Since I had some holds on my account, I wasn't able to sign up for classes until a couple of weeks ago. Some of the classes that I want are full and I'm on the waitlist for them, but I am really lucky and managed to get a lot of classes that I need/want.
I'll be living in Van Hoosen next year, which I'm super excited for, so I tried to schedule most of my classes to be nearby. My first schedule was fabulous, all of my classes were either at the Business College Complex or the Eppley Center, which are both across from Van Hoosen, or at Wells, which is a 5-10 minute walk.
Sadly, my schedule was rearranged, but I still got a lot of classes that I want. Here's the classes that I'll be taking for the fall semester:
IAH 204: Asia and the World. Since I messed up my schedule first semester and didn't take as many university required classes as I should have, I'm making up for it this year. IAH is required, and I have a particular interest in China and Asia, so most of my classes revolve around those topics. This helps me stay interested and focused.
EC 201: Introduction to Microeconomics. Can't say too much about this, but I'm taking this because it's a required class for my intended new major. I'll post more about my major change, hopefully soon, because I want to be accepted into the major before I tell anyone.
CHS 201: Second-Year Chinese I. I'm taking Chinese again this year, and I plan on making it my additional major. I'm so excited because I really love learning languages, and I love the Chinese curriculum and the way it is set up at MSU.
ISB 200: History of Life. Another required class. This is supposedly not too boring, according to Koofers. If the class that I want to take becomes open (or I find out that I don't need this class, because I took CEM 141 and I can't remember which class that replaces), I'll probably drop this and just take it next year. Also, I hope to take a summer class that will cut the ISB requirement for me, so fingers crossed.
ISS 210: Society and the Individual. Required! I'm going to take this if I can take the summer class and drop the ISB class. And then about half of my requirements will be done!
So, that's my schedule for the fall semester. Let me know if you're taking any of those classes, maybe we're in the same section!
Here's a review of the classes that I took last semester, with tips for books and professors.
CHS 102: First-Year Chinese II. I can't say a lot about the Chinese classes because it all depends on the TA that is teaching your section. For me, second semester was much better than the first. There are typically two teachers (TA's who are usually graduate students), and for second semester I had two ladies. One had taught me first semester, and I liked her a lot, but she was kind of a push over and didn't want to do immersion, so I preferred the other teacher. The other teacher was fabulous, although a lot of other students in my class didn't like her. She spoke mostly immersion and was really helpful, and when we had to do pair work and my partner wasn't there, she would partner with me, which really helped me grasp whatever lesson or concept we were learning. I really like the Integrated Chinese books that CHS 101 and 102 use, because they teach everything in a very easy-to-grasp way.
For the books, I mentioned before that I got a fabulous deal on all of my Chinese books, because I bought the lot of them from another former Chinese student. I believe that I have all the textbooks for CHS 101-402, and I got them for $100. You still need a workbook, which is usually around $15 online. And they want you to get a character workbook, but I only bought one for 101, and then I used notebook paper for 102. It's an extra $15. It makes it a little bit easier because you don't have to haul out the textbook to find out the characters each time, but I'm too cheap.
WRA 125: 010: American Racial and Ethnic Experience. For this class, the section is important. Section 10 with Johnson Cheu has an Asian-American focus. I 4.0'ed this class. I really, really loved it. It helped that I was super interested in all of the topics. He's a pretty strict teacher (any papers that are turned in late receive half a grade down, and you can only miss 5 or 6 classes), and I'm really surprised that I 4.0'ed it. I will admit that I probably skipped about 10 times or so, and he still didn't take points off. Especially since I missed on all the paper-return days. But he shows quite a few movies (Joy Luck Club, Who Killed Vincent Chin) and he is hilarious. The only reason I skipped was because 8AM was way too early, otherwise I would have gone to every class. I highly recommend his section. One thing is that not all of the books are necessary. Woman Warrior and Screaming Monkeys are, since they're the first books so he focuses a lot on them, but American-Born Chinese and M. Butterfly are not so much. Neither are the "Curious Researcher" and the other required WRA book. I didn't buy either of the WRA books because I was conceited and figured that my MLA formatting and stuff was just fine, and I didn't even need it. I did, however, buy all of the books because I really wanted to add them to my collection.
CEM 141: General Chemistry. Yes, I did re-take this class. Here's some tips since I have two semesters-worth under my belt! Go to every recitation. Even if your TA sucks or whatever. In the event that you dislike your TA, switch sections. Do ALL the homework. If it's Connect, find a study group and work on it together. If it's OWLs, use screencaps to help you if you're too lazy to find the answers by yourself. Don't buy the book (along the same lines, don't rent the book and then forget to return it.) Buy the exam & answers booklet (used/older edition is fine... Not a big deal.), and start preparing, going through every question, at least a week before the exam. Buy the lecture notes book and use that as your guide, because the answers to a lot of the questions on the exam can be found in the lecture notes. I sat through four teachers: Morrissey, LaDuca, Hong, and Harrison. Morrissey, I had first semester. He is boring as all else, I could not pay attention in his class, I do not recommend him. At all. Same with Harrison. Hong was super nice and had a passion for chemistry, but I had scheduling conflicts and I had to change sections. I ended up with LaDuca and I have to say: IF YOU CAN GET LADUCA AS YOUR CHEM PROFESSOR, DO IT. DON'T PASS GO, DON'T COLLECT $200. He is so fabulous. He explains everything really well, and things that I had been beating myself over since high school were explained in seconds by him. He is funny and really grabs your attention. I credit my passing grade with him.
I'm also planning on taking a few classes online over the summer, either at Lansing Community College or Schoolcraft College. I'll let you know how that goes!
There you have it! I hope this helped. I'll try to post a review of each class/teacher at the end of every semester, and I'll post the classes that I will be taking as well.
Rakuzen
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Dorm items! Part 3: Bedding
Back again!
In case you're new, this post is part of a series that I'm posting on dorm items, specifically for Michigan State students. I'm obviously not an authority and this doesn't have everything you need for the dorms, but these are items that worked for me and my friends. As an introduction to each post, I'll write a little bit about what Michigan State offers for each section. Note, these aren't affiliate links and you don't have to buy them through these links. I just use them so that you can get an idea of the items and comparison shop, or if you happen to find a good deal, so you can snatch it up as you prepare for dorm living.
Today, I'll do a short post on bedding. MSU has twin XL beds on a loftable frame. What this means (in case you don't know. I didn't really know, since I've never had the choice to loft my bed or not) is that you can loft your bed so that it is higher. Just guessing, but I'd say it lofts to be about 8-10' high. It's enough to put shelves or a minifridge or a futon underneath, so it goes pretty high. (In most of them, anyways. When I was at Yakeley, the bed lofted a little bit lower, but my friends were still able to put their desks underneath.)
