my neighbor totoro

Or rather, C.Li.

Let me tell you about this most awesome person.

Background:

1) We're both from Georgia.

2) Yes, we did know each other before coming to Penn.

3) No, we did not go to the same high school; we were both in the same youth orchestra.

4) We actually only exchanged a few sentences during the last five years because we sat on opposite sides of the stage and had different groups of friends.

5) She plays viola, I play violin, and thus we are in the same quartet for Penn Chamber.

6) We both go to GCC and we're pretty much obsessed with it.

7) We've had very similar childhood experiences.

8) We're both squares.

9) We both like to eat silently, enjoying each other's presence, but we don't mind talking at like 11 pm about everything and nothing at the same time.

10) But no, we're not the same person. We're not twins. We're just good friends.

Why We Actually Are Different:

1) She's very cute and super sweet. She likes Hello Kitty (that's an understatement). I am an old soul and sarcastic. I like Minnie Mouse (that's also an understatement).

2) She ironically loves gore-y action films and The Office. I ironically love chick flicks and Gossip Girl.

3) She's the healthiest eater alive. I eat what tastes good, end of story.

4) She wakes up at 7 am (without even meaning to!) and her favorite meal is breakfast. I wake up at 10:13 for a 10:30 class (without even meaning to!) and my favorite meal is dinner.

5) She hates dresses and skirts and make-up. I do hate skirts, but if I don't wear eyeliner, I look dead. No joke.

6) I'm...obnoxious.

7) She's going to graduate from the Engineering School and become a doctor. I'm going to graduate from the College and become...a journalist? (A lawyer? Professor? Hm.)

8) People think she looks Korean and people think I look Chinese.

9) She plays viola, I play violin. Could it get any more different?! : )

10) She's definitely more chill than I am, and rarely displays negative moods or says negative things.

Why, Despite It All, We Actually Are So Close:

1) She keeps me accountable when I get lazy and unfocused. I keep her accountable when she gets too tightly-wound and prevents herself from having fun.

2) She truly understands me and will listen to me no matter what I have to say.

3) She's one of the reasons I actually decided to continue going to church in college.

4) She's nice, but not so perfectly nice that I feel like the worst person to exist on this planet.

5) She motivates me to be a better person. Period.

I don't know what drove me to write a whole entry on this person; honestly, I could write ones about my high school friends (whom I miss and love) or even some of the other people that have changed my life here. But I feel like, for the first time ever, I do have that one-half to a pair that everyone knows about. Just like K and J were always put together in the same sentence, I have that too. People always ask us if we've been friends forever, upon hearing we're both from Georgia, but really, we haven't. It's been two months, that's it, and yet I think we've already made up for the last five years of not knowing each other.

I am so thankful to have someone like her in my life, especially through this time when the transition into college could have potentially been very difficult, particularly with my crazy summer and indecisiveness about who I was.

So yeah.

I am pretty excited about our King of Prussia trip on Saturday. It's going to be freakin' amazing. And I am pretty excited about the next four years to come (plus more.) They're going to be freakin' amazing. And I am pretty excited about our growth as friends, as hall/roommates, as people, as sisters in Christ. We're going to be freakin' amazing.

And oh yeah, peace up, A-town down.