Well folks,

I haven’t posted in some time, and I write to assure you that I was not, in fact, lost in Asia. Everyone in the group, including myself, made it home safe and sound, though I personally slept through pretty much the entire Pacific Ocean while on the plane home.
Having been back for nearly a full two months now, I have gotten back into the groove of things, but I still have moments of strange revelation: I hear someone mention sushi and I realize I’ve eaten sushi that was living a few hours before in a Tokyo sushi restaurant.; someone mentions bicycles and I realize I rode a bicycle around a still-standing Chinese city wall. And while abroad, those things were just a matter of course.

In any case, the reason for this post  is to let you know that this term is quite hectic, and I may not be able to post very much this term.
Thank you all for reading, and I hope to write more next term.
-me

Welcome to this, the third and final episode in our three part miniseries: Me catching up.

So back home in Beijing, I feel like I’m actually learning things in Chinese class, which is really nice. I am often, now, in situations where I hear folks saying something in Mandarin and I go ‘oh they’re talking about…’
I still feel a little overwhelmed, but class this week has been a lot of review so I feel like it’s been a good chance to solidify the things that we’ve learned.
Mind you, I was at a temple today and the man at the ticket counter asked where I was from – something we’ve specifically learned in class – and it still took longer than it should of for me to come up with a response (which, by the way, is Wo shi mei guo ren (with tones omitted for simplicity), which is just ‘I’m American’).

It’s interesting, but being gone for so long (a week, which isn’t long at all) from Beijing makes one realize how much like ‘home’ it’s become. I missed my room here, and the bakery down the street, and all sorts of little things you don’t expect to miss from a place that isn’t technically your home. It struck me though, during our Chinese class today, that this really is home, at least for the time being. Our professor was asking us (in Chinese) where we lived, and someone responded with (in Chinese) America, and she smiled and said ‘well two months ago, but now?’ and then we went on to the element that, two months from now, we’ll be living in Japan. And it was just a fascinating moment to realize that, at least for the time being, this is indeed home.

I have a map of Beijing on the wall of my room here, and on it are three kinds of post it notes. Green ones are spots were I’ve been, and orange ones are places I want to go (I also have labels for both kinds, because little green squares on a big map are only so descriptive). And as orange is gradually taken over by green, I realize that I’ve seen a lot in this city, and there is still tons more to see. And I’m really glad for that, because this is an amazing place, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to see so many great things in it.

In that spirit, today I went to the White Clouds Temple, which is an active Taoist temple, but – unlike the Temple of the Eight Immortals – the temple complex is huge. I always like seeing active temples, and this one was unique in those that there were a number of people with big bundles of burning incense. The complex was organized (generally) around buildings that housed some deity or another. There was even one that protected and helped students and scholars – I paid my respects.
The place was really interesting, and I’m definitely glad I went.

It’s getting late around these parts, so I thank you all and I look forward to posting again soon.

Thanks!
-me

From the Saturday before last to last Saturday, six of our North Central group went to Mongolia for our week vacation. We went there (and back) via a thirty hour train ride, and I while I did spend an uncomfortable amount of time with the Count of Monte Cristo (which I still haven’t finished so don’t ruin the end), I really enjoyed traveling that way. We were able to see a lot of the countryside, which is a whole lot more interesting on the Chinese side of the border, and that was really nice. Taking pictures of said countryside from a moving train at an unflattering angle through an incredibly reflective window was just as difficult as it sounds, but some turned out all right.

A couple notes about Mongolia, in case you should ever find yourself there:
A lot of the Western chains you find in Beijing or even in Xi’an, like McDonald’s or Starbucks or Walmart, are not to be found in the capital of Ulan Bator (or Ulaan Baatar, depending on how you spell it). There are, however, more Western products, like peanut butter and Lucky Charms (twenty dollar Lucky Charms, but they were there nonetheless).
Ulan Bator is… how shall I put it? Well, how about this. It is, at present, underdeveloped. An Israeli woman staying in our hostile kept describing it as the ugliest city she had ever seen, but I don’t think I would go that far. It is, however, much smaller than Beijing (isn’t everything?) and Xi’an, though it does hold a full third of Mongolia’s three million people.
Ulan Bator isn’t the reason anyone goes to Mongolia (I hope), because what you really should be seeing in Mongolia is Mongolia, which is to say that the sights outside the city, including the vast and empty countryside, is really what is amazing about Mongolia.

