Updates!!

Sooo I'm still alive. I don't have much time to write since I'm getting kicked out of school (at least for now) and don't have internet access at home, BUT here's a quick run down of what's been going on:

I saw Corey in Paris and it was wonferful! I miss you babe! (Pictures to come soon.)
I went to Rome for Thanksgiving and saw Pompei on a day trip from Rome. Got to see lots of interesting history and gorgeous stuff... I'd have to say Rome impressed me more than Paris, but maybe because I had such high hopes for Paris and it turned out to be much like NYC. Took tons of pictures in Rome, those are to come soon as well.
Finally, I'm going snowboarding in the Austrian Alps! Leaving tomorrow night, I'll be back in Budapest Dec 25th, just in time to catch my flight home on Dec 26th. I won't have internet access from tomorrow till the 26th, but when I get a chance to breathe a little I'll be updating with pictures and stories.

That's it for now, time to go study for my last final and PACK for my snowboarding trip.
Yikes.

Oh and Merry Christmas! And Happy Chanukah!

Parents Weekend!

Well, at least it felt like Parents weekend, like good old Dartmouth Days when parents get invited to come chill out on campus. Well this time they came to chill out in Budapest. Check out some pictures here.
I saw more of Budapest in that one weekend than I've seen so far the entire time I've been here (which is about to be 2 months! wow!)
We saw all the touristy attractions, went on a tour, had a good time in the thermal baths...
I could barely keep up.

In other news - I'm now done with 3 midterms! 1 more midterm and 1 paper to go, but that'll be AFTER Paris. That's right, I'm going to Paris - tomorrow! Wooohooo!

I'm excited. What's even more exciting is that Corey is coming to meet me there!
Wooooooooooooooooooooooo!
:)
Paris, here I come.

Saturday Fun Times

[Written on Sunday 10/16/05 3PM (Bud time)]

See entry below for the "detailed" narration behind these pictures...

What we're holding here is the "cultured" version of a tea bag (a contraption that holds the tea)


View of Basilica and Chain Bridge from the path leading up to the Royal Palace.

Royal Palace, from the side facing the Buda hills (not the side facing Pest)

Row of Hungarian flags at dusk
Royal Palce, lit up, with row of Hungarian flags (as I walk away from the palace and into the Old Town)


A cat with two fuzzy kittens and a shy little girl whose mom is trying to take her pictures next to the cat. This was underneat the row of Hungarian flags, as I was walking away from the palace.

No internet access, but I thought I’d write a little update anyway and post it up tomorrow (plus I don’t really feel like doing math right this second.)

Yesterday was pretty eventful for an average Saturday (an average Saturday in Hanover, middle of nowhere, New Hampshire anyway). It’s nice going to college in the city for once, especially a historical city with lots of touristy places to explore. If I had stayed in NY for college instead of going to Dartmouth I probably wouldn’t have taken advantage of it anyway (I didn’t take advantage of it while I was in high school that’s for sure).

So yesterday Kristen (my roomie) and I went to check out a cute café called Angelika at Batthyány tér. I read about it in one of the Budapest guides that was already in the apartment when we moved in. According to the description, it’s actually inside St. Anne’s Church, but sitting in it you wouldn’t really be able to tell except maybe for the stained glass windows - it looks like it’s just an attachment. What’s nice about Budapest (just like the rest of Europe I’m guessing) is that you can sit in a café for as long as you want even if you just bought a cup of tea and have finished it long ago. So I got a cup of green tea, a piece of cake, and we sat there doing homework for a while. I finished my Complex Analysis assignment, read over some of my notes… and then we asked for the check (they don’t bring it to you unless you ask, no matter how long you’ve been sitting there).

Then Kristen went back to the apartment to meet someone for a “Combo party” (i.e. to do Combinatorics 2 homework) and I decided to explore a little more of the Buda side. I’ve only been to the castle district/old city once up until yesterday and I haven’t gotten a chance to explore really.

