Sunday June 13-Thursday June 17
Hi all,
So this week I was pretty tired from the weekends craziness and did nothing too worthy of mentioning. I'm back on and in full swing with my training schedule for Georgia Tech cross country, so running/stretching/exercises/showering probably take about 1.5-2 hours daily. I wake up at 8ish, at work by 9ish, have fun all day, eat dinner 5:30-6ish, talk to friends from home/watch TV/ do nothing till about 7-7:30ish, then run till like 9ish..talk some more to friends and do nothing then go to sleep at midnight. I actually really enjoy it :)
At work Im doing some really cool things with really cool machines such as a robot, high speed cameras, motion sensors, and force plates. I would say more, but then I would have to kill you..and I wouldn't want to do that ;)
Saturday, June 12th
The World Cup was today!! USA v. England, 7:30pm. After waking up at noon, running, eating breakfast, we went to the market in town for a few hours, and I got a bucnh of stuff for about 10 pounds... woot!
Most importantly, though, was the World Cup game. We met up w/ Felix and Rob and Nathalie and Chris in the Varsity (a pub downtown). Luckily they got there pretty early to eat dinner first and managed to get a table with a good view of the big projection screen. The entire place was crowded to capacity (maybe above capacity?), and they were chanting English chants nearly 2 hours before the games started! I had USA written on the side of my face, but luckily no one bugged me about it!
My absolutely favorite player Steven Gerrard scored in the first 4 minutes, and then the US had a lucky goal near the end of the first half. The final score was a draw at 1-1, a good thing, too, after the banter from the English side before the game! Here is some video I took...
The World Cup was today!! USA v. England, 7:30pm. After waking up at noon, running, eating breakfast, we went to the market in town for a few hours, and I got a bucnh of stuff for about 10 pounds... woot!
Most importantly, though, was the World Cup game. We met up w/ Felix and Rob and Nathalie and Chris in the Varsity (a pub downtown). Luckily they got there pretty early to eat dinner first and managed to get a table with a good view of the big projection screen. The entire place was crowded to capacity (maybe above capacity?), and they were chanting English chants nearly 2 hours before the games started! I had USA written on the side of my face, but luckily no one bugged me about it!
My absolutely favorite player Steven Gerrard scored in the first 4 minutes, and then the US had a lucky goal near the end of the first half. The final score was a draw at 1-1, a good thing, too, after the banter from the English side before the game! Here is some video I took...
Friday, June 11
Today at work I helped with compression testing for running garments, strain testing for running shoes, and took artsy photos of my Frisbee thing :)
Tonight was the big night out at Friday Night Disco-- the "real" celebration of my birthday. I picked the fancy dress theme to be sailors v. pirates, and all my friends dressed up and went to the union as a big group! I have never picked the theme of a party before, and was really excited when more than a few people got dressed and went out on my behalf, for my birthday! I would say like nearly 15 people from DC and then Nat, her BF Chris, and Felix and Rob and the two other interns. How lucky am I :)
Anyway, there were some exceptionally good costumes, such as Hopps and Kirsty were pirates, Xav and Gehan were boat captains, and then Step, Lou, Coni, Sadie, Nat, and Kristen were sailors w/ me!! I absolutely loved it, thanks guys for a birthday to remember ;)
Today at work I helped with compression testing for running garments, strain testing for running shoes, and took artsy photos of my Frisbee thing :)
Tonight was the big night out at Friday Night Disco-- the "real" celebration of my birthday. I picked the fancy dress theme to be sailors v. pirates, and all my friends dressed up and went to the union as a big group! I have never picked the theme of a party before, and was really excited when more than a few people got dressed and went out on my behalf, for my birthday! I would say like nearly 15 people from DC and then Nat, her BF Chris, and Felix and Rob and the two other interns. How lucky am I :)
Anyway, there were some exceptionally good costumes, such as Hopps and Kirsty were pirates, Xav and Gehan were boat captains, and then Step, Lou, Coni, Sadie, Nat, and Kristen were sailors w/ me!! I absolutely loved it, thanks guys for a birthday to remember ;)
Wednesday, June 9th
Today I am 21!! Not that it means much to anyone here, but 21 is such a huge milestone in the U.S because you can buy alcohol. Not that I drink a lot, but just the mere fact that I can just walk into any store I feel like..in the entire country, is quite exciting :)
The day was pretty ordinary, apart from a bunch of people saying happy birthday to me! Even though it is my 21st birthday, I really don't see the big deal in celebrating a specific date. Everyday should be just as awesome as the next, so why wait 364 days every year to say 2 almost meaningless words as happy birthday? I definitely was very surprised how many people had known about my birthday, being that I had told very few people (along those lines that I don't see it as a big deal), but anyway, it made me feel pretty special to know that I have made such great friends here in just a month!
