Paulo.

“I’m never going to think you’re a bad person Kun, those writers don’t know anything about you, I’ve known you for over six years.”

“I am responsible for ordering most of the crimes on there to happen, apart from the ones in Sao Paulo, that makes no sense, I’ve never left the country.”

Which just confirmed that you knew him better than anyone.

“You also helped a random girl you met on the street find her way home and stood up for her against dickhead boys and watched Shrek with her more times than you can count. People aren’t just one thing.”

Kun moved his face closer to yours.

“That’s because I really, really like you, the moment I saw you I thought you were the most mesmerising girl in the world.”

You weren’t the biggest fan of when he said super cheesy things and couldn’t help making a slight face. Kun wasn’t offended by it, he knew you well enough to know it was the concept of being cheesy you objected too, not him specifically.

“You can see it from here,” he said, getting up and walking over to the floor to ceiling glass window. You followed him to see what he meant, “right there,” his finger pressed on the glass towards a street with badly working streetlamps.

“What is it?”

“The street where we first met,” he answered, before tucking a lose strand of hair behind your ear.

His eyes were fixed on yours, neither of you able to look away.

“Do I really have no chance? If it makes you uncomfortable, I will stop, we can just be best friends, I won’t flirt with you anymore. I just need you to tell me, that I have absolutely no chance of ever winning your affection.”

You paused for a second, staring back out at the street remembering the first day you met, how cute he was. The smartest choice would be to tell him to give up, but the thought of that made your heart ache. Equally you couldn’t say what he wanted to hear. You knew it was selfish of you really.

“It’s not that you have no chance,” you began, taking a moment to breath and compose yourself when you felt Kun’s fingers brush lightly against your own, his pinkie playing with yours.

His face looked so relieved when he heard your words.

“Then what, and please don’t say you won’t risk your friendship with me because I know that’s not the only reason.”

“Before… I knew what I know now, the distance between us due to what I didn’t know did mean that I thought it was best not to risk that. I could never have dated you not knowing a whole side of your life. I didn’t want to risk finding out though or asking you and you not wanting to tell me and that being an issue, its complicated, I don’t really understand myself fully my reasons.”

“And now?” he argued you to continue, you could almost hear his heart beating.

“You have turned out to be a powerful guy who most likely has powerful enemies. If you have a girlfriend then you have a weakness that those enemies will exploit, I’m not going to put either of us at risk like that.”

You could tell Kun wanted to argue with you so badly and tell you how stupid of a reason he thought that was. Poke holes in the argument you had given until you had no choice but to give in. He didn’t do that though; he was far to kind.

You were just thankful he didn’t comeback with some rather cheesy line about you being his weakness because you don’t think you could have handled that without throwing something at him.

“But I still have a chance?” he asked, his fingers still touching yours. You nodded.

“Then that’s good enough for me.”

You offered to drive him home because of his hurt arm, forgetting you didn’t have a driver’s licence or a car. When Kun reminded of that you settled on calling him a taxi instead. You wanted to go with him, to make sure he was okay, but you knew it was important for you both to have time apart, to process the nights events.

You caught the nearest bus back to your flat, drawing a star in the condensation of the window as you thought about your own words.

You were afraid to become Kun’s weakness, that’s why you somewhat distanced yourself from him by refusing to give into his charms and love him in that way.

Roads at night seem to lead to nowhere when you can’t see what comes beyond through the darkness. You were determined that you and Kun wouldn’t lead to nowhere, because the thought of him moving on from you was such a horrible one. So, you decided to do whatever you had to do, to become Kun’s strength instead of his weakness.

[the-eldritch-it-gay]

Hey just so yáll know, my university, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, has been having a lot of hate crimes on campus this semester. The last one was directed at our Black Male Empowerment club, where football team members said  "For all who can't make the BME (Black Male Empowerment) meeting, (we) are holding WME (white male empowerment) tonight at 7." along with a picture of a Ku Klux Klan rally burning a cross. What happened is not the first time something of the nature happened, but it’s the first time there’s evidence we can show. But nothing is happening.

The perpetrators (the football players) were suspended from play, but the season is already over. That is it. They are still attending class and walking around campus with no other consequences. The coach is not being investigate for his role in this, despite rumours of past bias. The Chancellor of our school took 2 days to send an email to the student body condemning what happened, but has taken little if any actual action as stated. Previous hate crimes on campus have received no justice. 70 hate crimes have been reported this semester, which students of color only learned that number on Wednesday. We’re outraged and angry and know the administration doesn’t really care about us or what happens and are left to take matters into our own hands. 

I don’t feel safe or welcome on campus, despite the banners claiming diversity and inclusivity that the university, and I am not alone in this feeling. They don’t care about our safety or wellbeing.

Please spread the word and help our voices be heard, because we know the only way administration will care is if we bring it to the nations attention on our own.

[a-wandering-fool]

We have covered Oberlin College at least since 2013, when we wrote extensively about The Great Oberlin College Racism Hoax of 2013.

Classes were cancelled in favor of campus-wide forums to address white supremacy and systemic racism after racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic flyers were posted around campus. The campus almost melted down when a student spotted someone walking at night in a Ku Klux Klan robe. It turned out not to be the Klan, but likely a student walking at night wrapped in a blanket for warmth.

Even the flyers turned out not to be what they seemed – it turned out they were placed around campus by a white liberal student who sought to start a conversation on campus. The entire 2013 racial meltdown was the result of a hoax, and those details were known by the college administration. But rather than address that reality, the administration used the controversy to agree to student demands for increased social justice indoctrination, including during freshman orientation.

The campus atmosphere turned Oberlin College “social justice” activism into self-parody. The black student union protested that the Africana House dining hall did not regularly serve fried chicken (seriously). Other students protested dining hall “cultural appropriation” of Asian food, noting as to the dining-hall version of General Tso’s Chicken, “[i]nstead of deep-fried chicken with ginger-garlic soy sauce, the chicken was steamed with a substitute sauce.” Once again, the administration sought to placate the activists, with the Director of Dining Services confessing that “we recently fell short in the execution of several dishes in a manner that was culturally insensitive.”

In December 2014, students led by the black student union issued a 14-point set of demandsseeking to “deconstruct imperialism, white supremacy, capitalism, ableism, and a cissexist heteropatriarchy” and to divest from Israel. The demands including hiring and promotion of faculty based on race. The inclusion of divesting from Israel was no happenstance, Oberlin had a particularly toxic form of “intersectional” activism, in which Israel was so relentlessly demonized as the center of intersecting systems of oppression that a coalition of alumni signed a statement demanding administration action. Though the administration did not heed the demands for (illegal) hiring and promotion based on race, little action was taken to change the campus climate.

So when the Gibson’s Bakery fiasco happened, it was not entirely surprising. What was surprising were some of the details that came out during the case that cast an even darker shadow on activism at Oberlin College.

There was something we covered during the trial, but which just jumped out at me as I was preparing a long Twitter thread excerpting our trial coverage:

Among our coverage was Daniel McGraw’s reporting on the Oberlin Police Department historical records on shoplifting arrests at Gibson’s Bakery. Those statistics shows that there was no disproportionate arrest of blacks:

But Dan pointed out something that was not part of the evidence at trial, but put the statistics in context. A 2017 article in the Oberlin Grape student publication about Oberlin College’s “Culture of Theft.”

Dan also reported how this theft culture influenced the decision making at the college with regard to Gibson’s, as related in the trial. College officials were concerned that backing Gibson’s over shoplifting could “trigger” a negative reaction from students, since the college was “trying to get students to realize that shoplifting was harmful.”

It’s truly astounding that a college would be afraid to support a local store that was the victim of shoplifting. It is deeply depressing that students did not already know that “shoplifting was harmful.”

The article referenced about Oberlin College’s Culture of Theft was written by an Oberlin College student, and was published in the Oberlin Grape on December 1, 2017, about a year after the Gibson’s Bakery incident and just after Gibson’s Bakery filed suit.

Here are some excerpts from The Culture of Theft:

… How Gibson would have reacted if the students were white or trans or not students at all is an important question, but ultimately a question we will never know the answer to. Something that we can understand a little better, however, is how big of an issue shoplifting is for business owners in Oberlin, and how it can impact town-gown relations….

The Grape set out to understand the nature and extent of this shoplifting issue …. To start, we uncovered a sad truth: That the majority of shoplifting in Oberlin is carried out by students….

To get a better idea about students’ role in shoplifting, The Grape anonymously interviewed students on the first floor of Mudd. We collected responses to the question ‘have you ever taken anything from a store downtown without paying for it?’. [After giving some examples or responses] This is a testament that came up a lot in these conversations: that students just felt like it.

[After giving more examples] The majority of students who admitted to shoplifting explained that the items stolen were mostly minor ones like candy, and most commonly, pens…. While these stories are anecdotal and don’t paint the full picture of shoplifting, one that may include theft-out-of-necessity, most of the thefts were out of convenience.

To these students, these are small items that couldn’t possibly make that much of a difference to a normal business. That is the justification we heard repeated — that shoplifting is just a normal cost of having a business….”

This culture of shoplifting puts in context the reaction of the Oberlin College administration that it was still trying to get students to understand that “shoplifting was harmful.”

But quivering in fear of student reaction was not the answer. Nor was trying to pressure Gibson’s Bakery to establish a special procedure for students caught shoplifting (the college denied this pressure, which David Gibson testified to):

Someone who saw my thread commented:

Thread. Chilling details on how broken the student body has become at Oberlin College. How on earth did students get this way?

That’s a good question. Unfortunately, it does not appear the Oberlin College administration is ready to confront its own role.

=================================

Reading list, but from first glance this is troubling.

[fall2019kulife]

Different Cultures at KU

Prologue

     I knew it was going to be a very different experience for me going to a college with a majority of white students as opposed to my high school, which was a majority of hispanic/latinx students. Of course I wasn’t going to be the only person of color to walk the campus, but I thought I was going to be a part of a very minuscule community of minority  students, which wasn’t the case. During freshman weekend, I met many students of color, which shocked me. Seeing all of those students made me realize, for one, not to judge a book by its cover, and two, that one really has to take part in something to know the full picture. It really goes to show that Kutztown University puts forth a significant effort to accept students of all types of racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. 

     Kutztown University has one of the most diverse campuses in all of Berks County. There is a plethora of different students from different ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. Diversity can have a heavy impact on a student’s social and academic success because being in an environment where we can’t find some sort of comfort can be stressful. These aspects can also contribute to KU’s overall viewpoint to not only prospective students, but other universities and their opinions on our university. Hopefully with our interviews and careful research, we can shed some light on the uniqueness of KU when it comes to its representation of students from the LGBTQ+ community, minority racial/ethnic groups, and different religious backgrounds. Our research will be displayed in each of our three acts: Act I: “The Gays Have Already Invaded Kutztown, PA;” Act II: “Minorities Left and Right at KU;” and Act III: “Praise the Whatever You Believe in Because KU Doesn’t Judge.”

Act I: The Gays Have Already Invaded Kutztown, PA

     During my childhood, I was a closeted LGBT child in denial of who I really was. This denial, and lack of acceptance from myself and others, made my life feel as though I were walking through a maze. The maze had a lot of surprises: sudden bursts of outrage from people I thought I trusted, self-growth I had no idea what it’d turn into, the completely unexpected turnarounds, and a nightmare of intrusive thoughts.  I can’t count the number of times I had to start life over and pick up all the pieces and rebuild myself. Part of what created these chains of events was my experiences as an LGBT child and young adult.

