Date: 2005-06-16
From: Dunnville ON Canada

To: Washington, DC
Miles today: 0.0

Done and Done! I am now officially a university graduate. OnStar B.Sc.(Eng).Not that the whole affair was without drama. In a previous journal entry I mentioned that I was staying with my sister in southern Ontario; the plan was to drive from her house to Guelph and meet my parnts there with my cloths. My sister told me that it would take an hour fifteen or hour and a half at most. I left with enough time to be there an hour ahead of time assuming it takes an hour and fifteen minutes. If it ended up taking another 15 minutes no big deal. Right?It ended up taking almost two hours and fifteen minutes between the rain and the traffic. The traffic was heaviest on the Lincon Alexander Parkway ("the Linc") and co-incidently the university chanselor is Mr. Lincon Alexander.I got to campus five minutes before the ceremony started. I parked and ran across the couple of parking lots between me and the athletic centre (AC). You have to remember now that my parents hav my cloths; I'm running across the parking lot wearing a cool-mesh t-shirt, my skirt and brigh orange Croc's, basically looking like a hiker (see any picture of me in the photo galery for an example). As I am running I can hear the bag pipper leading everone in.My parents were in the lobby as well as my swim coach, my dad especially releived that I haven't gotten into a car accident. I just took off my skirt and shirt and hopped into my cloths leaving my mom with my cloths and (in her words) "those bright orange things". I quickly got a robe and hood and one of the staff members lead me into "the Dome" where the ceremony was. The processional was just ending. Since I wasn't in the line I couldn't sit where I was spposed to, so - I got to sit in the front row. Total score, all the other engg grads were in the back. Some math proff who won a teaching award gave the address. He basiclly told us not to stress the small stuff and to remember the important things in life. He finishd off with "beware of the dark side and may the force be with you".(At this point I think that you the reader will have one of two resonses. 1. Groan - you must be an artsie. 2. Laughter/"Awesome" - you too are a nerd/geek just like the College of Physical and Engineering Class of 2005 - ERTW! For those of you who fall under 1. above that stands for "Engineers Rule The World")In the end I was there on time, got a sweet seat and lots of pictures with mom and dad. After words we went out to lunch and I headed back to my sisters.Back to the dreaded border crossing - dun, dun, dunnnn. I somehow thought that a land crossing would be easier than the grilling I got at the airport o my way down to Atlanta but I was wrong.US Customs: Where are you going?Me: To the airport, catching a flight to Washington DC then taking the commuter tril out to the AT in WV.US Customs: Can I see your return ticket?Me: I don't have one, I'll get it when I am done.US Customs: So do you actualy have any proff that you ARE ACTUALLY hiking?Me: Eh? Umm... A trunk with my hiking stuff in it??US Customs: Pop the trunk...After clearing the watchful eye of homeland security my sister and I headed off towards the airport. She was driving and I was navigating - I am "OnStar" after all.I gave my sister all my American change and dollar bills for the toll boths on the interstate and for the Peace bridge.I thought that flying out of an American city to another american city would be less hectic as it was a domestic flight. Not so. Most peculiar of all was when we passed through the security check everyone took off their shoes and put them through the x-ray. I have truely never seen or heard of such activity. I asked the security officer if I neded to take my shoes off, he looked at them and said no. The flight was short and went smoothly.From Dulles airport I took the Washington Flyer shutle bus to the West Falls Church metro station. The metro system in Washington is very eficient and a lot nicer than the MARTA in Atlanta. The only confusing part is that there is a different fare between each station and there are two fare rates depending on what time of day you are traveling.I got to the hostel I was staying at just before 11 pm. The Hilltop hostel is in the north end of the city. I was in a rom with 4 other girls. One girl from Belgium was in DC working on her Masters thesis at the National archives. Normal hostels are different than hiker hostels; instead of a towel and soap they give you sheets. I got an awesome set of New Kids on the Block.