On move-in day, I had my cousin loft my bed for me, but I didn't like it. Since I was on the first floor of Hubbard, my ceiling was pretty high (and I'm pretty short), so I didn't have any problems with hitting my head on the ceiling. But the "steps" on the bed are wooden and really painful to step on, so I ended up having my friend unloft my bed, which put it at about 4' high. Still high enough for me to put my boxes underneath, but I had to move my minifridge.
MSU uses twin XL bedsheets, which is kind of inconvenient. Just remember that, while twin XL sheets will fit on twin size beds, twin size sheets will not fit on twin XL beds. So, unless you happen to have a twin XL bed at home, you'll probably have to buy new sheets. When it comes closer to move-in day, stores will start to stock college dorm supplies, and usually they'll have sheet sets to fit your bed. Otherwise, check out Target or Bed Bath and Beyond.
If you don't want to buy sheets, they have a program at MSU where you can get a free linen package every week. It's all white linens and includes a fitted sheet, a sheet, pillowcase, and two towels. Obviously, if you feel like decorating your room and coordinating your linens and whatever, this isn't ideal for you. I used this though, and it's really convenient and nice because you don't have to drag your bedding to the laundry room every week, and you can exchange it weekly for clean sheets. And it's free!
I would highly, highly, highly recommend buying a mattress protector. This is the exact same one that I bought. They re-use the mattresses after "cleaning them" but really, there are so many dorms on campus and a lot of work to be done over the summer, so you never know how well they clean them. I wiped my mattress down with some Clorox wipes and then put on this mattress protector. It's very cheap and it provides a good barrier between you/the sheets and the mattress. And if you don't use the linen package or have backup sheets, it's good to use if your sheets are in the wash and you're ready to sleep.
My roommate had this mattress pad. It was very comfortable, especially because the mattresses in the dorms are really firm, bordering on hard. It was easy to clean and made the beds a lot nicer, but I didn't bother with one because I didn't have a problem with the beds. But if you're not used to firm beds, or if you get there and find that you're having trouble sleeping, a mattress pad could definitely help you. I know a lot of my friends had one. Just make sure you get one in twin XL!
One of my friends had this bedside organizer because her bed was lofted. It was really cool! I thought about buying something like this when I was planning on what to pack over the summer, but ultimately didn't buy it. But since the bed is so high and it's such a pain to climb back down to put away your glasses or cell phone or whatever, this organizer was super efficient. (Since I'm not efficient, I would have to crawl under my bed every day to pick up my glasses or whatever dropped through the crack.)
My roommate bought a heated blanket during the black Friday sales since the room became super cold in the winter, but that's not essential.
Hope this helped! The next post of the series will probably be school supplies. (: I know that the Academic Orientation Program is starting next week, so have fun and good luck to all of the incoming freshman!
Rakuzen
In case you're new, this post is part of a series that I'm posting on dorm items, specifically for Michigan State students. I'm obviously not an authority and this doesn't have everything you need for the dorms, but these are items that worked for me and my friends. As an introduction to each post, I'll write a little bit about what Michigan State offers for each section. Note, these aren't affiliate links and you don't have to buy them through these links. I just use them so that you can get an idea of the items and comparison shop, or if you happen to find a good deal, so you can snatch it up as you prepare for dorm living.
Today, I'll do a short post on bedding. MSU has twin XL beds on a loftable frame. What this means (in case you don't know. I didn't really know, since I've never had the choice to loft my bed or not) is that you can loft your bed so that it is higher. Just guessing, but I'd say it lofts to be about 8-10' high. It's enough to put shelves or a minifridge or a futon underneath, so it goes pretty high. (In most of them, anyways. When I was at Yakeley, the bed lofted a little bit lower, but my friends were still able to put their desks underneath.)
On move-in day, I had my cousin loft my bed for me, but I didn't like it. Since I was on the first floor of Hubbard, my ceiling was pretty high (and I'm pretty short), so I didn't have any problems with hitting my head on the ceiling. But the "steps" on the bed are wooden and really painful to step on, so I ended up having my friend unloft my bed, which put it at about 4' high. Still high enough for me to put my boxes underneath, but I had to move my minifridge.
MSU uses twin XL bedsheets, which is kind of inconvenient. Just remember that, while twin XL sheets will fit on twin size beds, twin size sheets will not fit on twin XL beds. So, unless you happen to have a twin XL bed at home, you'll probably have to buy new sheets. When it comes closer to move-in day, stores will start to stock college dorm supplies, and usually they'll have sheet sets to fit your bed. Otherwise, check out Target or Bed Bath and Beyond.
If you don't want to buy sheets, they have a program at MSU where you can get a free linen package every week. It's all white linens and includes a fitted sheet, a sheet, pillowcase, and two towels. Obviously, if you feel like decorating your room and coordinating your linens and whatever, this isn't ideal for you. I used this though, and it's really convenient and nice because you don't have to drag your bedding to the laundry room every week, and you can exchange it weekly for clean sheets. And it's free!
I would highly, highly, highly recommend buying a mattress protector. This is the exact same one that I bought. They re-use the mattresses after "cleaning them" but really, there are so many dorms on campus and a lot of work to be done over the summer, so you never know how well they clean them. I wiped my mattress down with some Clorox wipes and then put on this mattress protector. It's very cheap and it provides a good barrier between you/the sheets and the mattress. And if you don't use the linen package or have backup sheets, it's good to use if your sheets are in the wash and you're ready to sleep.
My roommate had this mattress pad. It was very comfortable, especially because the mattresses in the dorms are really firm, bordering on hard. It was easy to clean and made the beds a lot nicer, but I didn't bother with one because I didn't have a problem with the beds. But if you're not used to firm beds, or if you get there and find that you're having trouble sleeping, a mattress pad could definitely help you. I know a lot of my friends had one. Just make sure you get one in twin XL!
One of my friends had this bedside organizer because her bed was lofted. It was really cool! I thought about buying something like this when I was planning on what to pack over the summer, but ultimately didn't buy it. But since the bed is so high and it's such a pain to climb back down to put away your glasses or cell phone or whatever, this organizer was super efficient. (Since I'm not efficient, I would have to crawl under my bed every day to pick up my glasses or whatever dropped through the crack.)
My roommate bought a heated blanket during the black Friday sales since the room became super cold in the winter, but that's not essential.
Hope this helped! The next post of the series will probably be school supplies. (: I know that the Academic Orientation Program is starting next week, so have fun and good luck to all of the incoming freshman!
Rakuzen
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Dorm items! Part 2: Food/"Kitchen" items
I'm back! Here is the food/kitchen items that I promised you. This is part of a series on dorm items that my friends and I found useful for our first year of college. I'll post a little bit about how this applies to Michigan State University and some of their dorm rules/items that serve this purpose, and then I'll post pictures and links for the items that I show. Note: None of these links are affiliate links, nor am I recommending that you buy these items off the sites shown. This is just to give you an idea of the online site's price, so you can keep an eye out for it.
