ROUGHIN' IT

IN REZ!

The first few weeks
living in Rez were probably
the most -ridiculous days of
confusion I have ever been a
part of (aside from
registration).

I remember rolling off
my vinyl mattress onto a
harsh floor at exactly 7a.m.
as the chimes of construction
workers beating their steel
rods echoed through my
empty room. The pride
showed on their well-rested
faces as they beat the rods
inperfect rhythm. I could
have killed. So much for my
new alarm clock.

Once in a_ standing
position, I walked to the
furniture-less living room,
cursing the workers who
were trying to complete my
new home as fast as they
could. A shodow filled the
room and my eyes went to
the window to see a man on
an elevation unit peeping in
the large window and waving
at me. Shocked and
incredibly stunned, I waved
back, embarrassed, making
sure all of the buttons on my
flannel nightshirt were
fastened.

He grinned and
continued his way up to the
top of the building. Day one
had officially begun.

There's no argument that
living § on-campus has
definite social advantages,
but at o'clock in the morning
with strange men peeping at
you, those advantages seem
less than important. It was
too soon to find out that this
early construction was the
trend for the next three
weeks.

Each residence consists
of a communal kitchen,
living room, two or four cell-
type bedrooms and a shared
bathroom with dual sinks.
It's a sufficiently laid-out
establishment with every
convenience needed to get
by, except furniture. What
we have is plenty of hard,
blue carpet that can give
someone extreme carpet burn
if you rub your body the
wrong way on it.

I was socializing in
another room and _ was
surprised to see _ the
imaginative way desperate
students are to have
furniture. One room was
using the old spools on
which wire was wrapped as
tables and chairs. Empty
boxes turned upside-down
are “all the rage" in
residence, and anyone who's
anyone will have a few
stashed to the side. The
room which houses me is
quite naked in furniture.
But, every night my
roommates and I sit around
and dream that our hard
bottoms are being comforted
by soft, lush upholstery. Yes,
imagination never dies in
residence.

So, that brings us up to
this point in time: three
weeks later. We still don't
have any furniture-except a
bed with no drawers and
newly-installed — blinds-and
our professors expect us to
complete an entirety of work
in these living conditions.
From _ear-piercing _—fire
alarms that bounce you out of
bed at all hours of the day
and night to showers that
dribble water out about as
fast as you can spit it, life at
NBC's residence is unique
With minimal resources at
our hands, students are
definitely Roughen’ It!

ROUGHIN' IT IN REZ
by Cicely Pritchard

RESIDENTIAL LIVING
by Cicely Pritchard

Residential living, what
the hell is it? A party house
full of beer, loud music, and
rambunctious drunks? A
place of studious relaxation
where one can find the
serenity involved to pursue
their academic dreams? Or
is it a social bed where you
can meet twenty people in
two minutes and forget their
names in two seconds? It's
that and a helluva lot more!

This is my first year
living in any type of
residence at a university or
college. It is also my first
year living in a town the size
of my backyard. “Yes, like
many of you that are here for
the first time, I'm trying to
survive a culture shock that I
wasn't prepared for. Prince

over THE EDGE-Monday October 17, 1994 7

George is a far cry from my
Alberta-home of Calgary.

First of all, there are
more trees located outside my
back window than in the
entire city of Calgary.
Secondly, Calgary being the
"massive" metropolis that it
is, I'm struggling to find
things to do in this city.
(Maybe that's why I've signed
my life away on the student
activity sheets). Thirdly,
because I'm living in rez, and
I'm one of the poor saps
without any type of wokable
transportation, I'm finding it
difficult to explore Prince
George's inners. Finally, and
probably the most important
from my point of view, being
the home-grown Albertan
that I am, the entire PST
situation is really putting a
damper on my budget.
Unreal, I say!

True friendship comes when
silence between two people is
comfortable.

Dave Tyson Gentry

Maybe some of you
living on- or off-campus can
relate to a few of the things
I've mentioned. Maybe
you've found ways to deal
with them, and if you have,
HELP ME, PLEASE!

Moving to a strange
city that has less of what
you're used to can be a
difficult, if not frustrating
change. This will be the
focus of my articles entitled
Roughin' It in Rez. And, if
any of you have any
suggestions, questions,

inquiries or thoughts, please
feel free to contact me. Any
verbal recognition would be
appreciated,