Oh, this is classic.
I don’t know the date on this, but it would have been sometime during the summer of ’94. This is the letter I wrote to the guy who would be my roommate my freshman year. It appears to be in response to a letter he sent me.
There are a few cringe worthy moments in here, but a lot of it is still true.
I only ended up living with this guy for the first semester; he transferred to another dorm after that. He said the dorm we lived in was too loud, which was so very true. That dorm was insane. My RA was nice enough to not write down that my roommate had left, so for the remainder of the year I had the room to myself. It was pretty sweet.
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taken me so long to get back to you, but I’m kind of busy and sometimes I can
be lazy. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day.
guess I’ll list off some things about me in the same way you did. Here goes:
of my mom, dad, and older brother, who is twenty-four and will be a middle
school science teacher in the fall. My father’s name is David, he works at a
place called Kevin Coleman. He gets jobs for the mentally and physically
handicapped. My mom’s name is Sherry. She works at Tallmadge (a city two cities
over from Kent) High School as a teacher for students with learning
disabilities. Oh, yeah, my brother’s name is Chris.
myself, my full name is Kyle Gerrit Vanderneut. My middle name comes from a
second cousin of mine who lives in Holland. That should give you a clue that
I’m Dutch. I’ve never been to the Netherlands, but I really want to go
eventually. At the moment, I’m debating over whether or not to bring my wooden
shoes with me to college. Yes, I’m that into my heritage. Although the only
person who could speak the language fluently, my dad’s aunt, died recently, so
that kind of sets my interest back a bit.
played soccer since I was five and it’s one of the few things I’m very
passionate about. The other is writing. Unfortunately, I want to go on to get
my Master’s in English, which means I have to get really good grades, which
means I don’t have time for soccer. Otherwise, I would have played. I played
varsity for three years in high school. It’s a great game and the World Cup
being held here drove me absolutely nuts with joy. Blasted Brazilians, knocked
out the U.S. and the Netherlands!
my third passion (soccer and writing being the first two) would be music. A
friend of mine once told me that I get more out of music than anyone she knows.
I’m currently in a band called Oral Groove. It’s a five man band with two
guitars, a bass, drums, and me, the lead singer. Three of our members are underclassmen,
so we’re breaking up with the end of the summer. I’m going to look for a band
to join at Ashland. From what I was told at orientation, it shouldn’t be to
hard to find one.
favorite bands, at the moment, are Pearl Jam, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, R.E.M.,
Weezer, and the Beastie Boys. Yes, the Beastie Boys can be considered rap, but
they aren’t your usual kind of rap. They can’t be — they’re the only rap band that I like.
currently learning how to play guitar, but I don’t own one. I might have one by
the time I leave, so maybe you could teach me? I played the sax for about two
years, but I really don’t remember all that much.
school I had the soccer team in the fall, and the Drama Guild in the Winter and
Spring. I was also on the school newspaper and the literary magazine. I’m in
two international organizations — Quill
and Scroll and the Thespians.
watch three programs on TV – Batman
the Animated Series, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and the
X-Men. If you can’t tell, I’m into comic books. I’ve got somewhere around two
thousand. It’s expensive, immature, and insane, but I like it.
you and I are definitely having a James Bond marathon. Bond movies are awesome!
I can’t wait for the new ones – Pearce
Bronson is going to be perfect!
to bring a CD player and portable dual cassette tape recorder which is CD
compatible. I’d bring my stereo, but it’s kind of big and the only thing it can
do that my portable can’t is play records. I do own a few records, however, so
if you have a great deal of them and want me to bring my stereo, that’s not a
problem.
probably get a small fridge around here for a cheaper price than at Ashland.
This is a college town, after all. So just tell me if you want me to get one,
and we can split the price or whatever. Oh, and I think bunk beds are the way
to go. If I tried to make a loft I’d end up nailing my hand to the bed.
rambled on long enough. Write me back with a list of stuff that you’re going to
take down and I’ll see what we need. If I don’t hear from you soon, I’ll see
you in a couple of weeks!
KyleGarret.com 
