Silver Glow's Journal

by Admiral Biscuit

January 4 [Tour of Campus]

January 4
Classes start today!

Wow, yesterday wound up being pretty intense. After showing me how to make a Facebook, Peggy got dressed again. (I thought the fuzzy pants she put on after the shower were okay but she said that she couldn't wear lounge pants outside. I'm not sure why. Humans—people—have funny rules about clothes. She also had to put on a bra, even though nopony no person could see it under her shirt.)

I'd sort of gotten the hang of a Facebook when it was time for lunch. She took a picture of me with her telephone, and made it my profile picture. The Facebook didn't believe my name was Silver Glow until she checked the 'pony' box. I guess humans aren't named Silver Glow.

Her other name is Theisen. She showed me how to accept a friend request, and that was what it said she was called.

She said that there wasn't much variety for lunch, because not a lot of people ate it on the weekend. They had lots of salad stuff, though, so I had a big salad and a couple pieces of bread which was chewy and didn't taste like anything. She showed me how the pop fountain worked and I tried a little bit of Coke, which was too sweet and made my nose tickle.

Peggy said I'd get used to it, but I don't know if I want to.

Christine joined us for lunch, along with a man named Joe. Even if lunch had been underwhelming, I had started the day knowing nopony people except Peggy, and now I knew two more. That was pretty exciting. Joe said that he is going to school to be a teacher, and that he wants to teach school in Asia. (That's a continent on Earth. You can tell because it starts with an A—that's how they name continents. One of them is so tall, it has a north and south half.)

We toured the campus in the afternoon. Christine came along with us. We couldn't go into classrooms 'cause it wasn't a school day, but we looked through the windows at them. On the hill in front of the Fine Arts building there was a giant silver sculpture that Christine said was called "Sisyphus," but all the students said it looked like two crabs fucking. Then her face got really red and she put her hands over her mouth and it was kind of cute to see.

It took us all afternoon to tour the school; we got stopped by a lot of people that wanted to meet me. One of the professors was in his office and he called me in and we talked for a little bit. Even though I don't have any classes with him this quarter, he told me that if I had any trouble with my coursework to stop by and talk to him. I thought that was very nice of him.

The dining hall was even more crowded for dinner. There was a line to the podium, and a different lady was guarding the dining hall this time. She wasn't as friendly-looking as the morning sentry had been. Probably because there were so many people trying to get in all at once. She was a little impatient that I had trouble taking my picture card off its lanyard.

Lots more food this time, too. I can't even describe it all. I got a plate of noodles and stir-fry, a salad, some peanut butter cookies that Peggy recommended and a fried portabella mushroom.

I'd been skeptical at breakfast about meals being a social affair, since there were so few people, but there was quite a group of us gathered together for dinner. It was a little bit slow going, 'cause I had to be introduced to everyone who was already there, and then more people joined us and other people left.

When we went back to the dorm, Peggy left the door open and some of our neighbors came by and visited us. I learned how to play Euchre and did pretty well. Me and Peggy lost, but only by seven points, which is not bad for a first time. Ruth, one of the girls who lives in the same hall as us, said that we might get skunked, but I didn't see any skunks around.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted, but Peggy still seemed pretty fresh. I think humans operate on a different schedule than ponies.

I checked my Facebook and found out that a Christine Gekker had asked to be my friend. I was confused at first, because her picture was of a Jedi (that's what Peggy said it was). She said that it was the Christine I knew, and that Christine really liked Star Wars which is why her avatar (which is what her picture is called) was a Jedi. Then I got ready for bed, and Peggy put on her fuzzy lounge pants and headphones and did stuff on her computer while I went to bed.

So that was how my last free day went.

My first class today is a climate science class, then I have Introduction to Western Philosophy, and in the afternoon I'll be helping a language professor who's teaching classes in Equestrian. Plus my very own computer is supposed to arrive in the afternoon, so I'll have to be at my dorm room to receive it. We had some training on them back in Equestria, but apparently it can be complicated to set one up. There are a bunch of things that have to be done to make it work right.

Comments

[TheDriderPony]

Just wait till she finds out about Aurope.

[Fana Farouche]

Silver Glow seems so adorably innocent.

[wlam]

You can tell because it starts with an A—that's how they name continents. One of them is so tall, it has a north and south half.

America, Asia, Australia, Antarctica, Africa, A...ropa. Well, five out of six ain't bad. She might be on to something there.

[Conflicting views]

I do remember two continent's name not starting by "a", but I guess she just didn't know.

I look forward to discover the "Pony friendly" computer.

