oberlin: WT completion

soullessthinker (

soullessthinker) wrote in

oberlin,
@ 2007-01-26 00:48:00

WT completion
Hey there, Obies. Here's the question: How are your winter terms going?
Could you give a solid critique of your choice, anything from reading all of Discworld in your parent's kitchen to learning puppetry in Prague... whatever. Say what you liked, whether others should do it, cost, weather... the good stuff.

As for me:

I'm in Guadalajara with 28 other Obies, taking classes for 4 hours a day in a school a few minutes by foot from the historical center of the city. When I came here, I knew not a word of spanish...and the first week was a lonely, confusing hell. But I managed to pilfer a few friendships, overcome my weird hermitage, and have an amazing time.

+ Beach trip
- Pollution in Guadalajara
+ Warmth
- Skeezy men
+ Cheap everything
- Expensive program

But overall, this has been good. Really freakin good.

(Post a new comment)

sherwood42
2007-01-26 06:35 am UTC (link)

Winter Term theater in Oberlin... specifically, working on Omnium Gatherum, the Hall mainstage show.

Theater during Winter Term is pretty awesome. It's a great way to meet new people, as there are usually a good number of shows going on this month, and they all mix at parties, and people's houses and rooms. Also, it's a great oppotunity to act, whether you're a freshman or a sophomore looking for a better chance at a mainstage credit or are something with a casual interest in theater and want to be in a student directed show. Work obviously varies from show to show, but I end up rehearsing 3-4 hours a day (not counting tech week), and and sometimes less.

Certainly not a extremely 'fulfilling' Winter Term, unlike saving the rainforest or any other number of such projects, but a lot of fun, not too much work (usually), and good for the ego.

Downsides: Uh... Ohio in January. I've eaten at Subway a LOT this month. You have to audition to get the project, obviously. There's the potential to spend TOO much time with particular friends.

Overall, pretty sweet. This is my second year doing it, so... yeah.

P.S. Come see Omnium Gatherum February 1-4 in Hall Auditorium. There's a facebook event about it. Also, come see the other shows going up that same weekend! See What I Wanna See is in Warner Main, Little Shop of Horrors is in the 'Sco, and Allison Choat is directing two one-act operas in Wilder Main. The following weekend is OShorts in Little Theater, Lost Highway in Finney Chapel, and Picasso at the Lapin Agile in Wilder Main. So much theater! Forgive me if I've forgotten anything.

(Reply to this)

freesiayourmind
2007-01-26 06:41 am UTC (link)

I'm in Oberlin, supervising rehearsals for 8 hours a day and then organizing everything in my "spare time".

+ some people, sometimes
+ Still being able to watch TDS/TCR daily
- People acting like I apparently don't exist
- People not recognizing how difficult my job actually is
- Supervising professors who seem to think that I should be acting like a professional stage manager
- People who seem to think it's okay for everyone except me to mess up sometimes
- Rehearsals in the morning
- Feeling constantly guilty, because anything that goes wrong is at least partially my fault
- Having to sit around all day and not being able to exercise like I'm supposed to because I'm in rehearsal throughout gym hours
- Being reminded that even when there's hardly anyone else to hang out with, people would still rather not hang out with me
- Possibility of not being able to see some of the other shows going up soon
- Being jealous of actors (actually hasn't been that much of problem yet, that's usually more of a showtime thing.)
+/- Snow/cold (except when it wasn't)
+ No cost

I'm exaggerating. But CHRIST that felt good.

(Reply to this)

emo_munchkin
2007-01-26 07:19 am UTC (link)

Docent training at the Allen Art Museum.

+ no cost
- new education curator
+ class from 12.30 to 4.30... usually done by 3.30
- it's a long, cold walk from harkhouse to the allen
+ the allen is amazing
- museums always make me sleepy
+ field trips to the FLW house here in oberlin, and the toledo art museum
+/- docent for the next four years

i'm not sure that i will do any more WT's at oberlin though, as it's a bit boring and i don't go to sleep till about 4am, etc. i feel dull. i can't wait for the next semester to start again...

(Reply to this) (Thread)

wooo docent training

perfect_line
2007-01-29 02:44 pm UTC (link)

+FLW house, art museum
+spending my 21st b-day with all my friends in oberlin
-new education curator
-long and very boring classes
-i picked this over a more exciting internship
-absolutely no structure meaning i've procrastinated and not done anything for this besides the bare minimum
+giving museum tours
-not getting paid for the tours so having to keep another job
-our teacher requiring us to make all the other museum events as well. i want to go to some...but i don't have time for everything!!!
+/- spending lots of time in museums

ok i'm having a hard time being positive cause i found it really really boring and definitely did not live up to expectations.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	imtiredofthis 2007-01-26 04:38 pm UTC (link)
	I'm working on the audio crew for Lost Highway. It's been more stress than I could have imagined at times (I have 300 audio cues to call during the show, hello responsibility), but everything is coming together and now I'm pretty excited about it. Plus, next month I get a whole week off of school, excused by the Dean, to hang out in New York and help put the show on there. (Reply to this)

dj_polysemy
2007-01-26 06:23 pm UTC (link)

i worked in a bakery in central illinois for winter term. i'm a senior and i had done three winter terms prior, but i wanted to do something random and weird and fun and learn to do something i'd always wanted to do. i learned to make fancy pie crusts, chocolate truffles, all different kinds of cookies and bars, how to decorate cookies and things, and i picked up a bunch of recipes from the vegetarian deli nextdoor.

