Copy Copy...
So I am either A - too lazy, or B - too busy with finals (you pick) to give a unique updates to you, my dear, few LJ readers. So I'll give you the e-mail I sent my parents at the beginning of the month. Cheers:
This semester has probably been one of the best of my life - I'm going to be sad to leave it all behind, even though I AM going to London for the Spring! Currently I am working on the Visa application so that I can have an internship, and then I'll be all ready to go. I have a couple internship options for the first term of the semester abroad (I don't know what options I'll have for the second term) - I'm really hoping to get a position in a luxury hotel company that needs assistance making presentations with Photoshop. Considering I use Photoshop almost every day of the week and want to be a hotel designer when I graduate it sounds like the perfect fit! I've also applied for a Blog Abroad scholarship, which I would regularly update with posts/videos about my trip abroad, so you should get a steady supply of updates if I win that. Here's to hoping and crossing fingers...
School is going very well. I only have one paper, two paintings, and three tests to finish and then I'm done for the semester. It's hard to believe it's gone by so quickly! My grades are looking good for the semester; I hope to have straight As once again. I'm really enjoying painting, and have produced a lot of great pieces this semester which will look good in a portfolio. I'll try to upload some pictures when I get a chance. Right now, one of my final pieces is a group project where everyone paints a small-object-made-big, and a big-object-made-small. Since I love birds, I'm making a large fluffy sparrow sitting in the clouds, with a small airplane flying by. It's super cute. I can't look at it without going "Awww..." and I hope everyone else does the same!
On the social front, my roomie Sam and I have really gotten comfy in the room. We love having both heat and air conditioning under our control especially with the sporadic weather DC has in the fall. It can go from 65 to 40 in a matter of days! Every Monday, Sam and I have "Girls Night", where we cook each other dinner, watch our favorite TV shows, and sit around in our PJs. It's great! (In fact, it's what I'm doing right now).
November 13th was my 21st birthday (Hooray!!) and I had a lot of fun. On Friday, after work, Stan took me out to dinner at an Italian restaurant. I ordered a drink... but they didn't card me! Perhaps it's because I'm so mature? ;P Once dinner was over we went to see the Yamato Japanese Taiko drummers. It was a great and very entertaining show with lots of action, humor, and drumming of course! I saw them last year when they came so it's become sort of a tradition. Then on Saturday, Sam threw a party for me in the dorm. There was dancing, card games, and lots of fun. Before that we went shopping in Georgetown and ate dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. Leftovers were delicious!
Speaking of fun, Stan and I have had TONS of adventures this semester. Not only camping, but also biking around DC whenever the weather is nice. We did the Mount Vernon (campus) to Mount Vernon (estate) bike tour together this year, for my third time - it was nice to have someone to ride with! We've also gone and played paintball three times now. I had never played paintball before but find it a lot of fun. There's strategy, running/ducking/diving, aiming, and teamwork. It doesn't hurt too bad either, even if you sometimes get small bruises. It's totally worth it! And cheap, too, because Stan owns the equipment for 2 people (Guns, masks, jackets, tanks, etc.) Aaaand Stan has also taken me paragliding!!! I'm hooked. It's SO much fun! We went to a training hill on a good weather day, set up the gliders, and Stan showed me how to take off, steer, land, roll up the glider, walk up the hill (huff puff), and do it all over again. Since it's a training hill you don't get too high up in the air, but my best flight was 40 seconds long and about 70 feet up. I can't wait to go again! However, it depends on when Stan's room-mate will let me borrow his glider again. We also spend time with Stan's friends in Rockville, Maryland, playing video games like Rock Band and Supreme Commander. They're really fun - very similar to my High School friends.
