FOW over

So, I haven't posted in a while. I, as you could probably guess, have been busy. There's no possible way I could tell you all of the things I've learned in the past week (I don't remember all of them myself), but I'll give you a brief overview. By the way, don't expect many pictures. I don't have time to work with those.

Marching: We have learned to march. Marching is not as easy as it soulds. I know some people think it's all about keeping in step, but there's a lot more to it than that. There's at least nine different ways of marching we've learned, and none of them came easy. Most of them have to do with turning corners. With 31 fish in the class, the back rows can get pretty messed up on corners, so we've spent about two or three hours a day just working on corners

Talking: Any adress to an upperclassman in our outfit must be "sir sandwiched", one sir on each end of the statement. To make a statement or question, you have to say, "Sir, Mr. whoever Sir, fish Fearing requests permission to make a statement/question sir". If you don't remember their names, you have to greet them again. Sophomores get very mad when you forget their names. You can also not use personal pronouns such as I or We. You must use fish whoever or Flacon 16 fish. It makes you think hard before you talk.

Room cleaning: Everything has to be in it's own place. Beds have to be made just so, hangars hung just so, and some things go in the mos illogical places. Anything on a desk has to be "grounded" to the edge of the desk. I suppose I'll learn some shortcuts after a while, but cleaning a hole takes a long time.

Dressing: I now have four different uniforms I know how to wear. CFT's, the second easiest, are what you have seen pictures of me in during FOW. Ask my Mom if you want to see them. It's basically a white T-shirt and khaki shorts with a belt and a hat. PT gear is the easiest, just Falcon 16 shorts and shirt tucked in. We are the first fish class to be issued ACU's. That's what we're wearing in Mom's pictures of FOW friday. I alsohave some idea how to wear Bravos, the khaki uniform you always think of the Corps as wearing

No matter what Ross tell you, I am doing fine. The only real issues I have right now are learning names (everyone in the outfit needs work on that), keeping a straight face (the juniors and seniors say the strangest things while we're on the wall), and eating quickly. I'm writing this during a break between classes, then I'll meet with a buddy who has her ID card with her so I can get into the dorm.

So far I've identified a few things worth looking forward to. First, the academic day. I don't have to be in the dorm all day except classes, so that makes things much more relaxed. Second, Sunday. Church is the greatest relaxation I've had yet (I stilll have to call Ross sir, though). Third, free weekends. We had one of those recently, and it was great. I went out to eat with my buddies (anything's better than Duncan food) and just generally took a break.

Classes so far have just been "here's the syllabus, this is what it means, get out of here". Makes my life easier, to say the least.