[Admiral Biscuit]

6984300
Hardly counts. Nothing much happens there.

6984311
Kind of weird it turned out that way, isn't it?

[SciGuy]

6984311
Four out of seven - neither North America nor South America start with "A".

[Admiral Biscuit]

6984302
The blissful ignorance of a tourist in a strange land.

[Conflicting views]

6984311 Forgot OAceania

[Admiral Biscuit]

6984321
That was the tall one that had a north and south half. Seriously, in English, six of the seven continents start with 'A' (ignoring the compass directions). How weird is that?

6984324
Speaking of which, there's also the lost continent of Atlantis. . . .

[wlam]

6984324
Falls under Australia. Oceania is just a collective term for that and the surrounding minor islands that aren't quite big enough to count as continents in their own right.

6984321
They're a single connected landmass, so I feel justified taking some creative license here.

[Alaborn]

How to make a computer keyboard for ponies?

1. A normal keyboard. It just takes up an area the size of a dining room table.
2. Two circular indentations that can each be slid eight directions. Move them at the same time; that creates 64 possible "key" combinations.
3. The tried and true pen in the mouth method.
4. Just activate voice recognition.

[Alondro]

6977455 It was kinda a sarcastic quip to the guy who doesn't like it because not enough action/exploding ponies.

[Conflicting views]

6984330 Wait what? I am confident the continent is Oceania and Australia is just the main island. But the continental plate also include Tasmania, New Guinea, New-Zeeland and yes, all these small archipelago (Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia). That is how it was taught in school at least.

6984329 It is the most important one!

[Regreme]

Another cute short chapter.^^

[wlam]

6984363
Must be a local variation, I was certainly never taught about a continent called Oceania in school. Then again, that was quite a while ago. Might be that they changed the terminology in the meantime. If they can demote planets, who's to say they can't do it to continents?

[PunIntended Consequences]

I'll be helping a language professor who's teaching classes in Equestrian

Just imagine the outrageously thick accent humans speaking Equestrian will have.

I'm starting to see a few tangential ideas that could become problematic for Silver Glow later... looking forward to her learning curve going vertical soon! Also, was it just me or did that professor seem... too interested in helping Silver?

[Conflicting views]

6984376 After your comment I went on the internet and checked. According to wiki, in Canada, France, Italia, Greece, hispanic countries, China and South Korea it is named Oceania, apparently at some places it is also named Asutralasia.
It is kinda like the debate on how many continent. It can be anywhere beetween 4 and 7 inclusively, with many possible variations.

[QueenMoriarty]

6984379 I got that vibe too, but I'm hoping that's just our dirty dirty minds.

[QueenMoriarty]

then I'm have Introduction to Western Philosophy

Nice to meet you, Have Introduction To Western Philosophy! Funny, I thought your name was Silver Glow.

[Jphyper]

6984376 They're talking about the tectonic plate, not a continent as most people know them. "Oceania" refers to all the many islands in the southern Pacific, mainly near Australia and southeast Asia. I'm talking places like Indonesia, New Zealand, and Fiji, just to name a few. Many of these islands are too small to even appear on most world maps. It's sometimes grouped together with Australia and treated as one continent for the sake of convenience in categorization ("Australia and Oceania").

[wlam]

6984408

That's an insult to the author more than anything.

You clearly don't know Biscuit very well. If there's one guy here who has kept his good sense about just writing pony stories for fun in his spare time, it's that one. That he actually does any research for his stories at all is seriously going above and beyond the call of duty for what this medium is, not some kind of minimum standard. This isn't high literature. Have some sense of proportion.

And yes, it's just a webcomic.

6984411
If you go by actual geological continental plates, there are substantially more. America alone is, on the whole, on at least three different ones. That's not counting subplates.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Plates_tect2_en.svg

[theRedBrony]

That reminds me of Jeremy Clarkson making fun of us Americans, I can't find the clip, but in short: Ee-urope, and Germany (with a hard G).

[Blitz the Dragon]

Climate science class??? Good thing you-know-who left Fimfiction, else that line would trigger him.

[Kusac]

6984379 I just take it as ponies being extremely rare on Earth so far. Silver Glow is probably one of the first ponies seen by the professor. I know I would like to strike up conversations with them if I had the opportunity and offering to help would do just that.

[Seirs]

Hmm a Pegasus in a climate science class. This should be great or funny, or greatly hilarious in one way or another. Ahh and good olmintro to western philosophy... Ahh good memories.

[MLai]

6984450
Yeah, your attitude is what makes webcomics "just webcomics". In any case, I've read many webcomics which are better than mainstream print comics.