For thanksgiving, I went over to Stan's house (about 1 hour drive from DC) and celebrated with his family. Thanksgiving started on Wednesday for me because all of my classes got canceled for the holiday. I have been to Stan's house before on occasion, but never for so long a time. Stan lives out in the rural countryside on the edge of town, so there are plenty of scenic walks. Stan also has two cockatiels I love!! We had a ton of adventures around his place this weekend. On Wednesday I helped Stan build a new desktop computer from scratch, then on Thursday we celebrated with Stan's family! I had the special privilege of making the Turkey for Stan's family of 20 people. However, I'd never made a turkey before and was so nervous! Turkey is the centerpiece of Thanksgiving, so I sure didn't want to mess it up for everyone. Fortunately Keith gave me a delicious recipe that resulted in great success! The turkey was tasty, super moist, flavorful, and GREAT in curry. (I'm helping Stan learn how to cook, he loves curry and I love cooking with him!) Stan's family also said that the gravy I made to accompany the turkey was the best they had ever had. So thank you Keith for all the help! I really like Stan's extended family - they're a lot of fun. On Friday we went Black Friday shopping at 5 in the eeearrrly morning. Black Friday is a big deal out on the East Coast, almost like a holiday of its own, so I felt that with Stan I really had the chance to experience it. Stan, his friend Scott, and I went to Staples, Office Depot, Home Depot, the Frederick Mall, and a couple of other stores before going back for an afternoon nap. Then on Saturday we went to play paintball with Scott and another of Stan's friend. If paragliding and paintball weren't enough, Stan also has a motorcycle. On Sunday, before heading back to DC, we took a 3 hour motorcycle ride with Stan's friend Dennis and his girlfriend Jessi. We drove out to the beautiful old city of Harper's Ferry, situated where the Shenandoah river meets the Potomac. The rivers are gorgeous, in the middle of steep tree-lined cliffs. Plus the town is full of history. The buildings go back to pre-civil war times! I would love to live in one of them, they're so charming and must have some great stories. And don't worry about the motorcycle, Stan is a very safe driver and we both wear thick padded jackets and sturdy helmets designed for motorcycling.
Now I'm back in DC, where not much is happening. We had our last really nice day of the year when we went motorcycling, so it's rainy and cold from here on out. Better get ready for London, right? I've bought a pair of rain boots...
In other news, Obama and his wife came out for a basketball game this weekend. Unfortunately I didn't go because I was having fun with Stan up in Maryland. The GW Colonials played against the Oregon State Beavers - and the Beavs won!! Woo hoo!! I guess I feel more hometown pride than home team pride.
I'm also looking forward towards my Senior Year. I've applied to be a House Scholar, which means I'll be a Residential Advisor for a sophomore dorm. I'd really like to be placed on the Foggy Bottom campus where my friends are, but we'll see. The House Scholar position is really nice because you get free housing, a large stipend, a budget to have fun with your residents, and fun residents to do things with! There will be some interviews I'll have to participate in while I'm abroad. We'll see how it goes!
I also have a webcam now, so perhaps there will be some video updates in the future.
This semester has probably been one of the best of my life - I'm going to be sad to leave it all behind, even though I AM going to London for the Spring! Currently I am working on the Visa application so that I can have an internship, and then I'll be all ready to go. I have a couple internship options for the first term of the semester abroad (I don't know what options I'll have for the second term) - I'm really hoping to get a position in a luxury hotel company that needs assistance making presentations with Photoshop. Considering I use Photoshop almost every day of the week and want to be a hotel designer when I graduate it sounds like the perfect fit! I've also applied for a Blog Abroad scholarship, which I would regularly update with posts/videos about my trip abroad, so you should get a steady supply of updates if I win that. Here's to hoping and crossing fingers...
School is going very well. I only have one paper, two paintings, and three tests to finish and then I'm done for the semester. It's hard to believe it's gone by so quickly! My grades are looking good for the semester; I hope to have straight As once again. I'm really enjoying painting, and have produced a lot of great pieces this semester which will look good in a portfolio. I'll try to upload some pictures when I get a chance. Right now, one of my final pieces is a group project where everyone paints a small-object-made-big, and a big-object-made-small. Since I love birds, I'm making a large fluffy sparrow sitting in the clouds, with a small airplane flying by. It's super cute. I can't look at it without going "Awww..." and I hope everyone else does the same!
On the social front, my roomie Sam and I have really gotten comfy in the room. We love having both heat and air conditioning under our control especially with the sporadic weather DC has in the fall. It can go from 65 to 40 in a matter of days! Every Monday, Sam and I have "Girls Night", where we cook each other dinner, watch our favorite TV shows, and sit around in our PJs. It's great! (In fact, it's what I'm doing right now).
November 13th was my 21st birthday (Hooray!!) and I had a lot of fun. On Friday, after work, Stan took me out to dinner at an Italian restaurant. I ordered a drink... but they didn't card me! Perhaps it's because I'm so mature? ;P Once dinner was over we went to see the Yamato Japanese Taiko drummers. It was a great and very entertaining show with lots of action, humor, and drumming of course! I saw them last year when they came so it's become sort of a tradition. Then on Saturday, Sam threw a party for me in the dorm. There was dancing, card games, and lots of fun. Before that we went shopping in Georgetown and ate dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. Leftovers were delicious!
