Finals, Secret Santa, and Much Much More!

Ok, maybe not much more...

But anyway, I am taking a quick break from writing a paper. May not be the best idea, but I need to get away from studying for a while.

I have my toughest day today (Thursday). I have a British Empire exam in 8 hours and a Medieval paper due after that. TT.TT

But, earlier today I went to the crew Secret Santa "party". Apparently there was a mix-up in how Secret Santa is played. Some thought the secret part was just getting a random name and then telling that person that they were their Secret Santa. Others thought it was being anonymous in the gift giving and then having the person guess who gave the gift.

Anyway, we ended up doing the latter, of telling the person who we were. My Secret Santa gave me a lot of things. She gave me:

A Christmas tree cookie
A large brick of chocolate
Candy canes
Hot Choco mix
and this really cool candle thing that when heated, becomes a lotion. <.< I will have to try it out and see what happens. Nonetheless, it smells nice.

Well, back to writing about Medieval battles and studying why the British Empire fell apart in the 20th century.

Until next time,

"I love deadlines. I especially love the whoosing sound they make as they fly by." ~Douglas Adams

Accents, Chocolate Chip Bagels, and Crabs

HI EVERYONE!

I hope all is well! I apologize immensely for not posting anything lately. School has been very stressful, with lots of papers, tests, and other fun things (like going to class). Crew has also taken up a great deal of time and dedication, but it is worth it.

So, as I kinda did with the last catch up post, I will post by week, since daily reports will be tedious.

Week of 25 October:

Not much has happened. Crew and school are pretty much the same. However, this weekend, I had my first regatta. It was called the Head of the Fish, so aptly named because the river we rowed on was called Fish Creek. I had a lot of fun rowing in a competitive setting, but realized that I have a lot to work on as far as technique.

EDIT: So , I forgot to post this a while back. Since not much has happened, I will just put down certain events that are interesting. n_n

30 October: Tonight was the school dance called Moorebid. It was a Halloween theme dance. Apparently Halloween is a much bigger deal here at Skidmore than UNC. So, out of some peer pressure, I went to the mall and bought a costume. It is a 50s sock hop outfit. n_n Surprised? Now I have a costume for the next lots of Halloweens and no one can say anything about it. n_n. Anyway, the dance was the craziest thing I have seen. It is WAY more hectic (and more fun) than the Homecoming dance at UNC. Pretty much the entire school was crammed into the student center here, which meant it was hot and there was a lot of people in a small area.

I also found out more about the alcohol culture here at Skidmore. As is normal for any college, there was a lot of drinking that night. A lot of people were clearly drunk, which allowed those of us who were sober (myself included) to laugh hysterically at how stupid the drunks acted. But, sad to say, some people went to the hospital due to alcohol poisoning. There is a drink called Four Lokos, which is a alcoholic energy drink. Whoever thought of that idea should be smacked. At least here in NY and other places in the northeast, the distribution of the drink is banned. I do not know about Colorado.

Anyway, overall, the dance was fun and I enjoyed myself.

So, not pertaining to a date, but being out here I have picked up some interesting culture notes. One of them is accents. People here talk with a more nasal sounding accent, it is really interesting. Obviously people from Long Island and the city have the stereotypical New York accent (wuatah - water). People from the Boston area have that accent (kaah - car). Most other people have less distinct accents, but I have noticed that people use more long "a" sounds. For example, aunt is pronounced "ont" instead of "ant". The same goes for Albany ("Olbany"). But anyway, one of my classmates in the Enlightenment class was talking with me over lunch one day and kind of out of the blue he told me that I have "a thick Mid-Western accent". I know everyone does not think that they have an accent themselves, but what does a Mid-Western accent even sound like? I guess I am so used to it that I have become deaf to the difference. However, thinking back, whenever I talked, people always seemed to ask first where I am from. I guess that was a clue that I do speak differently than the "normal" East Coast person. Oh well. I will be coming home to the actual "normal" people with normal accents. n_n.

Crew: Ended a couple weeks ago. We went to the boathouse every day and practiced. However, we had switched over to morning practices, so I had to drag myself out of bed at 5:30 to get to a 6:25 practice. Oh so much fun. TT.TT But, in some ways, I was able to be up for the day and get more done before my classes. The last day of practice (20 November) we had a fun regatta called "Head of the Turkey". We mixed up the novice men and women and the varsity did the same and we raced each other up and down the river. It was a lot of fun. My boat got first. \^o^/ However, we were all confused in racing because there was miscommunication from the coaches to the coxswain about when to start rowing and when to stop. This meant we did not actually start rowing hard when we were supposed to and we continued rowing hard long after the finish line. (oops). But nonetheless, it was a lot of fun. As a prize, I received a paper plate with a turkey design...and an apple cider donut.

Side note: Apple cider donuts are amazing. I need to find out if they exist in CO donut stores. Also, Dunkin Donuts is way more prevalent out here than in CO. In CO, we just have Starbucks all over. I think I have only seen 3 DD's in CO. Also, Saratoga is known for the apple orchards. There is a vendor who comes every Friday to sell apples and cider at the campus. I have bought so much cider here. It is much, much better than anything store bought or instant. I wonder how I could bring some home for the holidays...

Anyway, back to crew. After Turkey Break, my coach sent out a self-paced week of workouts. I tried to do each day's but ended up failing on most accounts. I will make it up during Winter break when I do the "Winter Challenge". I just received the workouts for each day during break. Very intensive with lots of erg exercises, weights, and cardio. TT.TT I do feeel guilty though. The mens team still has practice. They have been going to the erg room every day for the past two weeks. They are done tomorrow with a 6000m erg piece. o.O I have problems with a 2000m piece. But I will get stronger over break and it will better. I have my personal meeting with the coaches on Monday, where I talk about my goals and get fitted for a uniform! I will officially be a part of the Skidmore crew team! \^o^/

So, going back to being on the water, near the end of the season, I got a couple crabs. No, not anything bad, but "to crab" is to somehow lose control of the oar and it does funky things. A "crab" is when the oar goes out of your control and get stuck in the water in a weird manner. My crabs were only so bad that the oar handle hit my stomach, giving me an interesting bruise. Another side note, my hands are almost healed of blisters and calluses...just in time for the Winter Workouts where I will be getting more. TT.TT Let the pain and torture of toughening up my skin begin again.

Crew Party: So, the night before Head of the Turkey, the entire team got together and ate pasta (to carb up for the race). We had a lot of fun talking and getting to know one another. Anyway, when we were going around introducing ourselves, we had to say an interesting fact. Mine was that my favorite bagel was a chocolate chip bagel. Nearly everyone went crazy and kept saying that they had never heard of that. Shocking, yes? Einsteins is not a popular chain out here (pity), which makes it understandable that not as many people know about CC bagels. But anyway, I have also made my own CC bagels in the dining hall. I take the chocolate chips from the dessert area and put them on a bagel that I had toasted and buttered. It is a close enough substitute to being spoiled at UNC with Einsteins.