I caught a tram two stops to Clark Ádám tér and climbed up a path to the Royal Palace (along the way stopping to take some pictures.) After wondering around the palace (where the Hungarian National Gallery also happens to be located) I made my way over to Disz tér over in the Castle Discrict. The guide book I used to find Angelika Café suggested a walk down Tóth Árpád Sétany, so that’s what I did. It was perfect timing too – the sun was just setting, so I could see pretty colors in the sky over the Buda Hills. Unfortunately my camera’s batteries died just as it started getting dark, but at least that gave me a chance to enjoy it through both my eyes (“no more 3 by 5…”).

I left the path for a little while to stop by and admire Matyas Church and the Fishermen’s Bastion on the other side of the old city, but then returned to my pretty route and finished it at the other end (where it met Anjou Bastya). (The castle district looks a little bit like a mini version of Manhattan island – it’s very thin across the middle, and elongated from tip to tip. So it was a very short walk to get from the far left of the district to the far right and a bit of a longer walk to get all the way from Disz tér to Anjou Bastya).

From there I walked down to Moszkva tér and caught the metro right back to the apartment. My whole escapade from the café all the way back to my cozy room took less than 2 hours.

Was going to write more, but gotta run.... The rest of the day saturday involved an outdoor concert with crazy lights, crazy hungarian rappers, and a crazy african band.

Budapest Quirks

Szia!
I'm finally updating, but not much has really been going on.
Since Vienna, classes have gotten into full swing - I'm taking 3 math classes, a comp sci class, and a philosophy class.. so the workload has me pretty busy.

In more exciting news though - I'm actually cooking shit. It's just a tad more difficult learning real cooking when you can't read the label and don't know wtf "shortening" is in English, nevermind Hungarian. Oh and Hungarians don't use baking soda. No really, it doesn't exist. No baking chocolate either. I discovered this only AFTER me and my roomate invited people from the program to a "brownies and cookies" night at our apartment. So now we gotta figure out real quick what we're going to make for this "brownies and cookies" night without baking soda or chocolate.

Budapest has plenty of little quirks like that - no rubbing alcohol or betadine at (what Americans would consider) drug stores. You have to go to a pharmacy, which isn't like a Rite Aid or Duane Reade or CVS in the states - it's a small little shop with a counter and you tell the pharmacist what you need and they get it for you. It's like the prescription pharmacy section of large drug stores except you have to go there for everyday things like rubbing alchohol.

My monthly transportation pass has officially expired yesterday without being checked even ONCE by the ticket control people. That's 6000 Ft (~ 30 bucks) down the drain. And they wonder why their public transportation system is going bankrupt? No one pays to use the damn thing. It might as well be free.

That's it for now...
what else do you want?

Vienna

This past weekend I went to Vienna with my roomate Kristen an 8 other people from BSM. There are lots of interesting things to see in Vienna, even with the grey and rainy weather we had last weekend. It was convenient too - less than 3 hours by train from Budapest.

Some pictures:

Our train ride into Vienna was pretty uneventful - we split up into two cabins and mostly discussed math throughout the ride. Here are the other four occupants of the cabin I rode in (Destiny, Kristen, Crystal, Elizabeth):


We arrived at Westend City Hostel and were given keys to our rooms and lockers. Kristen and I were in a separate room from the other 8 BSM people. Each room had 8 beds and one shower. (Not a happy situation.) There's no age limit for this particular hostel so we were lucky enough to have a retired woman sleeping right next to us on both nights - she snored and got up to go to the bathroom every hour...plus there were people screaming in the stairwell at various times throughout the early AM hours. Needless to say the first night I got barely any sleep at all (by the second night I was either too worn out from all the walking to care or had just gotten used to the situation.) The picture is of Kate (a girl from the UK who was one of the only occupants of the room that we actually met) and my roomate Kristen.

Dinner on the first night - Kristen and Destiny at our table. The group decided to "split up" - which involved me, Kristen, and Destiny going to a different restaurant while the other 7 all ate together. We were already paying the bill by the time the 7 of them started getting their first dishes. We left them there and wondered around the city nearby, coming back 30 minutes later.
Me and Kristen at our table drinking carbonated water. (No such thing as tap water in Europe - not unless you ask them for it very specifically - they just love charging people for water.)

Oh and I almost forgot - the (clearly not enforced) rule of our hostel. It's not particularly good English, but I guess they get their point across.

