Being a Redneck for a Weekend & My First Week of Studying Abroad

I've been really busy lately, and I know it has been a while since my last post, so, for that, I apologize. So many good things have happened to me in the past three weeks and it's going to be tough to remember everything, but I'll try to put down all the good stuff. Oh, and by the way, I'm writing all this from Metz, France.

A little over two weeks ago, on Friday, I finished my four final exams and my fourth semester of college. Wow! That makes me a college junior now... shit- I'm getting old! I later found out that I got all A's and one B. On Saturday, I was able to move all my dorm stuff into my car, a Nissan Maxima, which barely fit everything, and then I started driving towards Columbus, GA, where I spent the weekend at my roommate's uncle's hunting lodge with some of my other roommates. That was fun, like really, really, really fun. We had about two thousand acres all for ourselves, and could do whatever we wanted. The weekend was spent driving old jeeps (two of them actually) through the mud and streams, shooting guns, fishing, and grilling. It was the first time in my life that I had driven a manual-transmission car, and it was great! It actually felt natural when I drove it, like I've been doing it for a while. I quickly learned how not to stall after I messed up a couple times, but, after that, I drove the jeeps without any problems. On Sunday, we went fishing for a couple hours in their lake, and I managed to catch five fish, but we didn't keep them. That was actually the first time I had fished, and it has to be one of the most boring activities I've ever done. The other big weekend activity was shooting, which is something else I don't have much experience in. We shot all sorts of handguns, rifles, and shotguns, and, not surprisingly we were all acting responsible and keeping safe, but it was nonetheless, loads of fun. The dad was there watching us the whole time- he was actually the one who brought all the guns- it might be helpful to note that he is in law-enforcement and works for one of the big Bureaus. The other awesome thing we did that weekend was grill. It's been a while since I've had a nice, big charcoal grill dinner- we ate lots of hotdogs and chips... mmmm... yummy. On Monday, I drove six hours to Florida to go home.

That week, two weeks ago, I spent the entire week in Tampa, catching up on lost time with my family and best friends. I can't think of any one thing that really stood out from that week, but I know I did spend a lot of my time cleaning and repairing my sailboat. Also, I showed the first episode of Shameless to a couple of my Tampa friends, and they loved it. It sucks I don't get to see them more often- they're really good guys. I guess the rest of the time was spent shopping and organizing all the crap I brought back from Georgia Tech. On Saturday, I packed two small suitcases, and departed the next day to Frankfurt, connecting in Dallas, for my study-abroad semester in Metz, France... The flight sucked. The entire time, I had this horible pain in my butt bone from the poorly-designed chair- there was like a stiff metal hump in one section of the cushion. I wasn't able to sleep much on the plane- out of the nine of ten hours, I slept for like fourty minutes. So, needless to say, I felt like crap for the next few days. On the airplane, I did meet some people sitting around me that were also going to the same Georgia Tech program, so it was nice to chat a bit with them. Once in Frankfurt, all the Georgia Tech Lorraine (GTL) students met up in the McDonald's in Terminal 2 and waited for the official Georgia Tech bus to pick us up. We took it, and three hours later, we arrived at our dorms.

That whole first week of school, just this past week, was pretty awesome. The teachers and students are all equally enthusiastic for this semester and so everyone is really happy and nice, which is a good thing when it comes to teachers giving homework and tests. One of my classes is really demanding- Statistics- we meet for two hours a day every day, but the professor is so much better and nicer than his counterpart back in Atlanta, so it kind of cancels out the unusual amount of class time. Monday and Tuesday were spend attending orientations and exploring the small city of Metz. The real stuff started on Wednesday, and, get this, my first test is this Tuesday! It's in that ridiculously high-paced Stats class. Oh well. I need to come to the realization at some point soon that I am still attending school while I am here in Europe... But that's so hard to do, especially after having spent my entire weekend in Paris, which was amazing. Oh my God- Paris... so many awesome things happened while I was there! I'll write about that soon enough, but not tonight; however I'll give you a preview- a friend came out to me! Sorry to torture you, but that's going to take a lot of writing and I'm not willing to do right now. Anyways, twelve of my friends are in this same study-abroad program, and they're all from my fraternity. I'm glad to say that things are going well with them overall, and I feel that I'm becoming much better friends with them than I was before.