Turkey Break: So, instead of coming home to CO for break, I went to visit family in MA. My cousin lives in a city called Newton, which is outside of Boston. I had a lot of fun, playing with her children and having time spent away from the campus. Getting to Newton was interesting. I did not want to pay lots of money for a bus or train ticket, so I asked around to see if anyone was going to the area. One of my crew mates lives in a town called Acton, which is 45 minutes from Newton. So, I was able to get a ride to and from with her. It took us 5 hours each way. I slept for a large part of it. Although coming back, I needed to go pee, but the person driving did not want to stop. >.< I had to literally beg her to stop so that I could relieve myself. Oh so much fun. Anyway...back to Turkey. For the actual Turkey day, I went with my cousins to Ipswich, which is north of Boston. It was a very pretty place and the house of the cousin's friend was very lovely. And the food was good. We had a "trash can turkey". Apparently this is a New England thing. What happens is that you place a turkey in a clean trash can and then set coals and everything around it, turning it into a very large pressure cooker. The turkey came out very delicious. I get to see my cousins again in a couple weeks, since they are coming out to CO!

4 December: Junior Ring. This is another dance here at the school. It was much tamer than Moorebid, which is the opposite of what it usually is, so I am told. It was Disney themed, but I did not have time to go out and get an outfit for the theme this time, so I wore a different dress. I had fun at the dance; they provided food and drink this time, which was nice.

So, that brings us to the present and all its happyness and bubbles. My finals week and a half looks like such:

Monday - meeting with Enlightenment professor to discuss writing portfolio and final grade.
- meeting with crew coaches to discuss winter and spring goals, be fitted for uniform.

Tuesday - turn in Japanese history paper
- turn in Japanese language paper

Wednesday - study

Thursday - turn in Medieval history paper
- take British Empire exam

Friday - take Japanese history exam

Following Monday - take Japanese language exam, turn in final revised paper

Following Tuesday - come home to CO.

Well, this will be a fun week and a half. TT.TT But nonetheless, life will go on and everything will be happy for winter break.

Until then,

"I do not intend to tiptoe through life, only to arrive safely at death." ~bumper sticker

Fun!

Hello again!

Well, this week was rough, lots of stress, not enough time, and definitely not enough ice cream consumption.

But, other than that, this weekend has been interesting. Friday was spent finishing an essay and then falling asleep watching a movie. I woke up the next morning at my desk. >.<

Saturday was fun, did not do too much except read and clean the room. I was able to talk on Skype with family and to see some people at home at a judo tournament. It was good to see some people and talk with them for a short while.

Yesterday evening was the most fun so far. For extra credit, I could go to the Schuyler House and take the tour. So, I called a cab to get there. I did not realize how expensive it would be. To go to the next town over, it cost $22. Plus tip, one way was $24. TT.TT However, I did not have enough to get home, since I did not expect it to be that much going one way. So, I took the tour of the house, which was a lot of fun and very interesting. I learned a lot about the history of the area as well as how connected Early Americans were to one another. For example, one of the daughters of General Philip Schuyler married Alexander Hamilton. Amazing information.

So, the entire time I was taking the tour, I was trying to figure out how to get home. Eventually at the end of the tour, I went up to a couple that was in my group and I asked them if they could give me a ride back to Skidmore. They were very nice and I was fortunate enough to ask them because they were making a mini-vacation of the Saratoga area and were staying close to the school. So, they gave me a ride and I am forever grateful to Martha and Bill from Rochester, New York. For the most part, I believe in the Hobbesian side of human nature. But this couple helped to further my respect for the idea that there are really good, kind-hearted people in the world.

I got back and was relaxing in my room when I heard a lot of big booms outside. Turns out they were fireworks. I tried to get outside in time and across campus, but it was a very short show and I missed most of it. But it was fun to see some of them anyway.

So, today I have a group workout for crew. We are to run lots of miles. TT.TT We shall see how that goes.

Well, until next time,

"Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone else's life forever." ~M. Cho

Surprise!!!

Hello!

Well, this week was just another week: papers, classes, crew practice, &tc.

I turned in my first paper of the semester on Thursday, we will see how well I did. Although I realised afterwards that for my footnotes, I sometimes did Ibid. and other times I put the shortened form for the same source. >.< Oh well, at least it just proves that I know how to do both, right?

Friday was an interesting day. I had all of my classes as usual, but my Enlightenment class was probably the most fun and thought provoking. On Wednesday we had discussed education in general and education of women during this time period. It was actually a very intense discussion about what education is in itself let alone if women should be involved. Hence, on Friday, we had to think about the Social Contract we have with other people and institutions. It was a very philosophical debate about what each of us students wants and puts into our education here at the college. Point of thanks to the UNC education department for teaching me about the pedagogical ideologies and the history of education. They actually came in handy. I think last year when I took the introductory course, I thought the ideologies were fairly deep for the field, which they still are, but in this class we dug deeper into the field of education and the moral/philosophical foundations which drive our education system. Then the question arose, "Why are you here at school?" Each person had his/her answer and we were all different. Afterwards, I was thinking more about it and had to really think about why I am here at school. It is a difficult question that I am unable to answer at this moment.

But on to a much more happy topic!

I GOT MY HAIR CUT!!!

*pause for the shock to set in*

Yep, I got my hair cut in Friday after classes. I called several different hair places here in Saratoga, many of them were unable to fit me in on Friday before practice. Finally, I found one: Brooklyn Attitude Hair and Body. They made an appointment with me for 3:30. So, I called for a cab at 3. I waited for the cab, but when it got here, there was another person who had to go to the other side of town. So, the driver called for another cab. I waited another 10 minutes for a cab to show up. When he did, he said he was going to the train station. So, I had to wait for a third taxi. By this time it was about 3:20. My cab finally showed up, but there were other people at the school who also got in to go to the train station. When we dropped them off, it was 3:30 and I kinda panicked. I made it to the hair place at about 3:35. Fortunately, the appointment in front of me was just finishing up, so everything was alright. Then...it was my turn. I told the lady what I wanted with my hair. I wanted to donate to Locks of Love. So, she tied up my hair and cut it off. She then said, "Let's go to the basin so I can get your hair wet, if I were to use the spray bottle it would take forever." So I got my hair washed and everything. We then went back to the seat and she began to even out my hair. She asked if I wanted layers and bangs. I answered yes to both. Why? I have no idea. Its been about 8 years since I have had any kind of hair cut and forgot what it was like to have either. So it is something different. Anyway, she cut the back first, so by the time I saw how much she cut, I was kinda shocked. But she kept saying that it was still fairly long. No, no its not. >.< But she did a great job with the layers and it actually looks nice. It will just take some getting used to. For this weekend, I have not been able to stop playing with my hair and realizing that there is a lot less. In total, I think she cut some where close to 18 inches. Pretty much all off it will be going to Locks of Love on Monday when I can get to the post office.

