My first summer in Moscow is bittersweet
As Moscow steels herself for another lonely summer night, my neighbors shatter this small town’s ghostly, quiet atmosphere to screech like banshees about God knows what.
I don’t have the right to complain about their noise after my roommates and I once shrieked the lyrics of ACDC’s “Thunderstruck” at 1 a.m. when a buddy’s paladin got a critical strike on Acererak in our Dungeons and Dragons “Tomb of Horrors” raid.
They called the cops on us. The police officers who knocked on our door expected a boisterous party, not a coven of nerds with sheets of spells in hand piled around a table.
Jake Smith
However, raucous debauchery like ours is stymied by the hordes of students leaving Moscow for the summer.
Christopher Hyde, senior IT programmer analyst for the University of Idaho office of the registrar, said 9,821 students enrolled in 2015’s spring semester. The numbers dropped to 2,522 students enrolled in summer sessions as of May 21.
As a sophomore going into my third year, I have never stayed in Moscow over the summer.
Until now, Moscow’s small-town charm from my perspective has been dwarfed by thousands of students frantically scurrying about the town.
Last week, I was able to cycle at UI’s Student Recreation Center without first swimming through crowds of bros to get to my machinery. My weekend grocery trip was unburdened by groups of day-drunk students deliberating over which self-checkout stand seemed to be the best. Jazz night at Bucer’s was less claustrophobic than usual, and One World had seats open and a short line.
This is the part where I say this is all great, students make everything bad and Moscow is so much better without them. But it’s not. I like being surrounded by thousands of bright, expansive, albeit sometimes less-than-sober minds.
Those bros at the gym? For the most part, they’re extremely kind and willing to help people like me learn more about becoming a member of the Grand Swol Party.
Anyone who is day-drunk in public makes public establishments more interesting.
Jazz night is a community event that is made better by hordes of coffee-swilling, amorous students looking to unwind after a long day. Jazz is better with company.
There are mixed opinions everywhere about this topic. People say Moscow is boring in the summer because there’s no one to talk to and no events to go to. Others say Moscow is profoundly better in the summer because they can breathe a sigh of relief knowing the state of the community doesn’t lie in the hands of thousands of potentially dangerous students.
Yes, Moscow can be dull in the summer compared to the busy lives students normally lead. And yeah, Moscow is a bit safer without so many students here to put things at risk.
For the next three months, I’m going to take advantage of the small-town appeal Moscow provides and the lull of this college town in summer.
However, I can’t wait to see more students in the fall. UI students add spice to Moscow’s melting pot.
Jake Smith can be reached [email protected] or on Twitter @notjakesmith