Laughter in the Snow - August 30th, 2008

*thrums her air guitar*

So we're back at Reed. Yesterday was soo long; in the morning waking up at seven so we could get Alex's sutures out (a less than five minute process), and then came back to take care of mom while Ali went to her dermatologist to renew her birth control prescription. The doctor took forever to get to her (she arrived a little earlier than 9:30, her appointment, and was waiting for over half an hour after her appointment was to begin- bleary doctors) so she returned a little after eleven, and then martin had a snack because he was hungry, and then my optometrist called saying I needed to come pick up my glasses... XD
After dealing with all that, and saying our goodbyes, we headed out. It was a peaceful trip, very hot though- Martin nearly fell asleep a couple times. We stopped for subway sandwiches, and I won a free one. We made it to west parking around 4:11, found where the CSOs are hanging out these days and that was slightly too far to walk in the heat, so we drove there, Martin got his key stuck in the ignition and I went in to get my key and they were like "Actually it's at physplant, and you have 20 minutes to get there" so we peeled out back to west parking to walk over to physplant. After that packing was difficult because there's been lots of thefts lately here so one of us was always with the car until Guy came to watch the car, which made things easier; but it was soooo hot, and I was sooo tired, that it was super difficult. It was also hard seeing so many strangers around. Martin was kind of scared actually. But the dorm is still the same; my room even smells the same, although Martin's room was unbeknownst to us randomly painted with glow in the dark paint, which was kind of creepy last night, but we fell asleep really quick.. Even if it wasn't for long. -_-

Anyway. So I'm here. Gotta buy some things soon because I don't own some stuff I need XD

But for you! Here's an interesting article on how lesbians can have children of their very own someday. Which is awesome!

Speaking of relationships with women---

So I just finished the fourth episode of Strawberry Panic!, which is an anime about the relationships that develop at three Catholic all-girls boarding schools that share the same dormitories. I've been watching it for pure amusement factor; it's not really all that interesting or heartstring-pulling, it's just kind of something to pleasantly pass the time watching. What's been bothering me though (besides the kind of awkwardness of highschool relationships and lives in general) is the non-existence of stigma on lesbian relationships. One would think, you know, at a Catholic school that might be an issue... Then again, it seems the student body is the basis of most things extracurricular, teachers (some of which at least are referred to as "Sisters") are only seen in the classrooms and kind of half-officiating at ceremonies/etc. Maybe it's just so accepted among the student body that it's okay.

Or is it a Japanese cultural thing? I only ever knew people at co-ed schools. Relationships between the genders were almost taboo there, but girls all over Asia as far as I can tell hold hands and snuggle and all sorts of things; after I made friends with Shyla (Philipino) and Yuliana (Indonesian), they asked me once whether it was okay by me that they did that with me because they heard that Americans were really against relationships of the same gender, and would always interpret holding hands and being close as gay "and we are really not that, we just love eachother!" Of course in response, I laughed and said it was okay, probably mostly because I'm half gay or whatever... XD So is that all? Is it just that in Asia this is such a natural occurence in entirely female boarding schools that it's not even questioned? I know in America we definitely have "Lesbian Till Graduation" as a term in all-girls colleges and universities, but the girls that I know who partook in that on this side of the ocean definitely felt the dramatics of the social ramifications of such decisions. I don't know anything about the other side of the ocean... Except that in Taiwan it's still kind of awkward to hang out with boys, even when you're 21+ =P

Is this an appropriate theory to make? Can anyone corroborate with me on this, or refute me?