central illinois is not for me, i miss my friends, and i've eaten enough refined sugar to last me a lifetime, but i loved the work i did, and i would highly recommend working here or doing a bakery internship to anyone.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2007-01-26 07:20 pm UTC (link)
	what's the name of the bakery? that sounds really cool (Reply to this) (Parent)

	micahblitz 2007-01-26 06:25 pm UTC (link)
	I'm a research intern for a Fellow at the East West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. The topic is generally politics-related. I essentially have various tasks including finding books and articles and compiling a complete annotated bibliography for further use. It's pretty sweet to be in 75 degree weather when it's 18 in Oberlin. This is my second WT doing this. (Reply to this)

rollyoureyes
2007-01-26 06:46 pm UTC (link)

Reading all of Discworld actually sounds really fun...I haven't used my personal growth yet...hmmmm :oP

I took beginning aikido here, hours of class a day, not all classes required. At the end, I tested for the first level. ($60 mat fee)
+Awesome, wonderful people
+Gaining strength/flexibilty
+New thing to continue with
+Going to the Feve with Sensei
-A week of intense soreness and inabillity to move
+/-Bruises (you know, they can make you look hard core)
+/-Odd scheduling making doing much else with my time difficult (Meaning I read and knitted a lot)

+ wins by a lot

(Reply to this)

	blackrosechild 2007-01-26 07:46 pm UTC (link)
	Sorry, this has absolutely nothing to do with your post, but I like your icon, IF that IS gabrielle? (Reply to this)

shannonmc
2007-01-26 08:41 pm UTC (link)

my winter term basically is me figuring out the rest of my life.

i'm investigating the academic study of religion. trying to decide if i want to become a professor. it's been pretty scary, stressful, and dry. but necessary, i guess. my conclusions: holy shit, i have no idea what i want to do, and grad school is long, involved, and expensive. and i don't think i want to be an academic for the rest of my life.

- horrifying
- turns out, getting a ph.d from a good school looks like a pretty huge commitment
+ being lazy in chicago, cooking, reading, etc, with my multitude of free time
+ with my boyfriend, when he's not at work
- pretty isolated project, making the scariness even more suffocating
- now i have no idea what i'm going to do with the rest of my life.

(Reply to this)

root_rambler
2007-01-26 10:00 pm UTC (link)

I'm sitting in my room writing poetry all day. Specifically poetry about geology, but it kinda stopped following a theme a while ago.

+/- I love to write. I write in my free time. However, it's starting to get insane. I sit for three hours a day and work on my project, and then in the evening, I decide it's a good idea to write a series of poems/a couple of sonnets for my own purposes. NO! It is not!
+ Looking at all the word-masses I have created. Very satisfying.
+ Being in Oberlin, having access to a gym, seeing people every once in a while. I entertain myself quite well.
- Constantly feeling like I should be writing because I have no set schedule. (I tried to give myself one, and it failed.) Consequently, I'm probably doing/trying to do more than is humanly possible because I feel bad.
-My DAMN CHAIR in Burton is possibly the most uncomfortable chair I have ever sat in. Seriously. Who makes chairs without supports in the middle?
+ Eating in Harkness and seeing people there. Yay food!

It's been good, but I don't know if I'll spend another winter term writing. There's so much else to do... (And I'll always be writing.)

(Reply to this)

ahhrrr
2007-01-27 03:27 am UTC (link)

I got home Tuesday from my group WT project in Tokyo. There were 10 students, one Japanese student assistant, and one amazing Japanese professor. Everybody had taken at least a year-and-a-half of Japanese at Oberlin.

+++ It was JAPAN!
+ We got to go to some amazing locations in the Tokyo area
- There wasn't nearly enough time to see everything we wanted to
+ Each of us did two weekend homestays and bonded with some awesome Japanese families
+ Our professor got a grant for the trip, so finances were reasonable
- We each still had to contribute a lot of money
+ The Tokyo public transportation system is amazing
- None of us got enough sleep
+ Everybody on the trip was really awesome
- The last night, some jerk snatched my friend's purse, so she lost a bunch of money and ALL of her identification, including her passport. She had to go to the US embassy to get a new one.
+ She still got home safely

It looks like this WT may happen again next year, and it should, because it was a really positive experience for all of us. If you take Japanese and won't have the opportunity to study abroad, definitely check it out.

(Reply to this)

	zbladerunner 2007-01-28 01:39 am UTC (link)
	Oberlin Business Scholars + Terrific experience + Overall great group of people + Lots and lots of perks + Meet interesting people and make connections - Stressful - Not really fun if you don't care about money - Sometimes boring - If you're not into finance/business/economics/politics/law, there's very little there. (Reply to this)

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