A Very Lucky Girl

I embarked upon my first train adventure last week. A family friend whom I had never met before conversed with me via email and invited me to spend time with her and her family in their Scottish town of North Berwick. Nat and I purchased tickets and successfully navigated the giant Waverly station in Edinburgh to find the little train shuttling passengers to the wee town.  Jana and her family call New York home, but are currently spending a year in North Berwick while her husband works on a new business. They have lived there before and are old hands at understanding Scottish brogue and knowing where to find fried chicken.  Nat and I arrived in North Berwick around 3:15 PM on Wednesday afternoon and followed our ears to the ocean immediately. Jana had told me to email her when and where we were ready to be picked up that evening, but I never found WiFi again after disembarking the train in Edinburgh. Nat and I wandered the beach for an hour, marveling at the foamy waves an...

Based on the past few days, I've learned that an unfamiliar situation in which no individual has an upperhand in the ways of the culture is a surefire way to make friends. I cannot even count on one hand how many people I've met and names I've learned in the past two days BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY! I went to a welcome reception last evening where they served wine (hey, OU, take a hint) and I bonded with people I'd never met in my life.  Nat, Laura, Keira, Erin, etc. are women I'm going to know FOREVER. My friend circle has grown enormously in the past day, from Canada to Australia and everywhere in between.  I sat in a circle with Erin, Nat, Kylie, and Laura last night while we traded stories of mysterious flatmates and horrific jet lag. Our group grew when Keira from Canada and several girls from the Netherlands took the initiative and pulled their chairs up to ours.  I'm so glad they did! We came up with the idea for a facebook group for all of us studyin...

I love so very many things about traveling. I love every kind. The kind where you walk somewhere. The kind where you drive to a new state. And especially the kind where you get your wings and fly across state lines.  Airports seem to disintegrate social divides, even with notions of first class and coach. Everyone is on an equal playing field, dependent on the airlines for a schedule. Real life is suspended in an airport terminal. When I flew to Baton Rouge to visit Mimi and Didi, I met the nicest characters on my return flights. One rather large man had the unfortunate privilege of sitting next to me in a middle seat. He wedged himself into the space and I graciously offered him the armrest, but stubbornly held on to my window seat winnings. He made small talk, offering that he was traveling back from a Bachelor party in New Orleans with a large group and had once upon a time wanted to major in English Literature. After take off, I inserted headphones and lost myself in round af...

I was sitting in the Starbucks on Campus Corner during dead week, snatching a few extra minutes of studying before heading out into the brisk night, when a stranger haphazardly approached me. Our conversation transpired as follows: Would you switch seats with me? Uhhh why? Cuz I want to sit by the window. [nervous laughter] Well so do I. can I sit with you then? [indicates the entirely separate table merely shoved up against mine by a prior customer] Uh yeah you can sit there, it's fine. [buries head in notes, hoping to deflect any further advances] What's your name? Is that what I think it is? [touches rape whistle on my keychain laying on the table] Yep, it's a rape whistle. [not so subtle emphasis on the rape] Oh. so what's your name again? Taylor. What do you do? I go to school Oh I dropped out in 10th grade and got my GED. i might go to OCCC in january though. My boyfriend went there. [quick insert of boyfriend line. GOT EM.] Oh cool. What's h...

"I'm a freshmen-lover...in an extremely appropriate way" said I as I lounged across the couch in Savannah's triangular office on Monday. I couldn't contain my excitement about the relationships I get to build with new students. Hi guyz, my name is Taylor and I'm obsessed with this year's freshmen class at OU. I love being able to be a mentor of sorts: to my Gateway class, my freshmen friends, and strangers that I meet at the Caf or the Union. I remember my dad telling me, "the best way to have a conversation is to ask someone about themselves. People love to talk about themselves, it's human nature." Paul never ceases to be right. Except for, of course, when he's wrong. I applied to be a TA for the next two semesters and I am absolutely adoring every second of it so far. My class is so great, especially considering that it's at 8:30 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Thankfully, it's full of morning people (or people that are rea...

I'm not into shallow relationships. I've always been the kind of girl that has two or three close friends at a time. It's exclusive, there are tryouts and everything for this valued position!  I can count on one hand, mayyyybe two, the people that are always there for me. And the people I wouldn't hesitate to help with anything. For this reason I have the hardest time talking to strangers. (Which, in retrospect, was an excellent thing when I was younger. I was never in danger of getting lured by candy to the sketchy van.) But now, I'm going to have to talk to strangers for the rest of my life in order for them to stop being strangers. I envy people that can comfortably waltz up to someone they have never talked to in their life and have an enjoyable conversation. I usually stand by awkwardly in awe, watching these social butterflies work their magic, wondering when I'll emerge from that socially awkward cocoon. (did I stretch that metaphor too far? Long ha...