Its been weird here at school, people have come up to me and have said that they have not seen me with my hair down. Of course not. I wore my hair in a bun everyday. Except on Friday. I wore it in braids that day. But people have said that now I look less dead-serious about school. According to other people, I looked very anti-social and intimidating with my bun. But now they say that I look more approachable and "bubbly". Which I guess is a compliment.

Here are some pictures! I finally figured out how to do pictures!!! \^o^/
This is before, after from the back, and after from the front.










Well, I have four papers and two tests this week. >.< I am hoping that can make it through! o.O


Until next time,

"I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." ~L. Tomlin

The Past Two Weeks

Hello!

Well, to catch up on the past two weeks, I will start where I left off and go through up to today.

So:

15 September:

I had to attend the meeting for crew that required us to fill out the NCAA paperwork and all related health forms. This did not take too long, but afterwards, we had the swim test. This was to make sure that if something happened with the boat out on the water, we would be safe. For this test we had to swim 200m and then tread water for 15 minutes. In all honesty, it was easier than it looks.

After successfully completing this, I went to the dining hall's CLAMBAKE! \^o^/ It was amazing and I had a lot of fun. Mind you, I was still wet from the pool and smelled of chlorine, but I did not care. I went to the dining hall and got lots of food. I had clam chowder (which was not the best I have had here), Italian sausage, corn on the cob (from a local grower, but does not beat CO corn), and LOTS of clams. I went back to the clams station three times to get more. >.< I had a plate full of shells at the end and it was interesting to get it to the accumulator.

Side note: The Accumulator is this really cool thing they have at the dining hall which is a plate carousel. It has places for the plates and other dishes and it goes to the back where people clean off the plates and put them in the dish washers. So, basically it is like the thingy at UNC in TK or Holmes. Although, one thing here, they do not have trays. Instead they have brightly colored plates and plastic cups. boo. I much prefer the nice logo-ed UNC trays and glass cups. But anyway, back to the clambake.

I think that whatever calories I burned off during the day (since it was a Wednesday) and the swim test, I gained right back at the clambake. There was also a band made of Skidmore students who were performing in the dining hall. So it was loud, crowded (it was free and open to anyone on campus), and full of good food.


16 September:

So, this day was the bicentennial of El Grito de Dolores. This was the start of the Mexican Revolution, a part of which continues today. So, basically I was excited, mostly because I had taken a course in Mexican history, but also just because it is history and these landmark years are a time in which people should take a second and consider the importance of history and the continuing impact it has on us today.

Anyway, I watched the midnight salute on YouTube and wrote a part of the traditional salute on my white board on my door.

Apart from this, I went to an ice cream social at the Exchange office. For some reason, here at Skidmore, a lot of get-togethers or parties have a lot of ice cream. But it is good ice cream, so it is not bad. n_n. I talked with some of the people at the Exchange office, but had to leave early to get back to homework.


17 September:

Not much happened, but I did go to a NihonGO! club meeting. This club is based around talking and practicing Japanese. They watch movies, dramas, and play fun games which all help to learn more language. This is the only meeting I have been able to attend, since I have crew every day at the same time as these meetings. But I have found out that many of the people in my Japanese class also live in my dorm. So come test times, I do not even have to leave my dorm. In fact, I have begun to realize that there are many people from most of my classes living in the same dorm. It is rather interesting to learn about all of this three weeks into the semester. However up until now, I have been concentrating on my academic routine and making sure I do not dig myself into a hole from the beginning of the semester.

I also went into town with a friend. We went to a small restaurant called Esperantos, which severs some Mexican, some Italian, and some Greek foods. But we ordered a NY style pizza, which was really good. This restaurant also delivers to the campus, so it will be nice come cram time, that I have that option. After eating, we walked around town and then caught the bus back to campus. I forget if I have mentioned it here on the blog, but Skidmore has worked it out with the bus system around here that s students can ride for free. That is really nice and convenient. Also, it is rumored and mostly true that the taxi services are also free for students. We can go anywhere within the Saratoga Springs limits for free. I have not jumped on this opportunity yet but it may be soon, since I do need some things for my room.


19 September:

I went to the Saratoga Battlefield! This was one of the reasons I came to Skidmore and I am very happy that I got to go! This weekend was the 233rd anniversary of the first battle of Saratoga during the Revolutionary War. There was a man there who was impersonating General Burgoyne, the British general in charge who lost the battle. The actor was really good. He knew his history and could talk about everything on his uniform and about the area. After this, we went around to the historical locations of the American encampments and the British encampments. There were people at both places who talked about the battle and the mindset that would have existed during the time and the battle. The was one man who talked about a small piece of artillery and how it would have been used. He knew at what distances different projectiles would be used and the effects it would have on the men it would hit. I went with an American Studies professor and his FYE (First Year Experience) students. He was a nice professor who knew his material as well. He helped to make the trip a critical thinking exercise, since he asked questions about what it would have been like and what each of us would have done. This was really cool because not only were we standing in the exact places where battles happened, but we had to use our imaginations to think of what it was like. Kinda creepy, to know that you are standing in the exact place where past events happened, yet they are in a completely different time as you are presently. This is why I also like history. n_n


20 September:

So, not much academically, but today was the fitness/ try out test for crew. To start off, we had to run around the track. After each lap, we had to do a set of exercise, so for example we had to do 10 push-ups or 20 lunges. Then after this was done, we had to run another lap. We did this for about 45 minutes. In total, I think I ran about 4.5 miles. This is the most I have ever run. The second most is trying to run a 5K. But I will admit that I think being at sea level and doing this test helped. Had I been at home trying to do this test I would have been gasping for air after about 2 miles. Nevertheless, I ran the entire thing and felt mostly accomplished. After some stretching, we had to do 30 minutes of set exercises. So we did planks, push-ups, crunches, "jumpies" which are squats and a jump, and lunges. Needless to say, I was sore afterwards. I got back to my room, took a shower, and finished my homework.


21 September:

As I think I have mentioned, I place my alarm on the other side of the room. Today was not the best day to do that. I literally could not move my legs because they were so stiff and painful. Eventually I got out of bed, but had to walk slowly. I even had to leave an extra 5 minutes early for class, just to make it on time. Luckily today was Tuesday, so I only had one class, but it was up three flights of stairs and I could not find the elevator. >.< Oh well. I got done with class and then worked on homework until practice. This practice was on the erg machines in the gym. The erg machines are the inside rowing machines that I will be using from the end of this month until probably March, when the ice breaks. They are actually a lot of fun, and are a great workout. We just kinda got to get a feel for the machines and the basic technique of rowing. It was very exciting, since I have never done anything like it.


22 September:

Today was my grandam's birthday! My family gave her a nice party and I got to talk to her via Skype. It was nice.

School was nice, normal.

Practice was fun, we went to the boathouse for the first time. However, the car I got a ride in got lost and we were about 30 minutes late for practice. >.< But we got a tour of the boat house and watched a video. We also got to go out on the water! \^o^/ I really liked being out on the water and starting to get a feel for the rowing movements. We did push off, and we got to take a couple strokes.


23 September:

Nothing much, went back to the boathouse and got out on the water, but did not push off. We just worked more on being in sync.


