I just got home from a late night snack at the Eagle’s Nest.
A Senior I had met earlier during the day and I decided we were still hungry after today’s sushi at Seaco’s. We ignored my roommate’s warning about the dreadful “Freshman 15″ and headed for the carbs. And I’m glad we did – the “quick snack” turned out to be an entertaining and very informative evening ! She gave me UMW inside advice and I told her about German beer. So we both got something out of it 
You’re probably wondering why I’m telling you all of this. No, the beer is not the point. The reason I’m writing this is because of what she said after having spent a little more than 2 hours at the Nest. She thanked me for the fun time and mentioned that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d spent so much time sitting at a table and talking to a friend. I was shocked. She then added that she and her friends mostly communicate over the internet and in chat rooms. I remembered my American College friend back in Germany who registered me for “Facebook”, saying this was essential to survive College. I couldn’t believe someone would replace meeting up with a friend with an online date. “It’s a great way to stay in contact with lots of people.” Great.
When I left behind my friends in Germany we decided to avoid email and ICQ as much as possible. Instead I have received quite a few letters – and one of my friends actually apologized for not having hand-written it. We felt it would be wrong to pretend I was close when really I was 6000 km away – it would also have spoiled the anticipation of seeing all of them again when I fly back for Christmas !
Don’t get me wrong. I think the web is great. I wouldn’t have found UMW and I would have been – uhm, very suprised – by my roommate’s love for Country music had I not read about it beforehand in Facebook. But I think it’s important to distinguish between your reality and the net.
Wow, I wanted to go to bed early for once. I didn’t think I’d be sitting here this long, talking about the notorious “Freshman 15″. Who ever started that rumor anyway ? I can’t imagine it happening with the awesome “Battleground” and the Gym around ! That’s probably the reason I don’t feel guilty about tonight’s cheesburger. Probably another one of those campus secrets I’m going to have to find out about. Maybe I’ll go out for breakfast with my friend tomorrow…
