HUH?!?!

You know how sometimes on an airplane you get pressure in your ears but after swallowing a lot or holding your nose and blowing that it normally pops and you can hear normally again? Well, that is not the case for me. The last part, at least. My ears got plugged up during my first flight on Saturday, and my ears still haven't popped...and it's very annoying. Why, you ask? Or rather, you really shouldn't be asking "why" because it's so super obvious that if you think before you ask questions, you wouldn't ask that one. But even still...

Unless I'm looking at people and expecting them to be talking to me, I miss what they're saying to me completely. So once I figure out that they're talking to me, I have to ask "Huh?" and seem like I'm totally in another world, which I suppose I am. All sounds are muffled. I was trying to watch a TV show on my computer, and to hear it well I had to blast the sound AND put my head near my computer (never before had I needed speakers for my computer SO much!). When I'm chewing something (especially something crunchy like the Goldfish I'm currently eating), I really can't hear anything other than chewing. Definitely not people talking. So I have been pretty anti-social the past two days because I can't hear people well.

But that anti-social-ness had to end today because I had class. That was tough. Really tough. Partly because all my classes are in foreign languages and therefore require even more attention to sound than classes in English, but for other reasons too. In Italian, the teacher paired us off into 2 to speak in Italian (talk about vacation, answer questions, etc). of course, my conversation partner is to my left! Why is this a problem? Well, my right ear is mostly clear, but my left ear is much the same as ever. Therefore, it's especially hard to hear things that are close to my left ear. I had to use every power of focus that I have in order to hear her (especially as there are people talking all around the room, and closest to my right ear). In my French class, my teacher is not super loud and talks somewhat quickly...AND at the other end of the room. (In retrospect, I should have sat closer to the front. But I always sit in that one seat when I have class in that room. Every time. Old habits die hard). This was made worse by a horrible headache that hit me maybe halfway through the class. What a sob story I have!

So both of my classes today are too big. My Italian class has 20 people (which they'll allow, but would prefer if there were fewer people but, seriously, who wants to switch to the 8 am class even if there are only 7 people? Not I, says the fly!) and my French class had 23 people show up today (for a final total of at best 19 but preferably 18. Fortunately, my spot is secure because I am officially registered and I am a senior so I get seniority). But I think it's funny how 20 or 23 people is WAY too many here, but would likely be small at many other colleges and universities...