24 September:

School was fine, but then had to get to the airport. I had to come home for some family things. I spent Friday afternoon and evening on planes. Although, I nearly missed the connection in Washington. The plane from Albany was delayed and I really had to run from one side of Washington/Dulles to the other. So much fun on a Friday evening. But I made it home and then went to sleep.

That weekend I spent little over 24 hours in Colorado, but about 12 hours of the weekend traveling. I left CO early Sunday morning. But yet again, I had plane delays and missed the bus from Albany to Saratoga Springs. It was at this point that I had a panic attack in trying to figure out what to do. In the end, I just got a taxi from the airport to school. It was expensive, but I figured that I would not be going to the airport again for another 2 months, so it was an ok expense.

However, because of the traveling and whatnot, I was behind for the week and had to work hard to keep up. Sadly, I am behind in one of my classes and have no idea when I will make up that time.

~~~

So, this week. Nothing exciting happened. Projects are beginning as are the papers. I think that within the next 4 weeks, I have 10 papers due! o.O So many. But I will survive and make it to November...if only barely.

Crew is amazing. I really like it. On Friday's practice we worked out on the erg machines more and got to get a feel of doing the motions repeatedly. Then we went out on the water and all 8 of us rowed together. It was a lot of fun. However I feel bad for the other 7 girls because the coach put me in the stern seat. This means everyone had to follow my lead. >.< I do not think I was very consistent and may have contributed to the other girls complaining that it was "scary". <.<

On Friday, I also had a paper proposal due for my Enlightenment class. I had it written early in the week, but forgot to get more bibliography sources. So, I had to rush around in the library getting books. At the high point of collecting books, I had about 50 books. I filtered it down to 25 books that I shoved in my backpack and two plastic bags.

I really think that my professor who I have for both Medieval and Enlightenment history thinks I am weird. For my Medieval project, I am doing torture. For the Enlightenment paper, I am doing prostitution. Two very morbidly fascinating topics. We shall see what she thinks of both at the end of November.

Anyway, phew, I think I have caught up with the time I missed on the blog. This next week is not too horrible as far as papers and workload, but I must prepare for the doom and terror of the three weeks which are to follow.

Pictures will be posted soon! I apologize, I just need to find more time to post them and put explanations with them.

Well, until next time,

"Who knows where the gods above will add tomorrow's hours to the total of today." ~Horace

Bells, bells, bells/ From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. ~Edgar Allen Poe "The Bells"

Hello again.

Long time no posts. Sorry. School picked up its pace, which was to be expected, and I have had little time to do anything.

Hopefully this weekend I will have some time in which to catch up on what has happened in the past two weeks. So look out for a really long. Or a bunch of little ones.

This post is just to let everyone know that I am still hanging onto the fringe of sanity. And, that there is finally something that I miss about UNC (naturally apart from friends, the awesome professors and classes, and cow smell). I miss the Gunter bell. Whilst it was sometimes annoying, it was still a small comfort to hear it go off at the top of each hour. Granted, here the quietness and serenity of the campus is pleasant, but it is not quite the same. Oh well.

I suppose I should also say that often times the Gunter bell saved me from being late to class. So, maybe I miss that aid in the "morning" (since most of my classes were in the late mornings or afternoons >.<) So far, I have gotten up in time for all of my classes every day, and hope to keep it that way. n_n. I should, since I blast my alarm in the morning and place it across the room. I have to literally crawl out of bed to turn it off and either get up, or sleep with my body at an odd angle; with my head on the floor and my feet still in bed. The latter has been the more frequent of the options. >.<

Anyway, hope all is well with y'all. n_n

Until this weekend,

"Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time." ~T.S. Eliot

The Doors

No, not the band. XP

Well, the second week of classes has started and I am about 63.1692870% prepared. I spent the weekend reading most of the books for the week. Tis a lot of reading, but all of it was very interesting. For this week the books I have to read, know, and understand are:

Musui's Story ~Katsu Kokichi (Japanese History)
Robinson Crusoe ~Daniel Defoe (British Empire)
The Consolation of Philosophy ~Boethius (Medieval)
The Marriage of Figaro ~Beaumarchais (Enlightenment)

These are only the novels I have to read. There are Blackboard readings and other smaller book sections that have to be read as well. >.<

Also, Japanese language adds to the amount of homework. In a previous post I stated that I had to take a placement test to make sure that the 203 class was the next logical step for me. Well, on the first day of that class (Wednesday 8 September) the sensei (professor) handed out last semester's final to those students who had had his class. Naturally, they went over it and I looked on another students paper. As it turns out, the test I had to take was parts of that final. However, this being said, I should confess that I did not pay strict attention when they were going over the exam in class. Thus, when I went to take the placement test I really did have to use my own knowledge for the majority of it. I did fine, missing a couple conjugations and translations, but overall the sensei said that I am in the right class. \^o^/ So I say "Doomo arigatou gozaimasu Li Sensei" (at UNC) for teaching me Japanese for two years.

But anyway, the purpose of this post is about the doors here at Skidmore. THEY ARE VERY LOUD. The majority of the people on my floor slam their doors and there is no rubber edging in the door frame to soften the sounds. >.< This makes for very interesting evenings when people are going in and out of their rooms. I think even the doors in Decker and at UNC in general do not make this much noise, even when you do let them shut on their own. This is something I am going to have to get used to, since I doubt many people are going to change and take the time to make sure they do not slam their doors when they leave or enter their rooms. Granted, I sometimes let the door shut and make a loud noise, but I do my part to not let it become a habit.

Also, the locks here are different. In Decker the door locks on the inside automatically. Here, you have a dead bolt you can lock on the inside, but you have to use your key on the outside to lock the door when you go out. About half the time I forget to lock my door. >.< Am working on that. Also, in Decker it is much easier to get in the room. When you put the key in the lock and turn it, it opens the latch and you can get in with one swift movement of the hand. At Skidmore, the deadbolt lock and the door latch are in two different locations. So you have to unlock the door first and then move your hand to the doorknob and turn it to open the door. So much work to get into the room. So, I have created a shortcut for my door. I have taped the door latch so that it does not click nor make as much noise when I open and close the door. This way, I only have to unlock the door and push it open when I am carrying books or what ever else in my arms. However this has caused some problems. The doors here are not as heavy as those at UNC. Thus, my door often swings open and closed, since it has nothing to keep it shut (unless I bolt my door). Oh well, I would much rather have an easily open-able door than one that makes noise all the time.

Anyway, this will probably one of the weirdest postings about Skidmore, but it served as a nice break from reading. n_n

Until next time,

"Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be." ~A. Einstein

Tis the Weekend!

Hello again,

Well, I have survived my first week of classes. \^o^/ Granted, it was a short week, but it seemed a lot longer.

One thing for sure, Wednesdays and Fridays are as I suspected. They will be long and tedious days that will require me to get 6 hours (instead of the normal 5) of sleep. But nevertheless, I enjoy all the classes immensely and I do not think I will be dropping any of them. This may come back to haunt me later, but for now, I think it will be manageable.

There is a club fair going on later today and I am looking into crew (rowing) and hopefully will be able to find the rumored judo dojo here in Saratoga. But, if all else fails, I am sure there is an anime/manga club here. >.<

Well, until next time,

"The world is everything that is the case" ~L. Wittgenstein

Second Day of School!

Hello again!

Well, Wednesdays and Fridays are going to be very stressful days, that is for sure. I have four classes all in a row, which is something I have not had since high school. All of my classes seem as if they are going to be very interesting and I will learn a lot. However, the reading load for all of them is a bit overwhelming. >.< Have about 50 to 100 pages of reading for each of the history classes and other types of homework for the Japanese language. I suppose it is good that I am done with classes earlier in the day and have the majority of Tuesdays and Thursdays to play catch up. The weekends too will be spent preparing for the week's reading assignments and making sure all of my writing assignments are up to par.

In some ways, I like the assignment management philosophy here at Skidmore. For most of my classes, I am given a certain number of writing assignments, but I get to choose when I write them and about what I write. This gives me the flexibility to decide when I need to write these assignments, but also teaches me how to further time manage and figure out when it would be the best to get them out of the way.

On the other hand, most of my classes are very heavy on the discussion side of a class. For the benefits of being able to talk about my ideas in class, I also kind of prefer the "chalk and talk" method for some of the historical specificity and basic knowledge learning. But, we shall see what happens as I expand my brain usage to encompass fast analytical skills in the classroom. (Right now they are at a medium speed >.<)

Anyway, here is a break down of my classes:

First thing in the morning I have Medieval history, which is going to be a fun class. Whilst looking at the specificity, the professor also stressed how we will be looking at a lot of the themes and the mindset of the Middle Ages. Lots of reading.

Next I go to British History. So, going into this class, I thought it was both a domestic and empirical look at British history. Not really. It is more focused on British colonization and holdings within the world. So, I kind of did not read the syllubus carefully. But, nonetheless, it will be a fascinating course which does not have an exact match at UNC...something is should discuss with the history department, me thinks. Lots of reading.

After that, I go to Japanese language class. This shall be interesting. My sensei (teacher) wishes for me to take a placement test tomorrow (o.O) and see if the class is a good place for me. The only problem is that I am truly very rusty. I was able to understand him perfectly well today in class, but I could not speak as well as I had hoped I could remember nor am I able to recognize as many kanji as I think I ought to for that class. But perhaps this will be a good class and I will have to work hard to play catch-up for a bit in this class.

Finally, I go to my Enlightenment class. This will probably be the most amazing class for the semester. It is pretty much discussion based and will heavily focus on trying to understand how people in Europe thought in during this time period. Also, at the end of the class, we get to create our own Social Contract, which will be very exciting to see how that turns out. Lots of reading.

So, in all, this happens in the span of five hours in the morning to early afternoon. Hopefully, I will be able to keep my brain going all day and be able to think clearly for all of the classes. I am hoping as well that I do not mix Japanese into either the British history class (in preparation for Japanese) or in the Enlightenment class (having just gotten out of the class).

Also, this schedule is for Wednesdays and Fridays. On Mondays I only have the British history class and Japanese. So it will be nice getting back into the week, but will be an uphill struggle to finish. TT.TT

On a completely different note, I have noticed the way east coast people eat their pizza. Many people fold it in half and eat it like a sandwich. I have seen this at home, but it is much more frequent here. I am curious to know why this is and will have to inquire about it from my suitemates.

Well, until next time,

"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." ~W. Churchill

The Campus and My Room

I know that Skidmore should not be compared to UNC, but to help others put the campus and whatnot into perspective, here is a brief comparison of the two schools.

Skidmore is a small college with about 2500 students. This in comparison to UNC with 12000 students. This being said, I have seen more of the same people already than I have ever seen at UNC. But that is neither better nor worse, its just different.

The Skidmore campus is very pretty and has much more foliage than UNC. I have not looked into the exact acreage of the campuses, but by just walking around, I think this campus is perhaps the same size as West Campus, including the dorms, recreation center, and the hill with the UC. It is also interesting that four of the main academic halls are joined together into one enormous conglomerate building. This means that in the winter time when it gets cold, I will not have to go outside in between most of my classes. There are also covered walkways to the dining hall from my dorm, which makes it double nice. Skidmore's campus also has a small, quaint pond on the south side, that is very relaxing and pretty. It is close to the recreation center and PVA buildings. There is a student center called the Case Center, which has the bookstore and other student body offices. The Starbuck Center (no relation to the coffee places) is where I go for the NSE coordinator, Registrar, and other academic aid offices. It is kinda like Carter Hall at UNC.

The dining hall is actually very nice. It is more along the style of Holmes, with the winding food stations, but it goes in a large circle instead of a funny oblong half-circle. The food is good, there is a nice variety and there is always ice cream, pizza, and salad to fall back on in case nothing else is good. Like UNC, I had to get the required meal plan, but instead of the 150 meals, I have an unlimited meal plan. This means I can go and eat whenever and however much I want. o.O This in combination with the smaller campus, I will need to watch myself and go exercise more at the recreation center. >.< There are Dining dollars here as well, that can be used for a variety of things both on and off campus, which will be nice.

The buildings themselves are of nice architecture and the insides are very nice. The older buildings are slightly worn, but nonetheless are very pretty. The desks are the same as Greeley; they are the ones with the itty-bitty writing surfaces that do not hold much. The classrooms are smaller and hold 25-ish students.

One fun thing about Skidmore is that there are no sport scholarships offered, so the sports programs are based on interest. I find this a nice change from all the hype about collegiate sports. But, that being said, Skidmore does not have an American football team which could be compared to UNC. Here there is more emphasis on hockey, soccer, and lacrosse.

Other than these things, the college campus is mostly like any other, it has academic buildings, administration buildings, a student center, recreation center, nice landscaping, &tc.