So, I've got to catch up on sleep now- I just got back this evening from Paris, and I slept very little there, so good night! (It's a six hour difference here than back on the east coast of the US.) I'm glad to have finally found some time to post to my blog.

I hope everyone has a great week!!!!
-GTG1

Hanging Out with My Little

It's a sunny, cloudless day in Atlanta, with temperatures lingering in the mid-70s, and, right now, I'm sitting on a bench in an overgrown and very green garden near the Georgia Tech library, beneath the cool shade of some tree I can't even identify... I feel that this beautiful setting can describe how I've been feeling recently- overly calm, relaxed, pensive, and appreciative. Needless to say, things have gone well for me in the past several weeks...

Exactly one week ago, last Thursday, I took my little bro (fraternity) to go get a movie he needed for a class. Usually, when we hang out, I take him out to eat, but instead, we just relaxed and went to go explore a store we've never been to after we picked up a DVD from the video rental place. The store is called Urban Outfitters- it's in a lot of malls, and I always enjoy going in and seeing all the crazy books and gag gifts they have, but this one particular store was a bit different, and I had never visited it. It was a stand-alone store, located in a 1960s or 70s-looking strip mall on Ponce de Leon Avenue, next to an old diner. The architecture seemed authentically old, and it fascinated me. The store looked a lot bigger than the ones in the malls, and it turned out to have more clothes than the other stores, and less of the fun little things they normally sell. We spent about 40 minutes there, tinkering with random gadgets and flipping through explicit books; he was more intrigued by their products than I was, since, as it turns out, he had never been to any of their stores before... Anyways, we had a very relaxed and extremely comfortable evening, which surprised me a little at the time because I had, in fact, come out to him earlier that day, just after picking him up that afternoon. I had been meaning to tell him for a while, but I chose that day, last Thursday, to tell him that I'm gay because he had seen me attending a Pride meeting the week before, and I wasn't sure whether or not he had found out. It still remains a mystery to me as to why he happened to be walking by the meeting in this discreet, out-of-the-way room at the exact same time it was starting, and he did have trouble answering that question, but I'm not going to jump to any assumptions about him... After telling him about me, he seemed to remain very comfortable with me and he even asked a few genuine, good-willed questions about being gay, as well as gay-culture. He was so comfortable with the topic that he even said that he himself has some "gay" mannerisms. That, of course, led to the topic of stereotypes and to even more questions for me, but I had no stress answering any of them. So, all-in-all, it was a great afternoon.

I'm running out of battery on my laptop, so I'm going to summarize the next thing I want to say: I got the job!!!! That company I was telling you about, which I'll now identify as UPS, called me back last Friday to let me know that they've chosen me out of all the candidates to be their co-op engineer in the fall. Awesome!

I have finals next week, and then I'm off to France, so it may be a bit difficult for me to post for a while, but I'll definitely try!

Have a good end-of-the-week,
GTG1

OCD, Work, & France

I'm looking back at my calendar, wondering where and how I've spent my time over the last 2-3 weeks, during which I haven't really written any meaningful posts... I use Google Calendar for everything: every single class, activity, and meal is on there. Now that I think about it, I guess that kind of describes my personality- I like order and strictness, yet I'm very open to spontaneity. Maybe I'm a little bit of obsessive-compulsive at times (not diagnosed), but that keeps me organized, clean, and on time to everything. In fact, my major, Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE), is all about efficiency and optimization, which very well describes how I am and what I like to do. For example, it's been bothering me for months how I have 2 separate email accounts (Gmail and GATech), that I receive through 2 different clients, Gmail (online) and Thunderbird (similar to Outlook Express). I finally combined them both into Thunderbird, but then I lost the ability to archive emails on my Gmail account since there is no "archive" button or folder that I can access through this application. Last night, I changed my setup again- I though about it for a long time, and I decided that the best option would be to have both accounts managed through Gmail (have Gmail download the messages off the GATech servers via POP, and label them all in green). This way, I can actually archive my GATech emails too, since about half of them are pretty damn important (and I don't want them sitting in my inbox either). The other reason I wanted to manange my GATech emails through Gmail was so that I could always have access to my emails in case I didn't have my laptop for whatever reason. I've also applied this contingency plan to my calendar, which is also really important to me. Now, I'm pretty happy with how I have my email set up... that's my rant on how healthy a little bit of OCD can be.

