Well Excuuuuuse Me

Today I was in  a workshop for one of my classes (my favorite, Finance) and we were working on a problem involving buying a car.  We were talking about how the price of the car is not actually what it costs to run it.  We were going over everything that needs to be included in the cost of the vehicle over its lifespan.  Me being the awesome student that I am, I raised my hand and said, "Gas," and the reaction I got was similar to what I would have expected had I said a curse word.  The professor looked at me and said, "Where are you from?"  I responded, telling him that I was from the US, and he went on this rant about how over there we make it so confusing because we have gas for cars and gas for stoves, etc., and we don't make any distinction.  I was soon informed that in Australia, where apparently they are more sophisticated than us, they call it "petrol," which I knew, but just didn't think about as I was answering the question.  I didn't know that calling it gas would cause such an uproar, or I would have saved myself and the class some time and just kept my mouth shut.

On the plus side, someone asked me for directions yesterday and I proudly answered, sounding confident, like a native who's been in the area for quite some time.  I know that my sense of direction isn't the best and that sometimes I lead people astray, but this time I am positive that I pointed the poor lady in the right direction.  It felt good  :)

I also saw a guy at the gym last night with a Stanford Volleyball sweatshirt on!!  He had headphones on and seemed to be in somewhat of a hurry, so I wasn't able to stop him and ask him about it, but small world, eh?

And lastly, the other day I was standing in line to get something to drink, when this girl behind me starts talking to me.  It took me a few minutes to realize she was talking to me, but when I did, I humored her and joined in the conversation.  Somehow it shifted towards high school, and she went on to say, "Uni is just so much better than high school.  I love that I don't have to wear uniforms everyday anymore, don't you?"  I looked at her for a second, apparently with a quizzical look on my face, before she continued on to ask me what color my uniform used to be.  I still didn't answer, so finally she said, "You know, last year, in high school, what color were your uniforms?"  I finally snapped out of my trance and just told her that I was from the United States and that I didn't have uniforms in high school, and left it at that.  As soon as I got my drink we went our separate ways, and it was at this point that I had to sigh under my breath and say, "High school, really!!??"  Come on people, I'M A MASTERS STUDENT!!