"Um...does a bit of counting in Spanish count?"

"Probably not. But if you get a spell in Spanish find someone to translate it for you and start studying Spanish immediately, and if you pick up another language make it Spanish."

Lissa nods, making a mental note to move learning more Spanish up in her schedule. "Oh yeah, you said I should keep my knife-should I figure out some kind of magic to do to it so it can kill mals or can it do that by itself?"

"Most mals will die to physical force and the ones that don't you want to kill with spells directly, not bother enchanting something unless you're, like, Orion Lake, and going to be killing a lot of them."

Lissa nods and puts "practice with knife" on her to-do-list as well. "Orion Lake?"

"He's this guy from New York--New York's the biggest richest English-speaking enclave and is therefore a big fucking deal--and he kills mals like they're breakfast."

"...wow. Does that have to do with being from New York or is he just naturally that cool?"

"He might be naturally that cool but he's had more resources to develop being really cool than if he wasn't from New York."

Lissa nods, peering around at the various groups. "Must be nice. For him and his whole enclave, too, I bet. Is he here, or is he one of the groups that left?"

"I don't see him but who knows."

Another nod, plus a shrug. "Yeah, I was just curious. Anyways, um, got any other advice? Or should we go to cutting my hair now?"

"Don't stand near any vents, or sit by them, if you can help it. Don't eat lunch by yourself if you can help it. Don't walk anywhere by yourself if you can help it, including to the bathroom. Curfew is at eleven and lasts until six; don't be outside your room or let anyone else in during curfew. If you need to pee in the middle of the night pee into the void. If you have a set of drawers or a cupboard in your room, disassemble it and reassemble it into shelving so mals can't hide places you can't see. Check the food in the cafeteria for mal infestation and poison before eating anything."

She nods, only pausing to pull out her notebook to write down the bit about curfew. "Is there a bell or something for curfew?"

"Yep. When you hear the curfew bell you have five minutes to get back to your room."

That might not be very long, considering. She frowns a bit as she considers. "Is it worth trying to get a watch? Or do they go bad too?"

"For you in particular it is not. They sometimes go bad, but also, they are very much an extra and you do not have the slack to trade for extras, you're starting at a huge disadvantage."

She nods, twisting her hair around her fingers again. "What time do classes end? The school's not mean enough to put class times way too close to curfew, is it?"

"No, class times vary depending on what your schedule is but that's not a problem anyone reported to my Mum when she bribed them to tell her things to watch out for."

"That's good. I guess I just have to get good at estimating the time myself?"

"Also pay attention to what everyone else is doing."

She nods. "I guess that makes sense for most things here. Thanks for all the advice."

"You're welcome. I wish you the best of luck in not dying."

Lissa nods. "So, just the haircut bit left, then?" She'll go to find a chair to sit down in if that makes it easier.