Well I got some of the school stuff resolved.
I called the orientation center, and they were rather surprised that I had already registered for my classes. The woman seemed to think I would be unable to. Apparently, "orientation" consists of taking some assessment tests and meeting with an admissions counselor to go over your course selection. She asked if I was a first time college student, and I said "no I went to a community college in Philadelphia over a decade ago. But I didn't have my transcripts forwarded." To which she told me, "oh they must have sent us your assessment scores, then." Well, not only was it not a standardized test at CCP, but they won't send anything that wasn't requested by me in writing, with a processing fee included. So I knew this was impossible. But, this woman was already deeply confused so I wasn't going to confuse her more. I asked if it was mandatory to go to assessment and she said it wasn't (contrary to what is in the catalog) so I figured that I wouldn't worry about it. I then asked if she knew when I would need to get my ID and she said any day between 9 and 4:30 in the office of records and registration.
So, Rob and I went to Valley and I went to records and registration. I was told "we aren't doing them yet. Come back when the fall semester starts". Heh, gee sure is a good thing I asked over the phone before coming in, huh?
So, we walked around for a bit and I located all my classes. I found that most of Valley didn't look like a high school, just the small portion I had seen when I visited there last May. Well, that's good. And the rather grungy part of the campus isn't where most of my classes are anyways. So, we went to the campus bookstore, where I was able to get a headstart on my book buying. I got my Sociology book, which is much better than the one I had at MATC. At least it isn't filled with "white male conspiracy" rhetoric and is actually intelligent, and gives several sociological perspectives. Hopefully this class will be much better. Who knows, maybe it will change my opinion on sociology. (Doubtful, but at least it will be more interesting...) My design and appreciation book looks decent enough, too.
We made a stop in the cafeteria, which is actually pretty nice. It actually has diner type booths, which is cool. I had some guys in KVCC uniforms staring and snickering. (I figure they were either security guards or janitors, though I couldn't tell which.) So, I picked a seat near them, made too much eye contact when they stared (usually a good method with such slack jaws) and enjoyed a little beverage break with Rob.
I found the rest of my classes. And headed back to the Jetta in the sweltering heat. Well, I felt a good bit better about school after this. Not a bad place to kill a year, I think. And I can focus on school and basically pass the time here until our lease is up, which should be a good thing.
I got a call for an interview with a corporate mall coffee place. I'm playing phone tag with the manager presently, but hopefully I can get something set up. I figure a barista job would not be a half bad job to have while in school, as long as they don't mind that I can't work a lot of hours.
As this town fills up, it seems slightly more diverse. It's still filled with zombies, don't get me wrong, but there's at least enough fresh blood that haven't yet had their brains eaten so that the sense of stifling alienation is just mildly annoying instead of being all consuming. I guess that's the nature of college towns though. They suck but they don't need to be cool, because most of the populace will have their whole world consumed by school related stuff anyhow, and any free time will probably be spent working part (and sometimes full) time jobs. It's just another reason why I have realized I like cities. That's a little too insular for my tastes but hey, it's all just comic book fodder, right?
Oh and I got some Hello Kitty school supplies. Yeah those Hello Kitty notebooks are overpriced, but it beats the fuck out of those cheesy school logo ones...