University of Nebraska: Day One

June 27, 2011

Last night I experienced my first Nebraskan severe thunderstorm.  Not much different than Indiana, however, there was hail in both storms.  One hit around 8 PM and the second around 1:30 AM.  The hail kept getting larger and larger, but it didn't damage my car.

Today was my first day as a Cornhusker.  It was a shock and awe kind of day.  I think I feel like a 6^th grader at Survivor  Camp.  You walk in a little nervous, but looking forward to the hot dog and bag of chips at the end of the day and instead you walk in and have to learn the school song, lunch rules, school improvement goals and pay your book fees.  You eat your hot dog and leave excited, but a little overwhelmed.  This is how I feel tonight.

There are eight students in our class at the International Quilt Study Center.  They are from Missouri, Oregon, Texas, Florida, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana.  All are in the doctorial or masters program at U of N—with the exception of ME!  That could make me feel a bit like a bottom feeder, however, I have understood everything so far.  The instructor is very nice and has a wonderful, broad based background in textile history.  She is also doing work as a textile CSI investigator.  Very interesting.

So far everyone has offered a place for me to stay on the remainder of my trip.  I may take Janet up on her offer.  She is a 4-H educator for a three county area in the Sandhills of Nebraska.  Janet is working on her masters.  As an employee of U of N she receives free tuition.  This will be a fun week with my new friends.  Everyone is kind and a little envious of my summer activities.

The class itself is fascinating.  I am learning so much.  Today we also went into the inner workings of the museum and learned that each of us will be working with a quilt that has been recently donated into the collection.  Each of us will research and analyze the fabric of the quilt, date it, and write a description of the quilt. This information will be utilized by the museum.  Stop laughing….I’m sure I will be well supervised!!

We examined several quilts today and also different sections of fabric scraps from the mid 18^th century.  When I was examining a quilt with a special magnifying glass, I could hardly contain my excitement.  I could only think—WOW!!  I will be doing this for four more days!!!

The Uof N community is looking forward to joining the Big Ten Conference.  I saw a t-shirt that said “All my ex’s live in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Iowa.”  There may have been another state on it, but I don’t remember.  It was pretty cute. 

Lunch today was at the U of N Dairy Store.  Great ice cream made from U of N dairy milk. The dairy store is a Nebraskan legend that has apparently been around since the beginning of time.  I recommend chocolate mint ice cream.