At dinner, a bunch of DC people had eaten at 5:30 just for me (usually everyone goes right t 5), and Ella and Step had a little birthday cake and a card!! They lit it was 21 candles and sung happy birthday to me in the dining hall :) I was SO surprised. And to think I was cool with people just saying happy birthday haha.
Anyway, because everyone is really busy with revision for exams, and a bunch of the STI people have their 1st year PhD papers due Friday, I decided that going out would be better for Friday night. Nathalie had some people over at her house to celebrate my birthday, and her and Chris had made a bunch of food, and Felix and Rob even made me a super sweet birthday cake that looked like a sailboat!! Felix got me a Loughborough Vball club T shirt and some other kit :) Pretty exciting, huh?! ANyway, we spent the night just chilling and playing cards, and all in all, it was one of the best birthdays :)
Today I am 21!! Not that it means much to anyone here, but 21 is such a huge milestone in the U.S because you can buy alcohol. Not that I drink a lot, but just the mere fact that I can just walk into any store I feel like..in the entire country, is quite exciting :)
The day was pretty ordinary, apart from a bunch of people saying happy birthday to me! Even though it is my 21st birthday, I really don't see the big deal in celebrating a specific date. Everyday should be just as awesome as the next, so why wait 364 days every year to say 2 almost meaningless words as happy birthday? I definitely was very surprised how many people had known about my birthday, being that I had told very few people (along those lines that I don't see it as a big deal), but anyway, it made me feel pretty special to know that I have made such great friends here in just a month!
At dinner, a bunch of DC people had eaten at 5:30 just for me (usually everyone goes right t 5), and Ella and Step had a little birthday cake and a card!! They lit it was 21 candles and sung happy birthday to me in the dining hall :) I was SO surprised. And to think I was cool with people just saying happy birthday haha.
Anyway, because everyone is really busy with revision for exams, and a bunch of the STI people have their 1st year PhD papers due Friday, I decided that going out would be better for Friday night. Nathalie had some people over at her house to celebrate my birthday, and her and Chris had made a bunch of food, and Felix and Rob even made me a super sweet birthday cake that looked like a sailboat!! Felix got me a Loughborough Vball club T shirt and some other kit :) Pretty exciting, huh?! ANyway, we spent the night just chilling and playing cards, and all in all, it was one of the best birthdays :)
Tuesday, June 8th
Today woke up early and went for a run to outwoods in the rain (ewwww). All day I was in the ME building listening to 1st year PhD's present their first year research. Although a lot were incredibly boring, a bunch of them (especially the sports tech ones) were exceptionally interesting! I'm quite excited to start testing with Henry!
Night wasn't too exciting, but tomorrow is the big day! 21!!!!!!!!!!!
Today woke up early and went for a run to outwoods in the rain (ewwww). All day I was in the ME building listening to 1st year PhD's present their first year research. Although a lot were incredibly boring, a bunch of them (especially the sports tech ones) were exceptionally interesting! I'm quite excited to start testing with Henry!
Night wasn't too exciting, but tomorrow is the big day! 21!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, June 7th
Today I was pretty exhausted from getting back late last night, but two new interns from MIT arrived for their 1st day of work at Sports tech. Kristen just finished her 1st year and Gejan (sorry I messed up the spelling) just finished his third year, but also did an internship here last summer. His project dealt with the development of a track spike for a famous British Paraolympian.
Didn't really have too much to do at work, and looked up some stuff regarding the finite element analysis program Abaqus (sp?). I'm really interested in Henry's project dealing with the testing and design of new footballs (soccer), so I am reading up on some background so I can get up to speed when he begins testing next week!
