Reflections on this the second day of school...

School's a half-hour earlier today since it starts at 9:40am instead of 10:10 the day before. Again, the sun has decided to peek its bright head for all of Berkeley to see. It's just too hot.

Because I'm headed to Evans, I take the 52L bus. Two buses pass, full and late, leaving me at the stop. I'm forced to take a 51, making me walk an extra 10 minutes. It's hot and my feet hurt.

I finally get there. It wasn't too late but late enough for me not to get a seat, making me stand. It's math and it's overcrowded. The professor is one of those fat Russians who always seem to be nice. Loud chalk-writing. Broke at least two pieces of chalk during the course of explaining the syllabus. On the other side of the room is my high school friend Sidney. Considering the amount of complaining he does about math, I was surprised to see him here. He explains he just signed up for it yesterday. But I'm distracted by my standing. It's hot in the room, my feet hurt, and they're getting tired.

Luckily, the professor lets us go a half-hour into the lecture. I quickly head home since there are now 4 hours til my next class. On the way, I see another high school friend, Blaine. He's just transferred from De Anza and now is living in the majestic dorms of Unit 2. We go way back, all the way to elementary school. As a new Cognitive Science major, he's just getting his bearings straight by taking some introductory classes. We walk around for a while just talking. Yes, walk. Did I mention I'm hot and my feet hurt?

He gets to class and I head home. Ah, the strikers again. Louder than ever today. Tomorrow promises to be the best day with the addition of hundreds of lecturers to the lines. And if you know lecturers, you know they can speak really loud. It's hot, my feet hurt, and now I think my ears are ringing from the yelling and the honking.

It's 1:30. Time to head back. I've been thrilled by exciting television, at least exciting as can be during lunchtime, chilled by some nice apple juice, and filled with an omelet. The bus is actually on time today. Now it's all good.

The economics lecture is now. It's another Indian guy but this guy has a really good American accent. Ooo, he's a Power Point guy. It's getting hot again and I've been dozing off a couple of times.

At its conclusion, I realize my next class is all the way on the other side of the campus. On this hot day? You cannot be serious. I find out Datman has these two exact classes and we walk to Lewis for the history class. We sit in the top row and listen to the professor talk and talk and talk. He seems like a normal guy. But again, it's hot.

The history professor mentions the only book needed is a course reader. We stop by the copy place and find out it's $81.00, cash only. Really, what college student has this kind of money? Predictably, I'm broke. Because I'm hot as well, I head home to refresh and to get up the next day.