Mongolia is, in truth, and interesting combination of landscapes. I keep wanting to compare it to the South Dakota badlands, but it’s not quite like that. We did visit when it was chilly, and so that may have made the landscape look a little bleaker than it should have been, but much of the terrain directly outside of the city was simply short grass and hills. However, on the two trips that we went on outside of the city, we reached places that were absolutely gorgeous. It was almost cinematic, in one area, how we drove for almost an hour in this generally uninspiring hilly landscape and, behind the next hill, was a valley full of strange rock formations and trees of every color.
Every tree color, you witty people. Not like, neon pink and aquamarine.
I would recommend Mongolia, and really I would like to visit again (for longer, next time) because when you finally got there (there being the amazing place you were headed, of which Mongolia has no shortage) it was entirely worth it.

By far my favorite excursion was our trip to Tereji National Park. Not only was everything phenomenal, but we also were able to ride horses for about an hour or so, and some of us joked that we would come back to the US and say to our friends: ‘I rode horses in Mongolia. What did you do your Fall Term?”

So all in all, it was a truly incredible experience, and this is why you people should study abroad.

Was that a good enough ad?

Well, it appears as though I owe you folks a few posts. If you’ll allow me, I’ll just write two (or do I owe you three?) about the past couple of weeks. And by allow me, I mean humor my colloquial, conversational style, because I intend to fill you in regardless. :-p

Right! So not this past week end, or the one that preceded it, but the one that preceded that weekend, many of the people in our North Central group (ten or twelve of us, I think?) went to Xi’an, which I believe I have mentioned in posts past. Xi’an is one of China’s landmark cities, known as the start and end of the Silk Road, but probably better known as the site of the Terracotta Warriors. For those of you that are not aware, these warriors were made to protect the emperor Qin Shi Huan in the afterlife. Qin Shi Huan, the man who first unified China (though an interesting combination of military action and a legalist governing philosophy), is buried relatively nearby the Terracotta Warriors, but his tomb has not been excavated yet.
The site itself was a fair distance outside of the city, and it was very tourist oriented, which is to say that yes, the Terracotta Warriors is an iconic sight not only for Xi’an but also for China and yes, some argue it’s a must-see for either Xi’an or China, but the site itself, while cool (and I certainly don’t regret going to see it) is mainly the pits (there are three excavation sites, or pits, with terracotta soldiers inside) and little else. There are actually several sites around Xi’an, of which the warriors are only one, and these sites include a hot spring and a paleolithic village, but we didn’t see these on our excursion.
On a side note, when we left the gated area around the terracotta warriors, we were – impressively, I feel – inundated with salespeople trying to sell us souvenir warriors. We literally walked out of the gates and a wave of salespeople ran up to us with identical merchandise and all talking at once.

So I admit I was a little disappointed in the Terracotta Warriors, because while I absolutely believe that not seeing iconic sights is downright silly, I often feel they are not as interesting as the lesser known and lesser visited sights. To this end, I have to say that the city of Xi’an did not disappoint in the least.

I had the pleasure of visiting quite a few incredible places, some more heavily trafficked than others. One of the iconic sights of Xi’an city proper is the Big Goose Pagoda, but as you may be able to guess from me, I was a little underwhelmed. However, the Little Goose Pagoda had dramatically less people, and I felt the grounds around the pagoda were much more beautiful. Additionally, walking up the thirteen flights of narrow, poorly lit stairs was pretty amazing, especially as the ceiling in some places became much too low for someone of my height. It was rewarding though, as being at the top gave a good view of that section of the city.

There were actually a lot of places in Xi’an that I loved that were not the most iconic sights. The Great Mosque was a lot of fun to visit, both because I had never been to a mosque before and because the complex was a really neat mixture of Chinese and Arabic architectural influences. The path to the mosque, actually, was through a series of covered alleyways full of street vendors hawking their wares. This alone was worth visiting the area for, because it was an experience that I haven’t been able to find in Beijing (I am told this is in no small part due to the ‘cleaning up of the city’ for the Olympics).

The streets leading to and all around those covered alleyways were also full of street vendors, and this was really where the Muslim Quarter (as it is called) really shines. Many folks are in traditional head coverings, and there is just street after street of vendors with souvenirs, lamb on a stick, flat bread, and pretty much anything else you might want to eat.