If you remember me saying earlier that I had responded to a ad at the bus stop for a job conversing with Chinese students and helping them prepare for their exams. I met with two grad students ("Ted" and "Sharon") and helped them figure out some confusingly worded questions dealing with banking and finance. At the end he was asking me what would be a proper way to ask a girl out to dinner and for drinks. I got a bit worried there, bt no worries, I steered clear of a potentially dangerous situation ;) On another note, I got payed twice what I spend each week for groceries (I got paid 8 pounds haha), and I learned how to say hey whats up in Mandarin. Sounds like "Tzuay ztine de moy young" with an appropriate response of "hung hao", meaning good!
After work I went for a run with Kristen to Outwoods and then my internet wasn;t working, so we went to the library to go online and stuff. Skyped for a while with Ari and my parents then headed o sleepy sleep :)
Oh, and most importantly, CHIP showed Kristin and I where Lufts was. Lufts is the mini workout place they have for students to use that doesn't cost a fortune. Powerbase, the main weightroom for the athletics and stuff costs an outrageous price! And just if it wasn't clear, that was a personal shoutout to Chip...and I'll throw in Xav's name too becuase I know he was itching for a shoutout ;) You guys are great! Hopefully I'll be able to visit Chip in cambridge sometime near the end of July..would be sweet to see it with a good tour guide!
Today I was pretty exhausted from getting back late last night, but two new interns from MIT arrived for their 1st day of work at Sports tech. Kristen just finished her 1st year and Gejan (sorry I messed up the spelling) just finished his third year, but also did an internship here last summer. His project dealt with the development of a track spike for a famous British Paraolympian.
Didn't really have too much to do at work, and looked up some stuff regarding the finite element analysis program Abaqus (sp?). I'm really interested in Henry's project dealing with the testing and design of new footballs (soccer), so I am reading up on some background so I can get up to speed when he begins testing next week!
If you remember me saying earlier that I had responded to a ad at the bus stop for a job conversing with Chinese students and helping them prepare for their exams. I met with two grad students ("Ted" and "Sharon") and helped them figure out some confusingly worded questions dealing with banking and finance. At the end he was asking me what would be a proper way to ask a girl out to dinner and for drinks. I got a bit worried there, bt no worries, I steered clear of a potentially dangerous situation ;) On another note, I got payed twice what I spend each week for groceries (I got paid 8 pounds haha), and I learned how to say hey whats up in Mandarin. Sounds like "Tzuay ztine de moy young" with an appropriate response of "hung hao", meaning good!
After work I went for a run with Kristen to Outwoods and then my internet wasn;t working, so we went to the library to go online and stuff. Skyped for a while with Ari and my parents then headed o sleepy sleep :)
Oh, and most importantly, CHIP showed Kristin and I where Lufts was. Lufts is the mini workout place they have for students to use that doesn't cost a fortune. Powerbase, the main weightroom for the athletics and stuff costs an outrageous price! And just if it wasn't clear, that was a personal shoutout to Chip...and I'll throw in Xav's name too becuase I know he was itching for a shoutout ;) You guys are great! Hopefully I'll be able to visit Chip in cambridge sometime near the end of July..would be sweet to see it with a good tour guide!
Sunday, June 6th
After quite an eventful day and night last night, we were all pretty tired but awoke early to get to the beach by 9am. Nat and I and Guy and his brother had planned to enter in a 4's open tournament (4 ppl on a team for vball), but we ended up missing the signups so we just watched Felix and Rob play! They had a pretty competitive quarter finals game, but ended up winning by a good margin. They then played directly after the first game and lost that game (unfortunate!). However that was the semifinals so they actually ended up finishing third in the tournament (out of 50+ teams!) Wohooo!
While the other games were going on we went to a retaurant on the beach to grab some food. I got some tasty chicken a delicious salad to match! Sam and Charlie (Rob's friend's we met last night) ended meeting up with us at the restaurant. We casually/ jokingly mentioned their promise to go sailing, and they were like, "OK, meet at the yacht club in 10 minutes and we can go". Nat and I nearly wet our pants. Sailing and being on the water is possibly my favorite thing in the world!