     After an unsupportive life, Kutztown University was another new start for me. The campus is bustling with expressive youth and energetic young adults forming their lives. My particular connection to this campus is through the art community, which I’ve found to be very open and accepting and have made plenty of LGBT friends through art. One of those friends is an LGBT student named, Todd Lichtenberg.

     Todd said he also felt a sense of belonging, especially because the art community has a lot of LGBT students. He further pointed out that he does not always click with LGBT students if they are unaware of gender identities and ideas and how to treat them with respect and understanding.

     “Me being LGBT affects my everyday life,” he said. Due to being a pre-transitioned trans man, Todd experiences misgendering and misunderstanding with his peers or professors. Though it’s not meant with any ill intent, this is one of the ways he is affected daily on campus.

     KU has a lot of LGBT events on campus and Todd noted he has attended KU Pride, Pride Prom, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. “It’s always really fun to be able to be myself and not worry about any prejudices at the events.” Todd explained not only are LGBT KU events are non-prejudicial, they create a friendly and fun atmosphere where he feels accepted and welcome. “I’m always looking forward to the next event.”

     To further explain how Todd feels about his LGBT experience in his major specifically. “I think LGBT students are really welcome in my major, [Applied Digital Arts.]” He states a lot of students in his major are also LGBT and it is a very open and accepting community. He states the campus as having good accommodations, including ID cards that use our real names instead of our names assigned at birth.

     Todd explains the things they have gained at KU. “I’ve gained a lot of support and LGBT friends as an LGBT student. There’s a lot of resources for us on campus and a lot of supportive people. It’s been a great experience.”

     Kutztown is a campus where everyone has opportunities to find a place to belong regardless of their major, sexuality, or gender identity. Anyone, including yourself, could find a place to call home here on campus due to the accepting and diverse student base, you just have to reach out and find it.

- Tyfa

Act ll: Minorities Left and Right at KU

     I never truly felt what it meant to be a minority until I arrived at Kutztown, and then suddenly not many people looked like me. I grew up in an urban community so I knew coming to Kutztown would be a little different for me. My first three weeks here I felt as though I didn’t belong and this is why. I arrived to my chemistry class about 5 minutes before class began. As I went to sit in front of these three white girls with blond hair, one of them put their legs on the chair and said to me.“ This seat isn’t for you,” were her exact words.                         

      She said that with an attitude. A million questions and thoughts were running through my head while looking at her friends smirk as if we were in some movie or something. “Did she really just say that? Was that a racist comment? Was she saying it because she was saving that seat for her friend? If so, she didn’t have to say it that way. Should I say something or should I just walk away?” I turned back around and asked her what the problem was, she said she just didn’t want me sitting in the seat. I responded, “Are you paying my tuition bill?  No, you’re not. I have the right to sit in any seat in this classroom just like you. So therefore, this seat is for me.” I say. I sat down in that seat and put my bookbag down. I wanted to leave this school because of that one moment. Then I realized,  not all people at Kutztown are like this. I made many friends from all different ethnic backgrounds. I even work in the Multicultural Center here at Kutztown and it’s amazing. Kutztown is becoming more and more racially diverse and I’m here for it, so is Isaed Popa, who is also a student worker at the MCC. 

     Isaed Popa is a Dominican student worker who is apart of the Multicultural Greek Council and the Historical based Latino fraternity. To Isaed racial diversity means different cultures coming together. “It’s very important in college,”he says. ”I feel like every year our campus gets more diverse and it makes me happy that us minorities are finally getting out there.”Based on the organizations that he’s involved with he’s surrounded with a lot of different people from different backgrounds. He says he has heard a lot of different things from people who say they feel like they don’t belong here at Kutztown because because they’re surrounded by mainly white people, but being party of groups and clubs won’t make you feel that way. 

     Isaed Is always at the MCC. All the events that are thrown there are typically of different ethnic cultures. One of his favorite events  actually happened very recently, Carribean Cardio. It was very fun because students were able to connect with people of different ethnic backgrounds and get to dance and exercise with them. ”It felt like a home away from home,” he said. Being a minority at Kutztown, Isaed has learned that some minorities here have a blocking mindset, which he finds to be  negative because they don’t want to get involved. They just want to get their degree and leave, which limits one’s  potential here at Kutztown. Isaed says, “The diversity is getting better and I’m here for it.”

- Keily 

Act III: Praise the Whatever you Believe in Because KU Doesn’t Judge

    Growing up, my mom was the one to teach my siblings and I about Christianity and the Bible’s teachings. There was definitely a stronger emphasis for me to be more religiously-oriented than my brothers, who are younger than me. On the other hand, my two elder sisters live in New York City, so my mom would definitely call them and talk to them about God all the time and tell them to attend the meetings at their local congregations. As for me, I had Bible lessons every week, and if my brothers didn’t want to attend the meetings, I would always have to. My mom certainly wasn’t as strict about our religion, Jehovah Witness, as other parents, but she did, and still does, enforce it greatly. Even being here on campus, she still managed to find a way to get me a Bible studies teacher without my knowledge. My Bible studies teacher, Jenn, and her daughter, Ariana, would come to my dorm lounge last semester to give me Bible lessons. Recently, I decided to have Bible lessons over the phone due to my schedule this semester. I know it seems like I was held to such a high standard by my parents, which is correct, but I wouldn’t be the person I am today without it. 

    Religion can be a big part of a lot of people’s lives, which is why Kutztown has plenty of accommodations for many types of students. Here at Kutztown there are many types of on-campus religious organizations like Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, the Kutztown Christian Fellowship (KCF), the Muslim Student Association (MSA), and many others. There are also many places of worship in Kutztown, and it’s neighboring cities, that a student can have arrangements with one of the advisors to get to. Here at Kutztown, there’s a place for someone to go participate in their form of worship to give them that extra comfort they need. This not only includes me, as well as my friend, and roommate, Shoshi. 

    Shoshi is originally from Dresher, PA, which is around the Philadelphia area, and goes to Kutztown for Studio Art. They came here fully aware that Kutztown is not a Jewish affiliated school, but they know that if they had a “bad religious experience on campus related to Judaism there are people at Kutztown University who would do shit about it.” Going from high school that focused on Judaism to a college that is not, made them realize that “before coming to college being Jewish was very easy. It was a daily aspect of my life.” Shosi was the president of Hillel club but due to their busy class schedule the had to resign their position.    

Of course coming to college there isn’t a foolproof plan of the transition being easy, but there are definitely things a college can do to make it comfortable and manageable. To me, religion gives me a sense of home and my family, and although I only live 20 minutes away, it makes me feel a sense of clarity and warmth. Kutztown University puts forth a great effort of making its students feel included when it comes to their religious needs because we need a sense of comfort and familiarity during these stressful times. 

- Kalena

[such-a-common-girl]

Professor Winchester (Dean Winchester x Reader AU) Chap. 1

Professor Winchester Masterlist

Word Count: 2,613

Professor!Dean Winchester x Reader AU

Summary: A few years after being accepted into your dream college, everything’s going well. Your grades are good, your social life is booming, all your assignments are easy...  Except for the damn essay that Professor Winchester assigned you. Based off this request.

Chapter Warnings : Language, alcohol usage, mentions of sex, mentions of student/teacher relationships

‘Similar to the effects of the mythical creature the basilisk, Medusa…”

You groan out as you sit at your kitchen table, your fingertips typing away at your laptop in an attempt to start the introduction paragraph of your research essay that’s due tonight. You tend to be a procrastinator, which never works well, and more often than not leaves you immensely stressed out.

You shake your head, deleting the first sentence all together before taking a long sip of coffee. Only three hours to get the essay done. Three hours until the deadline. Damn Professor Winchester for giving you such a challenging topic.

Normally, you love his class. He’s easily one of the most laid back, chilled out professors you’ve had throughout your three years at the University of Kansas. His love for Greek Mythology is unlike anything you’ve seen before. His lectures are nothing short of interesting, as he somehow manages to make even the most minuscule of things seem like the most amazing thing in the world. The tests are hard, but as long as you pay attention and take notes in class, you’ve always been fine.

Unfortunately for you, the subject of your essay that Professor Winchester had assigned you is something that you’ve yet to go over in the class, leaving you completely clueless.

“You’re still going at that thing?” Your roommate and also best friend, Nina, enters the kitchen as she walks past you.

“Yes,” You groan, twisting your body around in the chair to face her. “I just want to get it over with, but every time I even begin to write something, my mind goes blank. I can’t think of one single thing, which is fucking terrible because this damn paper is two hundred points. That’s almost as much as finals.”

“Why are you even taking Greek Mythology, anyways? That’s not even a requirement for your major. Don't tell me you’re becoming one of those students obsessed with Professor Winchester. ” 

“I needed another elective for the general education requirements and this one seemed the most interesting. It is, I wasn’t wrong, but it’s challenging.” You frown.

“Professor Hottie’s class isn’t so easy, huh?” Nina raises her eyebrows. “No wonder I see all those desperate students dropping out of his class after a few weeks.”

“He may be easy on the eyes, but his class is certainly no easy A.” You sigh. “Sadly.” 

There’s no denying that Professor Winchester is attractive. Beyond attractive. He was the talk of the freshman class whenever you had first gotten accepted into this university, almost every women (and some men) were so desperate to get into his class just to be around him, it was almost sad. More than half of them would drop it as soon as they realize how difficult it is, despite being told repeatedly by older students that his class was actually challenging.

You, on the other hand, aren't taking this class just because of the teacher. Sure, you’re attracted to the man. So is seemingly everyone else on campus. But, you know that there’s absolutely no way in hell that that would ever happen, and you’re not planning on pursuing your measly crush on Professor Winchester. You’re here to learn and get your degree so you can become a teacher, not so you can have a one-night stand with one of your professors and risk getting kicked out of university.

“Well, I guess I’ll leave you to it, then.” Nina says, grabbing a bag of chips out of the cupboard. “If you want to go out later tonight after you finish, celebrate or something, let me know. I desperately need to get drunk.”

“Things not working out so well with Matt?” You ask as you begin to type some more, not necessarily paying attention to her but not wanting to be rude and dismiss her completely.

“I don’t know.” She sighs. “He’s getting attached. Friends with benefits is more complicated than I had expected. But anyways, I’m going to leave you alone now to wallow in your own problems. The last thing you need is to worry about mine, too.”

“I promise, as soon as I finish this stupid fucking essay, I will go out and get drunk with you and we can talk all night about your problems with Matt. Sound like a deal?” You grin at her.

“Deal.” She smiles, taking a bite of her Doritos. You take a deep breath and begin to write. At this point, you can’t strive for perfection anymore. The deadline is quickly approaching, and a mediocre paper would have to do.

A few hours later, your essay is completed (and very much half-assed) with only minutes to spare. A huge weight is lifted off your chest as you push the “submit” button online, relief spreading throughout your body. The stress is gone, and the readiness to go to a bar and get drunk is filling the void.

“Nina!” You yell out, shutting your laptop screen.

“Did you finish?” She yells back from her room, the high volume of the television almost drowning out her voice. Your neighbors probably hate you.

“Hell yeah I did!” You say enthusiastically. “Now let’s go get some drinks!”

-

“He’s just so clingy.” Nina sighs, taking another drink of her martini.

You’re currently sitting at a bar, one that is a few towns over since she didn’t want to take the chance of accidentally running into her boy-toy. The place is full and buzzing with people, which is normally not your scene, but you could deal with it tonight. The both of you needed this.

“I don’t do clingy. I am a no-strings attached kind of girl, he knows this. He knew what he was getting into.” She sighs. “I just don’t know what to do. The sex is too good to just drop him, but I don’t want to hurt his feelings by telling him to back off, you know? We were friends before all of this.”