Now, if you're a freshman at Michigan State or if you live in the dorms, you are required to buy a meal plan. These meal plans are awful (in my opinion) because they are ridiculously expensive, and they have 100 meals/week, with no other options. Unlike other schools, you can't swipe other people in unless you have guest meal passes (which requires opening a Sparty cash account on your meal plan). And seriously, what kind of person actually goes to the dining halls 100 times a week? I don't think that I ever went under 80.
That said, the list of kitchen appliances allowed in the dorms is very small. No rice cookers, no "George Foreman style grills" (I was so bummed, I really wanted to bring my panini grill). No crockpots, no toasters. You can have a microwave and refrigerator, though. I will also mention that my roommate had a rice cooker in our room (as did a lot of her friends, or so I am told), and even though we were suitemates with the RA, we never got in trouble for it. (We also had a ginormous space heater, against my will, and we never got in trouble for that, either).
Anyways! Here are some items that I personally had in my dorm, that my friends had, etc. I also included some foods that are well-suited for dorm life.
My roommate had a coffee maker kind of similar to this. This is a Mr. Coffee 5-cup coffeemaker. The point was, she had a small and cheap coffeemaker for first semester. Neither of us drank coffee, so she used it for boiling water for tea/ramen. I know a lot of college students do drink coffee, so I'm including it on the list. Make sure that you buy filters, coffee, creamer, sugar for it. (Actually, you could probably get away with taking some from the caf.)
Second semester, my roommate replaced the coffeemaker with an electric kettle. Not sure if this is the exact brand, but whatever. The coffeemaker took up a lot of space on our counter (on my half, actually...), so she got an electric kettle instead. I hated this thing with a passion, even more so than the coffeemaker (I just can't win) because it wasn't silent. I had a really old water boiler at home that was almost silent until it was done (when it started whistling). This made noise while it was boiling which was really annoying. Anyways!
I also want to mention that my kuya from Pilipino American Student Society apparently uses his to make ramen in. And my friend's roommate used it to boil eggs in. Multi-use? I never tried either, because I always used her rice cooker to boil water since it wasn't as loud or annoying.
If you're going to buy a microwave, get one like this Haier one, because they're supposed to be under 750 watts. No one comes to check apparently, but if you prefer to stay on the safe side. I didn't have a microwave in my room because I had brought the mini-fridge, my roommate didn't want a microwave, and I did not want to get stuck lugging both a mini-fridge and a microwave back home in my small car. First semester, since I was eating in the dining halls and stuff, I didn't usually miss it, but in second semester, when I didn't want to run into people when I left my dorm, I wished that I had one.
Also, the university offers a microfridge program through the University Activities Board (UAB), but I can't find the price on the site since it's summer, so take a look later. My friend's roommate rented the microfridge through the year, and it was pretty nice. It has a freezer! Also she didn't have to bother with taking it all the way home (although we did have a small duly to carry the thing all the way to Wilson on a very hot day).
Get a minifridge. This is a Culinair one that I found online, not the one that I used. You have to make sure that it is 5 cubic feet or less. My dad brought mine home on the day that I was set to move in (about an hour before I was going to leave), and it was huge, probably not 5 cubic feet. So, I don't recommend that. My car is super small, so it was a pain to move in and out with it. I will admit that I didn't really use my fridge, and if I lived in the dorms again, I probably wouldn't bring one. I only used it to keep my waterbottles cold since I hate warm water, and also to keep my apples. Other than that, my roommate filled it with a bunch of random things (she hated the dining hall food, so she filled it with food.)
These are really the only items that you might need/want. The rest of the items are just stuff that were useful to me, but are definitely "optional" on the packing list.
I would recommend bringing some paring knives. I didn't use this kind, I actually just "borrowed" one from my house, but I've used this brand before and they're easy to use. I just kept one in my dorm for cutting and peeling fruits. You could definitely live without it, but it was useful to me more than one time.
This Hamilton-Beach single-serve blender is on my want list for this year. I wanted it last year, too, but I never got it. A couple of people on my floor had one of these, and I really loved it. If you make power smoothies or whatever, this could be helpful. I didn't end up getting it last year because I didn't know how often I would use it, since I might not have fresh fruit on hand and my freezer didn't work. But I really want this, so I think I'll just buy it, especially since I'll be living in an apartment.
Water bottles. The water at Michigan State is really weird. I guess that it's unfiltered, something like that. I don't like it, and I didn't drink it. You have a few options for water. There are two re-usable water bottles in each dorm when you first move in, so you can refill them at the water stations. Supposedly (according to my roommate, because I never did that), even that water tastes a bit odd. Sparty's sells water, a small styrofoam cup for free and a large plastic cup for $0.25. Also, they sell bottles of water (some of them sell Dasani, which I love, or Absopure, which I hate), that you can use as part of your Combo X-Change. They also sell 12-packs of Absopure water, which my roommate would usually buy but, since I'm a brand snob (not really. Absopure just has a weird taste to me), I usually would buy myself a pack of water bottles at Meijer since I had a car. An even cheaper option (which we used at the end of the year) would be the plastic milk gallon-size water that is sold at the store, or the "tank" size ones.
I guess that's all the suggestions that I have for now... I'll update if I need to. Other than that, I just had a bunch of snacks and stuff. Just remember that you can always send me a message or leave me a comment if you have a question about Michigan State! I'll do some posts on each of the dorms that I've been in, since I know that incoming freshman will start getting their dorm assignments soon. A hint: I had my AOP on July 16-17, and on the 17th, they had put dorms on StuInfo. Note that these aren't permanent as they are used for billing purposes, but mine was correct. So around the middle of July you can check and then find a "Michigan State Class of 20--" on facebook and search your roommate. Before the official room assignments went out, I had already found one of my roommate (back when I lived in Akers).
Hope this helped! I know stuff goes on sale at random times throughout the summer, which is why I'm putting up posts like these.
`Rakuzen
Now, if you're a freshman at Michigan State or if you live in the dorms, you are required to buy a meal plan. These meal plans are awful (in my opinion) because they are ridiculously expensive, and they have 100 meals/week, with no other options. Unlike other schools, you can't swipe other people in unless you have guest meal passes (which requires opening a Sparty cash account on your meal plan). And seriously, what kind of person actually goes to the dining halls 100 times a week? I don't think that I ever went under 80.
That said, the list of kitchen appliances allowed in the dorms is very small. No rice cookers, no "George Foreman style grills" (I was so bummed, I really wanted to bring my panini grill). No crockpots, no toasters. You can have a microwave and refrigerator, though. I will also mention that my roommate had a rice cooker in our room (as did a lot of her friends, or so I am told), and even though we were suitemates with the RA, we never got in trouble for it. (We also had a ginormous space heater, against my will, and we never got in trouble for that, either).
