University of Richmond

Archive for August, 2009

Getting Settled

August 29, 2009

So, it feels like I just left campus for the summer, but I’m back once again. Somehow, I find myself as a Junior. I’m still trying to figure out where the first two years of my college life went. Man, time is flying by. Unfortunately, this weekend is also disappearing, so I need to keep this post relatively short. To say that’s easy, though, is rather difficult. I’ve had five classes this week, a million and one welcome back events, plus meetings and tons of other stuff I would love to share with you. Before all of those activities, though, I arrived to help the new freshmen move in. It was broiling hot, but I was actually quite helpful for two freshmen and their families. The next few days of Orientation found me representing InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at several open houses and events. I also had the fun opportunity to document several Orientation activities as the photographer for our school newspaper, an opportunity made available through a friend of mine. It further astounded me how much time had passed since I was doing these exact same activities.

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The freshmen meeting each other for the first time
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The unexplainable Orientation event of Playfair
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Having fun at Playfair

Being the Events Coordinator for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, this week was rather chaotic. We hit the ground running with events that are planned via e-mail communication, which is often sporadic and quite difficult. We had a cookout to welcome the new students to UR as well as to give the returning students a chance to reunite. We had 200+ people attend and went through 150 hot dogs and 150 hamburgers. It was a huge success.

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Our shopping trip for the cookout supplies
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Taking charge of the grills
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Spontaneous hot dog eating contest

We also hosted a Field Day after the first week of classes ended on Friday. There was Ultimate Frisbee, watermelon-eating contests, a “snowball fight”, soccer, and a water balloon fight. The weather wasn’t ideal, but I was able to relax after a chaotic week, due to the lack of a routine in my life. At the Field Day, I reconnected with friends I hadn’t talked to over the summer as well as made new friends, such as Mark from Northern Ireland. I must quickly add that all of the current freshmen are really amazing and cool. Those of you who are prospectives will have a tough act to follow, but I have faith in you.

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Watermelon-eating contest

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Julie wearing her watermelon as a hat


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Aftereffects of the “snowball fight”
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Everyone was absolutely disgusting after Field Day

While I did do many other things this week, such as move into my room, have organizational meetings, and numerous other things, classes are what I shall conclude with mentioning. I have three Business courses (Marketing, Business Statistics II, and Organizational Behavior) as well as two Leadership Courses (Theories and Models of Leadership and Competition, Cooperation, & Choice). They all seem pretty good. I attempted to drop one Business course since I had taken a very similar course in the Leadership School in the spring, but it wasn’t meant to be. There looks to be lots of reading and it’s still uncertain how many papers I will have, or how long they will need to be, which is slightly disconcerting to me.

I’ll make sure to update you as to how classes are going and what they’re about, in addition to some pictures and video of my room, but that will have to wait. There was so much other stuff going on in my life to share with you first.

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Our neighbor, Cameron, reading us a bedtime story from
Billy’s Organic Chemistry textbook

Quote of the Week: “But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. they laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.” -Carl Sagain

YouTube Video of the Week:

Since summer is the time for barbecuing, here is the most unhealthy thing in the world, except for the deep-fried Twinkie perhaps

The Short Time Home

August 19th, 2009

Hello everyone. I am somehow back on-campus after what seems like a very short summer. It was, once again, a long and strenuous travel day for me to get here to Richmond. Let’s just say that it involved airport shutdowns, bad weather, refueling, a closed runway, and luggage that likes to take different paths than me. However, I am now here and ready to settle in. First, though, I look back. I think that most of you knew that I went to Europe for eleven weeks to study and also travel. Check my previous posts for those vlogs and stories. I had two and a half weeks home and that also flew by. I didn’t see too many friends and wound up doing lots and lots of work to make sure my organizations were ready. Lack of communication, scheduling snafus, and lots of other complications always make my life a little hectic. So, it was basically a working holiday. Here’s a quick recap of those weeks via pictures:

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Arriving into Minneapolis and being welcomed by my siblings
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The packs that I carried around during my travels

 

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The table of all of my souvenirs from my travels to ten countries
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Seeing my grandma…
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and siblings and brother-in-law…
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and dog, Misty…..
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and cat, Furby….
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and goats, Gretel and Rapunzel.
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Helping my sister demolish and remodel her new home…
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and cutting down a branch with a chainsaw while balancing
on an unsteady branch
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Visiting my sister and brother-in-law at their new home
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The county fair and 4-H is always big in my family and these are
two hotpads I helped my sister make…
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as well as this Christmas-themed advent calendar
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Wonderful county fair food. What can be more unhealthy than a
deep-fried funnel cake with powdered sugar, chocolate syrup,
and whipped cream?


The annual demolition derby for those who have never seen one
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He didn’t win….
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and neither did he
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Enjoying more county fair food with a high school friend

 

That’s all I have. Make sure to check back in to see how my Junior year is going. It looks to be tough academically and jam-packed with events, organizations, and lots of other activities. Should be fun.