“Can’t help ‘ya there, sister.” You swirl your drink with your straw. You’ve only had one drink, so you’re not nearly as tipsy as Nina is. “I’m about as clueless as it gets when it comes to guys.”

“But you’re so pretty!” Nina hiccups, giggling.

“Yeah, well, my mom kept me on a pretty tight leash growing up.” You admit. “She wanted me to go to some big-shot school, become a big business woman like she is. Kind of didn’t allow me to focus on anything except for my school. Unfortunately, her hopes and dreams for me were squashed the moment I chose to come to KU. I like it here, though. It’s nice. I don’t regret my decision.”

“She wouldn’t even let you have a boyfriend?” Nina’s jaw drops in shock.

“Nope.” You laugh. “I mean, I’ve been more adventurous since I came in here as an innocent, little freshman. I’m no virgin. But I’d definitely say that I have nowhere near as much experience as you.”

Nina giggles again, downing the rest of her drink. You do the same, not anywhere near as buzzed as you’d like to be. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see a few men walking into the bar. You don’t bother giving them a second look, not giving much thought to it. Guys in a bar? Who would’ve thought!

“Holy shit, Y/N.” Nina’s eyes go wide, her gaze following the men who had walked in. “You’ll never believe who’s here.”

“Matt?” You give it your best guess. Who else could possibly be here that she’d be having such a reaction about?

“Professor Hottie, and his just as hot friends.” Nina ogles. You whip your head around, and sure enough, he’s sitting at the table behind you with a group of his friends. Some of them you recognize as other professors from the school, such as Professor Novak and Dr. Garth, and one of the other men you recognize as Professor Winchester’s brother, Sam. He had pictures of them together on his desk, which is the only reason you know that.

“We have to leave!” You begin to up. “I came here to get away from him and his absolutely terrible assignments. Seeing him is serving as a reminder that I probably am getting an F on it. Besides, it’s just weird being here with him, being in the same place while me and you are getting drunk. He’s my professor.”

“That he is.” Nina nods. “Your professor that’s looking you up and down right now.”

You look back over at them, and certainly enough, Nina is correct. He’s looking at you as if he’s trying to place your face, until a look of shock crosses his face. He waves slightly, his face becoming a little flustered.

“Hey, Y/N!” Professor Winchester calls out, his voice slurred a little bit. “What’re you doing here?”

You look over at Nina, panic obvious in your face. You know it’s entirely inappropriate to have a conversation in a place like this with your teacher, especially since the both of you have obviously had a bit to drink. Nina only smirks at you before lightly shoving you his way, whispering “go get some experience, tiger,” in your ear.

You blush at Nina’s words as you approach the table of men, all of them looking up at you.

“Hey, Professor.” You say awkwardly. “I’m just here celebrating finishing that essay you assigned us with my roommate. Girl’s night. You?”

“You can call me Dean, this ain’t class.” He laughs. “Guy’s night. I’ll be honest, wasn’t expecting to see you here. Thought we were far enough away from campus. Oh, guys, sorry, forgot to introduce you to Y/N, here. She’s my student in my honors college Greek Mythology class.”

“So you’re the smart girl that Dean here is always bragging about, huh?” Dean’s brother, Sam, smiles at you.

“I wouldn’t say bragging. She is one of my best students. The only one that ever puts any effort into her work. Most students don’t really give a damn about my class.” Dean snorts, taking a drink of the brown liquid that a waitress sat down on the table. You can tell he’s drunker than he looks, and you feel slightly uncomfortable intruding on their “guy’s night” like this.

“I think you might be slightly disappointed with my essay.” You admit. “Pretty half-assed.”

“S’alright. You gotta pretty ass, so it makes up for it.” Dean slurs, and your eyes widen. Did your professor just hit on you? In front of other professors? Sure, they’re his friends, but... He’s definitely drunk.

“Thanks?” You laugh. You know at this point, you should leave and not make this any more awkward than it needs to be. It’ll already be uncomfortable on Tuesday when you have to go to his class, since he just not-so-subtly flirted with you. But, as you start to leave, Dean’s mouth turns into a frown, motioning for you to come back. 

“Why not, right?” You grin, not sober enough to deny his offer at this point. You look back over to Nina, who’s already sitting at the bar again, chatting it up with some random blonde man.

“Yeah, why not.” He smiles, his eyes crinkling at the corners. 

“So, Y/N, what's your major?” Sam asks you, pulling up a chair. You gladly take a seat, your arm only inches away from Dean’s.

“Double majoring in Education and English. Believe it or not, I want to be an English teacher. The only reason I’m even taking Professor Winch- Dean’s class here is because I’m required to take one more elective and since my next year will be so jammed pack, this is the only time I have for it.” You admit. 

“Smart girl.” Professor Novak- or should you call him by his first name, too?- comments. “No wonder Dean likes you.”

“C’mon guys,” Dean puts his hands up in the air, glaring at him. “I never-”

He’s cut off by a waitress bringing another round of shots, setting them down on the table. You’ve decided this is where you’ll draw the line, not about to take shots with your goddamn history professor, no matter how attractive he looks right now. 

You turn your head, preparing to tell Dean bye. But, as some twist of fate, Dean has also turned his head to tell you something, making your lips accidentally brush each other. Instead of pulling away like you thought he might have, he begins to move his lips against yours. His lips taste like straight liquor. You freeze in shock, not knowing what to do. When he realizes you're not kissing back, he pulls away quickly, a look of guilt on his face. 

“Shit, Y/N, I’m so sor-”

“I’ve actually got to go, I’ll see you on class on Tuesday, Professor.” You manage to stutter out. You can hear a mixture of “oh man, you’ve had too much to drink” and “nice one, professor smooth” coming from the men as you practically sprint away from the table.

You grab Nina’s arm as you walk out the door, already pulling out your phone to call an Uber. She’s giving you bewildered and confused looks, not understanding why you just ran out of there like that.

“What the hell happened back there?” She cocks her eyebrows. “You see a ghost or something?”

“He just… He was very drunk.” You squeak out. Obviously, you’re flattered. He’s a very attractive man, and if someone wouldn’t be affected by his blatant flirting, you would be surprised. But, you know that not only was he probably too drunk to know what he was saying. He’s your professor, he wouldn’t… Right?

“Very drunk as in he didn’t recognize you and tried to hook up with you, or very drunk as in he made a stupid comment and embarrassed you?”

“A mixture?” You shrug your shoulders, your cheeks still red. “He recognized me, alright. Then he said he’d excuse my shitty essay because I have a nice ass. I noped out of there the minute a round of shots came by.” You purposely leave out the kiss part. 

“Look at you!” Nina squeals, jumping around excitedly. “Getting hit on by the eye-candy of teachers! You have no idea how jealous all those girls who got turned down would be right now! I’ll admit, I’m even a little jealous!”

“He was drunk, he didn’t know what he was doing.” You groan. “Don’t tell anyone this, alright? I’m hoping that he won’t remember this. I don’t think that I’ll be able to look him in the eye if we both remember what just happened.”

“Why, though? Thinkin’ about how he would destroy that as-“

“Don’t finish that sentence.” You groan out, making her giggle. “He probably won’t remember, right?”

WANT TO BE TAGGED IN THIS SERIES? LET ME KNOW :)

[allofbeercom]

The day I went hunting for the Ku Klux Klan | Dave Eggers

Following Trumps win, one KKK chapter announced plans for a victory parade in North Carolina. But where was it going to be, and who might turn up? Dave Eggers joined the protestors playing cat-and-mouse with white supremacists

No one knew much, but the crowd was growing. We were at the rest stop off Highway 29 between Eden and Pelham, where North Carolina meets Virginia, and everyone was looking for the Ku Klux Klan. It was 8.40am.

The day after the election of Donald Trump, the Loyal White Knights of Pelham, a chapter of the KKK with a suitably unhinged website, had announced that they would be holding a victory parade on 3 December. In the weeks since, there had been no word on the Knights website or anywhere else about when or where the parade would be.

But the initial declaration was perhaps the most dramatic manifestation of what we might call the New Emboldening a coast-to-coast rise in everyday American racism and bigotry spurred by the rhetoric and election of a billionaire who had taken swipes at certain Mexican-Americans and all Mexicans, certain women and all women, certain Muslim-Americans and all Muslims, all African Americans and all immigrants.

In the month after the election, the Southern Poverty Law Center had tracked more than 900 incidents targeting non-whites. A Muslim college student in Ann Arbor had been told, by a young white man, to remove her hijab or he would light her on fire. At a Utah high school, two Mexican-American sisters were told by their white classmates, You get a free trip back to Mexico. You should be happy.

The idea of a Klan rally in this kind of atmosphere was potentially explosive. The KKK had demonstrated a year earlier, in Columbia, South Carolina, and the results had been ugly. Three hundred Klan members had been there. The New Black Panthers had countered with 400 of their own members. In all, there were 2,000 protesters. There were cops in body armour. Ripped Confederate flags. A grandmother with a bloody nose. A Klan member, trying to flee in his vehicle, ran into a lamppost.

This 3 December parade, then, coming after Trumps election and during this New Emboldening, had the potential to be far worse. The promise that the parade was coming was a blight on the soul of the nation; the vast majority of the country, whether they supported Trump or not, dreaded it. There is no more wretched and horrifying segment of the American people or history than the Klan, who in their darkest years had lynched black men and women and had terrorised anyone who wasnt white or Christian. At their height, in 1924, the Klans membership was 4 million. In 2016, estimates put their strength at no more than 8,000.

Two masked Ku Klux Klansmen giving an interview on a rural backroad near Pelham, North Carolina on the night of 2 December. Photograph: Jay Reeves/AP

But Trump, like a snake charmer, had coaxed the rise of the alt-right, who embodied the spirit of the Klan, but in different robes and with better social media. And because the depth of Trumps support so much of it invisible to polls and data had shocked much of the nation, there existed the possibility that the Klan, too, would emerge with far greater numbers than anyone thought possible.

But for a month, no one knew where the rally would take place. Activists marked it on their calendars but had no clue where to go, other than Pelham, North Carolina a tiny town of 3,592 souls, with no central business district through which to parade. The night before, Id driven around Pelham and found nowhere a potential parade might happen. Guessing the Klan might be gathering at the home of Amanda and Christopher Barker, the only Knights listed on their website, I drove past the home listed as their address. It was a humble clapboard house in nearby Eden. There were no cars parked outside, no sign of an assembling of regional racists.

Then, late on the night of 2 December, an article appeared on the website of the Times-News of Burlington, North Carolina. A reporter there, Natalie Janicello, spoke with a Loyal White Knights representative who called himself the chapters exalted cyclops. He confirmed that the Klan would indeed parade. Probably at 9am, he said, and in the vicinity of Pelham.

So here we were, at the rest stop, waiting for word. The sky was grey and the temperature hovered at 40F. Cars continued to arrive, and their passengers disembarked to use the facilities. Most were young and dressed in black boots, pants, hoodies and sunglasses. A few were wearing bandanas to cover their faces. These were black-bloc activists some anarchist, some communist, some apolitical in general more willing to engage in confrontation and property damage (thus the efforts to anonymise themselves). There were six of them. Then 10. Then 20. Thirty. They made up the largest group of the assembling activists, but there were also members of the International Workers of the World (IWW), a few people with Black Lives Matter signs, and a smattering of unaffiliateds men and women, most of them under 30, standing in the cold, waiting for word of when and where. But 9am was fast approaching and there was no update.