Anyways! Here are some items that I personally had in my dorm, that my friends had, etc. I also included some foods that are well-suited for dorm life.
My roommate had a coffee maker kind of similar to this. This is a Mr. Coffee 5-cup coffeemaker. The point was, she had a small and cheap coffeemaker for first semester. Neither of us drank coffee, so she used it for boiling water for tea/ramen. I know a lot of college students do drink coffee, so I'm including it on the list. Make sure that you buy filters, coffee, creamer, sugar for it. (Actually, you could probably get away with taking some from the caf.)
I also want to mention that my kuya from Pilipino American Student Society apparently uses his to make ramen in. And my friend's roommate used it to boil eggs in. Multi-use? I never tried either, because I always used her rice cooker to boil water since it wasn't as loud or annoying.
Also, the university offers a microfridge program through the University Activities Board (UAB), but I can't find the price on the site since it's summer, so take a look later. My friend's roommate rented the microfridge through the year, and it was pretty nice. It has a freezer! Also she didn't have to bother with taking it all the way home (although we did have a small duly to carry the thing all the way to Wilson on a very hot day).
Get a minifridge. This is a Culinair one that I found online, not the one that I used. You have to make sure that it is 5 cubic feet or less. My dad brought mine home on the day that I was set to move in (about an hour before I was going to leave), and it was huge, probably not 5 cubic feet. So, I don't recommend that. My car is super small, so it was a pain to move in and out with it. I will admit that I didn't really use my fridge, and if I lived in the dorms again, I probably wouldn't bring one. I only used it to keep my waterbottles cold since I hate warm water, and also to keep my apples. Other than that, my roommate filled it with a bunch of random things (she hated the dining hall food, so she filled it with food.)
These are really the only items that you might need/want. The rest of the items are just stuff that were useful to me, but are definitely "optional" on the packing list.
 |
| credit: motherjones |
I guess that's all the suggestions that I have for now... I'll update if I need to. Other than that, I just had a bunch of snacks and stuff. Just remember that you can always send me a message or leave me a comment if you have a question about Michigan State! I'll do some posts on each of the dorms that I've been in, since I know that incoming freshman will start getting their dorm assignments soon. A hint: I had my AOP on July 16-17, and on the 17th, they had put dorms on StuInfo. Note that these aren't permanent as they are used for billing purposes, but mine was correct. So around the middle of July you can check and then find a "Michigan State Class of 20--" on facebook and search your roommate. Before the official room assignments went out, I had already found one of my roommate (back when I lived in Akers).
Hope this helped! I know stuff goes on sale at random times throughout the summer, which is why I'm putting up posts like these.
`Rakuzen
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Dorm items! Part 1: Organization/Storage
Hey guys,
This is part of a segment that I decided to start doing on my blog. Once a week or so, I'll do a post on items for dorm living. I'm obviously not an authority on what you should and shouldn't bring and I'd definitely recommend that you look at other people's college packing lists, but I just wanted to show some items (with pictures) that helped my friends and I when we were in the dorms. I'll start off each post with how this applies to Michigan State University and some of their dorm rules/items. I would definitely recommend that you shop around for these items. I just picked the links randomly, mostly from Target, Walmart, and Amazon, but I'm sure that if you searched, you could find them for even cheaper. Also, none of these are affiliate links.
Today, I'll start with items for organization/storage in the dorms! I'll write about a couple different dorms, since a lot of them are different, and if you have any questions about specific dorms, just comment below and I'll try to find out for you.
In Hubbard (North for sure, I think South as well) and Holmes: In terms of storage, the school provides you with a lot. There is a small "closet" with a pole for hanging clothes, and a shelf where you can store out-of-season clothes. They have a dresser with four large and deep drawers, and each of the desks have one drawer. They have a modular, stackable unit with two shelves and one drawer, which you can move around.
In Wonders: There's not as much storage here, in my opinion (then again, I never lived there. But my friend did and I was there almost every day second semester). They have a dresser with six drawers I believe, because they're not nearly as deep as the ones in Hubbard. They have the same closet, with the pole for hanging clothes. Their desks are much nicer, because they have four drawers on the side (kind of like the one pictured, except instead of the plain wood backing on top of the desk, it's a cork board). But they don't have the stackable shelves that Hubbard has.
Organization
This is part of a segment that I decided to start doing on my blog. Once a week or so, I'll do a post on items for dorm living. I'm obviously not an authority on what you should and shouldn't bring and I'd definitely recommend that you look at other people's college packing lists, but I just wanted to show some items (with pictures) that helped my friends and I when we were in the dorms. I'll start off each post with how this applies to Michigan State University and some of their dorm rules/items. I would definitely recommend that you shop around for these items. I just picked the links randomly, mostly from Target, Walmart, and Amazon, but I'm sure that if you searched, you could find them for even cheaper. Also, none of these are affiliate links.
Today, I'll start with items for organization/storage in the dorms! I'll write about a couple different dorms, since a lot of them are different, and if you have any questions about specific dorms, just comment below and I'll try to find out for you.
In Hubbard (North for sure, I think South as well) and Holmes: In terms of storage, the school provides you with a lot. There is a small "closet" with a pole for hanging clothes, and a shelf where you can store out-of-season clothes. They have a dresser with four large and deep drawers, and each of the desks have one drawer. They have a modular, stackable unit with two shelves and one drawer, which you can move around.
In Wonders: There's not as much storage here, in my opinion (then again, I never lived there. But my friend did and I was there almost every day second semester). They have a dresser with six drawers I believe, because they're not nearly as deep as the ones in Hubbard. They have the same closet, with the pole for hanging clothes. Their desks are much nicer, because they have four drawers on the side (kind of like the one pictured, except instead of the plain wood backing on top of the desk, it's a cork board). But they don't have the stackable shelves that Hubbard has.
Organization
This Sterilite 3-Drawer Medium Cart with wheels. Actually, I think my friend got this when her roommate left it behind but whatever. This is very tall, about as tall as the desks in Wonders (where she lived) and she stored her food and plates and stuff in it. The dorms provide a lot of storage space (in Hubbard we had a tall four-drawer dresser, as well as our desk and three stackable shelf things), but if you want to be more organized then this is perfect. And it has wheels!
This Sterilite 3-Drawer Desktop Unit. I actually had two of these (although neither of them were exactly the same as the one pictured... One only had two drawers with the flip top lid, and the other had three drawers but a flat lid). I used one of them to store my makeup (and actually, I wish that I had bought this one for that purpose) and I think I got it for ~$5 at Walmart (note, the link contains a set of 4 from Amazon). I set the other one on my desk and put my school supplies like pencils, sticky notes, tape, scissors, etc. in it. This isn't really all that necessary if you have something to organize them in the desks because Hubbard has a pretty nice drawer, but I like being able to open it and sort it.