Comments on the rest of these pictures possibly to come later, I have homework to do. Here's a short summary:
Shonbrunn Palace - residence of the Hapsburgs - amazingly beautiful and unbelievingly HUGE. Fun times at the labyrinth and maze and children's games. An interesting tour throughout the inside of the palace - tons of walking throughout the gardens and other little nooks. Could definitely spend days exploring this place, it's beautiful.

"Giant" Ferris Wheel - Vienna's real proud of its ferris wheel, which withstood some wars as far as I've heard. That's all nice and dandy but it's not actually all that huge. The only cool thing about it is that it's got covered cars, so rain and cold weather don't ruin the fun. Also while we were waiting to get on, some "private" cabins went by with pretty curtains, wine bottles, and tasty treats, so I guess this ferris wheel has some popularity with the rich folk who want to rent out a cabin for a while and spin round and round in their own private "room".

House of Music - a fun and interactive music museum filled with information about the physics of sound (and about musicians and music as well of course). You get to conduct the Philharmonic at the end (and you actually get booed by the video tape if you mess up completely). A really cool place overall - every room has something for you to do - bang on huge drums, pluck some strings, write your own waltz music, etc. Well worth the time and money.. and was our last stop on the way back to the train staion and home to Budapest.

I have literally over 100 other pictures from Vienna of the beatiful buildings, of the palace, of the house of music, the ferris wheel, random fountains, etc. It's a pain to post them all up, or even just the best half... But Vienna was a fun place to visit, even if the weather wasn't cooperating.

Yumm Yumm

No more pictures for today, but a quick update on how things are going:

Looks like I'll be taking 4 math classes and 1 philosophy class. Bought 3 textbooks today, made dinner for me and my roomie from ravioli and frozen veggies - yummm. (Don't worry, they weren't frozen when we ate them)

I feel a lot less foreign in this place now, I'm getting used to it. I found out that all I really need to get along in most stores and outdoors is "thank you" "excuse me" "please" you're welcome" "sorry" , a couple of greetings, and the numbers from 1 to 10. Also good to know "exit" and "entrance"... otherwise people will look at you weird. (Not that I would know that from experience).

Nothing much is new really - had my second day of classes today and that went pretty well. Went to a travel agent to find out how much it'll cost me to get back home in December (I only bought a one way ticket to Budapest.) Then I went grocery shopping, had dinner, and now I'm here chatting with Corey (Hi Corey! who said I don't write about you?)

Szia!

Pictures

Some pictures from the last couple of days:

My roomate Kristen in front of the Basilica:


A hot spring in front of the thermal baths in City Park:


The Thermal Bath Building in City Park:


And, of course, Parliament:



Chain Bridge across the Danube (aka Duna)The Danube....

Castle at night:


Chain Bridge and... ?? some cool building - I forget what's called.. National something

Thermal Baths and Getting Around Budapest

Turns out we don’t have access to the internet on the weekends, so I’m sitting here in my room typing this up and it’ll get posted sometime on Monday.

I’m thinking about taking 5 classes even though I can only transfer 4 over to Dartmouth. We have a couple of weeks before final registration so I have the time to visit a lot of different classes this week – I’ll see how hard the classes seem and try to figure out if I have the time for 5 or not. So far I’m taking Complex Analysis, Theory of Computing, Graph Theory, and a philosophy class. The three math/comp sci classes are supposed to be pretty intense, but maybe I can audit a number theory or topology class. The more exposure I have to different topics in math the easier it’ll be for me to decide later on what kind of grad school I want to attend and what I want to focus on.

So it’s been 5 days since I arrived here, I can hardly believe it. I don’t feel nearly as helpless and lost as I did on the first day. Besides, my roommate came back from Prague on Friday and I haven’t had to go everywhere by myself for the last two days. The apartment isn’t quite so lonely anymore.

On Friday she took me to the Buda side. We got out at the stop right by the Danube where we could see the Parliament building, then crossed over the chain bridge back to the Pest side, walked past the Basilica, and back to our apartment. It’s amazing that most tourist attractions and interesting parts of Budapest are pretty much within walking distance of each other.