One of the neatest places I went in Xi’an, though, was the Temple of the Eight Immortals: a Taoist temple still in active use. This place was very small, but it gave a very good view of what an active temple looks like (lots of incense, in case you were wondering), and it was really neat to see Taoist monks kind of doing their thing.

A few of the people in our group rode around the city wall on a bicycle. Xi’an is actually one of the few Chinese cities with it’s city wall still standing (Beijing has had several, but they’ve been torn down and replaced with major thoroughfares) though the city has expanded beyond them since it was built. You could rent a bike on the wall and just ride around it, which was a lot of fun (though some parts were unpleasantly rough).

Before we left, I was in one of the streets with street vendors (not in the Muslim Quarter) that were focused on selling art. I found one person (I think he was an art student at a nearby college) that was painting in the traditional Chinese style on the spot, and while I didn’t have time for him to paint a custom one for me (which I would have really liked, and which he offered) I did pick up one of the scrolls he had painted at some earlier time. I wish I could find someone like this in Beijing, but my search has been, as of yet, fruitless.

So that was our stay in Xi’an.

Oh, and the hostel we stayed at (located very near the South Gate) was incredibly clean, with very helpful staff and very reasonable prices.

Stay tuned for what I assume will be my next post.

Hello happy readers, and here is the second installment of life in Beijing.

Living abroad makes you realize how many things you take for granted at home. I naturally miss my friends and family, but I expected that. I also expected to miss American food, which I mentioned in the previous post. But there are some things that you don’t expect to miss, like Discovery Channel, or liquid dish soap. I think it is remarkable that, for someone who didn’t really watch all that much TV while at home, I really miss the ability to just turn on the Discovery Channel or the Science Channel and watch something interesting. I have been watching a lot of CNN International here, which has been nice though the news has been rather dismal.
As far as liquid soap goes, I found some eventually. And maybe it was just my inability to find the stuff, but I’m pretty sure you can pick up a thing of liquid dish soap at a convenience store back home, but here, I could barely find it. Which makes me wonder how folks do their dishes, but I suppose that’s for another day.

Language classes have been very intensive (four hours a day, five days a week) and we have often had an additional lecture (though “often” stretches it, as we’ve not been here that long) for two hours after that. I feel like we’re learning a lot in class (which I’ll get to later) and I know that, while it is a lot to learn, some of it is sinking in. The amount of material that we’re covering though is sometimes overwhelming, but I’m doing my best.
The additional lectures have also been really informative: one professor here lectured twice on recent Chinese history and relations with the United States, so that’s really cool.

The language classes, while difficult, have been helpful in daily life here. At the very least when I buy something I can understand (after a moment or two) what the cashier said the price was. I also recently had an incredibly minuscule “exchange” with a local street vendor, as it could not be called a conversation, that started out pretty well but ended in him saying a number of things I had no hope of understanding. I know learning a language is an incredibly time intensive task, and I know that even after this term I will not know enough Chinese to have anything more in-depth than a child-like conversation, but I was still quite happy that I was able to say and understand anything at all.

Since I wrote last, I’ve been to a number of places, including the Great Wall. I will not make the ‘It’s a good wall, but…’ joke, but rest assured it was pretty spectacular. We were only able to be there for a short time, much of which was consumed by climbing the stairs up the mountainside to get to the Great Wall, but it was still quite a incredible sight.

Many of the people in our group are going to Xi’an this weekend, the city that has (on its outskirts) the site of the famous Terracotta Warriors, and some in our group intend to go to Mongolia for our week vacation, which I hope will be really fun.
When I’m at home, I have a map that has pins for places I’ve been and places I want to go (color-coordinated, because I’m an insufferable nerd), and I’m quite excited to be able to add one in Ulan-bator.

Hopefully everything works out, and I hope you all are doing well back there.

Happy travels,

-chris

P.S. – This picture is actually of me holding up the Great Wall. Seriously. That small section was about to fall, but with my Herculean strength I managed to hold it up and pose for a picture. No, I was not leaning because I was exhausted from forty minutes of essentially non-stop stairs, what are you talking about?

 P.P.S – So I did make the Great Wall joke. Sue me. Actually, don’t.

Well folks, welcome from this from-Beijing version of your friendly NCC blogging experience.

A quick run-through of the past week, as it occurs to me that it’s been an entire week already. Though in truth it feels like it’s been much longer.