I wish that I had this one for my storage supplies. I'm not usually that organized (I'm really messy unless I'm supposed to be studying or doing homework...) but when I get in a cleaning mode, I really like organizing. I think I'll buy this one before I go back in the fall, actually.
My friend had an ottoman like this one. I can't find a link, so I'll update with one, but I'm pretty sure I've seen them at Walmart and Meijer and Target. Pick one that lets you store stuff inside, and you can use it to store pretty much anything. My friend used it for extra clothes, and it provided a seat and also she used it to climb onto her bed. (Her bed wasn't lofted, but even so it stands about four feet high. Which isn't fun if you're short like us. I just put one of the University-provided wooden shelves under my bed and pulled it out to get on my bed at night, but her dorm (Wonders) didn't have them.
This. It's a Sterilite Stacking Basket, Size Small, but I can't find a link that matches. I bought a pack of three (in pink) from Target and used them to store my nail polish (the ones that I bought with me, anyways), and left the other two at home. I had another basket (Sterilite brand too, I think, that I bought at Walmart) that I stored in my drawer-dresser to organize food. It's also a nice way to keep things separate if you/your roommate don't want to share.
Some of these Hello Kitty buckets. I really love Hello Kitty, so yeah. Anyways, the price on Amazon is a total rip-off, because I ended up buying a lot of these from the dollar section at Target. These were awesome and useful. I used one for my makeup brushes, one for plasticware (so we didn't have forks and knives strewn across the room...), one for the makeup that I wore daily (since I had an 8AM and didn't want to be running around the room while my roommate slept).
I had a couple of things from the dollar store, too, that I took pictures of before I started setting up my dorm, so I'll probably update with those. You can see a couple of them in my dorm haul post, but I did buy more after that post, so I'll update later.
My next post will be food-related items for the dorm.
Hope this was helpful if you're starting to plan out checklists and moving lists! I know that I started thinking early and getting some boxes ready early, but I was still scrambling, last minute, on move in day. But here's some items that were useful to me and my friends, just to give you an idea if you happen to see them on sale!
`Rakuzen
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
End-of-the-year
You know it's bad when it takes four months to update. Sorry! I am actually all moved out of Hubbard, done with my freshman year. I have a lot of posts in mind and hopefully I will get around to them now that it's summer!
First of all, if you're an incoming MSU freshman and you're finding this because you're researching your new school, CONGRATULATIONS ON GETTING ACCEPTED! I love MSU a lot. This really was one of the best years of my life to date, I had an incredible experience at MSU and I hope you do too!
Last year, I did a post on AOP, so if you're interested/scared/nervous and want to read up on it, I wrote about my experience there. If you go into my archives a little, I did some posts on things that I bought for moving in.
I guess this is just a little bit of a catch up. I feel like it would be kind of pointless to do move out posts since everyone's already moved out, so I'll work on doing those later.
Opening the floor to you readers! If you have any questions about East Lansing or MSU, I'll do my best to answer them! I did get some pictures of my empty dorm right before I moved out, so I'll try to post them up. And I know that dorm assignments don't come out until August, but if you're curious, I've been inside: Yakely, Wonders, Case, Holmes, Hubbard, Akers, Owen and Van Hoosen dorms. And if you've been assigned to another one and are curious about how the dorms look, just let me know because my friends were scattered around all of campus.
So, an update on me first, I guess. I have:
1. Become an e-board member for Pilipino American Student Society. Yay! I am treasurer, and super excited about it. Stop by the table at Sparticipation in the fall, it's such an amazing group and you'll have a lot of fun.
2. Picked a place to live next year! I will be living in Van Hoosen Hall with two of my friends. Van Hoosen Hall is an on-campus, all-girls apartment building. It is so nice in there! A meal plan isn't required and it has a kitchen, living room, bathroom, and a bedroom. And air conditioning. I am so ridiculously excited.
Err... I guess that's all. For now. Anyways! If you're an incoming freshman or just looking for things to decorate your dorm, feel free to follow my pinterest board: http://pinterest.com/rakuzen/dorm-room/
Anyways, ask away you guys! You can comment on the post or email me at rakuzen.lee[at]gmail.com, if you like. I'll definitely be posting more now that it's summer, so stay tuned!
First of all, if you're an incoming MSU freshman and you're finding this because you're researching your new school, CONGRATULATIONS ON GETTING ACCEPTED! I love MSU a lot. This really was one of the best years of my life to date, I had an incredible experience at MSU and I hope you do too!
Last year, I did a post on AOP, so if you're interested/scared/nervous and want to read up on it, I wrote about my experience there. If you go into my archives a little, I did some posts on things that I bought for moving in.
I guess this is just a little bit of a catch up. I feel like it would be kind of pointless to do move out posts since everyone's already moved out, so I'll work on doing those later.
Opening the floor to you readers! If you have any questions about East Lansing or MSU, I'll do my best to answer them! I did get some pictures of my empty dorm right before I moved out, so I'll try to post them up. And I know that dorm assignments don't come out until August, but if you're curious, I've been inside: Yakely, Wonders, Case, Holmes, Hubbard, Akers, Owen and Van Hoosen dorms. And if you've been assigned to another one and are curious about how the dorms look, just let me know because my friends were scattered around all of campus.
So, an update on me first, I guess. I have:
1. Become an e-board member for Pilipino American Student Society. Yay! I am treasurer, and super excited about it. Stop by the table at Sparticipation in the fall, it's such an amazing group and you'll have a lot of fun.
2. Picked a place to live next year! I will be living in Van Hoosen Hall with two of my friends. Van Hoosen Hall is an on-campus, all-girls apartment building. It is so nice in there! A meal plan isn't required and it has a kitchen, living room, bathroom, and a bedroom. And air conditioning. I am so ridiculously excited.
Err... I guess that's all. For now. Anyways! If you're an incoming freshman or just looking for things to decorate your dorm, feel free to follow my pinterest board: http://pinterest.com/rakuzen/dorm-room/
Anyways, ask away you guys! You can comment on the post or email me at rakuzen.lee[at]gmail.com, if you like. I'll definitely be posting more now that it's summer, so stay tuned!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Another post on international students.
Normally I would ignore the kind of searches that lead people to my blogs.
But someone found my blog by searching "msu chinese go home." (Upon googling that myself, I found that I am on the second page of results.)
Okay, whoever found my blog using that site. I assume that it's also someone who either contributed or likes the racist twitter, MSU's Token Asian. (And you can link that yourself, there's no way that I'm giving that person hits from my blog).