The public transportation system isn’t quite as advanced as that of NYC, but it also doesn’t need to be – Budapest just isn’t such a huge city. Unlike in NYC, trains and busses in Budapest are always on time and run much more often. You won’t be left standing around for longer than 5 -7 minutes. During peak times the trains average 3.5 minutes or less. A single ride ticket is cheaper than, but not nearly as flexible as a single ride on the MTA. You can only travel in one direction on any one metro line or bus without transferring (there are only 3 metro lines). You have to pay extra for a ticket that allows you one transfer. (There are also cheaper tickets if you’re only traveling for 3 stops).

The annoying thing about the transportation is that if you don’t buy a weekly or monthly pass then you’re left buying single ride tickets at annoying machines each time you want to ride. There’s no such thing as a Metrocard – you can’t just keep a small plastic card on you with say, 10 or 15 rides on it. I heard you can buy booklets of 10-15 tickets – but that option isn’t available on the machines so you have to wait on line at the window. The tickets are little pieces of paper that you HAVE to keep on you after you enter the station. You have to keep track of which ticket you entered on and discard old tickets to make sure you don’t have 5 old tickets lying around in your pocket. Otherwise if you get stopped and asked for your ticket on your way out, you might get fined if you don’t find your most recent one – stamped with today’s date and validated on the line or bus that you’re riding.

It’s a PAIN IN THE ASS. Which is why I just bought a 30 day pass and moved on with my life (not cheap, even by NY standards, but soooo convenient. It’s half price for students, but I’m not officially a student here :( )

Moving on…

Thermal baths! Budapest is famous for them – they’re even supposed to have medicinal healing powers. My roomie Kristen and I went to the Szechenyi Baths in City Park yesterday – very cool. Lot’s of hot baths of various sizes and temperatures spread out over 5 or 6 rooms, plus sauna and a steam room. Apparently there was a large outside bath with chess boards as well that we somehow missed. It’ll definitely be something to look forward to during the cold November/December months.

This is getting way too long so I’ll stop for now. Once classes start (tomorrow) I’m sure I’ll have better things to do than talk about the transportation system in Budapest for 2 paragraphs, so enjoy the boring details while you can :)

My Home in Budapest

I went food shopping for the first time today at Kaiser's (a large grocery store). I figured out all by myself that you have to weigh the fruit and veggies and then press a button to let the scale know what you're weighing and then the scale spits out a price sticker that you stick on your bag. Pretty high tech - nothing like the russian and chinese grocery places in Brooklyn.

The bank I went to was pretty high tech too - no lines of fuming customers. You walk up to a machine, click on one of 7 or 8 buttons depending on what you need (deposit, withdrawal, exchange currency, etc.) and the machine spits out a ticket with a number on it the first digit of which was your choice. (I clicked 7, for currency exchange, and I got number 704). Then you sit down on soft comfy benches and wait until your number comes up on the screen telling you which teller to go to. Pretty smooth...

Airport Post #2

(Written Sept 7th 7AM, Swedish time - or 1AM Eastern time)

I’m in Sweden! Well, in a Swedish airport anyway. I’ve got about 3 hours until the second part of my flight and I have a hunch that this is going to be a pretty small plane.

It turns out the damn Swedes are more tech savvy than us Americans – they’ve got the whole airport hooked up to high speed wireless internet. It’s not free of course, and since I have no idea what 70.00 SEK is translated into US dollars I’m not about to pull out my credit card and pay for it. If I get bored enough I might wander over to the info desk and ask them to convert for me.

I’ve also found out that the chatty family sitting next to me in the waiting room at Newark was Italian (sneaked a peak at their passports). That explains why it sounded close to French, but I’m surprised I didn’t recognize it. I guess I was concentrating too much on the fact that we were flying to Scandinavia and Italy didn’t even cross my mind.

The flight to Stockholm was pretty normal. The plane was only half full so I lucked out with two seats all to myself – both a window AND an aisle! (And I was worried….) We were fed well – 2 meals and a snack. I watched the first part of “Guess Who” and most of “Hostage”, played some backgammon, battleship, and even a lame version of that worm game. Popped two Tylenol PMs at the beginning of the flight and slept pretty well between those two movies.

Among the first voices I heard upon leaving the plane were these two guys walking towards a different gate and speaking in Russian! Russians are everywhere….