I befriended a trio of activists who seemed to have the most up-to-date information. Megan Squire, a red-haired professor of computing sciences at nearby Elon University, was earnest and funny and determined to confront the Klan. She was with her husband, Tony Crider, a professor of physics, who, in Ray-Bans and a leather jacket, was a bit more detached and sceptical (for reasons that would become clear later). With them was Sugelema Lynch, a bright-eyed second-grade teacher from nearby Alamance County.

Im more of a tag-along, she said. She was wearing a lime-green scarf and teal-coloured sneakers, and had an enormous camera around her neck. I just want to get a couple cool photos and tell my kids, Look what I did this weekend! She had moved from California five years earlier, when shed married a man who grew up nearby. She was still getting used to this once-Confederate state, whose Latino population had grown from 76,000 in 1990 to 800,000 in 2016.

When I first moved here, she said, living in the Burlington area, you just felt the tension. As a Hispanic woman, just walking around felt awkward. She is one of two Latino teachers at her elementary school, where most of the students are the children of Latino immigrants. Its not really a surprise to hear about the Klan here. Things dont ever just go away. But Im not offended just looking at the Confederate flag. I grew up watching The Dukes of Hazzard, too.

Megan was periodically checking in with the IWW and black-bloc groups, and returned with news. OK, she said. The rumour now is that the Klan is organising itself, planning to go to Danville via Highway 29. Everyones trying to find someone who might have a car shitty enough to block the highway.

Black bloc protesters some anarchist, some communist, some apolitical who formed a large part of the turnout against the KKK march. Photograph: Carol Guzy/Photoshot/Avalon

Danville was a city of 43,000, just over the Virginia border. It had been on the list of possible sites for the Klan march.As we waited, Tony told a story of a recent Trump-fuelled incident on the Elon campus. The day after the election, he had arrived at his classroom to find the words Bye bye Latinos. Hasta la Vista written in large letters on his whiteboard. There had been recent activity in the area by another neo-white supremacist group called Actbac (Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County), and Tony thought this might have something to do with them. Deciding to make it a teachable moment, he took a picture of the board and posted it on his Facebook account.

When his first class arrived that morning, he left the words up. He asked the students to write down their thoughts on the election and drop them in a bin, so each students opinion would remain anonymous. (He planned to read them aloud a week later, when they had some distance.) He taught the class as planned, then went back to his office, closed the door, and cried.

Meanwhile, his photo had been shared with a student reporter at Elon, who tweeted it. That tweet was retweeted 2,000 times, and by the next day, it had been reported in the Daily Mail and the Associated Press. It was referenced all over the world.

Then we found out it was a hoax, Tony said. It turned out that a Latino student at Elon had written it. The student considered it satire.

Now the assembled protesters gathered around Greg Williams, an organiser from the IWW. With long dark hair and a beard, he was calm and in control. He introduced the protesters to four men and women wearing bright green baseball caps. They were from the National Lawyers Guild, he said if anyone got arrested, they would be available. He provided one of their phone numbers. It had a San Francisco area code. The activists passed around a black marker and wrote it on their arms.

Anyone with a smartphone that can be opened with your fingerprints should disable that function, Megan said. If youre arrested, she explained, police cant make you give up your password, but they can compel you to use your fingerprint. The heads of the assembled protesters bent downward as they busily made adjustments to their phones.

Finally, Williams instructed the protesters to think about your positionality. White protesters should, he said, try to keep at least two of them (white protesters) between the Klan and any protesters of colour. Speak for yourself, a black protester said, and there were laughs. The bottom line, Williams said, is look after each other.

A parking attendant had been making her way through, marking tires. The police would soon have reason to move the group, so everyone got in their cars and caravanned to the Pelham Community Center just across the highway. A sign out front promised a visit from Santa Claus later that week.

Behind the community centre was a dirt road with a narrow stretch of grass running alongside it. The area was flanked by a high wire fence on one side and a dense forest on another. Everyone parked their cars, got out and waited. The protesters milled and talked and looked at each others placards. RAPIST PRESIDENT read one. NO HATE IN OUR STATE read another. A white man in shorts held a sign declaring that The Worst Thing to Ever Come Out of a Vagina Was a WHITE MAN. Another white man demonstrating every protests struggle to keep focus had a sign pushing for a $15 minimum wage.

Word was that the parade would happen at 11am. Now the black bloc got serious. Baseball bats were removed from car trunks. Masks were adjusted. One man wore a leather jacket covered with silver studs. Another put on a motorcycle helmet. The scene began to have the look of troops assembling before battle.

More members of the media appeared. There were about a dozen small video crews and an equal number of journalists walking around with notebooks and tape recorders. They roamed among the assembled and waiting protesters, and, with nothing else to do, pretty much every journalist and photographer interviewed and photographed pretty much every protester. A trio of young activists with hand-drawn signs were photographed at least 10 times in precisely the same pose. Sugelema took a picture, too. What the hell, she said.

An SUV with tinted windows arrived. Two men emerged wearing identical outfits fleece jackets, khaki pants, sunglasses and hats. Security contractors with a group called ESG, they were there to protect a TV newscaster, an older gentleman, well-tanned, who emerged from the SUV with a cameraman in tow. His security detail followed.

Two young men removed two crates from their car trunk, one full of bottled water, the other Red Bull, and distributed them. The mood was upbeat. The current joke, Megan said, is that were just a bunch of goth kids playing Pokmon Go.

With an hour to kill before the Klan parade, there was general anxiety that some faction of the protesters would start a drum circle. The anarchists dont like drum circles, Megan noted. Sugelema pointed to a man with a red drum at his feet. Two other men were carrying cymbals. Another man with an elaborate moustache appeared with a saxophone. A few days before, at the Standing Rock protests, Sioux tribal leaders had asked the white people, arriving in great numbers and in festive spirit, not to treat the protests like Burning Man.

Megan checked in with Natalie Janicello, the reporter who had the trust of the Loyal White Knights. Janicello happened to have been a student of Megans at Elon University. She conveyed the latest: the Loyal White Knights had pushed their parade back to 3pm. The theory circulated that the Klan had been scared off by the size of the counter-protest, and had postponed their rally to gather a comparable volume of paraders of their own. One woman with hair dyed blue carried around a sign, newly made, that said Big Bad KKK: 2 Scared 2 March.

Protesters in Danville after the theory circulated that the Klan had been scared off and had postponed their rally. Photograph: Carol Guzy/Photoshot/Avalon

Sugelema and I went to get snacks. At the local mini-mart, where the staff and customers were all black, there was no awareness at all of the parade and counter-rally happening down the road. Next door, three young African American men were offering car washes. It was business as usual. We drove through Danville, quiet as a tomb.

They used to make socks here, Sugelema noted. A wide river, the Dan, cut through the town, and there were abandoned factories decomposing alongside its grey water. Around this part of North Carolina, there had been textile factories specialising in hosiery. In 1951, two local manufacturers, the Riverside Cotton Mill and Schoolfield, merged and became the largest single-unit textile mill in the world. But the plant closed in 2006. Now the city looked like the kind of place that might see its red-brick warehouses turned into lofts, and its riverside factories transformed by non-profits. But this kind of revival had yet to arrive in Danville.

Sugelemas parents were migrant farmworkers from Mexico. We moved every couple months, she said, following harvests up and down the Pacific coast. They picked apples in Washington and Oregon, melon and strawberries in Californias central valley. Thats where she was born, between harvests, and was given an unprecedented name.

Its Estonian. In the hospital, my mom didnt know what to name me, so the nurse suggested Sugelema, making her name at birth Sugelema Guadalupe Gonzalez probably the only person with that name the world has ever known. As an adult, Sugelema had looked up the meaning of her first name. According to the internet, in Estonian her name means itchy.

Of the 17 students in her classroom this year, 14 are from immigrant families, most of them from Mexico. Since Trumps election, some of the families were worried, fearing that he would follow through on promises to deport millions of people, but Sugelema had not rushed to judgment. Growing up, her parents had admired another Republican, Ronald Reagan. With the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, Reagan had granted amnesty to millions of undocumented immigrants, including many seasonal agricultural workers like her parents. It was Reagan who allowed us stay in the US, she said.

Her parents found a small town in Oregon and settled down. Sugelema and her older brother were sent to a public school where most of the kids were white. Later, her brother joined the marines and became a successful IT specialist, with most of his contracts coming from the US military. He now lives in San Diego, where Sugelemas mother is comfortably retired. Sugelema went to college and is the mother of five. Her oldest son is on the local football team.

The American dream is not perfect, but it is real. Sugelemas parents arrived in the 1970s from Mexico with nothing. They worked the fields, and now their daughter is a teacher and an indie-rock singer-songwriter. This I learned on the drive. Later, Sugelema showed me one of the music videos she had made with her husband. The song was called All Things Considered, and the video has the manic energy and lurid colours of 1980s MTV. In it, Sugelema wears Tweety Bird pyjamas as a cast of costumed partygoers dances around her. Megan is dressed in lederhosen; Tony wears the mask of a devil. In the centre of the frame, Sugelema sings, not quite awake and not quite asleep.

We returned from the convenience store to find that the protesters had decided to have an impromptu march down the dirt road. The Caswell County sheriff had blocked off one entrance, so we went around to the other, parked, and arrived in time to see the march in full swing. The photographers dutifully took pictures and the videographers filmed. In every way it had the look of a real protest, and any close-cropped photo would imply a rousing demonstration in favour of equality and diversity.

But there was no Klan and there were no spectators. It was about 60 activists marching for about 100ft on a road in the woods. After a few minutes, the group stopped marching and went back to waiting. It was not quite noon.

Soon there was news. Apparently there was a group of white supremacists demonstrating in nearby Danville. Sugelema and I had just come back from there, and had seen nothing of the kind. I think we should head out there! Williams roared, and the crowd cheered. Someone started drumming. The saxophonist played a ditty as everyone ran to their cars. Saxman, youre my hero, someone yelled.

We followed the 30 cars back on to Highway 29. There was one catch: no one had an address. There had been some mention of the centre of town. Someone else had heard the word Sutherlin. Megan sleuthed that this might be the Sutherlin home in downtown Danville. During the waning days of the civil war, when Union troops had overrun and burned Richmond to the ground, the home of Major WT Sutherin in Danville had become the last capital of the Confederacy. For a week at least 3-10 April 1865. It was now a museum.

There was no Klan and there were no spectators anti-KKK protesters march outside Danville, Virginia. Photograph: MWAA/ZDS/WENN.com

We raced into Danville and were the first to find the building. It was a grand, red-stone home in the Italian villa style, on a hilltop, with a wide lawn and a stone obelisk on which were engraved the words Guarding Our Future by Preserving Our Past. The property occupied an entire city block, and would have been a fitting site for any demonstration. But there was no one there. No white supremacists. No one at all.

We drove through Danville and soon found the ESG Security SUV in a parking lot on the edge of Danvilles downtown. Theyd found something. The white-haired newscaster stood outside, flanked by his private security guards, talking to a tall man with a wild grey beard. He wore a black leather cowboy hat and a denim jacket bearing at least 10 Confederate flag patches. There were two trucks nearby. One bore the Virginia license plate CNFEDRT.

The bearded mans was named George Randall. He and the two women with him were bewildered, like Custer caught in an ambush. Were not part of the Klan, Randall said. They were part of a group called the Virginia Flaggers, whose motto was Heritage, not hate. Periodically they held rallies to preserve Southern heritage and fly the Southern flag. He said he hadnt heard anything about a Klan rally, and hated getting confused with the Klan. This kind of mix-up, he said, was the fault of the media. And the young people. And the liberals. He monologued for a time, at one point complaining about a woman hed seen on the internet defecating on a picture of Trump. While he was speaking two more cars, carrying activists and journalists, pulled into the parking lot. Randall looked alarmed.

