Whenever the sun is up, the sky is clear, and the weather is warm enough, we, the Dartmouth students, congregate on the Green. For some reason, the whole scenario reminds me of snails and worms that come out of the ground after it rains. It's strange to see so many people actually outside. Normally, I have a hard time believing that almost 5,000 people attend Dartmouth. Except for on special occasions, you do not see so many people outside. There is a kind of festive mood now, and I feel like I'm actually at a college.
Dartmouth seems like almost a different school when the sun is out. For most of the school year, students are wrapped in half a dozen layers of clothes, and they waddle around the campus like penguins in expensive clothes. Usually it would be impossible to tell students apart since they are virtually walking bundles of coats and sweaters. Sometimes you can't help but wonder if there is a person underneath all those clothes.
When the sun is out and the temperature is up, you can actually see the people. You can see their faces, features and tell them apart from the masses. With less clothes on, people discover things about their friends that they would have never seen or known before. You may find out that a person is enormously obese (I guess it wasn't all of those clothes that made them look big) or that you've been talking to the wrong person for an entire term. Some people who are used to seeing their friends in turtlenecks and hats may have trouble identifying their friends. No longer do people have to identify each other by what they wear. It seems like a strange concept in New Hampshire.
When people shed their coats and jackets, the first thing I noticed was how pale most people were. Back home in southern California, there are three types of pale people. Those who are albinos, those who bake like lobsters in the sun and cannot physically get tan and those from the East coast. Where I come from, there aren't many pale people around. Even people who bake and get sunburns eventually develop a tan of some sort. Coming from a diverse and sunny community, I was surprised how pale people were at Dartmouth. It was almost sickening to actually be able see the veins in people's faces and arms.
Coming from southern California, the sight of people trying to get a tan on the Green on a mildly clear day is a bit amusing but understandable. Back home, people usually sunbathe on the beaches if they sunbathe at all. Most people don't bother, because the sun is out most of the day and the temperature rarely drops below 50 degrees during the day all through the year. I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing rows of really pale, half-naked people desperately trying to get a tan on the Green. I think people from warm weather places understand what I am talking about.
As I walk around Dartmouth in a T-shirt and shorts, I feel a bit strange. Maybe too exposed? I find myself squinting a lot because everything seems so bright, and I feel more energetic. At times I feel almost like I am back home. They say that East Coast people are rude, pushy and gloomy. Maybe if they saw more of the sun and had more warm days, they would lighten up and smile more.
I think this would be the perfect time to bring up prospectives and show them around Dartmouth. We'll probably give them the wrong impression. The weather is beautiful, people by the hundreds are outside, and everything seems ideal. By the time they enroll at Dartmouth, it will be too late. Little will they know that six months of winter, freezing temperatures and gloomy weather await them. Ha ha.