~~~

My room and the dorm itself is also a new and different experience. As I have mentioned before, the dorm is much bigger than I am used to in Decker. Instead of a two person roommate style, I live in a four person suite-style. However it is not like Pres Row at UNC with a door that leads into the separate rooms, but rather there is a corridor that branches off the main corridor and leads to the rooms. The bathroom is thus available to the entire dorm. There are locks on the doors, but it will take some time to get used to them. Hopefully, there will not be hard-core prank wars. n_n.

Anyway, my room is nice. It is about 10' x 12', so somewhere close to the rooms downstairs in Decker. I have a really nice desk/dresser with a cork board, a light, and bookshelves above. To the right of the chair are my drawers for school supplies. To the left is the dresser drawers for clothes. I have a closet, but...it has no doors. o.O It is just an open alcove in the room with a shelf and a bar to hang clothes. Perhaps when I go the store I could buy a shower rod and a sheet to make a make-shift curtain. My bed is nice, but it is lower than what was at UNC and is not adjustable.

BUT the nicest thing about the room is the window seat. It is this nice little area that has a raised cushioned seat where I can sit and look out the fairly large window in the room. It has its own light and there is also another side window that opens to let in fresh air. When I first looked at pictures of the campus I did not see the window shade, and I thought that weird, since it would make having some privacy difficult. But as it turns out, there is a window shade, so no worries.

I have decorated my room with posters and other pictures that I have collected from the past few years at UNC. Some are of Audrey Hepburn, others are of Casablanca, and Monty Python.

Well, hopefully I have described most of the campus and the basics of my room well enough for now. As soon as I get pictures loaded onto the computer and onto the blog, the places and things I am describing should be better explained.


Until next time,

"All knowledge is precious, whether or not it serves the slightest human use." ~A.E. Houseman

First Day of School!

So, today, 7 September, was my first day as a Skidmore student. I only had one class: The Rise of Japan. Apparently, I did not read the course description very carefully, as I thought this would be a course on the early history of Japan. Instead the course focuses on the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries in Japan and the significant political, diplomatic, social, and economic changes that the nation has experienced. So, it is a very interesting class and I hope to learn a great deal.

After class got out, I had lunch and am now back in the room reading Robinson Crusoe.

My thinking about this blog is that soon I shall not have a lot of time to constantly update this blog, so after classes this week, I will have a post that encompasses the entire week's activities.

Until next time,

"Nearly all men can stand adversity but if you want to test a man's character, give him power" ~A. Lincoln

Orientation

Hello again,

So, over the weekend, I had the opportunity, nay the privilege to go through orientation. >.< In plain and simple terms, it was the same as that of any other college: tour of campus, icebreakers, where to get help if you need it, &tc.

Saturday started out with a formal meeting for all the transfer students. I suppose it is important to note that I am the only domestic exchange student at Skidmroe for this year. That means that out of the entire nation and all the applicants who tried for Skidmore this year through the NSE program, I was the only selected for this year. With that being said, I am incredibly honored and very grateful to be given this opportunity. Anyway, since there are so few exchange students (2 international and myself) the school combined our group with the transfer students. I believe there was somewhere around 32 transfers this year, most from the east coast. Well, the meeting was informative, but slightly boring. It covered the basics of knowing how to get help around campus and who to contact in case we needed to know something. After that, we all donned our class shirts and went to convocation. Here at Skidmore, the classes take part in convocation. Granted, it is just a formal processional and the classes have banners that we walk behind. For this school year, I am a part of the 2012 class. Convocation was nice, some of the deans and the president of the college spoke to the students and parents, welcoming us to the school.

By this time, I was really hungry. I had not eaten all day and it was about 6 EST when convocation got out. Us transfer/exchange students were given a fairly nice welcome dinner, which was much appreciated. After that, I returned to the dorm for yet another fascinating dorm meeting. Just like home, the meeting consisted of dorm procedures, quiet hours, icebreakers, &tc. Then, to make it even more fun, there was an entire dorm meeting with all four floors of the dorm. That was hectic and makes me never want to be in a dorm bigger than Decker (UNC). I think there are more people on my floor of the dorm than the entirety of Decker. So, definitely something new and exciting. Finally, the last thing I did was go to a pizza party for the transfer/exchange students. Unfortunately, I did not stay long, but got to once again enjoy New York pizza. Yummy. Afterwards, I made calls home to check in with the family and then went to bed.

Sunday was another day of orientation activities. In the morning there was the SKIDMAZING RACE, which was basically a scavenger hunt around campus to help orientate us new students. My team did not complete it and instead went to lunch. Such motivation! >.< After lunch, I went back to my room to begin reading some of my assignments for classes. In the afternoon, I signed up for a tour of campus to find my specific classes, which was not too terribly difficult, so I had time afterwards to time how long it would take to go from classroom to classroom. As it turns out, the most it would take me to get from one class to the next is about five minutes. So, having completed that mission, I went down to the little pond on campus and sat there meditating. Twas very peaceful and relaxing. After about 20 minutes of sitting there, I went to the bus stop where the transfer group was to meet to go downtown. There is a bus and a trolley that can take students downtown for free with the student ID. So we went downtown and walked around the park. Soon after, we went to a cafe and got dinner, which for me, was a BLT bagel. It was really good. I may have to go back to try other things. Also out here Ben and Jerry's is the ice cream of choice, so we went and got ice cream cones as dessert.

Saratoga is known for three main things: the horse track, the natural springs for which the town is named, and the Battle of Saratoga. It the park there are faucets that have some of the spring water that you can taste. One of them tasted like sulfur (icky) and the other tasted like pennies (also icky). But it was the experience that mattered. Since the trolleys were going to stop running, we got the last one back to the campus. The group decided that before going to some showcases, we would go see the college apartments and continue to hang out. I did not stay long and went back to the dorm to read and sleep.

Yesterday, Monday, I spent the entire day reading Robinson Crusoe. There was a sex education program that I could have gone to as part of the orientation, but I decided school work was more important and thus spent the day reading.

So, in all, the only things that I really liked out of orientation were finding my classes and the tour downtown. But I suppose all of it was necessary and may come in handy sometime.

Until next time,

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people" ~E. Roosevelt

First Days

Hello!

So, as promised, here is how yesterday turned out.

The day started at about 4 in the morning when my ma woke me up to go the airport. Apparently it is not a good thing to have only an hour and a half of sleep. My ma asked me if I wanted one of the Starbucks frappacino and I said okeys. I did not realize it until I drank about half of it on the way to DIA. Sadly, this meant that I was awake for the entirety of the plane ride. But I was also too jittery to read my book for class. Instead I watched the inflight movie: The Back-up Plan. Twas interesting, but was predictable (as are most chick-flicks). I arrived early to Washington Dulles, so I took my time getting to the gate for the plane to Albany. I found the gate and waited for boarding. Unfortunately, when it was time to get on the plane, there were mechanical problems and the flight was delayed. I panicked because I needed to catch a bus from Albany to Saratoga. As it turned out, we made it to Albany and I was able to get the bus. A Skidmore professor was also taking the bus and she helped me a great deal.

When I got to the bus station in Saratoga, Kendra, the NSE coordinator for Skidmore came to pick me up and take me to campus. Upon arrival, we went to the card office and I received my Skidmore ID card. It is like any other student ID in that it gets me into the dorm and it gets me food. After that, we walked more around campus to get my key for the room. We had to go to a couple places to get the key, but finally success. So we went the dorm to find my room. When we were going to the dorm, I met my RA and he helped us find the room. Then, Kendra and I retrieved my luggage and used the dumb waiter to get it up to my room. Afterwards we went to Kendra's office and I got more of a tour of the campus. By the time we got her office, it was about 5 NYT (New York Time a.k.a. EST). So, I was hungry and we went to a nice restaurant called Hattie's. It is a Southern food restaurant which is known for its fried chicken. Naturally I got the fried chicken and, true to its word, it was really good. Along the way, I got the see some of the city and all the pretty Victorian houses. The entire city has a cozy feeling and I am anxious for a weekend when I can go downtown and explore some more.