Anyways, not last Friday, but the Friday before that, I had my second interview with a company that I really want to work for as a co-op (similar to an intern) during my fall 2009 semester. I won't mention the name of the company, but it's one of the huge package shipping companies that has a lot of offices and facilities here in Atlanta... In my school, it's common for the students to work a few semesters as an intern or co-op before they graduate. Sure, it lengthens the time that I'll be in this school, but it also adds priceless work experience to my resume... The interview, I think, went very well. I felt very comfortable with the interviewers and felt that I would enjoy working that position with the company. It's been almost 2 weeks since I interviewed, and I haven't heard back from them yet, so I'm starting to get a little nervous. I really need to get a job, particularly an internship or co-op, for the fall semester, as my parents are under a bit of economic pressure to pay for 4 semesters in a row without a break. Usually, I would take the summer semester off, either on vacation or working, but, this summer, I will be studying abroad, and therefore need to find, interview with, and confirm a position before I leave to study in France in mid-May. If worse comes to worse, and I don't get a job, then my parents will gladly pay for the fall semester for me to study, but it's definitely easier for us financially if we can avoid that.

Speaking of studying abroad, I guess I haven't posted about that yet. So, yes, it's true: I will be living and studying in Lorraine, France for almost 3 months, from May 10 until July 31 of this year. That's in little less than 1 month from today, wow! I found out I got accepted into the program about 1 month ago, and, as it turns out, a lot of my fraternity friends will be going there too, studying in the same program on the same campus, Georgia Tech Lorraine. It's still a bit surreal for me- very soon, I'm going to be abroad for that long! I've travelled a lot, and I've been to Europe about 13 or 14 times now, but I've never stayed for more than 2 or 3 weeks, so this is going to be a ridiculously awesome adventure for me. I've studied French for about 5 years, so I'm really looking forward to practicing and fine-tuning my speaking skills while I'm over there. Also, I wonder.... how's gay life in Lorraine, France.... maybe I can screw around and have a bit of safe fun? Maybe I'll act like I do here and do pretty much nothing, but who knows? This might be a very positive experience for me, in terms of exploring the gay world!

Speaking of the gay world, I attended a Pride (GLBT) meeting last night here at my school (last one of the semester), and we didn't really do much, but I do plan on getting very involved when I'm back in Atlanta for the fall. Most of the boys at the meeting were pretty flamboyant, with the exception of a few, one of which I find really cute. Unfortunately, I don't know the members too well since I didn't get very involved with the club this semester (in terms of actually going to their events), so, hopefully, I can really become a part of it when it resumes in the fall.

Also, tonight I will be attending a couple meetings at YouthPride. This is another organization that I really haven't gotten very involved with yet, but will when I return.

Have a good week,
-GTG1

Adventureland

Just saw it... pretty dumb movie... but I was really turned on by the main actor- Jesse Eisenberg!

We've got a lot of catching up to do! In summary: life has been good.

-GTG1

Depressed

I mentioned before that I had suffered a moderately-severe depression towards the end of high school, which I got over around the same time that I went off to college. However, in the past 2 school years, I've occasionally still felt some remnants of that depression. Last night and all of today, for example, I felt alone, empty, and sad. I even felt like crying at times. When I spoke with my mom today over the phone, she was able to sense that I was feeling down, and we talked for a bit about why that might be. I explained how pretty much all of my friends are gone for the weekend, and how I had absolutely nothing to do. As I've mentioned before, when I get bored, and especially when there are no friends around, I tend to get really sad. I start contemplating about why I don't have more friends, how I'm not very social, and this, in turn, leads to even more sadness. I sometimes even feel that I don't have any friends that care about me. My mom told me that she had the same problem all through high school and college and even into her professional life- she never had a good group of close friends, but, from what she tells me, she never really cared. She keeps to herself, and she's OK with that, but not me- I need to be around friends, or else I get depressed. She said that other guys have girlfriends that keep them company, and since most of my friends have girlfriends, I come second after the girls. I'm glad she didn't once say outright that I had to get a girlfriend, but she mentioned finding friends of the opposite sex to hang out with. As it is, I have only 1 friend that's a girl, and I only get to see her like once every 2 months. What I really want is to meet a guy that I can bond with and that I can spend a lot of time with... a boyfriend. This just seems like something that isn't likely to happen because I don't go out to places to meet guys. I don't go to gay bars, gay restaurants, or anything else that is "gay." It's hard to admit, but I'm afraid of going out to anywhere like that because I sometimes feel uncomfortable in new places (social situations) and I'm also afraid of getting caught. I just spend a lot of time here, in my school, usually hanging out with the friends I have here, and watching TV. So, it's my own fault that I haven't met any guys, because I don't want to go out.

