Dorms

I am now living in a dorm room.

It wasn't as simple as just moving in. When I got here yesterday I was assigned a room in Stafford Hall (not that that means anything to you readers, but I will be talking about other halls in a minute) on the fourth floor. Almost immediately a hint of trouble appeared wherein my roommate thought she was going to have a specific other roommate - but in the chaos we dismissed it and figured the other person didn't fill out the right paperwork or something. Later, that person showed up and was pissed because her paperwork was fine; the mistake was on the housing office. She was temporarily placed in a room in Morton for the night, and in the morning we talked to the director, who told us to switch rooms.

I didn't want to move all my stuff again, but the new room is arguably better. It looks out over a courtyard rather than the sports field, the wireless network is more reliable, and it's about as close as possible to the academic buildings - right across the lawn, in fact, from Willamette Hall where three of my five classes meet. I also don't have a roommate here, although the convenience is somewhat diminished by the stark blankness of the other half of the room.

The meal plan is an odd balancing act between getting good value for your points and getting food that's actually good for you. Inconveniently, such food tends to be available only in large, expensive portions. My choices might be: good healthy food for 5 points that is almost too much to eat; junk food in 2 or 3 point units; and healthy snacks in 3 point units that are far less than 3/5 of the 5 point meal. There are some good places though. I like the Asian grill where you fill a bowl with noodles or rice and vegetables and choose tofu or meat and sauces to add. The dining hall is priced in such a manner that it's really only appropriate for lunch and occasional dinner, but it has a great salad bar. The ultimate deal? Decent oatmeal for 1 point. I had that for breakfast today, and I was hungry sooner than I'd have liked, but hey - one point.

The bottom line with the meal plan is I have to get used to eating big meals less often because I just can't eat four times a day like I usually do.