• Saturday (August 30^th) – We flew halfway across the world, had a three hour layover in Tokyo’s Narita airport, and were generally exhausted. 14+ hours on planes = not fun.
• Sunday (August 31^st) – We (the group) went to the Summer Palace (beautiful place, by the way) and I believe went somewhere else, though I can’t remember at this time. The Summer Palace was once a place for the emperor to get away from the city (for the summer, as the name might suggest) but the city has grown to surround it now. The grounds are extensive, and I hope to go back before I leave to see some of the things I didn’t get a chance to. Also, we experienced our lovely cafeteria food. People say a lot of things about Kauffman. I recommend they stop. Seriously. Mind you, some of the things in our cafeteria are really delicious, but some are on the stranger side. And not the kind of strange I feel is the perception of China (my father already -jokingly- asked I’d had scorpions on a stick), but just strange as in not like home.

• Monday (September 1^st) – We went to… oh! We went to a place called Houhai (I believe) that is one of the (Professor Moussetis’ guide book claims) places you must go while in Beijing. It was actually very cool, and definitely warrants another visit. It highlighted some of the houtongs (little alleyways) that crisscross Beijing and have mixtures of shops, street vendors, and the like. We broke off into smaller groups and the group I was with found this one street vendor that was selling some gelatinous toy that, when you threw it against a hard surface, would flatten and then re-coalesce into the ball it was originally It was clearly one of those toys that would break in three hours, but the salesman was pretty convincing, and several people in our group bought one. Oh. And the rickshaw drivers will not leave you alone. Arguably because we undoubtedly look like Americans, but it was incredible. Some folks in our larger group were thinking of hiring one (and talking to one of the drivers) and within seconds one became five.
• Tuesday (September 2^nd) – The Forbidden City! So called because within it’s walls things are forbidden Okay seriously it’s because commoners (you know, folks like you and me) were forbidden to go inside for a long time. But now as a museum and World Heritage Site, it’s open to everyone and I really liked it. We only spent a little while there (relatively speaking) but I think it was really cool (though I like old / ruin-like places) and I hope to go back there as well. The main attractions are all well and good, but I think you miss a ton unless you go to the less-visited places, not necessarily off the beaten path – since the entire place is a major tourist attraction – but off the more heavily trafficked areas. My personal philosophy that doesn’t always work but is pretty reliable: the less people there are in the area, the cooler the place probably is. Generally speaking.
• Wednesday (September 3^rd) – Took the written test for Chinese. And I don’t speak a word of Chinese. Which is of course slightly inaccurate. If you’ll pardon me making these atonal, I know xie xie (thank you), bu dui (no – or more accurately, ‘not correct’; there is no way to say ‘no’ in Chinese) and lao jia (excuse me). So I know a few words. And admittedly those can get you pretty far, but yeah. So I wasn’t able to put anything down on my Chinese test – quite a few people in our group were in the same camp as me – and so I will be put in beginning Chinese, which is fine with me. We tried to tell our liaison (Mr. Jiang, who I believe is Beijing Foreign Studies University’s Kimberly Larson) that not many of us speak much Chinese, but he (I guess) was not convinced about how little we knew. Also, I was involved in some exploring (walking around Beijing, starting at the University and seeing where we ended up) and we found this -giant- mall. It was absolutely enormous. And not unlike our malls, really. They even had a Dairy Queen which I still regret not going to. Oh, also, KFCs are big in this town, though I haven’t gone to one yet.
• Thursday (September 4^th) – I can’t say why, but I just typed “September 4st” without realizing it. Which I find unfortunate and hilarious. Anyway, on Thursday we went to the Temple of Heaven, which was pretty cool (in some of the same ways that the Forbidden City was) but didn’t have as much ‘off the trail’ areas. Though it’s function was to allow the emperor to make a sacrifice to heaven once a year, so you really wouldn’t need an extensive complex for that. We also went to the Pearl Market (which sells a whole lot besides pearls) and it was quite the experience. This is one of the places (the Silk Market is the best known place) where you go to buy things and haggle to get the best price. Haggling is, in fact, very much expected: if you just ask for a price, many vendors will type something on a calculator, show it to you, and then motion for you to name your price (so that you can meet in the middle). The goods range from watches to electronics to jewelry to handbags to random knick knacks and art. And some of the vendors will attack you to buy their merchandise (one woman tried to pull me into her store). I feel the trip was a success though, because I haggled something down from 280 yuan (about $40 US) to 28 yuan (about $4 US). The salespeople were furious with me, but someone who has been on this trip before gave me some insightful advice when haggling: people will try to make you feel bad, but remember, if they weren’t making any money, they just wouldn’t sell it to you.
• Today – agh! Finally caught up to today. Which you people are experiencing right now, I note. In any case, wandering was the order of the day, and a park was found! Which actually means that, while wandering, we came upon a place we knew was on the map in the first place. But in any case, the whole place was beautiful, and I (as is a motif, you may note) want to go back as well. Tomorrow is our trip to the great wall, and I’m really excited.