First, go ahead and read my post on rooming with international students. You can replace "rooming" with "living," "going to class with" or "seeing on a daily basis." You don't have to be Chinese-American like me to make friends with international students (I'm going to go ahead and say Chinese students for the rest of the post, just because that's what led someone to my blog, and I have mostly made friends with international Chinese students). I promise. You just have to be a civil human being, willing to reach outside of your comfort zone and make friends of a different culture.
Let me first address a few stereotypes. This article addressed some of them, so I'll just use the ones that they said and put my own ideas on it.
"A Chinese student at Michigan State University finds his car spray-painted, the words reading "Go back home."
I learned about this in my anthropology class last semester. And it just made me so sad and so angry. In class, we assumed that the vandal chose the car because of the brand (it's really no secret that most of the Chinese students drive really nice cars: BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Lexus.) But really? Jealousy doesn't look good on anyone. I really cannot find any other reason for a person to want to ruin a perfectly good car with paint, than because he (or she) was jealous of the car. There's always a yellow Camaro sitting in front of Hubbard and I drool and admire it, but really? Spray-painting it? And honestly, if they spent the time they used concocting a plot to spray paint the foreign cars (in Chinese letters) on studying, they wouldn't need to be vandals. Or jealous.
If you're one of the people who are trying to be friendly and welcoming and get the very most out of a different culture, you'll try to be friends with the native students. But if you're unsure of the language, nervous, shy, then you'll probably try to stick with your friend from home.
It's the same with them. As for the rude and arrogant and "let us talk to you" part of the comment, I semi-addressed this in my other post. I mentioned how I had smiled at an international student who immediately looked away. After being offended for all of two seconds, and then willingly LISTENING to what other international students said, I learned that it was a culture difference. Just go up and talk to them!
There are already so many racist people in the world. I was walking around Holmes Hall a few months ago with a group of my friends (all Asian-American, born and raised in America), and a boy with a group of his friends started doing the "Gangnam style" dance as he passed us. Was this necessary? Did this do anything, other than stroke his ego? We were all so surprised that we didn't say anything to him.
But a month ago or so, my friend and I were walking around Hubbard caf. My friend moved to America from South Korea in 6th grade, so he's fluent in English and everything. He was wearing a shirt with the Paul Frank monkey on it which is really popular with international students, and this American domestic whiteidiot jock guy started speaking fake "Asian" to him (ching-chong, nee how, konnichiwa. And yes, I know that konnichiwa and ni hao are REAL words in Asian languages, but it's the sentiment behind them that people use that makes the difference) and he turned around and, in pretty good English (he still has an accent) was like "Are you talking to me?!," getting pissed because he'd had a bad day and the guy immediately backed off. So just don't do it. You'll end up being the one who looks like an idiot.
Anyways, I just hope that if you're reading this, then you can think back about your encounters with international students and realize that they're just here for an education, like you. I will mention that of course, there are some people who give international students a bad name. Just as there are some people who give the domestic students a bad name. But is it really necessary to try and "fix" this by vandalizing or insulting? I'm really hoping to be an OCAT aide next year, to be a part of the solution. But there are other ways to fix it. Introduce yourself to an international student, strike up a conversation. Attend programs that the MSU Office of Culture and Academic Transitions puts on (like their brilliant "OUR MSU" signs program.) Go to the MSU International Center's Coffee Hour, or Bridges International, both of which offer language exchange and the chance to talk to international students.
But someone found my blog by searching "msu chinese go home." (Upon googling that myself, I found that I am on the second page of results.)
Okay, whoever found my blog using that site. I assume that it's also someone who either contributed or likes the racist twitter, MSU's Token Asian. (And you can link that yourself, there's no way that I'm giving that person hits from my blog).
First, go ahead and read my post on rooming with international students. You can replace "rooming" with "living," "going to class with" or "seeing on a daily basis." You don't have to be Chinese-American like me to make friends with international students (I'm going to go ahead and say Chinese students for the rest of the post, just because that's what led someone to my blog, and I have mostly made friends with international Chinese students). I promise. You just have to be a civil human being, willing to reach outside of your comfort zone and make friends of a different culture.
Let me first address a few stereotypes. This article addressed some of them, so I'll just use the ones that they said and put my own ideas on it.
"A Chinese student at Michigan State University finds his car spray-painted, the words reading "Go back home."
I learned about this in my anthropology class last semester. And it just made me so sad and so angry. In class, we assumed that the vandal chose the car because of the brand (it's really no secret that most of the Chinese students drive really nice cars: BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Lexus.) But really? Jealousy doesn't look good on anyone. I really cannot find any other reason for a person to want to ruin a perfectly good car with paint, than because he (or she) was jealous of the car. There's always a yellow Camaro sitting in front of Hubbard and I drool and admire it, but really? Spray-painting it? And honestly, if they spent the time they used concocting a plot to spray paint the foreign cars (in Chinese letters) on studying, they wouldn't need to be vandals. Or jealous.
Let's see... how to address this. Okay. Let's say that you (you being used in general, not you the reader... although if you were one of the people who thinks this way, feel free to think of it as YOU) go to France or Spain for a college program because you studied the language in high school, and only one of your friends went with you. You're both about the same proficiency at the language (which, let's face it, can't possibly be that good if you only studied two or three times a week for six years without using it in your daily life). Everyone there, even if they haven't known each other for very long, are fluent, native speakers with different customs than you. Who are you going to talk to?the pseudonym “haha,” disputed that the Twitter feed (MSU's Token Asian) was hostile -- “you guys confused making fun of [A]sians as being racist when it is not” – and suggested that the reported problems stem from the Asian students’ own self-segregation. “Asian International students are SO innocent,” haha wrote. “They stick together and are too full of themselves to bother connecting with the non-international students at MSU. When you purposefully, separate yourself from the other students at the University[,] [w]hat do you expect? How about you guys stop being so rude and arrogant to the rest of us and let us talk to you, maybe do some language exchange, go out for coffee... or something!”
If you're one of the people who are trying to be friendly and welcoming and get the very most out of a different culture, you'll try to be friends with the native students. But if you're unsure of the language, nervous, shy, then you'll probably try to stick with your friend from home.
It's the same with them. As for the rude and arrogant and "let us talk to you" part of the comment, I semi-addressed this in my other post. I mentioned how I had smiled at an international student who immediately looked away. After being offended for all of two seconds, and then willingly LISTENING to what other international students said, I learned that it was a culture difference. Just go up and talk to them!
There are already so many racist people in the world. I was walking around Holmes Hall a few months ago with a group of my friends (all Asian-American, born and raised in America), and a boy with a group of his friends started doing the "Gangnam style" dance as he passed us. Was this necessary? Did this do anything, other than stroke his ego? We were all so surprised that we didn't say anything to him.
