Get in on the John

Hello my sweet, sweet, and totally neglected blogitty blog blog blog. Wow. It's been a really long time. So much has happened.
And there is so much yet to happen!
Lets pick up where my last post left off. Let's see. I was yet again being a complete moron and staying up till 4 Am writing on my blog, ignoring the fact that the next day contained an important event that I might want to be rested and prepared for, and I didn't want to say cucumber to people when I met them, and so on and so forth, et cetera et cetera... a situation that is strangely repeating itself at this very moment. But more on that later. I was worrying about going to reentry camp back then. Anyways, so: Boom. I finished, I turned off my computer, I looked at the time, I tore my clothes in anguish, I rubbed ashes all over myself, and I passed out. My old testament style mourning must have done something for me, because by some miracle I managed to wake up in time ( or rather I was woken up in time ) to collapse in the back seat of our new 1997 Volvo wagon and pass out again while we embarked on the car's maiden ( for us ) voyage. That car smells as weird as it looks. Anyway, we drove and drove and drove some more until we were so far from civilization that all we could see for miles around was hay fields and woods and the dirt road in front of us and I knew for certain that the camp I was to attend was going to be held in a rundown barn where I would relearn the complexities of American culture by milking cows for a week, finished with brutal dismemberment by a guy wearing a hockey mask and carrying a chainsaw. You know. Like in those movies. To my surprise the place that we pulled into as I brutally fought my father for control of the acceleration pedal wasn't all that abandoned or secluded at all. Maybe a teeny weeny bit rundown, though, but nothing that I wasn't used to. I mean, they had mini golf! Proof enough for me that civilization was alive and thriving at this camp. In addition to that, they had a pool, a zip line, lots of cabins, a volleyball court, tether ball (!), and a strange little miniaturized town complete with post office with tiny little letter boxes and a train station with a tiny little train in it. Hmm. Maybe the staff was all midgets? Anyway, I'm always terrified of meeting new people, especially if they are my age, so I was almost shaking as I got out of the car, walked up to the squat sprawling building that looked the most official and opened the glass doors. Inside were about 6 or persons I assumed were staff and one or two kids who I assumed were attending the camp. Against one of the wood paneled walls three staff persons sat in metal folding chairs behind a brown plastic table which had a paper sign with the word "admission" written on it in magic marker. I walked up to the table, and with a nervous cracking voice told them that I was here, and immediately kicked myself mentally: I mean, it's not as if they can see for themselves that I'm here, oh no. I should have told them that I like to breath air regularly, while I was at it. Something else they don't know. Stupid. Ah, ze nerves. Zay make me awfully critical of my zelf zometimes. Ah oui. Name? Uh... John Wilkos. They checked my name off a list and gave me something to sign. I did so, and they gave me some sort of test to fill out. Wow. Must be an exclusive camp if you have to take a test to get in. Oh, it's just a personality test. Um... ok. Kinda strange. I fill it out anyway, still feeling light headed, and the questions where I have no idea what they are talking about I just answer randomly. I return the test and that's it. I'm checked in. Yay. I look around. All the brown fuzzy couches are filled. Hmm. That window sill needs painting. A cricket chirps. So what do I do now? Seems as if they have a recreation room through those glass doors. Pool looks nice. I think I'll ask that big mustached dude if he wants someone to play against.
And so began the most excellent camping experience of my summer! It was actually really great fun, and I think I learned... something... along the way as well. Too many things happened during that week, so writing them all here is pretty much impossible, but a couple things stand out. My roommates Mark and Brad. Finding that old airconditioner in the hallway closet and rigging it up in our window with blankets and duct tape to escape the sweltering heat. The day trip to the amusement park. The talent show where I helped recreate a scene from Lord of the Rings. The girl who had just passed her French BAC like me, even though she is an L. ;-) Making bombs. And my favorite: Captain Fetus. ( Explanations on request ) I also discovered that TCK's, or Third Culture Kid's, are my favorite type of people on the planet. I am normally scared to death of kids my own age because of how they might judge me and stuff, ( and this is normal for TCK's apparently. ) but this time I could be my own crazy self, and no one cared. Mmm. Cue warm fuzzy feeling. Feel the love. Oh, and on the personality test I was almost a tie between S and I ( It was the DISC test. Take it here. Right now! And tell me what you got! ) Which means I am a submissive peace loving extroverted introvert who focuses on fun. Or something like that. The funny thing is that S and I personalities are supposed to conflict and I got em both! I am a complicated person. =) And the test was so very true as well. I can almost tell what someone is just by looking at them now.
Ok. So camp accounts for one of the weeks that I have been presumed dead by all you people who read my blog. ( I love being able to use the plural on that! ) Do not call CSI yet! I live!
I have to hurry a little bit here, it's already 3 Am. Next, we twisted and turned and loop-the-looped ourselves in a path from Buffalo to Kansas which looked like it had been drawn on a map by a fly with ink dripping from it's feet. ... You know, how they sorta fly in circles? ... Anyway, we visited all 7 billion people on earth on the way down here, and their respective churches, which accounts for the twistiness of our path. The highlight of the trip was the very cool Mall of America which had rollercoasters and a theme park right in the middle of it, it was so big. It was there that I had the privilege of experiencing my favorite movie of the summer: Batman Begins. The. Best. Batman. Evar. This time it actually felt like it was real and meaningful. The first bat helmets he ordered were so fragile you could break them with a hammer. And he had ask for ten thousand so the order didn't look suspicious. Little things like that and good character development made the comic book style action feel less cotton candy and more turkey dinner. It. Was. awesome! The great quality of this movie has me and everyone else who loved it hoping that they'll redo the old movies ( Batman Begins is a prequel that ends where the first batman picks up.) with the new and much cooler version. Also saw War of the Worlds. I liked it. Bummer they didn't change the ending, though. Always was a cheap way to end a story, ever since H.G. Wells wrote it, it's been kinda cheap. Cheap cheap cheap. Like, "oops gotta end my book soon, need a convenient ending fast", cheap.
Anyway, eventually, after about a week of grueling travel, we made it to my Grandma's house in Manhattan Kansas, and all hell really broke loose. FAMILY REUNION TIME! My GP's 50th wedding anniversary, to be exact. I stayed in the basement, upstairs, at my cousin's house, all over. Left and right I run. My younger cousins hijacked my GameCube and played Mario Cart non-stop for a week. I bought school books for shameful amounts of cash. I got my student ID. I opened a bank account. I bought windows XP at student discount price because I have to have it for school. Stupid XP. I pumped up the tires on the bike I'll use for transportation from now on. I watched the second season episodes of Battle Star Galactica. I tried my hardest to screw up my biological clock by sleeping crazy hours. Like now. I mistook my social security number by one digit for the past six months and had to go back to every single place I've used it since then ( driver's license, admissions, bank, etc... ) to get it corrected. Good times. Good times.
And now, tomorrow, I move into my dorm room. Yes, tomorrow it's time to get acquainted with the places and people I'll be spending the next year with. Terrifying? Oh yeah. John is feeling a little worried about tomorrow. Or rather, today. Not to worry though, John will survive as long as he isolates himself from cold hard reality by referring to himself in the third person. John is brilliant that way.
Well, John would like to stay and chat some more, but John has to sleep sometime. So John bids you adieu, and thanks you for all your comments, but remember: blogs need comments to stay alive like plants need sunshine, so like the song says: please don't take my sunshine away. ;-) Good night, god bless, and please pardon John's spelling!