The yacht club was so big and the marina was HUGE! We went on Charlie's dad's boat (they are on the sailing team and restore boats, so naturally, they own a lot of them!). The boat was named Ruthless and was about 40-45 feet long! We were sailing just out of the bay area and Sam asked if I wanted to steer the boat! Of course I said yes..nothing like being Captain of a yacht :) I steered for about 30 minutes and didn't even come close to crashing haha (kind of hard to on the water, right?). We passed the house that John Lennon bought for his mom, which just happened to be right near where Simon's house is located (the guy who promised us a bday party ha). AKA, amazinggg! We sailed for a while then tied up to a buoy and just chilled in the boat. Sam had gotten Kerry a birthday cake, so we ate that and some other little snacks he found int he kitchen!
Tom and his girlfriend Victoria met up with us on the boat via Tom's speedboat!! They tied onto our boat and hopped over and just talked with us for awhile. Victoria is really cool and very accomplished-- she's studying acting in London (I think), and has her own variety show starring her and only her. She has performed over 400 solo shows throughout the UK (wow!). After a bit, Tom invited us onto his boat and we went for a rollercoaster ride. I'm not sure what engine he had, but it certainly was VERY powerful...we were flying! Victoria and I stabled (as best we could) at the stern of the boat while it crashed through the waves. Least to say my back and legs were pretty sore after that experience! Probably one of the most fun experiences in a very long time though, so it was alright :)
All in all, this weekend was one for the history book, and I think I came pretty close to meeting royalty :) GB Vball players...GB sailors...extravagant parties, yachts clubs...man, now I know what to aspire to! :) Enjoy the pictures!!
After quite an eventful day and night last night, we were all pretty tired but awoke early to get to the beach by 9am. Nat and I and Guy and his brother had planned to enter in a 4's open tournament (4 ppl on a team for vball), but we ended up missing the signups so we just watched Felix and Rob play! They had a pretty competitive quarter finals game, but ended up winning by a good margin. They then played directly after the first game and lost that game (unfortunate!). However that was the semifinals so they actually ended up finishing third in the tournament (out of 50+ teams!) Wohooo!
While the other games were going on we went to a retaurant on the beach to grab some food. I got some tasty chicken a delicious salad to match! Sam and Charlie (Rob's friend's we met last night) ended meeting up with us at the restaurant. We casually/ jokingly mentioned their promise to go sailing, and they were like, "OK, meet at the yacht club in 10 minutes and we can go". Nat and I nearly wet our pants. Sailing and being on the water is possibly my favorite thing in the world!
The yacht club was so big and the marina was HUGE! We went on Charlie's dad's boat (they are on the sailing team and restore boats, so naturally, they own a lot of them!). The boat was named Ruthless and was about 40-45 feet long! We were sailing just out of the bay area and Sam asked if I wanted to steer the boat! Of course I said yes..nothing like being Captain of a yacht :) I steered for about 30 minutes and didn't even come close to crashing haha (kind of hard to on the water, right?). We passed the house that John Lennon bought for his mom, which just happened to be right near where Simon's house is located (the guy who promised us a bday party ha). AKA, amazinggg! We sailed for a while then tied up to a buoy and just chilled in the boat. Sam had gotten Kerry a birthday cake, so we ate that and some other little snacks he found int he kitchen!
Tom and his girlfriend Victoria met up with us on the boat via Tom's speedboat!! They tied onto our boat and hopped over and just talked with us for awhile. Victoria is really cool and very accomplished-- she's studying acting in London (I think), and has her own variety show starring her and only her. She has performed over 400 solo shows throughout the UK (wow!). After a bit, Tom invited us onto his boat and we went for a rollercoaster ride. I'm not sure what engine he had, but it certainly was VERY powerful...we were flying! Victoria and I stabled (as best we could) at the stern of the boat while it crashed through the waves. Least to say my back and legs were pretty sore after that experience! Probably one of the most fun experiences in a very long time though, so it was alright :)
All in all, this weekend was one for the history book, and I think I came pretty close to meeting royalty :) GB Vball players...GB sailors...extravagant parties, yachts clubs...man, now I know what to aspire to! :) Enjoy the pictures!!
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