I don't know what you mean by "sense of proportion"; if you want to pour passion into something, you do it well. If you love hockey and practice every week, you'd want to get better at it as well. The Martian started as an online webnovel.

It's nice that you're trying to stick up for a friend. But at this point it's just a discussion, and you're not helping anything by trying to turn it into a flamewar.

6984572
I noticed that for some reason, this fandom attracted many Fundies.

I didn't even know that there's such a thing as Climate Science course in universities these days. There's hope for America's young yet, I guess.

[Celefin]

6984144

imgur link

I knew that. I've complained about other people not thinking about it when posting.
Well done, Cel, well done.
But I really had to laugh at your conversation ;)

[Talon and Thorn]

(That's a continent on Earth. You can tell because it starts with an A—that's how they name continents. One of them is so tall, it has a north and south half.)

I think she might be missing a little bit of the world out there.

6984319

Hey!

Well you can tell she's going to university in the USA then.

[Celefin]

6984349 Or Velcro. Velcro around hooves or fetlocks, whatever your personal preference, then strap in a stylus. Velcro can solve almost everything :)

[KMCA]

6984411 Canada didn't call it Oceania when I was in school and I don't think it's changed. So maybe PARTS of Canada do. I mean it's a big country

[totallynotabrony]

the pop fountain
play Euchre
Found the midwesterner

[ScopeEva]

(That's a continent on Earth. You can tell because it starts with an A—that's how they name continents. One of them is so tall, it has a north and south half.)

And that is why you avoid geography lessons from the average American.

Edit: Actually, that's unfair. Technically Canada, Mexico, Chilly, Brazil and many more are American and I trust them to get it right.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Yeah, getting dunked headfirst into another culture is going to be pretty exhausting. It'll be a treat to see Silver react to today's course load.

[Conflicting views]

6985013 I was quoting wikipedia. But I live in Canada, so I can confirm at least one province teach it that way. I can't speak for the rest of you.

[KMCA]

6985343 What province? I'm curious if they've changed it since I was in school.

[Conflicting views]

6984450 Well, subcontinental plate are... subcontinental, so I don't think it count...
But yes, when you start counting it like this it can get quite fun. Add to that fossil plates and you have something that will give kids nightmare to study

6985247

Actually, that's unfair. Technically Canada, Mexico, Chilly, Brazil and many more are American and I trust them to get it right.

You get a cookie for that one!

6985367 I'm from Québec.
Anyway, the federal gouvenment say this: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geography/atlas-canada/reference-maps/16846#international

[KMCA]

6985373 Hm. So they did update from when I was in school, then again it HAS been over 10 years. Plus I think it's a good change.

[ScopeEva]

6985373 Yup! Except for maybe Argentina. Not that they don't know better but being from the UK they would likely try to troll me.

[DerUbermensch]

6984319

Hardly counts. Nothing much happens there.

Other than you know, fcking Hitler.

[SciGuy]

6984329
I... don't see how "North America" or "South America" start with 'A'. You say "ignoring the compass directions", but they're part of the name of those two continents.

[Bugsydor]

Oh man. You tease us with so many wonderful opportunities for culture shock and adorableness. I am so looking forward to future installments.

6984420
Hi, Have Introduction To Western Philosophy! I'm Dad.

Saw the opportunity for the joke, and I took it. I am not sorry.

[QueenMoriarty]

6985939 Daddy? Is it really you?

[Inky Scrolls]

She showed me how the pop fountain worked

What is one of those?

[Admiral Biscuit]

6986280
Soda fountain to non-Midwesterners.

[Alondro]

6985242 I was nursed by wild katydids in the Jersey Pine Barrens! (this explains much...)

[Dan]

6984329

Atlantis is now known as Crete and Santorini.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoan_civilization#Minoan_demise_theories

[SPart]

(That's a continent on Earth. You can tell because it starts with an A—that's how they name continents. One of them is so tall, it has a north and south half.)

Europe says hallo.

wow i wonder when she stumbles about our past and present wars ... and how suffering it is to be a human on some parts of our beautiful planet.

[Inky Scrolls]

6986307 Yeah... I'm not American at all, so I'm going to assume that a 'soda fountain' is something one can only find in the US. So what is it, again?

[Admiral Biscuit]

6986799
A dispenser for soft drinks (Coke, Pepsi, whatever).
sodabarsystem.com/Lancer_B&I4500_30_Coca_Cola.jpg

[lefthandturnsignal]

6986607 Europe's only a continent because they wrote the books on geography.

Also maybe something about politics and ethnic divisions... but come on, who cares about those?