[Sca-cooks] Re: Home again, home again, jiggety jog

[Bronwynmgn at aol.com]

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In a message dated 8/13/2002 11:33:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
sca-cooks-request at ansteorra.org writes:


> I lasted three
> days... and I was staying in a motel! Too hot, too humid, too dusty... and
> I
> was bored and lonely. I can now say with impunity, having tried it, that
> Pennsic is NOT for me.

Yeah, this was a bad year weather-wise.  It's always dusty (unless it's
muddy), but not always as hot and muggy as this year.  It's not unusual to
have days in the 70's or low 80's, and nights in the 40's - and we did in
fact have a few days like that at the end of the first week.
The bored and lonely part is the real problem - you can put up with a lot
more discomfort if you have something to take your mind off it.  There are a
couple of solutions to that problem if you choose to give it a try later on:
1. I seem to remember that you are fairly new to the SCA, and probably don't
know a lot of people yet.  One of the joys of Pennsic, for the oldtimers, is
seeing all your old friends who moved, or who you moved away from, and never
see any more except at Pennsic.  I, in fact, had a less than stellar Pennsic
because my best friend, who lives in Oregon, couldn't make it this year, and
I missed him dreadfully.
2. Find something you like doing in the service area - security shift, lost
and found, newcomer's point, chirurgeon, waterbearing, newspaper, motor pool,
mobility assistance program - and volunteer there - good way to meet people
and make friends to hang with next year.  Also keeps you from being bored.
Security and mobility assistance have the added advantage of getting to
travel all over Pennsic and learn your way around.
3. Try some classes, even if you're not sure you'll be interested in them.
Did you go to any?  What topics were they on?
4. If you aren't into parties, which are highly advertised, but which many
people including myself, don't find much fun, go to Info Point to look in the
Bards by Night book for bardic circles.  Go to the Barn at night and dance.

Everybody has a crappy Pennsic once in a while, but it sounds like you had a
bad one for your first one. It may not necessarily be that Pennsic isn't for
you, but that it isn't for you YET.  Maybe you needed to be with a different
group who does different things, or maybe you need to hook up with people who
share your interests during the year, and then get together with them at
Pennsic.

Pennsic by yourself, when you don't know what's going on or how to find out,
isn't much fun.  It sounds like that's pretty much what happened to you.

Brangwayna Morgan