By the fourth week of the semester, my mental state already feels like finals week…

Ever since the semester began, I’ve been leaving the dorm around eight in the morning and coming back at eleven or twelve at night. I’ve joined way too many activities. Even though I’m so busy, I still need to jot some things down—otherwise, I’ll have no idea what I’ve been doing once it’s all over.

Men’s Dorm

I’ve lived in the old men’s dorm for a month now, and it really feels quite different from the second village. There’s only one main street nearby with just a few food options—though, to be fair, the south gate area isn’t much better. But since I’m usually too busy to eat around here anyway, it doesn’t really matter.

The dorm’s access control system is pretty sloppy—it only checks the card number, so I usually just use my Flipper to get in and out. That would never work in the second village. I only recently found out that after 12:30 a.m., the main door locks, and you can only use the side door near the security office. Luckily someone was leaving just as I arrived that night, otherwise I wouldn’t have dared to flash my Flipper right in front of the guard.

As for why I’m staying in Xin Zhai : I chose it simply because the double rooms were cheaper than the four-person rooms in the second village. But this semester the school installed new air conditioners there and immediately raised the price—it’s now more expensive than the second village. I feel a bit scammed.

As for my roommate… well, I still don’t know his name. I only know he’s a senior in mechanical engineering who builds computers—that’s it. When I leave, he’s asleep; when I return, he’s playing CS. The funny thing is, he never turns on the air conditioner, no matter what time of day. He just uses a fan, so I’m basically paying for the AC myself.

Freshman Camp

By the fourth week of training, I’ve grown kind of numb. I just want it to end soon. Because of this event, I’ve barely had time to study—and I mean actual exam material, not my personal books. So far, aside from linear algebra, it’s all stuff I’ve already learned, so it’s not too bad. But since I took several advanced courses this semester, I’m starting to feel the “there’s no way I’ll finish this” anxiety. A lot of friends told me: “Just drop it!” But if I drop, it’d mess things up for the others, so… oh well. I’ll just pray time goes by faster and it’s over soon.

Guitar Club

Still love this place. But after our performance in a few days, we’ll have to pick next term’s leaders. Definitely not me—I’d die from overwork if I took that on now.

Recently I’ve been making everyone’s name tags. That day, I was the only one in the clubroom punching holes and threading strings. When I finished and went to throw the trash away, I suddenly realized—I didn’t know how to open the door!!! No one was in the next room either, and I had to hurry to the camp meeting. So I went to the room next door to find another way out, but that door was weird—it also needed a key to exit. I basically locked myself inside the clubroom.
I did eventually escape, but it was like playing an escape room in real life.

• Promo Time

This isn’t the official poster, but I like this one better.

3D Printing Elective

This was a class I almost forgot to attend. If no one had reminded me, I would’ve 100% skipped it. It only lasts three weeks, but if things go well, I can earn a 3D printing certificate—it’s a great deal. We haven’t started printing yet, but each session comes with 2.5 hours of free printing time. As long as the model takes under 2.5 hours, you can take it home for free.
Once I get the certificate, I’ll be able to print my own Flipper case, a Raspberry Pi enclosure, even keyboard or mouse parts—DIY all the way.

Random Thoughts

Lately I’ve been thinking about changing phones. But all my stuff is in Apple’s ecosystem—tons of apps I log into using my Apple ID. I’ve fallen right into Apple’s trap: “You must keep using their products.”
From a marketing perspective, it’s brilliant. But I’m a freeloader—YouTube Premium = Brave, OS = free. So that’s a no-go. I started using Syncthing and KeePass to migrate my passwords out of Apple and keep them synced. Still, I have to admit—Apple’s UI is really well-designed. So I’m planning to customize my Android desktop to look like macOS. Android’s like Linux anyway—there’s definitely a way.
Once I pull it off, I’ll write another post just to brag.

I also moved my domain away from www and redirected the root to it, to make self-hosting services easier later. I like having my stuff on my own server—it feels safer. At first, I thought simple DNS settings would handle it, but to redirect root automatically, I had to deploy a Worker. It’s a weird workaround, but it worked. Anyway—it’s all set now.

Next, I’m planning to take a long weekend from Thursday to Monday to rest a bit. Though honestly, it’ll probably just turn into study time. Like I said, I can already feel the workload piling up. Progress has slowed down lately—maybe because I’m still getting used to using AFFINE for organization. But mostly, it’s just that everything’s new again, and starting over feels exhausting.

Lastly, a small sigh—our close group of friends has all gotten so busy since sophomore year started. We used to hang out every day, and now we can’t even find time for one proper meal together.
Please let Freshman Camp end soon!!!