Facebook has had this really interesting effect on familial relations to me. You may know, at this point, that I have a brother. His name is Ben, he's a second-year here, and he is the best human being I know. He's also the only sibling I have... and you would think the verso would be the same but Facebook told me differently a few years ago.
You see, after I left home, my parents realized that they really missed having a daughter, and that Ben really missed having a sister (or maybe he just didn't want all the attention on him; both situations are entirely possible). So they decided to expand our family, by taking on completely amazing foreign exchange students. I was lucky enough to meet and spend time with Aziza, who was from Kyrgyzstan, who joined our family during my junior year here. The next student, though, was a bit of a surprise, because I learned the day that she joined my family by my brother adding her as a sibling on Facebook.
I was completely baffled, to say the least, but I was pleased to learn after a very amusing set of phone calls to my parents that Anna (from Vladivostock, Russia) was joining our family, too. I never got to meet Anna in person, but I Skyped with her briefly while I was home this summer, and it was lovely to meet her online. Hi, everyone!
So, while I haven't spent a huge amount of time with my adopted siblings, I'll add them into the mix of lovely folks I'm pleased to know, which brings me to the point of this blog post: our blogging family has been expanded!
In the spirit of fun and games, I'm going to play an ice breaker game to introduce you to our new family members. When you get to Oberlin, you'll find that ice breakers and check-in questions are commonplace (and sometimes ridiculous and silly), but I absolutely love them. I love questions, I love answers, I love meeting new people, I love random facts: what more could I ask for in a simple game?!
One of the games I was introduced to a while ago (maybe from Aries?) was a game entitled Two Truths and a Lie. The point is to tell two things that are true about yourself and one lie, and everyone is supposed to guess which ones they think are real or not. Incredibly amusing when played with siblings in the mix, Ben and I are awesome when we play this game together. In the spirit of showing off the badass nature of our new writers, I've decided to construct my own version of the game.
Where will you learn the answers to these questions, you may ask? Well, take a gander at reading their bios and their first posts, and see what you learn there, but otherwise... ask them in the comments (here or on their blog :D)
Alanna:
- Alanna aspires to write and produce her own television shows.
- Alanna has met and traveled with the Doctor.
- Alanna has probably read Harry Potter more than you.
Eleanor:
- Eleanor would rather contra dance than anything else in the world.
- Eleanor is a part of two choirs in Oberlin.
- Eleanor will probably grow up to be a math professor.
Emily:
- Emily speaks at least five languages.
- Emily is a budding movie star.
- Emily has read War and Peace in the original Russian.
Jacob:
- Jacob has bowled a 300 once in his life.
- Jacob is rarely found without a notebook.
- Jacob has lived in no fewer than ten distinct locations with political boundaries.
Lauren:
- Last summer, Lauren traveled through the Middle East playing concerts and making a documentary with two other Obies.
- Lauren has played music on at least two continents.
- Lauren holds the unofficial Oberlin record for longest sustained note on a stringed instrument.
Paul:
- Paul had a blog where he analyzed his own middle school drawings.
- Paul once played frisbee golf in Mexico.
- As of his move to Oberlin, Paul is living in his second college town.
Ruby:
- Ruby has once been covered entirely in monkeys.
- Ruby has composed a rock opera.
- Ruby has visited the bathrooms of the British royal family.
Simba:
- Oberlin has taught Simba how to fly.
- Simba is a blogger for Voice of America.
- Simba is a student tutor and mentor for the Bonner Scholars program.
Feel like you want to hang out with these kids now? Good! I want to hang out with them too. We are absolutely thrilled to have this octoposse of new faces and writers. Show their new blogs some love!
