High School Begins

Today was the first day of school at Pacific Grove High. The first stop was to put all my books and backpack into my locker. A couple of nights ago was orientation, where we got our books, locker assignments, and school pictures. Since my locker was bright pink (a lot of people's were), we came in the next day and repainted it dark green, which apparently is allowed. The lockers are slightly smaller than the middle school ones, but not too bad.

When we arrived, we were ushered into the gym where they were playing Welcome to the Jungle on repeat. We were put into groups with "Breaker Buddies," two juniors or seniors who were assigned to show us around. My group had a few people I know, including Casey Reeves and Callum Gilchrist. We did some icebreaker activities and then went to a rally back in the gym. This included some very random games. First of all was an awkward sort of activity (volunteers only, luckily) where the object was to pop a balloon by hugging with the balloon in-between. The next was something that looked like a pie-eating contest. One person from each grade came up (ours was Cameron Barretto) and used their mouth to find a stick of gum in a tray of flour, then blow a bubble with it. Finally, even more awkward than the first was a variation on musical chairs that involved the girls eating cookies out of the boy's mouth. I'm glad I wasn't chosen for that.

After these activities was lunchtime, where we got free pizza and cheetos. I sat in the outdoor amphitheater with Riley, Michael, Matthew, and Oliver. Following lunch was a short introduction to each class, with little over 15 minutes for each class. My first period is band, with Mr. Hoffman my 5^th grade band teacher who first taught me clarinet. We didn't play, but just talked about complications this year with budget problems. Hopefully we will begin playing by next week.

My second period (homeroom) is the honors history class, American Civilization, with Ms. Griffiths. She seemed nice, but very strict at the same time. Next was Geometry, taught by Ms. Chupka. I got to be in the same class as Riley this period, which was nice. P.E. with Mr. Buller was fourth period, and fifth is Spanish 2, taught by Señora Buller (the P.E. instructor's wife). I got my same Spanish nickname as last year, Guillermo. Most of the same people as last year's Spanish 1 were in this class, and I was seated next to Emily Long. The entire period, Sra. Buller spoke only Spanish, which at first was confusing as I was out of practice. However, it seems like a very effective way to teach the class.

For my 6^th period I had Mr. Bliss for Biology. He was very nice and turned out to be a world traveler and an environmentalist. Tomorrow and Friday we will be watching Dead Poet's Society in class (the phrase Carpe Diem from the movie is plastered above his door). I also got to be with Riley in this class. My final class of the day is honors English I, taught by Mrs. Selfridge. English is usually one of my least favorite classes, but I'll keep my mind open. After all, I was surprised last year that history (with Mr. Gamble) turned out to be my favorite class.

After school, I went to the first official cross country practice, which I am doing with Michael. We have three courses that we do: a loop through the Rip Van Winkle Open Space (our home course for meets), a run down by Sunset Avenue and along the old railroad track, and a third from the school through Pebble Beach and looping around the old quarry near my house. Today we did the quarry loop, which takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour. I got home around 4:15 to do a small amount of homework from Ms. Griffiths and to get a couple of additional school supplies.