But a month ago or so, my friend and I were walking around Hubbard caf. My friend moved to America from South Korea in 6th grade, so he's fluent in English and everything. He was wearing a shirt with the Paul Frank monkey on it which is really popular with international students, and this American domestic white
Anyways, I just hope that if you're reading this, then you can think back about your encounters with international students and realize that they're just here for an education, like you. I will mention that of course, there are some people who give international students a bad name. Just as there are some people who give the domestic students a bad name. But is it really necessary to try and "fix" this by vandalizing or insulting? I'm really hoping to be an OCAT aide next year, to be a part of the solution. But there are other ways to fix it. Introduce yourself to an international student, strike up a conversation. Attend programs that the MSU Office of Culture and Academic Transitions puts on (like their brilliant "OUR MSU" signs program.) Go to the MSU International Center's Coffee Hour, or Bridges International, both of which offer language exchange and the chance to talk to international students.
Friday, December 28, 2012
CATA Bus System
It's almost time for a new semester! (I'm seriously counting down the days... Only another week to go and I will be back in my lovely dorm!) That means new classes, new friends, new classmates, new hallmates (I know a few new people will be moving into my hall, at least!).
I'm so excited! But I'll try to focus. Today, I will write about the CATA Bus System, which is the public bus system for Lansing and East Lansing. During the semesters, CATA operates "Spartan Service," which has routes all over campus.
One thing: I had never ridden a public bus before I got on campus (I know, I know). If you're like me, let me teach you how to request a stop on the bus.
Step 1: The bus announces the next stop. Most of the buses do this, but some don't. I once sat on a bus while it went through two routes because it never called out the stop (this was during the first week of classes, when I wasn't familiar with the East Campus Boarding Center at all). If in doubt, just ask the person sitting next to you. Or the bus driver (if they're friendly).
Step 2: Pull the yellow wire. I can't find a picture online. But basically, it's just a long yellow wire pressed against the window that winds around the entire bus. If it's winter and you're trapped in the middle of the bus, politely ask a person sitting down to pull it for you.
Step 3: Try to exit out the back of the bus. This is actually what a sign inside of the bus says. It just keeps the traffic down to a minimum. My biggest pet peeve is when riders are getting off the front of the bus (where people get on the bus), causing everyone outside of the bus to wait. And then the bus driver will just start moving even if you're not seated.
Also, I opted not to buy a bus pass when I first got on campus because, according to google maps, all of my classes were really close and easily walkable in under ten minutes. Okay, that might be true. I don't know about you, but I'm a really, really slow walker so Google's estimate of five minutes ends up being like fifteen minutes for me. Plus, I get lost easily.
So: If you're new to campus, buy a bus pass. If you're not going to explore campus a little before class starts (I know this semester, there isn't really any time to explore as classes start on Monday the 7th), buy a bus pass. You can always sell it later if you find that you have no trouble getting around campus (lucky you), or that you hate public transportation. (Honestly, I hate public transportation. But I hate walking even more, so I choose the lesser of two evils).
Bus passes!
You can buy them online on CATA's website. Under fixed-route passes, they have a few different options specifically for students. A semester pass for $50, a 10-ride card for $6, and a 31-day pass for $18. (Note: if you're paying the fare with change and you don't have a pass, you have to show your MSU ID and it's 60 cents). I caved on the first day of classes and bought a semester pass at the CATA station, but I'm not sure if they only sell them in August. You can also buy them in Akers Hall. But just order it online and have it sent to your dorm. I plan to for the second semester, as I'm getting to MSU on the 6th (Sunday), so that I can go straight to classes the next day. It's a great value if you rely solely on the bus. Just ride the bus at least 83 times, and it will be worth it. My friend bought the 10-ride card at first because she was riding her bike, so she kept it in her backpack in case it started raining or was too snowy for biking, but then later bought a semester pass because our friend sold it to her for cheap. The 31-day pass is good for the same reason, buying during the snowy/cold period if you don't plan on using the bus often/at all in the good weather.
One thing: TAKE CARE OF YOUR BUS PASS! So many of my friends misplaced their bus pass and I have no clue how. I carried around a Vera Bradley wristlet (not bragging, it's just something I received as an open house gift) and my ID and cards were all shoved in there. Also, if the bus isn't super necessary for you right at the beginning of the semester, if you wait a month or so, usually people will start selling them for $30-40.
Tips for riding the bus:
1) If in doubt, ask the driver! If you don't know if the bus you're riding will take you to Wells Hall (I think only the 30 South/East, 25 North Harrison, and the 39 University Village buses do that) or wherever, just ask the driver. Most of them are nice. Even if they're not, they will begrudgingly answer you.
2) Thank the driver. It's so rude to just ignore the driver. On-campus, most of the drivers work the same route everyday. So they just might remember you, especially if you're riding the same bus every day/other day. And if you're running late and running to the bus and it's already their takeoff time, they could totally just pull out without waiting for you. Good manners, people!
3) PLEASE DON'T SIT BY ME. I guess this isn't really a tip. But if you see me on the 30/31 bus route, don't sit by me when there are plenty of other seats (with no people next to them!). That is one of the reasons I hate public transportation: I hate sitting by strangers. It doesn't matter if they try to converse with me or not, it's just annoying.
4) If you're paying (aka not using a pass), please, for everyone's sake, have your money and ID ready. Or if you're using a pass, have your pass ready. Nothing gets everyone aggravated more than waiting for someone to dig through their bag for their ID and sixty cents. Especially if that someone had been standing at the bus stop for a few minutes. Along that same line, unless you can multitask effectively, please don't use your phone when you're getting on. Or on the bus, unless you can talk q-u-i-e-t-l-y.
Hm... I guess that's all. Other than a quick rundown of the routes! If you're new to campus and trying to plan out your schedule (what bus should I take? Where should I go? When will the bus come?), feel free to e-mail me your class locations and I'll be glad to help you. I spent a lot of time riding the bus around for fun. I know most of the stops on most of the routes, and those that I don't know, I'll find out for you. rakuzen.lee [at] gmail dot com.
Something to know (I'm mostly familiar with the 30/31 bus route because that's what I ride the most). Buses 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 all stop at the CATA station. So if you're on the 30 bus and you need to be on the 33 bus, if you get off at the CATA station then you can wait for the 33 bus to come.
30 bus: There are two buses: one that goes to South Neighborhood, and one that goes to East Neighborhood. Make sure that you look at the writing to make sure that you're not going to East instead of South. Obviously, if you're starting out at East Neighborhood you won't really have this problem. But if you're getting on at the CATA station, then be careful!
31 bus: Goes to Brody Neighborhood and East Neighborhood.
32 bus: Goes to the Commuter Lot. I haven't ridden it before though... Maybe that's what I'll do next semester.
33 bus: West Circle Neighborhood and South Neighborhood.