I'm feeling better now, after having had dinner, and watching some more Shameless, but I know that I will continue to feel a bit bad for not having that special boy in my life. Any suggestions, advice, or tips???

Thanks,
-GTG1

Tyler

I drove 7 hours back to school (from Tampa) on Sunday. I had been on Spring Break, which is why I haven't written in a while. Luckily, it seems that a lot of other bloggers did the same and took a little break away from their computers. I didn't really do much at home- all but one of my Tampa friends were in school since their Spring Breaks didn't coincide with my own. So, my 9-day vacation mainly consisted of going to Puerto Rico for just 3 days, (not doing much there since I was with my grandparents the entire time), spending time with my family, going to lots of restaurants, and seeing my friend Tyler. No beaches.

Tyler. He has this short wavy/curly dirty-blond hair and hazel eyes, with a thin, but very muscular body. I met him my freshman year of high school and used to think he came from a poorer family because of the clothes he wore. They always seemed worn-out and too big for him, maybe even used or second-hand. Of course, that aspect of him didn't matter to me, though when I later befriended him our junior-year, I realized that his family was actually pretty damn wealthy- they own several companies, including a gym. Every year, from the start of high school, I would share several classes with him, and during every class I would gaze at him when nobody was watching. Why? Because Tyler has to be one of the hottest, nicest, most humble, and most charming guys on this planet. It seemed like every time he met any girl, she would fall head over heels for him. In fact, one day we were driving back to my house in his topless jeep after a day of extreme mudding in the Florida backlands. It was raining and, since the water was coming into the car, he took off his shirt to use it to wipe the inside of the windshield. When we got to my house, we came inside, and my mom met him. Obviously, she saw his half-naked, swimmer's body. She later told me how sexy and charming he was. My own mom telling me this was pretty weird and uncomfortable, but completely true. Here's another good story: one night we were at his gym, just me and him. He took off his shirt because he wanted to show me the muscles in his back as he did pull-ups. I almost creamed myself then... I've never doubted his sexuality- he's as straight as a snake, and, surprisingly, I've never fallen in love with him, although I've jacked it while thinking about him. I appreciate him so much as a friend that I would never want to be romantically involved with him if he were gay.

Anyways, I went to his house last Friday. He had invited me to the beach during the day, but I didn't have time to go. When I arrived there, at his home, it was just me and him. We talked for a while, catching up on things. The topic of his previous girlfriends came up, and we talked about that for a bit. I then asked him about sex in his relationships, and he admitted to having had sex with a lot of girls. I purposely brought up this topic to try to get him to ask me anything about my love life, as I have been prepared to come out to him for a very long time. Sure enough, he asked me if I've "gotten any." I chuckled and he got really excited, pushing the question further. I told him that much time has gone by and that there's a lot to catch up on. I then went on to tell him that I'm gay. His reaction was just as expected- he was completely chill and cool with it. It was his birthday that night, and we were going to pick up these girls he met at the beach that day; he joked that there'll be more pussy for him then. lol. There's really nothing important to mention about the small party later that night, but it was fun, and gave me a chance to relax.... I really like Tyler a lot- he's a good friend and I hope it stays that way forever.

Random note: to avoid any possible trouble with Blogger, I've added an "adult content" warning.

Have a good one,
-GTG1

A Quick Update

Sorry, I know it's been a while, but I'm still alive... Really quickly, here's what I've been doing (cause I've got to get back to jerking it to AJCon89's pic site) :

1. Windsurfed with a class last Sunday
2. Found out my little bro (fraternity) isn't gay
3. Drove 8 hours home on Friday from Atlanta to Tampa (with two other guys) for Spring Break
4. Found a real, ancient "Caution: Radioactive Area" Sign
5. Flew today by myself to San Juan, Puerto Rico to see my grandparents
6. Jailbroke my iPhone today so that I can get a mobile modem for my computer with really good speeds (what I'm using right now)

-I'll elaborate soon,

GTG1