Airport Post

(Written Sept. 6th around 4pm)

Here we go. I’m at the airport now, awaiting my 13+ hour flight to Budapest (through Stockholm). Thirty minutes left till boarding, and the plane should be off at 5:20PM. This trip brings many firsts for me – my first flight by myself, my first time staying in a foreign country for more than 2 weeks (not counting moving to the US of course), my first time spending time in a country where I don’t know the language.

I’m nervous, but also tired which tends to cancel out the nervousness. I didn’t get to bed till 4AM yesterday and was woken up around 7:30 by my mom to say goodbye. I finally got up shortly after 10 and got myself ready. Spent over an hour at a bank in Bay Ridge trying to make a deposit – one teller, 30 people waiting… how dare people take an extra long weekend after Labor Day, ya know?

Corey and Leon (my bro) took me to the airport with all my bulky luggage, that wasn’t too eventful. I said my good-byes and off I went to pretend to be all independent and responsible. The security checks weren’t any different than for any domestic flight I’ve taken, kind of disappointing. Why come to the airport a whole extra hour earlier if they don’t even frisk you any more than they normally would?

Well, what else can I say?

There’s a family sitting next to me speaking some language I don’t understand. It’s not Hungarian, but sounds close to French and close to Hungarian at the same time. Maybe it’s Swedish or Finnish? Whatever it is, they’re chatting away right over all the super important announcements from our flight’s gate.

It looks like I won’t be in an aisle OR window seat – 46B, doesn’t sound promising.

Well, I don’t know when I’ll get to post this, since I sure as hell ain’t paying airport prices for an internet connection. I’ll be in Budapest at 1:35PM Sept 7^th (Hungary time). That’s 7:35AM for you East Coast people.

Viszlat!

Meet Baldy

That's right, I finally did it. I chopped off my hair on my 20th birthday (this Thursday).


Before:



After:


And it's not over yet, just wait until Monday! Muahaha.

I'm scaring myself.

High On Sleep Deprivation

I never did write about TKD Summer Camp after I got back, but that's nothing new coming from me. It's too late to write about it now and still do it any justice so if you want to read about it in detail go check out the Dartmouth TKD blog and the Blue Wave Forums (Pictures). I did have a great time and couldn't believe how much was accomplished in a mere weekend - it really felt like it lasted much longer. When I'm feeling nostalgic and missing Blue Wave I might write about it some more.

Speaking of nostalgic, I bet I'll be feeling a lot of that in the coming month. As of today there is ten days left before I'm off to Budapest. I haven't had much time to be nervous, which in itself makes me a bit nervous. Go figure. That leaves me with 2 more days in Hanover, then a little over a week at home in NY.

I'll try to be better about updating this thing while I'm away, considering I won't be making lots of expensive phonecalls to the US. Plus the time difference will complicate things some more.

Ahh... I'm excited. I think.

I'm also overtired. Maybe I should do some packing, since I'm not about to go to sleep and working on my math final just won't go over too well with my brain right now.

A more sensical and possibly entertaining update to come once I'm done with finals, and my brain is decluttered.

Procrastination

LMAO!
Urban Dictionary's definition of my high school: Stuyvesant and Stuy

When I was a boy...

Reading this article made me realize why it was that I stuck it out in math and science - because I was a boy in middle school.

Not literally, but socially and physically I did not begin to gain feminine qualities until the 8th grade or so, maybe even later. I wore baggy clothes, I hadn't hit puberty, I played sports, and I hung around with my brother and his friends. Until the 8th grade I refuuuuused to shop in the girls section. I despised all things feminine and prided myself on the fact that my brother's friends all used to tell me how much like a boy I was.

Now you might ask, what the hell does that have to do with math and science? Well, just think about it - my female middle school counterparts entered the phase of lip gloss, skin tight jeans, boyband obsessions, and crushes. Suddenly, they cared about their image - they wanted boys to like them. Did I want boys to like me? Sure, but I wanted them to respect me in a different sense - as an equal. I hated girly girls - I thought they were boring and stupid. I prided myself on being able to do more push-ups than my brother, on my basketball skills, my bruises from climbing trees, and all other unfeminine things.