As some side notes, life here is certainly different than home, and in ways you might not expect at first. I mean the Internet was unreliable (until a bunch of our people went and demanded refunds (on the advice of Mr. Jiang)) though it’s been better today. I finally figured out how to do laundry here (please note, I have done my own laundry for as long as I can remember, but I don’t have to buy a magnetic key to use the machine at home). Food is an interesting issue, not because it’s weird or inedible or anything remotely like that. It’s just not home. Someone from the trip last year warned me about this, and I suspect he will be right: by the time I get back, all I’ll want is some bacon, eggs, and toast.

Transportation is difficult, not because there isn’t public transportation or because I’m uncomfortable with public transportation (I took a bus to a train to North Central every day for two years) but because it’s so hard to get a route map that isn’t in Chinese, and while I hear that the taxis are very cheap here, I am not confident enough in my Chinese to be able to get where I want to go (though friends from years past say that you only have to point to a place on the map and say “jar” (here)).

And really, being away from friends and family is tough, but I am really glad I took advantage of this opportunity.

More from me soon, from lovely Beijing.
-me

Well folks,

Though I would like to post something more substantial and much closer to a recap before the term officially ends, I wanted to keep you up-to-date about what’s been happening. The end of term, particularly the end of spring term, is one that truly demonstrates the range of class experiences we have here. Some folks are done with all class material and all classes (I know a senior in this camp) after today, and some folks have final projects due tomorrow, and next week, as well are a variety of final exams. I am in the camp of still having both projects, papers, and a final exam, but I can’t complain – I’ve had a term or two with very sparse end-of-term work. And of course, the projects and papers wouldn’t be so pressing if I’d started earlier, but we know how that goes.

Also a quick reflection on something I brought up around midterms: you can, in fact, save yourself if you find that you have not done so well on the first half of the class. I’ve had a professor here (not this term) who made it a policy to say that if your cumulative grade after a midterm was a D, and your cumulative grade for everything (including the final exam) after the midterm was an A, you would get an A in the class. But even without a policy that so strongly believes in this concept of redeeming your academic performance, you really can do well if you pull yourself together. I’ve seen people, even this term, do remarkably well working under that philosophy.

Cardinals on Wheels looks to have some really fantastic events next term, having gone through finance committee and receiving our funding. So we look forward to seeing some of you, dear readership, at our events.

Alright, enough rambling for right now.

Again, I hope to post again before term is out, at least to reflect on this year from an academic, extra-curricular, and yes, even blogging, perspective. See you then. Well, sort of.

Free speech! No beating around the bush this time.
So, there was a recent court case that is in the great machine of our Federal Court system. Case goes like this: a professor, in a constitutional law class (as I recall) is discussing affirmative action. He makes comments that, while possibly provocative, were meant to foster debate in his classroom. His comments were not inappropriate to either the class (constitutional law) or the subject matter (a government policy). Two students, finding his remarks offensive, get the student organization of which they are a part involved. This student organization then claims – based on the statements of these two students – that the professor said inappropriate, racially insensitive, things. These are the facts of the case as I remember them -except for a couple I’m neglecting for dramatic effect – and if I am incorrect in any particulars the spirit of the issue is there. The professor sued for defamation on his character, because the things said by the organization were untrue, as both sides now admit.
The question is whether or not the professor, being the professor, should be allowed to sue them, as students. The dean of this college says no on the grounds that it will prevent active debate and will act as a detriment to the overall learning of all students if students do not feel safe saying what they believe.