After that, I was about to collapse, so Kendra brought me back to the dorm and I tried to unpack my luggage. I got about half way when I decided to call home to let everyone know that I was alright. After some phone calls, I went back to unpacking. After a while I decided to take a shower and go to bed. The shower was an interesting experience. Hopefully when I get pictures up on the site it will be clearer, but the way the suite is set up is that there is a hallway the comes off the main corridor in the dorm. At the end of the smaller hallway there are the doors to the rooms. There is a storage closet and the suite bathroom has a door that goes into the sink area, another door for the toilet, and another door for the shower. However, the shower door is made of glass. But it is the glass that is warp-y, so that was some comfort. However, it was really weird to take a shower because the shower is elevated and you can see over the door leading into the hallway. From the other side, you cannot see anything if the door is closed, which is good. Anyway, there was no hot water last time, so needless to say, I took a really quick shower. Hopefully tonight will be better.

After taking the shower, I pretty much fell asleep.

So in all, yesterday was just a lot of traveling, but it was worth every second to be able to come to Skidmore and to New York.

So today's adventures are probably more exciting to read than yesterdays.

I woke up around 11:30 NYT and got dressed. I was to meet up with Kendra at 1, so I decided to look around campus some more and to see the academic buildings. I found the buildings I have classes in, but I only found one of the actual classrooms. I am hoping that on Sunday I will be able to get some help in finding the rooms and seeing if I will be able to make it to all of the classes on time. I took some pictures and will now have to learn how to put them on the blog. The campus is really pretty and everything is very green. I am excited to see all the colors of the fall. Colorado is pretty, but things mostly turn yellow and then die or they are green year round (evergreens). Anyway, after looking around for a little bit, I went to the dining hall and ate my first meal at Skidmore. It consisted of vegetables, a meatball, mac and cheese, a chicken quesadilla, and a glass of Dr. Pepper. Twas rather good. The dining hall is really nice too. There are all of these different stations that have food and you mostly serve yourself as much as you want. with this being said, I am really going to have to watch myself and go exercise regularly.

After eating, I had to go meet with Kendra and we went over some final concerns and questions before school starts Tuesday.

When our meeting was done, I went to the school store and bought my books for the semester. As I told the cashier, I am glad that I am seeing the campus now because for the next 16 weeks, I will have my nose in a book everywhere I go. >.<

After shopping for books, I went back to the dorm and finished putting up posters and getting everything in place. I can now say that I have officially moved into my room! \^o^/

After getting all of that together, I went to dinner, where I had pizza, other pasta, fruit, and a chocolate mousse dessert.

Finally, I returned to the dorm and have been reading Robinson Crusoe and talking to my RA. As it turns out, he and I share a similar interest of Audrey Hepburn. So we talked about her films and other facts about her life. It was a very nice introductory meeting with my RA.


Well, I have said most of all that needs to be said about my first two days here at Skidmore...less more room descriptions and how the campus is. But that will be tomorrow's posting along with the first day of orientation. Tomorrow shall be busy; I have things from 10am NYT to 10pm NYT that I should go to. None of it is really required, but I am going to it, if nothing else, for the opportunity to meet other people and figure out the campus.

Well, until next time,

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" ~Tao Te Ching

Traveling

Well, to put it bluntly: I made it to New York.

I traveled most of the day and am truly exhausted. Thus, tomorrow shall be the day in which I fully and thoroughly describe my experiences of today.

For now, all I can say is that I am starting to really believe that all of this is really happening. Before it just seemed like a dream, but now it is starting to become real.

Until tomorrow,

"Be happy. It is one way of being wise." ~Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

Let the Countdown Begin!!!

Hello again.

Well, school starts in one week. \^o^/ I am really excited to start school. Most of my friends have already started their school terms, so I have spent much of my time helping family and trying to get things ready to fly out to school. For the most part, I have been able to fit my things into two large suitcases, a carry-on, and my backpack. This shall be interesting when it comes time to get my luggage from the baggage claim to the bus station, onto the bus, and up to my room at school. Based on the room number, I will be on the second floor of the dorm, which is nothing too different from UNC.

After arriving, I will be trying to figure out the school layout and where all of my classes are located. I created a schedule of my classes and it shall be interesting to see if I can manage to get from one building to another in the time alloted. o.O I hope so. If anything, I will be getting an awesome cardiovascular workout every Wednesday and Friday. Carrying books will also be interesting on those days. Perhaps if I take my carry-on and just use that as a backpack it will be much easier.

Since I leave Thursday for New York, these last few days have been used to pack (of course), say goodbye to friends, and spend as much time with family as possible. Thankfully, there is Skype, email, and Facebook to hopefully keep in contact with everyone.

On the note of emails, I now have three emails. o.O One is my personal email, the other two are for UNC and Skidmore. I also have two Blackboards that I should check regularly (one more than the other) and two "ursa" type web pages. For those who do not know, Blackboard is an academic portal site that is used to distribute homework, submit assignments, and post readings and other homeworks that are necessary for the classes. It helps to keep both the professors and students organized and so that there are fewer complications in distributing or collecting assignments as well as keeping communications open between teachers and students. Ursa is the UNC student site that has all of our academic stuff. It has links to finance and other aids for attending the school. Skidmore has the same type of thing, but I have no idea what it is actually called. UNC's mascot is the bear, hence the Ursa title for the site. Maybe I should look up a horse constellation and consider calling the Skidmore site by that name...at least until i find out the proper name for the site. >.< Hopefully though, I will be able to keep up with all of them and keep them separated from each other.

As things progress, I hope to be able to keep this blog updated and keep everyone informed of what is going on at Skidmore. Come this Thursday, I am sure there will be plenty to write about and after orientation this weekend, there will be more intriguing postings.

Until next time,

"The greatest achievements were at first, and for some time, dreams." ~ James Allen

Happy News!

Finally...after waiting for most of the summer...I have been given my room assignment!!! \^o^/ I am living in the dorm and the room type for which I asked and am truly grateful for it. The dorm is fairly close the the buildings in which I have classes and is just a short walk away from the dining hall. However, it is on the other side of campus from the recreation center...Perhaps it will motivate me to get more exercise...just like being in Decker motivated me to go over to West Campus to exercise... <.<

In other news, I have made reservations to fly out to school and to take the train from Albany up to Saratoga Springs. That will be a most interesting experience. Being a native Coloradoan, I drive everywhere, so taking a train and becoming familiar with mass transit will be very intriguing.

Until next time,

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library" Jorge Luis Borges (Thanks Kate-chan n_n)

Syllubi

Well, things have begun to pick up as far as classes are concerned. I have received my syllabi for three of the classes and have looked over the reading requirements.

I think my nose will henceforth be stuck in a book or printout pages from Blackboard.

Early on in the summer my British history professor sent out his syllabus in order for us students to order our books and possibly start reading.

I had all the intention of reading Robinson Crusoe over the summer...perhaps in the next week I can read a majority of it. >.<

Anyway, I have two classes with the same professor. From the syllabi she seems like a good professor who knows her history. In her Medieval history class I get to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail! That should be interesting and very fun.