In fact, until I met a boy at sleepaway camp the summer before 8th grade, my parents were afraid that I didn't like boys at all - that I'd grow up to be a lesbian. (Now, I don't know how they would get that idea - I despised girls!)

By the time I hit puberty I was at a math and science high school surrounded by a very non-judgemental atmosphere. Everyone there was a nerd in one sense or another, everyone was smart - I didn't have to try to fit in.

I remember this one girl in middle school who was every bit as smart as I was (her final average was only 4 tenths of a point below mine, something she would never let me live down). She had an obsession with Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys and spent lunchtime chit chatting with her girlfriends about boybands and lip gloss. She was real smart, but she never spoke up in class. The teachers only knew her from her great exam scores and stellar papers. And that is what made the difference.

I really believe that my late-blooming saved me. If I had thought of myself as a female in middle school, I would have taken cues from everyone around me as to what was feminine and what wasn't. Speaking up in class was not feminine, answering and asking questions was not feminine. Doing well in math and science sure as hell wasn't feminine. The expectations were there, I just ignored them because I didn't associate myself with girls. So maybe I was a little bit of a "show-off" in middle school. Not too much, but enough for me to gain the confidence I needed to believe in myself. People told me I was smart and I started to believe them. (And don't tell me that people don't have to be told they're smart to know that they are - it's just not true. People form an image of themselves first and foremost through the reflection of themselves in the eyes of others).

And that's the story.

Getting Focused

I'll be going away tomorrow for a fun filled weekend of TKD seminars and black belt testing (not mine unfortunately), so there won't be any posting in the next couple of days. The good news is that when I get back I'll have plenty of pictures and stories to post, so no more lack of blogging material to keep me up while I'm procrastinating.

Speaking of which, I was thinking about list making as a habit and if its really worth it or not. I'm not a habitual list maker, but I do tend to jot down "SHIT to do" lists once in a while when I have a busy day/week/month coming up (and I actually label it that way too). Some other people on the other hand make intricate lists of goals for the year - ranging from reading lists, to exercise goals, career attainment, and hobby related checkpoints (Check out this blog I like to read - this guy's on top of his shit!). I wonder if it really has a psychological effect of helping people to get organized and focused. Or will it be just another thing to feel guilty about? Maybe I'll try it and see how it goes.

So here's an attempt at setting goals and getting focused - my first list.
I'm thinking I'll start on a daily basis, with just a small thing at a time and keep track of my progress here. But what do I start with? What's important to me right now? Well, there's my back - I need to do daily exercises to keep my scoliosis at bay. Then there's math - I have some catching up to do on the problem sets. Then of course there's a ton of reading I need to get done, too. I need something conrete, but personal and interesting.

Learning Hungarian, how about that. I need to keep up on my Hungarian - I have about a month left to reach some basic level of competency so that I'm able to get around in Budapest once I get there. I'll have to quantify this somehow so more details to come...

My Retirement Plan

As I was riding my bike to class this morning I decided my life's ultimate goal. Well, it really wasn't quite that dramatic. I just decided that when I'm somewhere around 60 or 65, I'm going to retreat from my up-until-then possibly hectic/stressful job or whatever it is that I'm doing at 60, buy a motorcycle if I don't already own one, and try to get a job as a professor or teacher at some nice college/school in the country (like Dartmouth). I'd teach math by day, drive around on my motorcycle like a madwoman when I felt like it, and go camping, hiking, yoga-ing, and swimming in the river to my heart's content.

Now don't tell me I won't be interested in math, nature, and motorcycles when I'm 60, that's irrelevant. It's the vision that counts - do you see the vision?

Speaking of which, this morning's yoga class was phenomenal. I mean, headstands in the sun after a light swim in the pool phenomenal. *Ommmmmmmm*

Tubestock and Bridgewater

I'm back!
No new posts for a while because Corey was here visiting. That all went very well, I miss my baby. I'm not going to get sappy though and spend the next 3 paragraphs talking abot how wonderful he is, just know that I love him and want to have his babies.

I don't mean right now, silly.


