Return to classes has made life far busier than it should be

The first week of classes has been insane. Between going to class, buying books, returning books, adding classes, dropping classes, attending meetings, participating in various activities, and trying to reconnect with virtually every friend I?ve ever made on campus, I?ve been pretty busy.

But I have not been too busy to notice the influx of new Swedish students on campus. I?ve mentioned before how the few Swedish exchange student sit at a round table at lunch, channeling the Cullen family from ?Twilight.?

Well. The situation has only grown more intense. Not only have 20 or so very Swedish North Park students returned from a semester in Sweden, but they brought with them an equal number of Swedes who will complete a semester here.

My floor has eight new members?all adorable and blond Swedes. Kendra?s dad refers to them as the ?Swedish Bikini Team.? And yes, they might fit that stereotype.

We often run into each other in the bathroom in the wee hours of the morning. I will have my dirty, sleepy hair looking messy but definitely not sexy, be makeup-less, wearing my retainer, and sporting a tie-dye shirt and purple basketball shorts (my pajamas, duh).

The Swedes, however, look luminous and seem to glow in the horribly fluorescent bathroom lights. Their ?sleep hair? is long, tumbling, tousled blond locks and even their pajamas are trendy and adorable plaid outfits. It?s not fair!

Remembering the names of all these blond girls isn?t nearly as difficult as differentiating between the 37 Peters who exist at North Park. As I?ve said before, Kendra and I make up nicknames to describe personalities and keep names straight.

Pedantic Peter made his debut in an earlier column as our ostentatious classmate. Occasionally, he is referred to simply as ?PP.? Now, though, we have Polish Peter, Slovakian Peter, Peter Ek (this is his actual name?we can?t think of anything else except maybe ?Gorgeous Peter?) and Peter Plant.

Peter Plant is, in fact, a plant. More specifically, he is Kendra?s plant, who has been neglected over the long winter months. We can?t be positive, but we suspect he froze over winter break.

Kendra and I hoped that naming him would encourage him to regain health and once again look like an actual plant, not a droopy yellow lump in flower pot.

He?s sitting on the edge of my bed in a shoebox, desperately trying to absorb a tiny ray of sunlight. Your prayers are well-wishes are greatly encouraged. Feel free to send a care package to Abi Humber and Kendra Haan, 3225 W. Foster Ave, CPO Box 2828, Chicago, IL, 60625. We also accept checks, cash and quarters.

It might sound like Kendra and I are really active on campus, meeting tons of new Peters and Swedes. Maybe that?s true, but we?re predicting an extreme drop in social activity once we receive season two of ?The OC? in the mail. Ryan Atwood and Seth Cohen, the girls of Anderson 811 have missed you terribly. We promise not to be too busy going to class/doing homework/participating in campus life/making friends to watch at least two episodes a night.

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