I was discussing this case with some friends (after the discussion began in my Constitutional Issues class) and the friends were concerned about the entire case, as I was telling it to them. I told them the facts in the same order I have listed them here, and then proceeded to say “the student organization proceeded to tell the dean and the college community the untrue remarks about the professor…” My friends were still uncomfortable about the idea of a professor suing students. And I continued “… and every local media source that would listen.” And then my three friends, in unison, went ‘oh okay then that is totally defamation.”
Without going into my beliefs on the subject, I feel it is not unfair to say that the inverse of the dean’s perspective could also be true: as a professor, I would be afraid to teach in a way that is conducive to engaging students if I was constantly afraid of being defamed while I had no recourse.

So in short, North Central fans: intelligent conversation inside and outside the classroom. Take that.

On the COW front, we had a ball at Medieval Times, and everyone hopes we can return next year.

Classes are relatively wrapping up, which will prove interesting for all manner of reasons, not the least of which being folks’ concerns about final projects.

I was (yesterday) recognized as the Outstanding Major in Computer Science, so that was quite exciting. I shared the award with my fellow blogger, Kelsey Wiseheart, which was pretty nifty. During our professor’s speech on us, our professor mentioned the subjects of our respective honor’s theses. While I was trying to keep somewhat of a lid on mine, my professor spoke in a way that now compels me to speak more openly about its subject, so here goes.
The nutshell version is that I feel that story-based, non-episodic, single-player role playing games are in a serious decline as a sub genre (to those of you who play them: when is the last time you saw a new one?) and I believe I know a possible cause and I believe I have a possible solution.
Quite the challenge, I know. But frankly I feel its a sub genre worth saving, and I hope it isn’t lost to the ages amidst massively multiplayer role playing games and role playing games that are mission-based, or episodic.

Oh, and for everyone who won awards yesterday, congratulations. I know many of you, and I’m glad to see that everyone did so well.

Okay, I know I have more to say, but I lost the thread. Many apologies.

Good luck everyone!

I return!

Which sounds like a good I poster, now that I think of it. But it needs to be something cool like coming back from Asia, not ‘writing a post in notepad, forgetting to actually post it, and then having to throw that post away because it was out of date.’ Oh yeah.

So new information!

Let’s start with the simple: COW is going well, Study Abroad classes are going well, as are my other classes. My honors advisor and I are continually hashing out the details of my honors thesis, and my father and I are having some interesting conversations about some of the finer concepts (like the nature of magic in role playing games). Relay for Life went really well, and while I wish we were able to raise more money, I think we can have a really good experience on that end next year, particularly since, now that I’ve been to Relay once, I am super-pumped about next year (insomuch as such a thing is possible a year away from the event). We had a study abroad meeting today that was really cool because we got to talk with folks who went on the China / Japan trip last year and the year before, and while I am friends with two people who have gone on the trip in previous years, it was nice to hear more people’s experiences in a group setting. Oh, and in one of my courses, we are talking about how – essentially – certain types of free speech are being eaten away here in the good ol’ US of A.

So enough ranting. For this post, let’s talk about Relay… and probably a few other things. But Relay for Life was incredibly fun. For those of you who don’t know what Relay for Life is, it essentially is a giant fund raiser to support cancer research and jazz of that nature. And it is an amazing coming together of survivors, family members, friends, and people who have been touched by cancer. And it is an incredibly emotional experience for some folks. In COW’s group, there were a significant number of individuals who had lost a close family member to cancer, and so it was a really remarkable experience for them to be able to be in a place with other people who have been in their situation, and further with people who have actually fought the disease and won.
In terms of the activities, it was tons of fun, though I have to say it was really really hard. The idea is that someone from the team must at all times (12 hours period from 6pm to 6am) be walking around the track (we were in a gym, though it is customary for some Relays to be outdoors). Often we were on the track together, but the point is that there is always someone representing. This – which I didn’t know until I was there – is supposed to be symbolic of the journey of a cancer survivor: dusk settles, and you are diagnosed with cancer. The light of your life, like the light of the day, seems to dwindle and fade out, seemingly never to return. It gets darker and colder and while you still have energy you start to feel fatigue. At one or two in the morning, they say, one experiences the kind of despair that sometimes takes hold of a cancer patient: one thinks they cannot keep going, in the context of the Relay, one wants to go home to their bed, and in the context of the cancer patient, may not want to continue with treatments. Finally, at four or five, dawn shows up, symbolizing the end of treatment and the realization that, while you have some distance to go, you can see the end. At first I admit I was not quite clear if the experiences would live up to the symbolism, but I have to say at like 2:30 / 3 am, after all the other activities that were going on at Relay, I just wanted to drive home and sleep. But we all persisted, so that was good.