We better get out of here, said one of the women in the CNFEDRT truck. Randall jumped in and they took off.

Back at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, a handful of black-bloc activists stood on the corner. Passing motorists, most of them African American, gawked and pointed. Thought experiment: what would the reaction have been in a reciprocal situation? If 30 or so young black people, most of them men, showed up in a small predominantly white town, wearing masks and carrying baseball bats, what might happen?

Megans phone dinged. The activists were headed back to the rest stop where we had started the day almost five hours earlier. Sugelema and I left Danville and got on the highway. When we got to the rest stop, the 30 cars were leaving. They were going back to the Danville Museum. Theyd heard that a different Confederate group was about to demonstrate. We tried to convince them that we had just come from Danville and that nothing was happening there, but it was too late. They were gone. We followed. It was a lot like high school, where dozens of cars roamed the same few suburban miles, looking for a party, stopping at the mini-mart, getting a Slurpee, exchanging specious information and driving off only to repeat the whole process half an hour later.

We arrived at the museum to find a few disappointed black-bloc members. No Klan, no Confederates, no neo-Confederates. Megan and Tony arrived with news. Tony had seen some police cars a few blocks away, parked near a playground. He thought it might be the protest, or at least a protest. We raced to the park, but there were no Klansmen there, no black bloc. Instead, about 25 Danville residents, most of them African American, had assembled before a video camera, in rows, as if posing for a school picture. Put down the guns! they all said in unison. The gathering had nothing to do with white supremacists or Trump. It was about ending a recent cycle of violence in Danville.

David L Wilson, who split his time between selling life insurance and working at a tyre-manufacturing plant, explained. Weve had a lot of shootings in our city. Weve had 14 murders recently. Even last night, a young lady here had a gunshots outside of her house. He took the arm of an older man next to him; he had tired eyes. This was the idea of this man, Gerald Holmes, Wilson said. Holmes had organised a movement called 434 Lives Matter, named for the local area code.

We have to change the mindset of the people, Wilson said. We cant do it from a top-down position. We cant do it just with the police. If we dont change the mindset of the people in the community, and change the way theyre dealing with each other in terms of conflict resolution, were going to continue to see this robbing and shooting and killing.

The members of 434 Lives Matter planned to go canvassing that day, door to door, in the neighbourhoods affected by the violence. For a moment, what the rest of us had been doing all day seemed hopelessly irrelevant. A mass of interlopers, many of whom were in costume, were chasing the Klan like it was some urban scavenger hunt. Meanwhile, the actual residents of the town were trying to figure out why their young men were shooting each other.

Sometimes they do things out of their character, Wilson said. But theyre doing what they think they have to do in order to survive. Theyre trying to do what they can to make ends meet, to take care of their families. Our main thing is listening now. We have to listen to what peoples hurts are.

We left the park. Megans phone went off again. The protesters were marching in downtown Danville. Apparently they were tired of waiting for the Klan. We raced to Main Street and found them. It was happening. And their numbers had grown there were now about 100 people marching. There were more locals. There were parents with their children. It was loud and it was real. No hate! No Fear! The KKKs not welcome here! they chanted. Leading the march were the black bloc, their baseball bats dragging on the pavement. Minutes before, I had felt like whatever the anti-KKK activists were doing had no tangible meaning, but now, seeing it happen, it seemed vital and necessary. The last vestiges of the Ku Klux Klan must be met with this kind of demonstration of resistance.

Trailing the marchers were three Danville police cars, their lights spinning brightly. They had sanctioned the march and were ensuring that it had the run of the road. All of which was remarkable. The police had allowed the protest on incredibly short notice, and were OK with dozens of black-clad protesters marching down their street with bats. It was a model of accommodation and restraint.

But because it was a Saturday, and because the stretch of road they marched was not a busy pedestrian thoroughfare, and because the march had been organized in the last half-hour, there were only a few people to watch it. A beautician peeked out the window of her shop, but otherwise the witnesses to the march were entirely members of the media.

After a few blocks, the protesters gathered in a parking lot. Williams spoke first. We shut shit down! he said, and the crowd repeated it: We shut shit down! they roared. The mood was ebullient. We shut shit down, they roared again and again, their baseball bats hammering the pavement. Then, in the call-and-response style he had used earlier, Williams added a coda.

One more good piece of news before you go, he said.

One more good piece of news before you go, the crowd repeated.

We just heard from folks, he said.

We just heard from folks, the crowd repeated.

Who are watching the Twitter account, he said.

Who are watching the Twitter account, the crowd repeated.

Of the official spokesperson, he said.

Of the official spokesperson, the crowd repeated.

Of the Loyal White Knights, he said.

Of the Loyal White Knights, the crowd repeated.

Who says they fucking cancelled their march.

One more good piece of news before you go, he said. We just heard from folks who are watching the Twitter account of the official spokesperson of the Loyal White Knights who says they fucking cancelled their march.

The crowd erupted. Megan was ecstatic. The Klan, she and the activists had deduced, had been scared off by the strength of the counter-protests. Maybe the Loyal White Knights were really only two people Amanda and Chris Barker. And maybe they had been trying to gather enough people all day to make their parade worthwhile, and had failed. It seemed like a suitably pathetic end to a hateful but powerless cabal. There was still the alt-right, and David Duke was running for office again, but at least the KKK, or this head of the serpent, was dead.

Since the Loyal White Knights announcement of the rally, there had been much debate about what to do. There was a school of thought that said paying the Klan any attention at all was only encouraging them. There were those elsewhere in North Carolina, from Greensboro to Raleigh to Charlotte who preferred to hold counter-rallies, focusing on inclusion and featuring speakers and songs, far away from any confrontation. But the people in Danville believed it would be a terrible thing, in 2016, if a Klan rally happened, and happened uncontested. Slightly better would be a Klan rally that was vociferously confronted. Best of all, though, would be a Klan rally cancelled in the face of opposition. And this is what had just happened. And even though this was a modest counter-protest in a modest city, it mattered just as Birmingham had mattered in 1963, and Ferguson had mattered in 2014. Maybe it mattered more because it was Danville, the last home of the Confederacy.

Terrell Simmons was feeling good. A tall African American man wearing combat boots and a red bandana, he had led some of the post-march chants. The Klan dont have the people, so they dont have the power! he had yelled. The establishment dont have the people, so they dont have the power! He was a high school test-prep teacher from Mobile, Alabama, and had driven 12 hours to confront the Klan. Now he was basking in the victory and planning what would come next. Were going to have a lot of cohesion between the groups that have been divided, he said. Were going to see that we cant build this country without one another. A lot of the things that have held us up in the past are going to go away. Reality is going to set in that without actually meeting the needs of the poor people, the sick people, this nation is doomed to fail.

He walked away smiling, joining the black bloc, whose members were taking off their masks and disbanding. Soon there were only a few people left on Main Street. Tony and Sugelema were looking for a place to get a beer. Shit, Megan said. In the parking lot, now nearly empty, she was reading her phone. Natalie Janicello had just posted a tweet. ITS HAPPENING, she wrote. KKK just came through Roxboro. Battle flags and shouting WHITE POWER.

Natalie A. Janicello (@natalie_allison)

IT’S HAPPENING. KKK just came through Roxboro. Battle flags & shouting “WHITE POWER!” pic.twitter.com/rcjHbmUUiR

December 3, 2016

While the anti-Klan protesters marched through Danville, the Klan had paraded through a different town, 45 minutes away. Janicello had embedded film of it into her Twitter feed.

In the video, about 20 vehicles speed through an intersection. Some of the cars have Confederate flags flapping from their windows. Some cars are unadorned just gray sedans driving down the street. No spectators are visible. None of the drivers are visible. A woman in one of the cars yells White power from a window. Then its over.

Megan was despondent. Not just because the Klan had trolled the protesters and had pulled off their parade. But there was the matter of her former student, Natalie Janicello, who must have known about the location of the parade, and had opted not to tell any of the protesters or members of the media. She was the only media member, and maybe the only person, who saw it.

The next day brought one last twist. A Klan member named Richard Dillon, who had made the trip from Indiana, was in the hospital with multiple stab wounds to the chest. Two other Klansmen, Chris Barker and William Ernest Hagen of California, were charged with the crime. Apparently, in the early morning before the planned parade, the Klan had assembled at the Barkers house. Drinks were drunk. Dillon had hassled Hagen about a Klan rally Hagen had put on in Orange County, where the Klansmen had been beaten up by counter-protesters. Hagen didnt much appreciate that, so he stabbed Dillon repeatedly, while Barker blocked the door. Bleeding profusely, Dillon managed to escape, drove to Danville, went to the hospital and told the doctors on duty what had happened.

Police arrested Barker and Hagen that morning. So they didnt get to see the parade, either.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/the-day-i-went-hunting-for-the-ku-klux-klan-dave-eggers/

[the-vegan-blr-blog]

Animal Rights Protest at KU

(Quick disclosure I do voice some of my personal opinions in this piece. This is just my opinion and people have the right to disagree, in no way am I trying to teach or persuade anyone on a topic, rather I am just trying to inform. )

So, I originally did not plan to make another post however when I was heading to do some homework, I passed by a protest that had to do with animal rights. The first thing I noticed before I saw the protesters was a cop car, they were close by watching to make sure no drama started. When I asked Sherly Petrillo a vegan animal right activist (linked is her Instagram)  and group organizer of the Lehigh Valley Animal Save organization what the protest was about she explained that many people do not know what type of suffering animals go through in order to be food for people. She was very kind and was willing to answer my questions I did ask permission if I could write about her and the protest on my blog and she said yes.

There was a group of people wearing mask, at first I thought it was a figure of expression saying that you have to look behind the mask of media in order to find the truth, which I do believe was try but I also believe it was for the protesters protection, so that no one would be able to identify them when the protest was over. I say this because quite often when people don’t agree with other views, they tend to get offensive and unfortunate sometimes aggressive. The protesters were also holding screens displaying some of the torture and killing that happens to animals.

Right before I was about to leave a student came up to one of the Sheryl in a way that I would call opposed. His tone when asking to explain what was going on seemed more as if he did not want to really understand but wanted to make a joke of the whole situation. This is something that disappointed me. People have the right to voice their opinion, and in no way were the protesters being aggressive.

Now I will say the protesters did pick the location right in front of Cub Café and obviously, Cub Café does serve animal products such as meat, dairy, and eggs. I assume they did this for a reason making people think about what they are going to eat before they go into the cafe or what they already ate as they were walking out. In any case I believe both the student and the protesters deserve to voice their opinion in a respectful and intellectual way.

I also talked to the president of the vegetarian club on campus and she explained that there are around 40 members in the club, and that the club was fairly new. You can find more information on EngageKU.com.

To connect to my thesis, I did not see many people asking questions about the protest, many students ignored or just looked briefly and then walked away. Often if an issue does not affect the person personally people tend to disregard it.

Even though this was a very brief post I just really wanted to mention this event. I also think it is important to know that freedom of speech is very important and should never be put down. Personally, I feel as long as there is no violence or unnecessary hate speech, having a safe protest were people can learn and discuss a topic that they may have not been aware of is something that is crucial to continue in this country.

