What we do for fun...

Since the purpose of this blog is to show what college life is really like, I guess I should fill you in on what we do at MNU for fun.

Personally, my big "fun" is watching TVLand or TLC while doing my math homework, or getting to eat lunch with a big group of friends in Campus Center (the cafeteria), or getting paid to sit and do my homework in the Kresge Center (tutoring center) for two hours on Thursdays. I am a "peer instructor" (otherwise known as a tutor) and I have the night watch on Thursdays.

If I'm feeling adventurous I may postpone my homework for an hour or so and play for a while on Facebook, which is a pseudo-blogging site for students with email addresses ending in ".edu". Basically all there is to do on there is post notes to your friends or upload photos, or "poke" people, which means they get a message saying that you have poked them, and they have the option of poking you back or ignoring you. :) The real life version of poking is a lot more exciting, but for some reason, Facebook can be fun.

Despite the seemingly bland variety of fun, I have managed to find a way to keep life interesting.

Yesterday at lunch I was sitting with a big group of girls and guys that like to hang out together. Sometimes I eat with them, sometimes with other groups, but I usually have the most fun when I sit with them. I was sitting across from Riley, one of the guys in the group, and we started talking about TV shows. I mentioned that my favorite show is Bonanza, and he actually knew what I was talking about! That in itself is a big deal and definitely worth mention in my annals of college life. Most kids my age give me a huge blank stare and wonder what network I watch that they haven't heard of the show. :) Silly kids.

Anyway, as we continued the conversation, I suggested that Riley and I "get together" sometime and watch a few episodes, seeing as how I have several DVDS of the show with me. (Okay, so "several" might be an understatement, but really....there are worse obsessions!) Raman, a friend of ours, immediately jumped on my phrase, "get together," and asked if Riley and I were planning on becoming an item.

Of course we laughed her off and continued our discussion, boyfriend/girlfriend jokes are pretty much standard fare in this group and no one takes any of them seriously. Let me establish right now that neither Riley nor I have any romantic attachments toward each other, nor any feelings other than friendship for each other. (Boy, you can tell I've been reading Shakespeare this afternoon, can't you?)

Everyone left as a group, except Riley and me because we didn't have class at 1, and had no reason to get up and run off. As we were sitting there talking, one or the other of us made a comment about giving Raman a scare and eating dinner together one night in one of the booths, just to see how she would react.

Story break for a moment while I explain a few things about MNU cafeteria etiquette and the very healthy campus grapevine. There are a lot of long tables in the cafeteria, but the walls are lined with booths. If a girl and guy sit together in a booth by themselves, they must be dating. If they eat dinner together on more than one night a week, things are definitely getting serious. If this happens on more than..oh, five occasions, we can assume that they will be engaged before the semester is over. Such is the campus grapevine.

Back to the story. For some reason, this idea struck both of us as funny. We settled on a time to come in and eat, and agreed to dress up, just to play it up even further. So, at 5 o'clock last night, Riley and I appeared in campus center, him in a pinstripe suit coat and tie, and me in a black suede skirt and black western-style shirt.

Now, the problem with schemes such as this one is that it is next to impossible to keep a straight face when everyone is doing double takes when they see you. The other problem is that Riley and I didn't really plan out the details.

A guy came up to us in line, nudged Riley and asked who I was. Riley turned, doing his best not to laugh, and said, "This is Rachel...uh...Rachel...I know I know your last name - does it start with a G?"

Needless to say, that poor guy was completely confused when I had to introduce myself by my full name.

After that little incident we went and sat down in a booth, which happened to be on the side that most people come in - so probably 3/4 of the campus saw us. Miranda, my roommate last year, came in and did an extreme double take as she walked by. Actually, not only that, but she kept scanning the cafeteria for a place to sit, and looking our direction more often than not. She finally settled in the booth right behind us and immediately turned around to ask why we were so dressed up.

And if by this point you're wondering where we get our sense of "fun," the joke actually ended up being on us. After going through the huge charade (although we did let Miranda in on the secret), Raman didn't even come in to dinner last night. The one person this whole prank was set up for didn't even get to see it.

I just saw Riley on the way to work, and he said he's had no less than six people come up to him today and ask. So far I've had two, but I'm expecting a few more at dinner tonight.

So, now you know how Christian college students pass their time. ;) Actually, Riley and I were talking about extending it for a week or so, just to see how far the rumor would spread if we didn't say anything to prove or disprove it. But don't worry, we decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Next planned post: I'm going to show off my dorm room :)