It's me again...

Self-pity fest (almost) over. Anyway, I was making myself some dinner and thinking about some of the nuances of speech here. As far as I know, it's Lehigh-specific because we're such a close-knit community.

-We refer to the dorms as "home". When I talk with someone, we say we're going "home" to study, or shower, or nap or something. Yes, it's not that big of a deal...but in context it speaks a lot. We don't say "I'm going back to the dorm to____" anymore. 

-After the first two weeks or so of school, whenever someone would ask where I (or anyone else) was from, they would say "where were you from before?" or "where did you come from before [Lehigh]?" As in, "this is our home now, we moved here permanently, so where did you move from before you moved?" Now a lot of the people I talk to say "Where is your family?" When they joke about my [low] tolerance (what tolerance?) to the cold, they say "well, you came from Hawaii", in a way that always seems to imply that this is my home now, not Hawaii, like the above statement. 

-Now when people say "where do you live" or "where did you live", everyone automatically says their dorm/apartment name rather than their city or home state unless asked specifically. 

-When we asked each other about each others' Thanksgiving or holiday breaks, they always say first "it's good to be back home." Then they talk about family. Then they finish and say, "I missed my family, but I missed Lehigh more. It's good to be home." or something similar. 

On a lighter note, here is what we call some of the buildings on campus. Unfortunately I can only think of two...but they're fairly funny.

-Linderman Library: Nicknamed "Lindy". I've heard a lot of people say "I've got a hot date with Lindy," meaning "I'm going to study my butt off in Linderman Library and not come out until they kick me out or my brain bleeds out through my ears". Usually said sometime before finals/4 o'clocks.

-Rathbone Dining Hall: Nicknamed "Rath" or "The 'Bone" (B and some of my hall mates call it "The 'Boner" in fits of crude humor). I usually eat here, so when I plan dinner or something with friends, I refer to it as The 'Bone or, on occasion, Rath. Jose does this too. I know there are others who do it, so we're not the only ones.

~E