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Seven Party Day
We were awakened by our Rho Chis bright and early the next day to receive our list of houses. After that, we had an hour to get ready and begin our tours. I got my list, and it read:
1. Daenerys
2. Arya
3. Tyrion
4. Jaime Lannister
5. Jon Snow
6. Catelyn
7. Ygritte
My first reaction was relief that I had all 7 parties to go to. One girl on our floor had only received 5 and was in floods of tears. I was so excited that most of my favorites, including Jaime Lannister and Daenerys, had invited me back! While I wasn't surprised that Cersei had cut me, I'd been looking forward to the opportunity to get a NORMAL person who wasn't obsessed with armpits so that I could have the chance to really get to know if they were a fit. I was also somewhat sad that Sansa had cut me, as all the girls on our floor were going back to Sansa.
Overall, though, I was super happy to go back to the houses I got, and not sad at all to give Shae and even Bran a miss. I had the fleeting thought that I never really got the chance to find out what Bran was all about, but mostly I was all SQUEEEE! about Jaime Lannister and Daenerys.
I can't remember exactly what I wore to these parties - I think it was khaki pants and some sort of lineny button-down blouse with those shawl collars that were in style then. Oh, a BIG woven leather belt. Still too hot for the weather, but I don't remember sweat issues quite as serious as the previous days.
Daenerys I was so glad to be going to Daenerys first, while I was still fresh. I was now obsessed about being sweaty (gee, wonder why?) and was ready to make a great impression. 'Stephanie' greeted me at the door and I was so happy to really get a chance to talk to her. We learned about their philanthropy and got a tour of the downstairs part of their house. I got to meet several more of the girls and had a good time, but compared to Jaime Lannister, I just didn't feel as comfortable. Things just felt a bit stilted, like the girls there never really let down their facades. However, I felt sure that with more time, I could get to know them better and still felt I could be very happy at Daenerys and was pumped to get to be there because HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS!
Next was Arya. The girl who I was paired up with was a senior and she was hilarious! We totally clicked - shared the same warped sense of humor. She introduced me to several of her closest friends and they were awesome. These were girls I would have chosen as friends regardless of organization. The party seemed to fly by - they shared their philosophy and we toured the house. At one point, there was a rather stuffy girl who shot us some quelling looks because we were laughing so much, but my host just laughed that off, too. I was really surprised how much fun I was having and how I regretted having to leave when time was up. Dare I think it, but I was feeling as if the girls at Arya were much cooler than the girls I had just left at Daenerys...but - HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS!
Our next stop was Tyrion. Their house was so much nicer than Arya, but the girls just weren't as easy to talk to. For the second time, I think poor Tyrion suffered from the way I was feeling after leaving the previous house. I didn't know anyone there, and the girl I talked to was very quiet. Our conversation felt stilted and I just didn't feel like they really shared anything about their sisterhood to make me want to be there. I wanted to like them more, but I just wasn't feeling it.
But that was ok, because next was Jaime Lannister!!!!11!! :: backflip :: I was so stinkin' excited that I practically cartwheeled into that house. My friend 'Gwen' was in the skit, so I was paired with a girl I'd never met. The skit was very cute, but almost too cutesy. Despite my overwhelming love for Jaime Lannister, I was making internal comments in my head about how cheesy it was and that it was going on a bit too long. However, after it was over, another girl I'd gone to high school with came over to take me to the refreshment table. We were chatting animatedly until I choked on my drink and had to be patted on the back until I could breathe. Now I was feeling flustered and embarrassed. Oh noes, what was happening with my perfect dream sorority? Finally, 'Gwen' and another good friend, 'Cindy' came over and we had a nice conversation. We laughed a lot, telling stories from high school and they told me how much I would love being a Jaime Lannister. My love was restored and I felt certain this would be my sorority!
Our schedule then took us to Jon Snow. I was hoping to get a chance to talk more with the bubbly girl from my first visit, but instead was greeting by a girl I knew casually from a rival high school. We had a nice conversation and she was perfectly friendly, but it just felt very surface and small-talky. I felt so disappointed. I really wanted to learn more about this house and really wanted to like it. We learned about their sisterhood, philanthropy and got a house tour, then the party was over. I looked for Bubbly Girl, but didn't see her. I'd been looking forward to talking more to her, but not this time. I decided that I would seek her out at the next party.
Next was Catelyn. I felt comforted to be going there, because I was still a little confused about not feeling like I connected at Jon Snow. When I got there, I was paired with a gorgeous redhead I'd never met. She was really sweet and told me that she'd heard good things about me from 'Suzanne's older sisters. We also shared the same major and so found a lot of things in common to talk about. I felt even better about Catelyn because even this perfect stranger was fun and easy to talk to, and it seemed they had taken the time to pair me with someone that had shared interests. We learned about their philanthropy and several girls talked about what their sisterhood meant to them. I felt like my brain was fully engaged for the first time since starting recruitment - and that it was ok to be a brainiac here when the mood struck. Dare I think it - but Catelyn was quickly becoming my favorite house. It just felt good and right to be there.
Finally, we went to Ygritte. After Catelyn and even Arya, this time it just seemed flat. The girl I talked with was perfectly nice, but kept asking me about cheerleading and talking about how they had some OU cheerleaders in their house. I had no intention of continuing that in college and told her so, but she kept wanting to talk about it. We got a house tour and it was quite lovely. I finally got bumped to another girl for a very short period of time, and even though she was pleasant to talk to, I just didn't feel like the girls were as interesting OR as interested in me as I did on the initial visit. It wasn't horrible by any means, but just kind of fell in the middle. I would have felt happy to go back, but it wasn't a stellar visit. I liked them fine, though.
After all the parties were over, it was time to go back to the dorms and rank all of our parties in order of preference. This was very hard for me. I felt conflicted - the houses that I wanted to like and felt like I SHOULD like hadn't been as great an experience as I'd expected - and a few of the houses I absolutely adored had fallen in the middle of my earlier rankings. What to do?
We had a few hours to decide, and all the girls on my dorm floor were talking about their days. Everyone had very firm opinions on which were the 'top houses.' After hearing all their input, I quickly wrote:
1. Jaime Lannister
2. Daenerys
3. Catelyn
4. Arya
5. Jon Snow
6. Ygritte
7.Tyrion
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