Wow. I'm back from my trip to northern Florida, which was mainly in order to go to Preview, the University of Florida's two-day orientation for incoming freshmen. I got to pick classes, sleep in a dorm, and more.

But first, my family had a few days to kill. We visited my aunt at her house north of Gainesville. There, we took in the scenery. It's pretty rural -- in fact, a lot of Florida is. Actually, I'd say that a lot of most places are rural. Anyway, my parents love the area so much that they're going to move there. So they spent some time looking around at houses that were for sale. They're a long way from selling our home yet, so they sort of just went around to get an idea.

On the Fourth of July, we had a picnic at a private park and then went kayaking and tubing down the Ichetucknee River. Unfortunately, it rained the entire time we were on the river, but that was okay. Later, we watched Office Space. It was my parents' first time seeing it, and they really liked Bill Lumbergh's "Yyeeeeaahh..." It was hard not to quote the movie as it turns out that "yeah" is an extremely common word.

Early Thursday morning, Preview began. We started by going to the Reitz Union, the main building where a lot of the important stuff is. In this case, the registration was going on there, and that was certainly important. What threw me for a loop was that the ground floor was not numbered; the floor above it was floor 1, the floor above that was the 2nd floor, and so on. I know they do that in many countries, but it would be hard for me to get used to. (To make matters worse, the Welcome Center, located on the side of the Reitz Union building, is below the ground floor at street level, so the "1st floor" is two floors up from there.)

After a quick breakfast (eaten as we sat on the floor), there was a welcome session for the would-be students as well as the parents. After that, we (young persons) were separated into small groups. Each small group met in a conference room and was led by a student. Each group leader gave us some general information about classes, and we introduced ourselves to one another. Then we could go individually to lectures from different departments. They were supposed to help you choose a major. First, I went to the "exploratory" session (a euphemism for "undecided"), where I learned how to choose classes that would satisfy the requirements for multiple majors. Then I went to the liberal arts session simply because I was undecided and I knew that many fields of study fall under the umbrella of liberal arts.

After getting back into our groups and having lunch, we started picking classes for ourselves from the big book of majors. It was then that I decided that computer science struck my fancy. (At the exploratory talk, I learned that it's best to major in something you like, and I like computer programming.) It was so nice to actually have a major chosen that I went ahead and selected only those classes that were recommended for that major. Among them was Calculus 3, which I could skip to because I had gotten a score of 5 (the highest possible) on the AP Calculus BC exam. I had found out by phone on July 1, the day the scores were released. I'd be interested in seeing how everyone else in the class did.

Later in the evening, the students working at Preview put on a series of skits illustrating some issues that would be likely to come up in college life: things such as getting drunk (bad), being gay (okay), using a fake ID (leads to getting drunk), and having a friend with an eating disorder (talk to them). It was pretty cheesy, but it was funny and informative too. Later that night, we had extra time to go over our choices of classes (it's a big decision, after all, and a lot of factors need to be taken into account). I took about as long as I possibly could with that, but the results were satisfactory. I also decided to change my major to computer engineering, with a focus on software. The difference seems subtle (so subtle, in fact, that I didn't need to change the classes I had already picked), but I prefer software to hardware.

We spent the night in a real live dorm (Broward Hall, to be exact) with a real live roommate (not necessarily the one we'd have in the fall). My roommate was from nearby Fort Lauderdale, so that was cool. He didn't have much to say, but he was probably as nervous as I was. I was the one doing most of the talking in our brief conversation. The dorm itself was pretty small, but for some reason, it was bigger than I thought it would be, so I was pleased. Broward is about 55 years old, and it shows, but I could imagine living there.

The next morning, my group took student ID photos early -- before breakfast. I had been awake for less than an hour, and it showed in my picture. I look all squinty and spaced out. Oh well; I only have to carry that ID around for, what, four years? Maybe more? And I'll be using it for such various purposes as banking and boarding buses? Not that important. It's actually pretty funny how bad the picture is, so it's all right. I'll probably laugh about it more later.

After breakfast, we walked to Hume Hall, the dorm exclusively for honors students. Since my group consisted entirely of honors students, this made sense. It was here that we would actually register for the classes we had chosen the day before. We gathered in the common room, which has a big-screen TV and some furniture. "Jeopardy!" was on TV, and I think it was the first time I was able to watch the show without anyone else wanting to change the channel. That's what I love about honors students.

After taking an extremely long and boring survey about myself for the university, it was time for me to meet with the guy I was supposed to be meeting with to register for my classes. He was very friendly, and he had some things to say about me studying computer engineering, like how it's a potentially lucrative field, and how it's always changing, and things like that. He suggested I take an Intro to Engineering course, which would bring my number of fall courses to six, and I agreed. I figured he wouldn't have given me more classes than I could handle. After he reviewed my schedule, I went to another room where someone helped me register for my classes online. I didn't quite get the schedule I wanted, but it'll have to do. Afterwards, I got an free UF Honors t-shirt.

Then we hitched a city bus and toured some gym complex in which almost everything was free for students. That was pretty cool, but I wouldn't exactly be one to take advantage of the offer. After that, we got on the bus again, and a girl who I vaguely recognized saw me. She was apparently from my high school, and I figured (correctly) that my sister knew her. She knew me, though, so it was kind of embarrassing that I couldn't think of her name. After that, our group went to the football stadium, known as "The Swamp" because the Florida Gators play there. Last season, UF became the first school ever to win both the college football and basketball championships in the same year, so they're very proud of that. Next, we walked back to the Reitz Union. Along the way, a familiar voice called out my name. It was a girl who had gone to elementary, junior high, and (briefly) high school with. She was in summer classes like the other girl.

We attended some more talks and things about safety on campus, and then, finally, we met with our group leaders one last time, and it was all over. It was a very, very long two days. I did get to socialize with other incoming freshmen, and I also got to take advantage of the guidance and support of the student group leaders. My group leader sent out an e-mail today asking how everyone was doing. It's nice to know I'll be able to ask him questions when the school year starts. I also need to get a Facebook. I don't have one yet, but I need one so I can contact my future roommate. He says that e-mail is too inconvenient.

Yesterday, my family visited my grandparents in their new home in The Villages, which is a massive retirement community. It's pretty nice, but I think I'd like it more if I were retired. You also sort of have to be a fan of the suburbs because the houses there are very suburban. They have new communities coming up left and right, and the houses all look pretty similar. It's sort of picturesque, though, and the closeness allows you to get to know your neighbors better. We got to meet one of the neighbors, and she was nice, so that was all fine and good. After a million-hour drive today, we finally got home, and here I am.

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Here are some photos of a computer keyboard that survived a fire. Well, maybe "survived" isn't the best word. It's a melted keyboard.