Anyway, so here's my tale:
After waiting in line for half an hour, I finally entered the Fresher's Fair. I saw that there were like 50 or so societies, so I started with those closest to me and worked to those farthest. I started with charities, fundraisers, and caregivers, and moved onto societies. For each stand, I asked the people there what they were about, and they each gave me a one-minute monologue sales pitch, after which I carefully contemplated my available time and whether or not I could squeeze it in, as well as carefully weighing what I could do in these groups against the compound amount of stress they would entail. Then I would either decide I wanted to join and sign up for the email list or decided I did not, at which point I would politely explain why I wasn't going to join and wish the organization luck regardless. I did this for almost every single one of these stands in that large hall, and finished after about an hour and a half.
Well, as it turns out, there were actually fifteen such rooms in the Examinations Building fitted out for the Freshers' Fair. I discovered this useful nugget of truth when I finally left the Freshers' Fair only to discover myself in another equally stuffed room.
I continued to look for interesting activities and such, but I spent less time on some things that I KNEW I wouldn't / couldn't do, like Tai Bo, Salsa, Chess, and Fencing clubs (although I think I'll always sort of / kind of regret not fencing at Oxford). Eventually, though, extremely thirsty and being demanded my email address and handed a leaflet or other free item at every step, I began feeling claustrophobic. My goals changed from "sign up for activities that I can use to glorify God" to "escape!!!" A big, friendly sales guy tried to give me a flyer for something, and I remember practically warding the flyer off like a demon.
Finally I got out, but I was still weighed down by the free, biodegradable bags containing free "goodies" and group information I'd accumulated in the Freshers' Fair. I just thought to myself, "I hate carrying this stuff around. I wish I could just throw it all away!" And I thought of it as a metaphor for sin. And then, back in my room, after praying, I took the bag and threw it away!
...And then I picked it up and put it neatly in my trash can. Y'know, 'cause it's my room. And I keep my room tidy.
I felt so much freer, and I realized that it doesn't make sense for me to worry about all the unattainable opportunities that surround me, because I trust that God has one and only one plan. And that plan doesn't surround us; it includes us. This year, I'm doing Oriel Christian Union, Choir, and maybe the Oxford Imps, but that's it. Because with a double major, my workload is already going to be plenty high, and there's no need to create an unhealthy stress environment. 'Cause an unhealthy stress environment is like...unhealthy. For a...place. In terms of stressy things. Y'know.
What I know, though, is that simplicity feels more like God's plan for my life than a massive labyrinth of busywork and lectures.
Later we had our Radcliffe Library induction, which was basically no different than the Oriel Library induction, except that the Oriel Library has books on Computer Science. I just zoned out during the librarian's overly-long explanation and silently copied his accent just for practice. I would probably pay more attention if Giles was still librarian (from Buffy).
It was pretty cold, and I forgot a jacket, but apparently somehow I was still warmer than the students native to England.
I auditioned for the choir. The Welsh song with which I auditioned, Suo-Gan, went very well. However, the sight-reading bit was fairly atrocious (in the bad meaning of the word), since the piece of music he gave us was probably the most technically complex piece of music I've ever seen, and I once sang a ridiculously complicated Italian piece. Ah, well. I get Brownie Points for singing in Welsh.
Met with the maths tutors today. Then we had the Freshers' Banquet, which was a delicious three-course meal that reminded me of Hogwarts. Then our Dean (not Dumbledore, of course) gave a speech about the beginning of term (after all, he's dead).
I made the terrible mistake of forgetting what my CompSci professor looked like and asking him what his name was when he sat across from me at the table. He then spent the rest of the two-hour meal proving that he knows more about my own country's history than I do (at least the starting bits).
That night, some of the other CompSci students had me telling jokes, explaining to them John's Theory of the Eight American Accents According to the Rest of the World, and telling them mathematical riddles. Then I crushed them as Yoshi in a few games of Brawl. Fun times :)
We choose that with which we surround ourselves. This morning, I found myself surrounded by possibilities, and later by the things in the world that bring us joy, but in the end, what we really need is the love of God.
Cordially,
John Khouri, Faux Welshman
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