A bit of nervous news. I still have not heard where I am to live this year. With two weeks left of summer, this is very daunting. But perhaps this week I will hear something and will no longer have to worry about where to live.

Until next time!


"It's just a flesh wound!" ~Black Knight

Delays in Plans

Hello! Long time no talk...

So, life has thrown some interesting curve balls at me, which has proven both frustrating and comforting (kinda).

Originally, my plans were to head out to NY today (16 August) with friends and stay with them until school started and I could move into my own dorm.

Unfortunately, complications arose and I will now be staying home for another couple weeks until I can go out the NY and move right into the dorms.

There are both positive and negative sides to this, none of it really easy to deal with at the moment.

But, onto happy, bubbly thoughts.

I received an email from the Skidmore coordinator who provided an outline for the orientation I shall attend the weekend before school starts. It looks like a lot of fun, but I wondered, "When am I supposed to set up my room?" Possibly at nighttime, after all the orientation programs are finished. That, or Labor Day, right before school starts the next day. But, this is speculation, we see what happens. I have to get out there first. n_n

So, things are moving, not in the manner I thought they would, but still, they are moving forward.

Well, until next time,

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind" ~Dr. Seuss

Exchange

So, how this exchange began.

During freshman year, I was talking with some friends who attend schools in New York. They talked about how the school systems were out there and we got to joking that I should transfer out there. For fun, I decided to see if there was an exchange program. Lucky for me, there does exist such an organization.

The National Student Exchange (NSE) is a national program that allows students to exchange to another school within the U.S. and parts of Canada. The student remains a student of their home institute, but is also submerged in the host institution, just the same as a study abroad.

After finding the program at UNC, I looked at different schools in NY. Most of the SUNY schools were members, as well as the school I will be attending: Skidmore College. I looked into Skidmore and found that it is a very nice, small, liberal arts school. It is about 45 minutes north of Albany, in a city called Saratoga Springs. Whilst the school itself is very appealing, I also thought the location was very interesting. As I have stated before, U.S. history is not one of my favorites, less military history. The Battle of Saratoga is perhaps one of the most important battles in the American Revolution. The school and the campus are close to that very battlefield.

Anyway, I went to the NSE office and talked with Dee Schriner and asked if there were any openings for the 2009- 2010 school year. Unfortunately there were none, so I had to wait a year in order to get my application completed.

Starting in about October of 2009, I started all the paperwork together, which consisted of filling out the papers and thinking about the application questions. The application itself was not due until late February. I got most of the application completed in December, except the letters of recommendation and the fleshed out essay questions.

As it got closer to the deadline, I got the letters of recommendation that I needed and worked on the essays. Finally, I got everything together, paid the fees, and waited rather impatiently for the NSE conference, in which the exchange placements would be decided.

I waited for about a week for Dee to get in contact with me.

Finally, I got in touch with Dee and was told the good news: I was accepted to Skidmore! \^o^/ This was the Friday before spring break. It took all of my strength to not hug every single person I saw on my way back from class. n_n

After that, more paperwork ensued and I had to get in contact with Kendra Nelson, the NSE coordinator at Skidmore. Throughout the rest of the semester, I filled out paperwork, course requests, and other needs for the exchange.

As of now, everything is in order and I am awaiting housing assignments.

"Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, such shaping fantasies, that apprehend more than cool reason ever comprehends" ~William Shakespeare

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog for my school exchange for the 2010-2011 academic year! I am super excited for the school year to start! \^o^/

A brief introduction is in order. I am currently a student at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. I am a History and Education major with a minor in Asian Studies. I also am an Honors student. Although this will be my third year in higher academics, I have enough credits to be considered a first semester senior. >.< Yet, I have two more years after this in order to complete all of my degrees and certificates (*cough* education *cough*). That is only for undergraduate work. Add two to three more years of graduate work and study and about five gazillion dollars in tuition fees.

As I mentioned, I am a devoted student of history. My concentration is European (including British) history. Specifically, I enjoy wars and military history. I have recently begun to greatly enjoy the Regency period of England, with a focus on the social history. This has stemmed for another interest of classic literature. Particularly, I enjoy Jane Austen and other Romantic authors. (Thank you Count Worley). I also greatly enjoy the two World Wars and all their mayhem and destruction.

From my minor, I greatly enjoy Japanese history. Truthfully, this has a great deal to do with my personal heritage and national pride.

On that note, it is slightly embarrassing to say that U.S. history falls close to the bottom of my list of history topics. I mainly enjoy the wars of which America has been a part. After that, not much sparks my interest. Sub-Saharan African history is perhaps at the bottom of my list; only to be surpassed by Antarctic history. n_n

Outside of history, I enjoy a plethora of activities.

El Guapo: Many piñatas?
Jefe: Oh yes, many!
El Guapo: Would you say I have a plethora of piñatas?
Jefe: Oh yes, you have a plethora.
El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?

(For the non-edumacated reader, this tête-à-tête is from the 1986 film, "Three Amigos".)

As can be seen, I like quotes. My interest in this came from my eighth grade history teacher, Mrs. Van Sickle, who had a Quote of the Day board in her room. I copied down the quotes in one of my composition notebooks and continued to fill it in the following years. It took me four years of high school to complete the task. I literally sat at the CU Events Center on graduation day filling in the last two pages of the notebook. As close as it was, I did it. I have started another book for quotes I collect during my years in college. I like all sorts of quotes, ranging from humourous to inspirational to quotes collected from friends and schoolmates.

Another activity that I greatly enjoy is judo. I have been doing judo for seven years at the Denver Buddhist Temple. I am currently a brown belt and have hopes of earning my shodan (first degree black belt) sometime in the near future. There are many tangible appeals to judo, but I think it the intangible that I find particularly attracting.

Beginning junior year of high school, I started to learn to knit and crochet. I find both very therapeutic and enjoyable. I like knitting because the simpler knits, such as those for a scarf, are constant and very little counting is required. Crocheting allows for a more creative outlet for creating things.

In my free time from the aforementioned activities, I like to watch movies or see a play. I like all kinds of movies, the exception being horror films. As far as plays, I have been going to the theatre since I was about 5 and continue to enjoy all kinds of plays. The majority of the plays I have seen have been Shakespeare and have been from the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in Boulder. The ironic aspect of this is that the majority of the plays I have yet to see or read are the histories. >.< After this summer's season of CSF, I will have seen or read the Bard's canon less the histories. n_n

Finally, through all of these, I would be nowhere without the continual support and guidance of family, friends, and the Buddy Group. I like spending time with all three...perhaps not all at once, or sometimes in larger quantities of time, but each is important to me and I value all that they have to give (even if I grumble).

Anyway, I said a brief introduction was in order. I hope you, the intelligent reader, either understands or will come to understand that what looks like half a paper to one person, is but a brief blurb to me. (That's to you, Kate and Hailey).

More is to come about Skidmore and the exchange!

"Do or do not, there is no try." ~Yoda