Quote of the Week: “But was is the difference between literature and journalism? Journalism is unreadable and literature is unread. That is all.” -Oscar Wilde
Thought to Ponder: A blue whale’s heart only beats nine times per minute.
YouTube Video of the Week:

It turns out that this was not real, but it’s still pretty cool

What I Did Over Summer Break

August 6, 2009

Hello Spider Diaries readers. I am now safely home from my summer abroad. In case you didn’t know, I have spent five weeks were spent studying in Spain and then I backpacked nine Western European countries for another six weeks. So, I did so much that it’s hard to compress everything into one blog, but I’ll give you the highlights and then a semi-quick picture recap of my travels. So, here it goes.

- Riding on the “most terrifying cable car ride in the world” in Chamonix, France
- Hiking near Mont Blanc and visiting some of the highest points in Europe
- Visiting Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery in Normandy, France
- Seeing the “Mona Lisa”, Venus de Milo, and Hammurabi’s Code at the Louvre
- Watching the sunset over Paris from the Basilica de Sacre Coeur
- Seeing the Anne Frank House with her original diary and bookcase gateway
- Wandering the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
- Visiting the Dachau Concentration Camp outside of Munich, Germany
- Doing a Beer Crawl in Munich and visiting some of the world’s largest beer gardens
- Visiting the pool where Mark Spitz won seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympics
- Wandering some of the best Christmas villages in the world in Rothenburg
- Seeing a home whose foundations date back to 980 AD
- Going canyoning in Interlaken, Switzerland
- Hiking the Swiss Alps for an entire day
- Going on a “Sound of Music” tour in Salzburg, Austria
- Visiting the “Eagles Nest” which was Hitler’s home and the last prize in World War II
- Seeing the Stephansdom Cathedral in Vienna, Austria
- Watching gondolas pass underneath the Rialto Bridge at sunset in Venice, Italy
- Visiting the island of Murano, which is famous for its glass works
- Wandering around St. Mark’s Square with the pigeons at sunset in Venice
- Seeing Michelangelo’s “David” and also the cathedral “Il Duomo” in Florence, Italy
- Visiting the Leaning Tower of Pisa
- Hiking the trails of Cinque Terre on the western coast of Italy for a whole day
- Cliff jumping off the cliffs of Manarola in the Medditeranean Sea by Cinque Terre
- Seeing the amazing sights of the Tuscan countryside and tasting its fantastic food
- Going on a pub crawl in Rome
- Seeing the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Square
- Visiting the marvels of the ancient Coliseum, Pantheon, and Roman ruins
- Seeing the chains that bound St. Peter during his imprisonment 2,000 years ago
- Taking a ferry across the Adriatic Sea and watching the sunrise over Corfu
- Eating cookies and candy all day while watching movies at my Athens hotel
- Lying on a beach all day on the Grecian island of Santorini
- Wandering the beautiful city of Oia with its blue domes and pure white buildings
- Visiting the volcano with the largest eruption in recorded history
- Watching the world-famous sunset over the sea from the city of Oia
- Eating five gyros over the course of two days while in Greece
- Cruising the islands around Santorini in a traditional sailing vessel
- COMING HOME TO SEE ALL OF MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Since they say that pictures are worth a thousand words, here is a photo-documentary of my trip. Enjoy :)

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Hiking near Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France
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The ascent to the “most terrifying cable car ride in the world”
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Visiting Utah Beach in Normandy
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The American Cemetery in Normandy
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The Catacombs in Paris
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The Louvre at night
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The canals and bikes of Amsterdam
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The Anne Frank house and the entrance to her annex
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The famous beer gardens of Munich, Germany
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The pool from the 1972 Olympic Games where Mark Spitz
won his seven gold medals in Munich
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The old-fashioned city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
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Canyoning in Interlaken, Switzerland
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Hiking the Swiss Alps… a very exhausting task

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A view of the Swiss Alps
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The gazebo from the song “16 Going on 17″ from “The Sound of Music”
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The hills are alive with the sound of music… in Salzburg, Austria
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The Eagles Nest, Hitler’s home and the last prize in WWII
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A friendly passenger from my train to Vienna
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The Stephensdom Cathedral from Vienna, Austria
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The famous gondolas of Venice, Italy
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St. Marks Square in Venice, Italy
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The town surrounding El Duomo in Florence, Italy
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Michelangelo’s “David”
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It is definitely a leaning tower
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The village of Vernazza on Cinque Terre on the western coast of Italy
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Overlooking the Tuscan countryside in San Gimignano, Italy
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Visiting the Vatican
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The chains which bound St. Peter during his imprisonment
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The historic Coliseum in Rome
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The Roman ruins dating back to 700 BC
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The Trevi Fountain in Rome
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The distinctive look of Santorini, Greece
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Standing in front of the volcano with the
largest eruption in recorded history
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Cruising the seas around Santorini, Greece
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Ending the trip with the world-famous sunset from the city
of Oia on the northern tip of Santorini, Greece

 

YouTube Video of the Week:

Is this next for me? At least I kept the same look for most of my travels.