Roller Coasters and Reality Checks

I know it's been a while since I've blogged about anything, and I have had several ideas for blog starts, but those will have to wait for later. For now I must relay the experience that I had yesterday, shortly after arriving at my new home in Cedar Point. (For those who might be unaware, I scored a summer job working the front desk at a hotel in Cedar Point - a place I had never been before yesterday. In fact, I have never even been on a roller coaster. I can already tell that this is going to be a summer of firsts for me.)

I arrived at the Point of the Cedar variety (as my best friend calls it) early yesterday afternoon to process-in, sign tax forms, and all that jazz. My chauffeurs (in the form of my mother, my brother, and my man) graciously waited around until I was settled in, and I was grateful for the extra time with all of them. But once evening came and I was moved into employee housing, it was time to say goodbye. And that's when the reality check began.

I watched them drive away and started walking back to my apartment (which I share with 15 other people). I was suddenly alone, knowing no one. I had no car, no bike, nothing but my own two feet. It was terrifying and thrilling at the same time. I also realized at that moment that I hadn't had dinner yet, and I had no meal plan and no mother to cook for me.

Naturally, I went into survival mode. For me, this meant grabbing my purse and going off on a hike to search for the closest grocery store. As I started walking, I was already making a mental list of things that I could buy on my pre-paycheck budget: bread, peanut butter, jelly, ramen noodles. I was a man with a plan. Well....sort of.

And then I saw it, off in the distance--a red circular sign with the letters I, G, and A. I started walking faster toward the sign. IGA would be my savior, my knight in shining armor....or so I thought. Upon reaching the halfway point between my apartment and this so-called "grocery store", I realized that the red circle actually contained the letters D and Q. This was alarming to me, as I realized....my vision has gotten so bad that I mistook a Dairy Queen for an IGA.

The disappointment was short-lived, though. I wanted a grocery store, but I mean, when life gives you ice cream, you don't turn that down. I figured I would get a blizzard and ask where I could find a grocery store. And then I noticed something else. The words "Grill & Chill" were resting on that sign underneath the D and the Q. My disappointment was replaced with excitement as I realized that I could actually just eat dinner at Dairy Queen and get a delicious burger with a blizzard for dessert. Groceries could wait, I decided. The place looked really nice, too. Practically brand new! 

And that's when I noticed all the bulldozers in the parking lot. I was practically at the door before I realized that this particular Dairy Queen was, in fact, brand new. Not even open yet. The waves of disappointment rushed back, especially when I ended up eating dinner at the McDonald's across the street. And I realized that this experience of trying to find food was sort of like a roller coaster of expectation and disappointment. Probably my first of many roller coaster experiences here at Cedar Point.

But the moral of the story is that I did manage to find food (albeit McDonald's) and I realized that this summer is going to challenge me, but I'm up to the challenge. I want to use this opportunity of living on my own to grow on my own. Aside from fending for myself, I plan to better my health by running everyday. I intend to teach myself guitar (or at least one song on the guitar--let's not get too optimistic) and improve my French by actually reading books in French. I want to meet tons of new people and experience as many new things (like roller coasters!) as I can. And maybe...just maybe....I'll even blog about some of it.