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