(I have also attached a very short video of the protest and a picture of two informational cards about the group)

[thiskulifefall18]

Residence Halls… Two Different Worlds

Prologue

It was the first week of our freshman year of college. New faces, from small towns that we have never heard of up to far away states, filled the campus. It was only normal to feel so lost. Some of us had a roommate we knew prior to college and just our belongings. Finally, we were on our own after all of these years. It was hard knowing what to do. Who should we talk to? Who wants to talk to us? All of these questions remained unanswered, until we walked into our residence halls. “Welcome to Kutztown University! We are happy to have you here,” exclaimed our building directors.

    Right from there on out, everyone was so friendly. We were about to spend two semesters with these people, so why not make the best out of it? It was definitely hard from the start but it became easy to make things work. However, two questions came to all of our minds. Was everyone having a welcoming experience or a horrible one? Were all the halls similar? It was nearly impossible to know everyone's answer to those two questions, but that didn’t stop us from wondering.

Within the next few months, everyone started hearing stories. Whether they were good or bad, they were very interesting due to how different they were. We learned that the residence halls on campus are not comparable. They range from very strict, no tolerance rules to basically a free for all. All of us could name a handful of things that are drastically different in each hall. Living on campus in these buildings is an experience like no other. We will be diving into the good, the bad, and the ugly of these halls. It consists of four acts: Act I, “ Johnson’s Cup is Half Empty,” Act II “ Bonner’s Hoodrat Shenanigans,” Act III “One Big Family,” and Act IV “ Behind the Doors of Berks.”

Act II: Johnson’s cup is half empty

We all have expectations going into things that are unknown to us. I had expectations for my first day of middle school, high school, and even college. None of those Expectations being met. I thought of every college movie I had seen up to that point: Pitch Perfect, American Pie, Monster’s University to name a few. I watched hundreds of Youtube videos about what to Pack, and tips on having a successful year. Those movies and videos could not prepare me enough for what I was about to experience.

It was a pleasant surprise arriving to Kutztown on Move in Day. I had not toured Kutztown, nor was I planning on going to College. I still don’t think that the College life is for me. But here I am. When I arrived I was very anxious for I had not met my roommate yet , did not know what my dorm was going to look like, and I had no idea on where the fuck I was. I had no idea of all of the endless possibilities that laid ahead of me. My Parents and I had drove around for 20 minutes ,  before the people at the Fairgrounds assigned us to move into Johnson. I was looking left and right out the window looking for Johnson Hall, my future home. I had seen photos from Move In Day 2017 online, and it looked super chaotic. That’s when I knew I was where I was supposed to be. The DMZ filled with more cars than a car show, new student t shirts everywhere, and numerous camping sites with various boxes, tv’s, and bed supplies stationed everywhere.

We pulled up to Johnson hall, and it had looked like every other hall on the outside. I thought all of the dorms were the same. I was eager to put everything in my room and have the party start. I checked in and all of the staff seemed overly excited to have us move in. I was Hype, and this was just the beginning. I walk into room 124 and I notice how small it is. I had looked up photos of Johnson Hall online and it did not look half bad. I was semi frustrated because my roommate got there before I did and I could not choose what bed I wanted or what desk space felt right to me. I just went with it. I did not care that much, because I was just excited to get things rolling. My parents helped me move in, and left shortly after we said our goodbyes. Freedom.

Francesca ( my roommate) and I went to South because we were overly hungry. We got to south and met so many different people from all over campus. I swear the first question everyone asks you when they first meet you is “Where do you live?”. We responded with Johnson, and people looked at us with disbelief and started to pity us. The amount of people who said “Oh i'm so sorry that you have to live there” was repetitive and I felt like I already knew people's response who I had just met when we told them we lived at Johnson. Soon we felt awful that we lived there and it was only the first day. We were told how awful the dorm is and how there are so many better halls before we could even sleep there and find out for ourselves. It definitely set negative presumptions for the year.

We quickly unfolded the information that was ingrained in our heads ourselves within a weeks time. To say I did not have fun my first weeks here, I would be lying to you. It was a blast. All of the things wrong with Johnson didn't feel as bad then, because everything else was just so new. I was hardly in Johnson due to how stinking hot it was. It’s when things settled down that I noticed how unacceptable the hall was and still is.

There are lots of things that could be changed to make the hall a better and safer environment. No one respects the hall. The amount of unnecessary chaos that goes on is ridiculous. There are things that happen in every hall, such as loud music playing, the stinge of weed roaming the rooms and halls, and dealing with drunk, obnoxious people. But Johnson Hall is a disgrace to humanity. The amount of destruction to the hall is a bit over the charts.

The boy floors seeming to be the worse. There are numerous videos going around snapchat of the shenanigans that take place. Teenagers creating walls in the ceiling by kicking soccer balls as hard as they can. Longboarders running into walls, or mlb wanna bes throwing baseballs at exit signs as hard as they can in hopes of demolishing it. It’s like one big competition on who can be the biggest idiot. Quite annoying for a student who just wants to study, and get what she needs done… done. There is no respect for the hall. For the hall is already a disgrace and disgusting. It’s already a piece of shit, so that's how people treat it. I semi understand on where these boys thoughts are coming from, but I don’t understand why they are being disrespectful.    

I Interviewed a CA, her name is Maria, she overlooks the first half of the first floor. I asked her what her thoughts are on Johnson Hall, and how her fellow co-workers felt about the chaotic hall. Here’s what she said. I asked her what her Thoughts on Johnson are… here’s what she had to say “Overall this hall is pretty standard, I feel like there are better halls that KU has to offer, that are renovated & not as dirty” “The personality here is awesome though & so much energy” when I asked what her Coworkers Thoughts were , here’s what she said. “My coworkers & I love working here, it’s a pretty easy job. The DR’s are really laid back , and as long as everyone’s acting reasonable , then I’m not worried”. The last question I asked her then was Complaints she hears about Johnson.. this was the most interesting to me & I see first hand where she’s coming from. “Well the amount of complaints that I hear are many. I always hear people complaining about something or another. The bathrooms being dirty is something I hear often, & I get frequent complaints about the smell of weed & how loud everything else. I feel like Johnson is fun overall & we make the most of it” Well, I couldn’t agree with Maria more … We got to make the most of it , or else we’ll get so caught up on how bad it is!  Through living here I have been very angered at numerous situations, but at the end of the day, it is Johnson Hall & it puts me in for a crazy experience every single day.

-Corrina Smith

Act II.  Bonner’s hoodrat Shenanigans

When I was younger, I pictured college to be all about studying, playing beer pong, joining sororities and making best friends for life. I also thought I would be meeting cute boys and all the fun of decorating dorms and much more! In high school, I would watch movies like Legally Blonde and I promised myself my college years will be similar to Elle Woods. I made sure I was prepared for all of the fun activities college was pumping me up for. I had an idea of where I was going and what I was going to do, but as I grew older I realized things don’t always go as planned. For example, I was set on going to Penn State University for Nursing but little did I know, my senior year I applied to Kutztown University as an undeclared major because I truly did not know what I wanted in the future and applying to Kutztown was the best decision I had to make.

That summer, I had to be prepared for my new life at Kutztown. My life was changing and I had to accept this. I went shopped for my dorm, talked to my best-friends, and visited former high school students at parties.

I met up with a girl for coffee named Aly, who is a senior at Kutztown now. She graduated from my hometown about four years ago. We were talking about Kutztown and how there are two freshmen dorms that are absolutely the worst dorms on campus.

“Watch out for Bonner and Johnson! They are the worst dorms on campus that a freshman could have!” Aly laughs at her joke.

“Those are the worst residence halls because they were old and have not be renovated since they made the dorms which was in the 1960’s! My freshman year I dormed in Bonner and it was awful. Although I did meet some pretty great people who I now call my best friends.”

The emails were sent out a few weeks stating everyone’s living situations. I checked where I was going to be living for my freshman year and my cheeks burned as I scrolled through the My KU housing website. I was assigned to room 501 in Bonner Hall! This could not be happening to me. I thought my life was ruined. I wanted a beautiful dorm just like Elle Woods had!

On move in day, my parents and I moved my suitcases, furniture, sheets, etc into the square dorm room. The furniture was movable so I divided my room in half in case I got a roommate. I later on learned that my roommate never showed up! So that was a plus for living in these shity dorm rooms. During the first week of getting used to the college life and being away from home, I made super great friends that live in Bonner as well.

Flash forward to now, my friends and I were talking about how Bonner and Johnson are the worst dorms on campus. A couple of months ago, someone stole the couch on the fifth floor lounge and we have not seen it since. The person who is charge of the building individually  emailed everyone in the dorm saying we will be charged for the stolen couch. Also, just a few weeks ago, some drunk kid and their friends threw a rock from the courtyard and hit the fourth floor window causing it to shatter completely. People on the fourth floor were blackmailed into paying about two grand each until someone confessed.

Since I live on the fifth floor next to all of the pothead boys, it always smelled like pot in the hallways. The CA’s usually call the campus police to escort the people who are breaking the rules of the dorms so on the daily, Bonner sees cops giving out probation forms at least twice a week.

Bonner does have personality. For example, the first week was terrible because everyone in Bonner was so hot because Bonner doesn’t have AC. We had to take at least three times a week because of how gross it felt to stay in the sticky hot dorm rooms. Also, it gets super hot in the dorms in the winter as well, so pray for us freshmen who can never escape the hotness! Bonner also has disgusting bathrooms. The bathrooms are so gross even though they get cleaned everyday except for the weekends. In the showers there are hair sprawled out on the walls, toilets are never flushed, sinks are filled with food, and the trash is overflowing with four loko cans, beer, and dorm room trash.

Although Bonner is one of the worst dorm rooms on campus, I found my best friends and I would not have found them without my terrible living experiences from Bonner hall. So my first year as being a freshman doesn’t suck so bad after all! I have my friends and that’s what makes living in Bonner so great!

-Madison Clause

Act III: One Big Family

    People bring many things with them to college; clothes, bedspreads, personal memorabilia, and if you attend Kutztown University, fans. Lots and lots of fans. But one thing you can not always take with you to college is your friends from back home. Sure, you might get lucky and have a friend or two from home also go to your school, but you might not be that lucky. In this act we are going to talk about making friendships at college, specifically in your hall.

I live in Deatrick hall and I believe Deatrick hall is like one big, yep you guessed it, family. In every family there is different relationships throughout it, just like in your friendships in your hall. For example, everyone has that one family member that you always see at the yearly reunion, but you have no idea what their name is. And guess what, you will have some people like that in your hall. Ya, you see them everyday on the elevator going to your nine a.m.’s,  exchange your little “hey’s”, get off the elevator, and go on with your days. But, you probably do not hangout with them regularly or get food with them. These people in your hall may not be the most important but they are still nice to have, who else would say “hi” to you that early in the morning.

Another type of friend you will probably make will be someone you have a class with. Living in the same hall as someone you have class with is very helpful. Not only can you study together, but you will already know them and will not have to introduce yourself, your professors icebreakers already did that for you. A friend like this will completely understand why you are stressing over a test or ranting about an assignment. It also gives you someone to walk to class with. When it hits winter and you are freezing your butt off, you and your friends conversation could take your mind off it.

Living in a residence hall can also lead you to some of your closest friends in college. The ability to just get on the elevator and go hang out with your friends is really exciting. You will most likely spend hours and hours a day with these people. The memories you make will last with you forever. These friends become your second family.

I can still remember the first week of classes like it was yesterday. Two friends and I had some free time and decided to wander the floors, hoping to make some friends. We hopped from floor to floor, wing to wing. A couple doors on each wing were propped open, welcoming and inviting. We ventured inside of the mysterious rooms and introduced ourselves. And thank goodness we did because I ended up meeting some of my closest friends this way. I met the people I share classes with, walk to class with, eat with, go to sporting events with, and much more. Just by putting myself out there and being friendly I was able to make real connections with the people living in my hall.

