Tonight was another great night at GFU, with a country BBQ and a hoedown on the quad. There was so much fun to be had.
There were tractors
Lexi, Allie, Tori, and I. (Allie and I couldn't stop laughing.)
There were great people all around to eat and laugh with.
Group Dance
And there was square and line dancing for all to enjoy!
After a full country meal and an hour of do-see-doing and swingin' your partner, my friends and I were exhausted, so we all headed off to our living areas to rest for a bit before Grocery Outlet GFU Night, where we are all going to stock up on groceries.
Tomorrow is the first day of classes, and I can't wait! Yahoo!
As you already know from the last post, it was Slip-N-Slide on the Quad day. It was wet and cold and muddy and soapy but it was a total blast.
The big thing today, though, was our All Campus Worship Session, or as I call it, "Jammin' with Jesus". We all gathered at the amphitheater, where the campus pastors and Spiritual Leadership were waiting with the Worship team. I sat with a few of the great people I have been blessed to get to know over the past few days.
(Left to right: Heather, Tory, Jerika, Allie, Cheldon, Lexi, and Andrew.)
A few people spoke, and we had a time of worship, and I realized, not for the first time, people saying things that are so fitting to my situation that it can't be coincidence.
Since I got here, the speakers have said things like, "Some of you are here because you've been dreaming about it, but finances haven't worked out until now," or, "Some of you are here because you need to be a part of a family, and you didn't get that wherever you were."
It was the most amazing worship session I've ever been a part of. Several hundred people, singing, worshiping, crying, taking communion, and praying together as part of a family.
What pushed me over the edge was taking communion. I took it, and the staff member who gave it to me said, "Welcome home."
Then we did this ceremony where we all put our thumbprints one by one onto a painting of a tree with no leaves, to symbolize that we are here to grow and learn together as one. I turned around and another staff member, and a student, said, "Welcome to the Family."
This is where I am supposed to be.
Afterwards there was a club fair, and I signed up for Gospel Choir and got some cotton candy. Follow that up with some roommate bonding time, and you have a happy girl.
Last night, we said goodbye to the parents and then ran over to the field, where we danced, had a rock paper scissors showdown, grouped up in our birth months, and played all sorts of group games.
After that, we went to dinner at the lower field, and had huge snow cones, dinner, and Voodoo Donuts!
Then the buses arrived to take us to our Mystery Bus Tour. I was on the Transfer Bus (Bus 8!) with all the cool people, including but not limited to my new friends: Andrew, Lexi, Allie, Jerika, and Tory.
They dropped us in downtown Portland and gave us a few hours to wander around and explore, so we headed over to Powell's Bookstore. This store is a BLOCK long! A whole block of books. I want to live there.
Here's the map of the bookstore I got.
This place is HUGE. We made it through maybe two rooms before we had to leave, so we are making plans to take a Saturday day trip and check it out.
They were also doing Festival Italiana there, so we got to listen to some great music and dance. Then we hopped on the Max and took it down to the buses, which took us to Oak's Amusement Park, which was shut down just for GFU!
Here's some of us on the Max. It was super crowded, but everyone had a total blast, as you can see.
I went on rides that I would NEVER have gone on, but since I was with my new friends I had a total blast! We went on The Scrambler and had a jolly old tea party, though we sloshed quite a bit. Then we went on the Carrousel and rode side saddle, because we are ladies! The greatest challenge for me, however, was The Disko. I thought I was going to die.
(That's not the one I was on, but it is the same ride.)
The whole night was a ton of fun, except for the end, which was us getting back to school at 3 in the morning, and having to get up for breakfast at 8. I skipped that whole eating thing in favor of sleep.
Which brings us to today, when I got my roommate! Her name is Amy and she is fabulous. We both love theatre, reading, and 80s music, and I can tell this is going to be a beautiful friendship.
We drove down last night and after a few hours of sleep, headed over to the school to move in! I'm in a two story house with a front and back porch, a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, a study nook, two bathrooms, and four bedrooms.
Right now I have a room to myself, but we are supposed to be getting more girls on Sunday, so we'll see!
So far I've met a few of the housemates: Taryn, Katherine (Kat), Abby (Qipeng), and Mikayla. I know Emily and Kelsey are coming tomorrow, and Amy is supposed to be coming at some point, but the house holds 10, so we'll see if the rooms are all filled when we are done!
I can tell we are going to get along well, mostly because first thing when you walk in our house, there is a sign that says, "Hey I just met you... and this is crazy... but here's my number: GET IN THE VAN."
We got my stuff all set up pretty quickly, and spent the rest of the day doing some scheduled activities and touring campus.
I heard the final news on doing work study in the theater department today,and it's a go!
Last but not least, we had Fred Meyer night. The local Fred Meyer shut down for us from 11-1AM and everything was 20% off. There was a DJ, free samples, and a dance floor. So much fun!