Tubestock was this weekend, and Corey and I made last Sunday's Valley News (a local paper). Well, actually it was me and his feet that made it in. I was trying to coax him into getting onto the river in my float, but he's not a great swimmer so he wasn't really having it. A reporter was taking pictures nearby and started chatting with us and taking pictures while I worked my charm with Corey. So eventually Corey gave in and got on the float and the picture in the paper just shows me on my float looking up at Corey, all you can see of Corey are his feet. The caption reads something like "Dartmouth sophomore Valery P. of New York convincing Corey B**** of Brooklyn to join her in the water. B**** later relented." I like that last part... Corey was like, yup that's the story of my life. Funny stuff.

What else is new? I got an internship for winter term as a "Technical Associate" for Bridgwater Assoc. (in Westport, CT) so I won't be in Thailand afterall. As it turns out it's a paid internship contrary to what I was led to believe and there's a WTF taekwondo school nearby, so I'm pretty psyched.

More stuff later, time to get moving on this problem set stuff...

My Hellish Week and Another One of Corey's Poems

No Bradford TKD for me tonight, a sad sad day. All my fault too, I didn't lift a finger this weekend to get work done ahead of time. I've gotta STOP SLACKING. So here's the rundown for the week (not because anyone really cares but because I need to get myself focused)

Today: finish postlab from last week, do [longass] prelab for this week, and write out outline for exam essay topic for the stugy group meeting.

Tue: class, lab, study group, then do ENTIRE math problem set (which I should've been doing over the weekend)

Wed: yoga,class, study for essay exam (hate those things), go to pre-interview meeting for internship (again, who do they think they are??) , work

Thu: 2 hr essay exam, 50 minute "Quiz", work, do ENTIRE engineering problem set (ditto about doing it over the weekend)

Fri: Internship interview,class,work,finish Engs problem set before 5PM.... COREY COMES TO VISIT!!!

So that's the rundown. I'm done bitching, moving on.

I'm contemplating taking the search for a winter internship more seriously. Although studying Buddhism in Thailand would be the fulfillment of a dream for me, getting work experience might be more crucial at this point in my life. Plus, if I get this CT internship I can continue with my TKD training and possibly test for black belt next winter camp. (Not that I'm making my life decisions based on tkd, but it's an added bonus.) Another reason I've put my Thailand dreams on hold is because I can apply for a technical internship in Thailand for next summer through this organization that places interns internationally. The program sounds pretty competitive but if I get work experience during my winter leave term then I'll be that much more likely to get placed somewhere (even if its not Thailand).

I better get going on this load of work, so instead of finishing my post with more content here's a poem Corey wrote in May:

Love the Greatest sorrow

Many say "It's better to have Loved Lost" I dare you to try it To love with all your heart And not have to hide it To Open yourself With no Bouncers or Gates To Give yourself And do all that it Takes To love like this And have it all go awry No matter how much you Try You want to pull your hair out break down and Die Then later Cry Thoughts all twisted inside I love you No I hate you Either way Good Bye To have the perfect Woman To have the perfect Man And have them leave you For reasons you still can't Understand You've planned your life around them Then your Future no longer matters on a whim What do you do now that you're not even on the Back Burner Years Of fighting to be first Let no Obstacle hold you aSunder No Parents No Distance No Race Kaboom It all Blows up in your Face So what do you do When your life gets up and runs out on you Hopes and Dreams Gone out the Blue The House with the white picket fence Harbors a black space Where once in a dream held a familiar face Everyday it gets Easier to cope Proud of yourself when you say "i won't call" and you don't Most fun when your family and friends Ask about them Slap in the face Start at Day one Again "It's better to have Loved and lost Then to have Never Loved at all" Easier said than done I dare you to go to that Cliff and Fall ****

This was written between May 10th, when we broke up, and June 7th when we got back together... I read it on his blog while we still weren't speaking and wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. In fact I think I did.

Sink or Swim

Hello world. You know the routine - the rest are details.