A note on the activities one does at Relay: there are tons of things set up by the wonderful organizers, and those things are really fun, but I have two things of note to say. The first is simply that, if you are going to play in the basketball tournament, note that there are people who probably play basketball more seriously than you do, and you may get beaten horribly. Which isn’t to say I wouldn’t do it again, but next time I need to play a little first. Also, if you are going to play a Risk-like board game which simulates world war two, try not to play it while guys are throwing a Frisbee around you. To quote a friend. “Hey Chris do you know who won World War II?” “Uhm…” “The Frisbee.”

So yeah.
And now, I fear, I must run. But I’m shooting for another post this week, as I want to get in something from my Constitutional Issues class, because it’s pretty awesome. And terrifying.

And Happy Commuter Appreciation Week everyone!

Hello happy people,

Over the past couple weeks I have put considerable thought into the stated purpose of these (and really any) student blogs, and the phrase ’seeing what college life is really like’ keeps standing out. I think it is valuable to remember two things when thinking about that idea. First, that life in college and anywhere else is based greatly on what you make of it (as I believe I have stated before) and secondly that college life still falls under the broader category of ‘life.’ Life here is much like life before and after graduation. And while I recognize there is a wealth of popular opinion to counter that argument, I defer those opinions to a professor I had only once (and who, despite our limited interaction, provided some remarkably insightful comments about life) who said (to greatly paraphrase) “there is no ‘real world’ when one leaves college. College is just as ‘real world’ as anywhere else. You people [students] have to balance your personal lives, full time academic schedules, many of you have jobs and extra curricular activities and I know several of you commute. This is just as real as the world you’ll find when you graduate.” The professor, mind you, when on to use this argument to discuss how if we were habitually late for class we would be habitually late for work when we graduated, etc. But the argument in and of itself stuck with me. And I was reminded of it when confronted with some of the issues of this term.
As you folks may have noticed, there’s been a lapse in my posts. I explain this only by saying that I, like any other student here, am subject to the same real life laws that people in the real world are subject to, which sometimes includes some hilarious and not-so-hilarious misfortune. To recap briefly, personal issues, a short emergency room visit, an automotive failure, academic issues, and all manner of other small and incredibly annoying misfortunes (like leaving a pen in a load of laundry and causing ink spots to appear over all of my clothing) have plagued me over the past couple weeks. But things look to be on the rise: my health is recovering wonderfully, even though I cannot say the same for my clothes.

The past few weeks, I feel, should remind us all that while some students may go to college for free, party all the time, never go to class, and in general not take any responsibility for their lives, I think that this group is in such an overwhelming minority that those students should not shape (as I feel is so often the case in popular culture) the perception of students. We, like any other population, live in as real a world as any.

And now, for the general updates.

I am making significant progress at a project I have been working on for a fair amount of time at my internship. The project involved me learning –essentially from scratch- some of the basics about Visual Basic, ASP.NET, XML, XSL, and some commercial web-services. It has been a really significant learning curve, but I have made some really appreciable progress so I’m glad for that.

Classes are going relatively well, which is to say that they are -as is their nature- challenging, time consuming, and worthwhile experiences. Hopefully in a post soon I will talk a little bit more about my honors thesis. I’m quite excited about it, as it lets me research into a subject that is important to me.

As a junior, I met with my advisor to schedule my last round of classes. We spoke at length and made sure that I would be able to graduate in four years, fulfilling the requirements for a Computer Science major with an English Writing minor while simultaneously fulfilling the requirements to graduate with honors. And there was a strange sense when I realized I would have exactly enough time to get in exactly the classes I needed. Everything fell into place, and it allowed for the moment when you realize graduation isn’t that far away. And then you also realize that doesn’t change the one paper being due next week, and so that moment was short lived.

Oh! And the first study abroad orientation met since I posted last, and I must say I am very excited about the program. Which I suppose should go without saying, but the opportunity to be able to meet the other people going on the trip, including the professor that would accompany us, was really nice. The folks seem to be cool people, and I’m glad for the opportunity to get to know them better over the course of the orientations, pre-study abroad class, and the program itself.

I think that’s about it for me.
So there.