Fellow deatrick resident and friend Evelyn said she also had a tip for making friends in your hall. She personally went to our floors lounge the first few days of school and talked to people in there. This idea works very well in the first few months for multiple reasons, one because it is so damn hot in our rooms so everyone is in the lounges just trying to grab some air conditioning. And two, because many people still hang out in the lounges at the end of the semester, there is always someone new sitting in the lounge that you can talk to.

Making friends in your dorm is very important and beneficial. I believe becoming friends with the people you share a building with, can lead to fun and lots of good memories. The people you live with can be some of the best people you will ever meet, but you will never know unless you put yourself out there. My advice is simple, say “hi” to as many people as you can.

Morgan Hartlaub

Act IV: Behind the Doors of Berks

The walls of our halls are one place that residents can find what is going on around campus. From the monthly potty paper in the bathroom all the way to the front desk bulletin boards, it is clear to see the multitude of activities there are to attend. All of the events become a place to meet people with the same interests as you and more. Berks Hall is a place that always stays updated on what there is to do.

Living in Berks hall is a great experience on its own. I have made so many connections with the people I live with. These connections always start with a friendly “hello.” From there, conversations are naturally made. Living in a mostly all freshman residence hall has already given all of us something in common. College is the newest step in all of our lives. Everyone is trying to get comfortable in their new surroundings.

I remember walking down my dorm hallway one morning and stopping by a poster that had “Fall Events” titled at the very top. I skimmed down the detailed list and saw one thing jump out at me. A trip to New York City for only $10! Instantly, I knew I had to go. How could I pass up an amazing opportunity that was so much cheaper than I have ever seen? I just couldn't.

Everything I needed to know about the trip was described at the bottom of the poster. The tickets would need to be bought at the MSU at 11:00. It would be on Saturday the 10th of November and the time the bus left to the time it came back would work so well for me. I immediately told my friends and they were so excited as well. We looked forward to this weekend for almost a month. The day had finally come. My two friends and I had experienced spending the whole day in the city without chaperones for the first time together. It was the most independent I have ever felt.

However, without that poster in the hallway and without the help of the student activity organizations/MSU, none of this would have happened. I wouldn't have known about those awesome opportunities if Kutztown didn’t have all of those things. Living in the halls on campus gives students different resources like these and makes the college experience well worth the money.

Similarly to me, Olivia Brownell had positive experiences living in Berks Hall. She had mentioned to me that one of the first activities she attended at Kutztown was brought to her attention in Berks hall as well. One night when she was coming back from her class, she saw a sticky note on the door. The note read, “Beyonce laser light show tonight. Meet me in the lobby at 6:30 and our hall can all go together. -Gianna”. Gianna is Olivia’s CA. Olivia had told me she gets these sticky notes on the door all of the time, whether it’s an invite to an event or just a reminder of the monthly hall meetings. Olivia took this opportunity and went to the show with her CA.  She mentioned how this event made her closer to people that also went. CA involvement is encouraged in the halls at Kutztown. In Olivia’s case, she says her CA is very helpful and loves to get everyone involved.

Having someone that is familiar with the campus is very beneficial to new students. CA’s giving direct invites gives residents a sense of home that they may not see right away after move in. These types of environments help students succeed and make lifelong friendships. Student involvement creates a community for Kutztown students and having plenty of resources only improves the campus. It is important to make the best out of living in these close communities. Checking the walls of the residence halls can only benefit the students that live there. Who knows? Maybe another trip to somewhere even more interesting will be displayed on the walls of Berks Hall.

                                                                                                   -Gianna Buff

[thiskulifefall2018]

Pets at Kutztown

Prologue

Students were approaching the front desk at Rothermel Hall. As they walked past several students noticed a young kitten behind the desk. They all stared in awe as he trotted across the keyboard of the computer. Instantly there was a group of at least 5 people all marveling at this cat. Had the cat not been there five of those people would have walked through the door without a word, however because he was there all of these people were brought together and began talking and striking up a conversation. This just goes to show how many of the animals on campus really bring many of the students together. Although there are rules against pets , they still play a large role in life on campus here at Kutztown University. The first act, which is about therapy pets, shows that they are a very popular solution for people struggling with mental health issues, and are a great way to get a pet on campus. I know multiple students that have therapy pets live with them in their dorms and apartments.  Because of the strict pet rules, it is hard to get a pet on campus unless it is used for therapeutic reasons. In which case they will have to illegally smuggle their pets into their dorm with them, and try not to get noticed by any C.A.’s, which is what Act 2 is about. While the students who need therapy pets can bring animals like dogs and cats, the students who bring pets for fun are only allowed to bring goldfish or tropical fish. However, some students like to take the risk and sneak in prohibited pets. A friend of mine was one of these wild risk takers, and got herself a bunny to smuggle into the dorm. While it was fun to have him around, watching him hop around the room and holding him while we hung out, I soon realized how much living in the dorms sucked for him.

Act 1: Therapy Pets

Therapy pets can be found all over campus here at KU. In fact they are even in the classrooms as  well as in the dorms. For example, I was luckily able to spend a lot of time with a therapy dog who often hangs out in the ceramics studio in the Sharadin Arts building here at Kutztown. She is a thin grey dog with brown speckles, and proudly wears a Kutztown University sweater at all times. She is always very polite and shy and calmly walks around without making a sound. This dog has become an integral part of that particular community on campus and everyone is familiar with her. I remember it being a peaceful Tuesday night in the Studio, and everyone was working on their sculptures and projects, while the dog was freely roaming the room. As this was happening students stopped to take breaks to spend time and play with her, and I noticed this sense of tension and stress usually found in the classroom was completely removed and there was a much more casual energy to the room that would not have been there before. She definitely contributed to the studio becoming a more chill and casual environment. And this particular trend is usually found universally amongst all therapy pets.

A fellow student here in Kutztown  has a therapy cat in one of the Golden Bear West apartments here on campus, and it is pictured above. While talking to her I was able to get the inside scoop about what it’s like having one and the benefits that comes with having a therapy pet. “He definitely brings me a lot of joy and he helps get me out of bed in the morning”, she said.

Although she has only had him for this past fall semester, she said that the cat has completely changed her college experience, and is able to make her much happier on a day to day basis. Overall he improves the general quality of her mental health. Despite the fact these benefits come with some difficulty and hardship, as these animals are usually a lot of work to maintain, she explained it is very worth it to have one.

Since studying, and going to college full time takes so much out of people I was curious how difficult it was for her to balance her own school work, and taking care of her pet. She explained, “You definitely need to take a sizeable amount of time out of your day to take care of your pet, especially if you have a therapy dog as opposed to a therapy cat, they take even more time.” She also explained that “you need to have a lot of room, and living in an on or off campus apartment definitely makes it easier”. She is able to manage her time well, and that her cat does not take away from her school work, in fact her cat  actually makes her school work more enjoyable. Pets are also said to help students that are suffering with loneliness. A lot of college students experience this living away on a campus. She explained that it dramatically improved her feelings of loneliness on campus and that having an active, and playful animal by her side at all times while she’s at home definitely makes her feel better.

Overall she said that having a pet on campus was a large responsibility, and she had to make sure she had enough space, time , and that her roommates were ok with it. However despite the setbacks, she explained that the payoff of having a therapy pet was very worth it, as it improves her feelings of loneliness and overall happiness.

-Josh

Act 2: Illegal Pets

One student I know kept a bunny in her dorm for about two weeks. He was a small black and white bunny, with ears that flopped around every time he moved his head, feet that were half the length of his own body, and big dark eyes. Leading up to my friend brining the bunny, I was very excited. I thought it would be a lot of fun to have the little guy around to have fun, but once I saw the way he would have to live in order to not be found, I was much less fond of the idea of having the bunny in the dorms. One weekend while my friend was away, another friend of ours who lived in the same building took care of Spooky. While I was playing with him, I realized what a terrible time he must’ve been having in the dorms. SInce being adopted, he had been put into a backpack to sneak into the dorms, kept in a rubber bin under a bed, and constantly visited by many random people. Since his owner decided to go home for the weekend he had just been passed around between about three rooms to be taken care of over the weekend. On top of all of this, he also received no time outside the dorm building. This type of life is not good for an animal, nor is it fair to him.

Having this type of pet is not allowed in the dorms, so the bunny had to be kept a secret. While having one of these illegal pets in the dorm can be fun, it doesn’t seem to be that great of a life for the animal, and it seems like it would only add more stress for the student who owns the pet. Spooky’s owner told me what it was like for her, explaining, “People were constantly asking me to come see him, overall I signed in at least six people that I didn’t even know,” explained the student. When asked about hiding Spooky, she said, “Hiding him was very easy, I even had a CA come in and not notice!”

While hiding him may have been easy, keeping him concealed in a rubber bin under her bed, this didn’t sound like a very happy life for Spooky. Because bunnies are an illegal pet in the dorms, sneaking him outside wasn’t an option.

“I never took him outside because I couldn’t get him past the front desk,” she said, “I would let him roam around my room and do whatever he wanted.”

Although he was free to roam her room while she was there, a college student isn’t in their room too often. The student said that in total, Spooky probably spent only three hours a day outside of his bin.

A few times during Spooky’s stay with my friend, I came over to visit and play with him. While I see how it’s fun to have a secret pet at school, I realized it was far better for the bunny to live somewhere else, as the dorms were a terrible place for him to live. I can’t imagine what it was like for him to have to spend most of his days in a dark rubber bin all alone. Spooky would only get to leave his bin for a little bit at a time throughout the day, and even then it was only to hop around my friend’s small dorm room. Spooky seemed to enjoy hopping around the room, and I’m sure he would’ve loved to be somewhere with more space for him to move around.

It seemed like having a bunny would be helpful for stress, to have around to pet and help calm a student down during a stressful time, but this was not the case. If anything, it seemed to only add stress. Having a bunny was just another responsibility.

-Brandon

[seoulfulcity]

June 25, 2018: Welcome to Korea University International Summer Campus

안녕하세요,

The day had finally arrived - I had landed in Incheon International Airport to start my summer abroad program in a prestigious SKY University, Korea University (Goryeo Daehaggyo/고려대학교, or colloquially known as Godae/고대).

Sunday, June 24, 2018: I arrived in the airport and we were required to meet at Terminal 2, Exit 13 for the free shuttle bus to the dorms that KU has offered for us. Prior to the arrival, I was added to the group 3 Kakao Talk with 100 other students where we had the time to get to know each other and plan to meet up later that night after we settled in the dorms. During application, each student had the option of whether or not to join the Korea University Buddy Association (KUBA) where the students are assigned to a KU Buddy who mentors and takes them to experience local Seoul culture.

To those who don’t know, Kakao Talk is the main form of communication in South Korea, just as how WeChat is used in China, and LINE is used in Japan. Being part of every Korean’s daily life, there is a huge culture surrounding Kakao Talk through never-ending merchandise, stores, and cafés. Kakao has access to everything you need to survive Seoul - taxi services, bus, subway, and train schedules, navigation, banking, music, story - an app reminiscent of Snapchat, fashion, and many more.

If you ever visit Seoul not knowing who Ryan and his friends are, you will definitely leave the city with the ability to name all eight of Ryan’s friends.

One-by-one, the students started landing. The shuttle departed from Exit 13 every hour, and many of the students were arriving the same time as me, around 4 PM KST. We were given all of Sunday and Monday for dormitory check-in, and the ISC orientation was planned to be held on Tuesday.