Went to Bradford tkd for the first time in two weeks on Monday and woke up sore as hell yesterday morning. I need to start training more often but that would involve finishing engineering and math problem sets ahead of time so that I'd have Tue and Thu nights free - and if you know me at all, you know that it's not going to happen.
I actually wound up doing laps in Spaulding Pool on Sunday though, and that was at least a little bit of a workout - and it's about time I started swimming again. It's a shame the main pool is closed for renovation this summer so that pool hours are pretty short. I can only make weekend hours comfortably, without having to rush from classes to the pool or from the pool to lab or to work. Besides, I have to be up at 7AM on Mondays and Wednesdays for an 8AM Yoga PE class I'm taking. Speaking of which, today's spine/back exercises made my back feel a ton better...maybe there's some hope of curbing my scoliosis related pain without surgery.

Besides my sickly attempt at trying to stay healthy this summer, I've also managed to get myself into an interview for a "Technology Internship" at Bridgewater Assoc. (Westport, CT). Although I'm still planning on the Thailand Buddhism thing for my winter leave term, I figured I'd try to give myself some options in case something fell through so I submitted my resume and am going for an interview in a little over a week. Only problem is that I need business formal attire for this interview - HA!! Who the hell do they think they are anyway? Yea...

Corey, Corey, Corey... what can I say here? Ups and downs as usual. Loved the poem he wrote. Almost arranged to go to Six Flags New England in 2 weeks with him and my bro and Christina and then he lost his temper and cussed out my brother's girl. Ouch. Long story.

Corey's Beautiful Poem

This is a poem Corey wrote a couple of days ago:

Daddy loves you

To my unborn child who awaits to raise To take your first breath To Open your eyes You wait to be in this world But my Child your mother can't be an Average Girl So to you, I'm sorry to say you must wait a little more while i keep minx at bay You must wait for a mother who's true For her love for me come only Second to you You must wait My unborn seed I know you yearn to be free but please hear my Plea She must be a woman Kind of heart Strong of will hardest of all able to stand me Single parent home is not for my Baby and I'll be damned if i have you calling another man Daddy So i just want you to know I'm working on it Just thought you should know It's times like now when I'm alone here I wish to sit you on my lap and Tell you in your ear I love you So many things i want to show you Even though by five you're going to be calling me Old School So Mr./Miss "I need out" i just gave you a few things to think about Daddy Loves you kid ****

Life Update

So I haven't been updating lately, but here goes a summary of what's been going on in my life for the last month or so...

For those who don't know, Corey and I got back together shortly after he came up to Dartmouth to help me move out (that same day I tested for my black stripe). We began speaking to each other about a week and a half before that. I won't go into it here, but I feel that a mutual understanding has definitely been reached. And, amazingly, after months and months of frustration and dead end conversations, I began to see changes as soon as he was able to put into words (better than I could) exactly what it was that I wanted and what the issues have been. I've never been happier... I really don't know how I'll be able to live without him while I'm in Budapest this Fall.

While at home during interim Leon (my brother), his girl, Corey and I went to Six Flags and the Wild Safari there. Gotta say, it was a blast - especially being able to spend the day with Corey, being a baby and going on kiddy coasters, sharing every ride with him, laughing and screaming, and all that gushy stuff.

Here are some shots from the Safari:There were a lot more great shots, but I wound up taking a lot more video clips than I did pictures because they're more interesting to watch. There were giraffes wandering in and out of traffic, there were bears, rhinoceri (?), and of course monkeys and kangaroos, and lions (caged).

And not quite from the Safari, but here's Thum Thum after he walked into the house all soaked. My parents speculate that he must have fallen into one of our neighbors' pools, but if he did I have no idea how he could have possibly gotten out.
In other, more boring news, I'm back at Dartmouth now taking summer classes (go sophomore summer). I couldn't take the computer science class I needed because it met during the same hour as one of my math classes so I'm taking System Dynamics (ENGS 22), Abstract Algebra (Math 31), and Race and Ethnicity in the US (SOCY 42). The SOCY 42 class satisfies NA and SOC requirements and plus it's a pretty interesting class and gives me a chance to focus on my math and engineering classes as well.

One last thing - while I was back home during interim we celebrated my grandma's 90th (!) birthday:

That's my dad, my g-ma, her home-attendant (and good friend), Christina (brother's girl), Leon (my brother), and me.

From left to right: Valya(friend), G-ma, dad, Christina, Leon. The photo on the table is one my father had made for her birthday. It's an enlarged version of an old picture her husband gave her when she was 35. (That's her in the picture).