Panda Meets Hotlanta

Okay, so I KNOW it has been more than a week and I still haven’t divulged of my moving antics to Atlanta. But I am alive, stressed and finally settled in!

I guess I’ll do a SUPER quick recap since I have to go to bed soon (I know, I KNOW, I promise to update soon). So Padre and I came down last Saturday without a car, but at least we didn’t have to stay in weird motels (although the guy at the Days Inn in South Carolina was kind of cute, in a “down-home” kind of way). I have a one bedroom apartment all to myself, but we didn’t get a mattress until day two, so the first night Padre and I had to sleep on throw on the living room floor.

Moving into an apartment in a big city like Atlanta without a car is pretty difficult, but nothing that Little Panda and Padre Panda can’t handle. The MARTA system here is extensive enough that we got to where we needed to go, and it’s also very affordable (a one-week unlimited pass is only $17 – and students at GT can buy a one-month pass for only $39!). I have always loved public transportation, in a creepy sort of way. I mean, I’ll get a ride if I have to be on time, but otherwise I love exploring by myself. And there are all sorts of way to get around. I’m not sure why, but most people here seem allergic to traveling via the MARTA. It seems pretty safe to me, but I guess there is just a social stigma associated with the population that doesn’t have their own vehicle. But I’m pretty happy with it, and who is going to attack a PANDA on the subway!?

The only bad thing about not having a car is not being able to get groceries. Fortunately, I have an Amazon prime account, which allows for free 2-day shipping on most things. Walmart also shipped my mini-vacuum, microwave and futon for a mere $1.99 (my printer is currently on the way as well!). IKEA offers $59 shipping for an unlimited amount of furniture, so Padre and I got most of the furnishings from my apartment there. It was Padre’s and my first time at IKEA, and immediately we fell in love with it. I may or may be worse than our obsession with the outlets. IKEA offers 99 cents breakfast every day, free kid’s meals (you KNOW I eat them) and if you get a family card, you get free tea or coffee every time you visit! AND they served an oxtail platter last week, so Padre now thinks of it as home.

Padre is getting older (62! That is senior citizen material), but he still looks pretty young, like 50 maybe. He is definitely really stubborn, and in public he is sometimes pushy or ignorant but mostly oblivious to his surroundings. But even though he looks “younger”, he is DEFINITELY still a foreign old dude (he brought his Amish hat to Atlanta and wore it EVERY. DAY.). Which brings me to the bad of public transportation and (some of) the people that take it. There was a black girl (I know her being black shouldn’t matter, but seriously, she is setting up a bad rep for her people. Everyone else here is the entire POLAR opposite of her) trying to pay her bus fare when Padre and I got on the bus. Padre never waits for anything and just stepped into the bus and tried going around the girl, who was using the machine, to swipe his card at the machine. Obviously this was stupid, but any normal person would have either a.) let him swipe his card and THEN pay for their own fare afterward or b.) politely ask him to hold on a second. Not only did this girl (I say “girl” because she was definitely doesn’t deserve the title of a “lady”, but she was probably in her 20’s) snap at Padre, but after Padre stepped back and she paid, she turned around and PUSHED HIM in the chest as she was walking away.

Okay…SERIOUSLY!?

That was totally unwarranted. Pushing an old foreign dude in an Amish hat on the bus? Padre didn’t do ANYTHING wrong except try to swipe his card at the machine! I don’t think I would be mad if this ever happened to me, especially if I was being stupid (I mean, I probably WOULD be mad if they were being really mean or something), but she did it to MY FATHER! I should have called her out on it, but I didn’t. And I guess that makes me even more mad, because I didn’t do anything about it. But then again, what could I have done? The bus driver was on the girl’s side; he didn’t even say anything when she pushed Padre. It’s really terrible. And that was the saddest part of my time in Atlanta with Padre. I get super frustrated with him a lot of the time because he has no idea what is going on and is so impatient, but I wouldn’t PUSH him. I mean, that’s awful! And I’m telling this in a light-hearted way, but even now as I write this, there is a feeling in my chest that won’t go away. The only thing I know about this girl is that she was wearing a Willy’s uniform, so I’m assuming she just got off her shift (it was later at night). I hate her. And in a way, I kind of hate myself for not doing anything about the way she treated my dad.

So I decided I needed to toughen up. But since then, nothing has happened. In fact, Atlanta is GREAT! So I can forget about that, but if I ever see a black girl in a Willy’s uniform riding the 12 bus to Midtown MARTA station, I probably still won’t do anything. UGH I’m such a wuss! But I figure karma will come back to her. I can’t imagine what Padre felt like, and I probably felt worse because I make such a bigger deal out of things than they are. I just hope whatever comes around back to her doesn’t make her any worse than she is already.

After Padre left on Tuesday, Big K arrived! In the past few days, we got the rest of the furniture, a TV, LOTS of wine, junk food and Internet for the apartment. So now my apartment is actually really nice and looks like a REAL apartment (as opposed to what my living spaces usually look like). All that is left is setting up an armoire from IKEA that I’m hoping The Boyf can do in his spare time when he arrives this Tuesday (that’s what boys are for, right?).

I had my first lab meeting on Wednesday, which starts every weekday at 8:20am. I thought it would be terrible, but I really enjoy the structure. I’m also doing a pre-course (BLOCK 0, you know) which also started on Wednesday. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but then again it is mostly self-motivation and I lost a lot of that already (need to pick it back up!). I also got my OWN DESK! Super exciting. Apparently everyone has been coveting my desk chair, so I guess I was fortunate to get such a good…chair? I’m just excited to decorate the space and that I even HAVE a space!

Everyone in my lab is also really awesome. I mean, I haven’t actually hung out with EVERYBODY, but I did go out with a good bunch of people last night for one of the girls’ birthdays. We had dinner and then went to a club. Everything was fantastic and everyone was so chill. I actually had some hesitations about being in such a large lab – I was afraid it would be clique-y and there definitely seems to be some hierarchy going on, but I had such a fun time last night that I think I’m going to really enjoy being part of the lab group. It’s weird…I used to think that people in academia would be so stuffy or prude or whatever, but last night I hung out with the best people I have met, probably ever. They were all different ages and SUPER smart and super accomplished, but they were so down-to-earth. I guess this is what my dad wanted for me when he wanted me to go to school and associate with “the right people”. It really is a different circle of people, but in such a better way. Not to say I don’t like anyone else – as long as my friends are cool with me dumpster diving, it’s all good in the [cell] hood.

My co-advisor is only in the States every so often, so I have to meet with him sometime this or next week. I’m really nervous – I have heard he is strict but I also like a challenge, but I also don’t want to look like a complete fool, but I ALSO have NSF…so overall, I’m still nervous. GAH. I guess if he hates me the worst that can happen is that I’ll get kicked out of the lab, but maybe I can do my PhD in the dumpster-diving habits of Pandas.

Just sayin’.

I bought this wallpaper-ish white board, where it’s like an adhesive wallpaper that you can use dry-erase markers on. I put it up in my living room, and it’s fantastic. Big K signed it the “HERF Club”, which he denotes as the “Hereditary Evolved Retardant Friends”.

So yeah, that's us.

Whatever, don't hate.