We were greeted by the Korea University International Summer Campus (KU ISC) staff by the exit, where they had conversations with us while we waited for the next shuttle bus. We met with a guy named Minjae (민재), who was sweet enough to socialize with me and Simi throughout the wait. He was a fairly-new student studying bioengineering and was working for KU ISC as a part-time job. He told me that our buddies volunteered to work with us, rather than get paid like he was.

I wanted to meet with the other people sitting down and make friends before orientation, since friend groups and cliques will start forming after orientation and it would be so much harder to join a circle then. So, establish your friend groups early!

The KU ISC program is the biggest summer program of its kind in Asia, boasting more than 1,800 students from around the world. It's a fairly new program hosted by one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea and the entire Asian continent, so it's an amazing way to meet with people from different cultures - and also meet with the local Koreans who are very fluent in English. I took on the challenge with two goals in mind: make international connections and vastly improve my spoken Korean.

At the airport, I planned to meet with Valentino and Agnes from the Group 3 chat, two of them coming from Los Angeles, but they had problems with their luggage pick-up and missed the 6 PM shuttle bus so we did not get to meet at the airport. The shuttle bus tried to fit in as much students as it can, together with their luggage - and wow it was cramped. The students around me became too comfortable with each other very fast.

The shuttle bus dropped off the people in front of the KU main gate and Anam Station (안암역) first, those who were not dorming and booked a goshiwon or an apartment for the summer. Up the hill, those who were staying in CJ International Students were dropped off next, and the trip finished off with everybody else just down the hill from CJ International - Frontier House, Anam Global, and Anam Dormitory.

I am staying in Frontier House, the dormitory complex that is found at the very bottom of the hill. If you're reading this and want to know more about the dormitories, I posted a blog dedicated on Frontier House alone.

The general idea is that men and women have separate buildings in all of the dormitories. I went to the men's side to check in and received my room key. I did not know whether or not rooms and roommates were pre-assigned prior to check-in, so Valentino and I planned to be roommates if given the option. I was out of luck since staff who checked me in gave me the room M303-2 and told me that my roommate has already checked in. He pointed to a paper stapled on the wall and told me that each room has its own Wi-Fi and password, so I took a picture of the papers and headed to my room.

My roommate is from Indonesia who told me he was studying something about computer softwares. I settled in to my dorm and finally removed all my clothes from my heavy luggage and placed them in the closet and the drawers. I was very glad to finally be comfortable in one place without having to pack and unpack my clothes to move to a different city every three days.

Oh, and my dorm has a great view of Anam-dong, so that's a plus!

Sunday, June 24, 2018 - 9 PM: One of the buddies in the Group 3 chat, Minki-hyung (민기형), invited those who arrived that day for a welcoming dinner, and seven of us (Minki-hyung (민기형), Valentino, Leonard, Sophie, Tony, and Carolina) met.

We walked straight down past Anam Station (안암역) to a chicken place called Chicken Bus (치킨버스), where we ordered chicken, octopus, and of course, soju.

I planned to save my first time drinking soju in South Korea, the same way I saved my first time drinking sake in Japan.

When I was in Tokyo, Quebec told me that I would enjoy soju more than sake since it's much sweeter and cheaper, and he was right. Soju is so much better than sake.

Minki-hyung (민기형) ordered beer on top of the soju - if you know me, I really can't drink beer. But, Koreans love their somaek (소맥) so much, so Korean beer has to be good right? Somaek (소맥) is mixing soju (소주) and beer (maekju/맥주), together. Valentino asked Minki-hyung (민기형) to order a specific brand of beer, Cass, and he obliged.

After the meal, Valentino, Minki-hyung (민기형), and I continued drinking in my dorm, and we were later joined by Matt, Valentino's friend.

That was the first night of a whole week of drinking every single night with these alcoholics.

Monday, June 25, 2018: I needed a meal plan for the duration of the summer program, but the ones they have offered don't match with the number of meals I plan go eat. The Anam Dormitory cafeteria offered three types of plans. Plan A gives you ten meals for the entire summer program for about ₩50,000. Plan B gives you forty meals for about ₩150,000 and Plan C gives you 70 meals for about ₩230,000. I chose Plan B, giving me about only one meal a day. I suppose I can eat my brunch in peace, without having to worry about spending ₩10,000 for lunch everyday. The office requires a ₩10,000 deposit for the meal card and pay the meal in cash. Voila! I gained one more Korea University card!

The cafeteria hours in Anam Dormitory were 7:30-9:00 for breakfast, 12:00-13:00 for lunch, and 17:30-19:00 for supper.

The meals are different everyday, and includes one main meat dish with rice or noodles, a smaller dish, a soup, and unlimited side dishes, mostly kimchi and cucumber salad.

Since the orientation was going to be the next day at Inchon Memorial Hall, I wanted to orient myself to the campus so I don't get lost going on the way. I've seen previous YouTube vlogs talking about being late because they did not know where to go.

I went down the Frontier House gates towards Anam Station (안암역) and entered the campus on the back side, where I had to walk up the hill to Inchon Memorial Hall.

The campus was menacing with huge gray castle-like buildings acting as complexes for faculty offices and lecture halls. Trees and bushes line up the walkways, contributing to Seoul's already-humid weather, and the steep hills did not help with the sweat. By the time I reached Inchon Memorial Hall, I was drenched in sweat, but the view was breathtaking.

I went back to my dorm to take a long cold shower.

That night, nine of us from Group 3 met up for a last-minute dinner. Jason, Anthony, Valentino, Erin, Bonnie, Sophie, Adrian, Ieva, and I found this place by accident - we did not know where to eat and decided to just settle for the restaurant that was next to us when we were standing lost in the middle of Anam-dong with no idea where to go. We did not even know this was a barbeque place.

Little did we know, it was the same barbeque place we were going to have the after party at after the orientation tomorrow - our group buddy leader was upset.

The place was called Premium All-You-Can-Eat Barbeque (Peurimieom Muhanripil/프리미엄 무한리필), and once again, we had soju - lots of it. We were lucky enough to have Anthony speak decent Korean to get by with ordering food, and the ahjumma (아줌마) was patient enough to deal with the foreigners (waegukin/외국인) in her restaurant.

After the barbeque, we went to the karaoke (noraebang/노래방) place next door and yelled through the songs until midnight. Minki-hyung (민기형) and Florence wanted to join us halfway through and sang some K-Pop songs like Super Junior. We had some more somaek (소맥), which contributed to a more fun and loud night in the noraebang.

We were heading back to our dorms, semi-drunk, and ready to wake up early morning for the KU ISC orientation. The security guard told us there was a sign posted in the elevator about the heavy rain tomorrow and to bring an umbrella.

Great. We were ready to wake up early morning to a heavy-raining Seoul. Until then!

고마워요,

Chris 「크리스」

P.S. I can never say this enough, the couple and PDA culture here is INSANE.

[courteliza]

I forgot school is a thing

The first week of classes at Korea University ended up being much more stressful than I originally thought - this wasn’t due to the KU registration process but rather my home university and my own overconfidence. The add/drop period at KU is only for four days, which didn’t bother me at first since I had gotten into the classes I wanted to take on registration day. Some things had changed, so I submitted the course approval form for my home university about 1.5 weeks before leaving for South Korea (around Feb 10). The only class I need to graduate is a literature general education course, which I thought could be fulfilled through one of the media classes I registered for, since they both required a lot of reading and writing. Turns out, I was stretching this too much, and about a day into the first week of classes, the form from my home university returned only to be denied. Needless to say I was extremely annoyed, and long story short I am now taking a teaching literature in EFL class, (which requires an individual presentation, much to my delight) that I missed the first week of because I could not find the classroom. Like I said, first impressions aren’t my strong suit. The big shout out here goes my home university, who almost screwed up my graduation status (did all that money mean nothing?) and then said that my EFL class was an exception for my special case (I think not after what I went through).

At least at this point I now I have everything sorted out, although I am a bit sad that I am now taking 4 classes instead of 3. I really liked my empty schedule. 

I really like my media classes, they are more centered on film than I thought but they will give me some great practice in writing and learning more about cinema in general. Some things are mostly overview from classes I already took at my home university, but it will be fascinating to see how the opinions and contexts change in a different country. People don’t really talk to one another in class, so I haven’t met any of my classmates. I hope this changes as the semester goes on.

My favorite class will probably be Introduction to Media Criticism, as the professor is hilarious and actually called out a Korean student for being too nerdy when he asked alot of questions about the syllabus and homework. He also told us to call him the class manager instead of professor, which I thought really funny.

I had kind of forgotten what it was like to go to class and have textbooks and things, so I was kinda thrown off the first couple of days. Thankfully, there was no homework the first week aside from some simple readings, so I spent Friday trying to find an art exhibit with my friend, which after two hours turned out to be a solo work of art in a sketchy construction supply mall called the Sewoon Plaza, which sounds much fancier than it actually was. Afterwards I got a reusable BT21 mug (with Koya on it, of course) at the Dunkin’ Donuts nearby since they were running a special where you got the mug for free if you ordered at least 8,000KW of food.

(ta-da! not my photo)

I needed one, and it was the cheapest BTS-related merch I could find. Now I can start making my own tea and buying instant coffee. (peasant for life)

Aside from walking an insane amount and stressing out about my graduation status, this week was better for me mentally than the previous one. When I first came to Korea, I felt a bit lost and overwhelmed by the difference of life at Korea University compared to back home. I was longing for people who thought more similarly to me, not in the US cultural sense, but with similar values and beliefs. I felt like most of the people around me cared more about dating and spending a ton of money partying, and I felt really lonely. One of the things that stuck out to me the most was the individuality that people in Seoul seem to love. As an introvert, I tend to process things inwardly and often keep to myself, but I am constantly watching those around me and tuning myself in to the feelings of others, to better understand them and for my own learning. I feel as though here, the average person does not really care what anyone else is doing, and while I felt self conscious coming to a new place not knowing many things or the language, I noticed that it doesn’t matter to others. I don’t think I see this as a negative thing, rather it was just very different to experience. Another thing I noticed early on was the care and respect for places. There is no trash laying around anywhere, and the streets and metro are very clean and no one is leaving any personal items behind. I thought alot about this, comparing it to back home and wondered why people where I live don’t value the space they are living in, and how a city so full of people can be cleaner than my small town. The third thing that stuck out to me was the way of dating: it seems like everyone is dating and couples are always together. I don’t remember seeing as many couples everywhere back home as here, and it almost seems like here people are more obvious about it. As it is back home, being single is seen as something negative, but I imagine it would be harder to be content with yourself living here and being surrounded by couples all of the time.

Now that I have gotten into more of a routine, I have more time to process these things, and at the moment feel more at peace with them. I realized that despite feeling lonely, I am quite resilient when it comes to standing up to what I believe in. While I might have experienced the fear of missing out at times, I still never did anything I didn’t want to do or that I felt violated my beliefs and even though this is simple, it encouraged me alot.

Another thing that helped alot was getting involved with a campus ministry called Emmaus. A friend and I started going to dinners with them and getting to know other Christians, and last Sunday we went to the affiliated church. I really enjoyed it and realized how much I was missing fellowship and welcoming people. I am looking forward to the other ways in which I can get involved with the church, as one of my goals while studying abroad was to get fully involved in a church congregation and making lasting relationships. 

There aren’t alot of pictures in this post, I apologize - none of the ones I took this week seemed relevant. I hope to get out another post about this week in a couple days.