Speaking of fun, Stan and I have had TONS of adventures this semester. Not only camping, but also biking around DC whenever the weather is nice. We did the Mount Vernon (campus) to Mount Vernon (estate) bike tour together this year, for my third time - it was nice to have someone to ride with! We've also gone and played paintball three times now. I had never played paintball before but find it a lot of fun. There's strategy, running/ducking/diving, aiming, and teamwork. It doesn't hurt too bad either, even if you sometimes get small bruises. It's totally worth it! And cheap, too, because Stan owns the equipment for 2 people (Guns, masks, jackets, tanks, etc.) Aaaand Stan has also taken me paragliding!!! I'm hooked. It's SO much fun! We went to a training hill on a good weather day, set up the gliders, and Stan showed me how to take off, steer, land, roll up the glider, walk up the hill (huff puff), and do it all over again. Since it's a training hill you don't get too high up in the air, but my best flight was 40 seconds long and about 70 feet up. I can't wait to go again! However, it depends on when Stan's room-mate will let me borrow his glider again. We also spend time with Stan's friends in Rockville, Maryland, playing video games like Rock Band and Supreme Commander. They're really fun - very similar to my High School friends.
For thanksgiving, I went over to Stan's house (about 1 hour drive from DC) and celebrated with his family. Thanksgiving started on Wednesday for me because all of my classes got canceled for the holiday. I have been to Stan's house before on occasion, but never for so long a time. Stan lives out in the rural countryside on the edge of town, so there are plenty of scenic walks. Stan also has two cockatiels I love!! We had a ton of adventures around his place this weekend. On Wednesday I helped Stan build a new desktop computer from scratch, then on Thursday we celebrated with Stan's family! I had the special privilege of making the Turkey for Stan's family of 20 people. However, I'd never made a turkey before and was so nervous! Turkey is the centerpiece of Thanksgiving, so I sure didn't want to mess it up for everyone. Fortunately Keith gave me a delicious recipe that resulted in great success! The turkey was tasty, super moist, flavorful, and GREAT in curry. (I'm helping Stan learn how to cook, he loves curry and I love cooking with him!) Stan's family also said that the gravy I made to accompany the turkey was the best they had ever had. So thank you Keith for all the help! I really like Stan's extended family - they're a lot of fun. On Friday we went Black Friday shopping at 5 in the eeearrrly morning. Black Friday is a big deal out on the East Coast, almost like a holiday of its own, so I felt that with Stan I really had the chance to experience it. Stan, his friend Scott, and I went to Staples, Office Depot, Home Depot, the Frederick Mall, and a couple of other stores before going back for an afternoon nap. Then on Saturday we went to play paintball with Scott and another of Stan's friend. If paragliding and paintball weren't enough, Stan also has a motorcycle. On Sunday, before heading back to DC, we took a 3 hour motorcycle ride with Stan's friend Dennis and his girlfriend Jessi. We drove out to the beautiful old city of Harper's Ferry, situated where the Shenandoah river meets the Potomac. The rivers are gorgeous, in the middle of steep tree-lined cliffs. Plus the town is full of history. The buildings go back to pre-civil war times! I would love to live in one of them, they're so charming and must have some great stories. And don't worry about the motorcycle, Stan is a very safe driver and we both wear thick padded jackets and sturdy helmets designed for motorcycling.
Now I'm back in DC, where not much is happening. We had our last really nice day of the year when we went motorcycling, so it's rainy and cold from here on out. Better get ready for London, right? I've bought a pair of rain boots...
In other news, Obama and his wife came out for a basketball game this weekend. Unfortunately I didn't go because I was having fun with Stan up in Maryland. The GW Colonials played against the Oregon State Beavers - and the Beavs won!! Woo hoo!! I guess I feel more hometown pride than home team pride.
I'm also looking forward towards my Senior Year. I've applied to be a House Scholar, which means I'll be a Residential Advisor for a sophomore dorm. I'd really like to be placed on the Foggy Bottom campus where my friends are, but we'll see. The House Scholar position is really nice because you get free housing, a large stipend, a budget to have fun with your residents, and fun residents to do things with! There will be some interviews I'll have to participate in while I'm abroad. We'll see how it goes!
I also have a webcam now, so perhaps there will be some video updates in the future.