Small Towns

My roommate and I were talking one day and she pointed out to me that since our city is so small, it's not as multi-cultural as larger cities. I hadn't realized that before but one thing I did notice today was that there are a lot more houses decorated for Christmas than in my home city. And I mean very nicely decorated with lights and props etc., not just lights around the roof that get left up all year round. I don't know if that's related to race or not (and it's probably bad for me to think this) but in general it seems like Caucasians are more likely than other minority groups to elaborately decorate their house. Regardless, it's nice! I'd take some pictures but that might be a bit weird and I usually see these houses while on the bus so I can't get a nice photo anyway :P

Another thing about this city is that the bus drivers here are so nice! I live along the campus route so my bus is usually 90% university students. This means it's very noisy and crowded during rush hour. But the bus drivers are still very friendly most of the time. They'll even ask if anyone needs to catch a transfer and tell the other bus to wait. During the Santa Claus parade it was free to ride the bus and they had cute animal covers that fit over the fare box. Today, my bus driver was wearing a Santa hat. It might not sound like much but I think it can affect the mood of everyone on the bus if the driver's cheerful. So thank you bus drivers! :)

We're having a departmental potluck at lunch tomorrow. This is what I'm bringing!



There will be door prizes and a video made by us grad students so it should be fun! We are also going out for lunch as a lab on Thursday. Sigh. All this holiday stuff would be extra exciting if I didn't have school work to do....

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