The 30/31 bus route consists of four buses that do this: Bus 31 Brody-bound starts at East Neighborhood, makes it to the destination of Brody Neighborhood, changes routes to 31 East Neighborhood. When the bus (same bus!) reaches East, it changes to 30 South, then when it reaches South Neighborhood, it changes to 30 East. When it goes back to East, it changes to 31 Brody and starts the route all over again. So be careful! Make sure you get off. This is where I ended up on the bus for over half an hour because it had to cycle through the routes.
More posts coming~! Mostly just general information ones.
`Rakuzen
I'm so excited! But I'll try to focus. Today, I will write about the CATA Bus System, which is the public bus system for Lansing and East Lansing. During the semesters, CATA operates "Spartan Service," which has routes all over campus.
One thing: I had never ridden a public bus before I got on campus (I know, I know). If you're like me, let me teach you how to request a stop on the bus.
Step 1: The bus announces the next stop. Most of the buses do this, but some don't. I once sat on a bus while it went through two routes because it never called out the stop (this was during the first week of classes, when I wasn't familiar with the East Campus Boarding Center at all). If in doubt, just ask the person sitting next to you. Or the bus driver (if they're friendly).
Step 2: Pull the yellow wire. I can't find a picture online. But basically, it's just a long yellow wire pressed against the window that winds around the entire bus. If it's winter and you're trapped in the middle of the bus, politely ask a person sitting down to pull it for you.
Step 3: Try to exit out the back of the bus. This is actually what a sign inside of the bus says. It just keeps the traffic down to a minimum. My biggest pet peeve is when riders are getting off the front of the bus (where people get on the bus), causing everyone outside of the bus to wait. And then the bus driver will just start moving even if you're not seated.
Also, I opted not to buy a bus pass when I first got on campus because, according to google maps, all of my classes were really close and easily walkable in under ten minutes. Okay, that might be true. I don't know about you, but I'm a really, really slow walker so Google's estimate of five minutes ends up being like fifteen minutes for me. Plus, I get lost easily.
So: If you're new to campus, buy a bus pass. If you're not going to explore campus a little before class starts (I know this semester, there isn't really any time to explore as classes start on Monday the 7th), buy a bus pass. You can always sell it later if you find that you have no trouble getting around campus (lucky you), or that you hate public transportation. (Honestly, I hate public transportation. But I hate walking even more, so I choose the lesser of two evils).
Bus passes!
You can buy them online on CATA's website. Under fixed-route passes, they have a few different options specifically for students. A semester pass for $50, a 10-ride card for $6, and a 31-day pass for $18. (Note: if you're paying the fare with change and you don't have a pass, you have to show your MSU ID and it's 60 cents). I caved on the first day of classes and bought a semester pass at the CATA station, but I'm not sure if they only sell them in August. You can also buy them in Akers Hall. But just order it online and have it sent to your dorm. I plan to for the second semester, as I'm getting to MSU on the 6th (Sunday), so that I can go straight to classes the next day. It's a great value if you rely solely on the bus. Just ride the bus at least 83 times, and it will be worth it. My friend bought the 10-ride card at first because she was riding her bike, so she kept it in her backpack in case it started raining or was too snowy for biking, but then later bought a semester pass because our friend sold it to her for cheap. The 31-day pass is good for the same reason, buying during the snowy/cold period if you don't plan on using the bus often/at all in the good weather.
One thing: TAKE CARE OF YOUR BUS PASS! So many of my friends misplaced their bus pass and I have no clue how. I carried around a Vera Bradley wristlet (not bragging, it's just something I received as an open house gift) and my ID and cards were all shoved in there. Also, if the bus isn't super necessary for you right at the beginning of the semester, if you wait a month or so, usually people will start selling them for $30-40.
Tips for riding the bus:
1) If in doubt, ask the driver! If you don't know if the bus you're riding will take you to Wells Hall (I think only the 30 South/East, 25 North Harrison, and the 39 University Village buses do that) or wherever, just ask the driver. Most of them are nice. Even if they're not, they will begrudgingly answer you.
2) Thank the driver. It's so rude to just ignore the driver. On-campus, most of the drivers work the same route everyday. So they just might remember you, especially if you're riding the same bus every day/other day. And if you're running late and running to the bus and it's already their takeoff time, they could totally just pull out without waiting for you. Good manners, people!
3) PLEASE DON'T SIT BY ME. I guess this isn't really a tip. But if you see me on the 30/31 bus route, don't sit by me when there are plenty of other seats (with no people next to them!). That is one of the reasons I hate public transportation: I hate sitting by strangers. It doesn't matter if they try to converse with me or not, it's just annoying.
4) If you're paying (aka not using a pass), please, for everyone's sake, have your money and ID ready. Or if you're using a pass, have your pass ready. Nothing gets everyone aggravated more than waiting for someone to dig through their bag for their ID and sixty cents. Especially if that someone had been standing at the bus stop for a few minutes. Along that same line, unless you can multitask effectively, please don't use your phone when you're getting on. Or on the bus, unless you can talk q-u-i-e-t-l-y.
Hm... I guess that's all. Other than a quick rundown of the routes! If you're new to campus and trying to plan out your schedule (what bus should I take? Where should I go? When will the bus come?), feel free to e-mail me your class locations and I'll be glad to help you. I spent a lot of time riding the bus around for fun. I know most of the stops on most of the routes, and those that I don't know, I'll find out for you. rakuzen.lee [at] gmail dot com.
Something to know (I'm mostly familiar with the 30/31 bus route because that's what I ride the most). Buses 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 all stop at the CATA station. So if you're on the 30 bus and you need to be on the 33 bus, if you get off at the CATA station then you can wait for the 33 bus to come.
30 bus: There are two buses: one that goes to South Neighborhood, and one that goes to East Neighborhood. Make sure that you look at the writing to make sure that you're not going to East instead of South. Obviously, if you're starting out at East Neighborhood you won't really have this problem. But if you're getting on at the CATA station, then be careful!
31 bus: Goes to Brody Neighborhood and East Neighborhood.
32 bus: Goes to the Commuter Lot. I haven't ridden it before though... Maybe that's what I'll do next semester.
33 bus: West Circle Neighborhood and South Neighborhood.
The 30/31 bus route consists of four buses that do this: Bus 31 Brody-bound starts at East Neighborhood, makes it to the destination of Brody Neighborhood, changes routes to 31 East Neighborhood. When the bus (same bus!) reaches East, it changes to 30 South, then when it reaches South Neighborhood, it changes to 30 East. When it goes back to East, it changes to 31 Brody and starts the route all over again. So be careful! Make sure you get off. This is where I ended up on the bus for over half an hour because it had to cycle through the routes.
More posts coming~! Mostly just general information ones.
`Rakuzen
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