Second Day of Classes!!

I'm ready to post a new update since I've gone to pretty much all of my classes (with the exception of one that I'm dropping/adding another). I'm really excited for this semester! I'm trying to eat healthier and definitely getting a lot of exercise living so far from the main quad, but I think it's a good thing!

Just a brief post (I know I haven't updated in a week), but I'll tell you about how my classes are and try to update every two days from here on!!

I went to my Art History class (History of Impressionism), which was really awesome because we went over the syllabus briefly then went straight into the material, and Prof. Antliff talked a lot about French history, artists, and he used a French accent, which made everything seem much more authentic. After class, my friends and I all met up and we went to the Sophomore BBQ on the quad and then the Forever Duke alumni party, where we got more free food (including ice cream bars!!) and a 2013 t-shirt!! At night, I just read a little bit and then headed over to another dorm to hang out with the guys since we live in separate dorms this year. Then I headed back and called it a night and got ready for the next day of classes.

First, I grabbed breakfast from Alpine Bagels with four other friends. I got the Good Morning Camper, which is sausage (or bacon or ham, I think), egg, and cheese, all in a bagel (you pick the kind!!) I ended up only eating half of it, so I'm saving the rest for tomorrow morning! I went to my ethics class after, which was great and got me really excited for the year. We talked about questions about morals in religious life, child development, and in our daily lives in general. It was great having a talk about ethics relative to regular day life rather than ethics as a subset of philosophy. After ethics, I went back to my room and figured out my schedule with rowing then got ready for Stats 103. I found a couple of friends in the class, so that was nice, and the professor seemed really friendly and willing to help, and he introduced a new side of statistics, one that deals with real-life problems as opposed to the standard mathematical issues dealt with in calculus. Then I went to French 111, a seminar about Chinese Identity in Paris. After not taking French for a semester, I was afraid I would be rusty, so it was kind of strange going into an environment where people had spoken French for at least five years and spoke fluently, but it was fun. I definitely love taking a language, especially when classes are small and foster in-depth and personal conversations.

Duke classes were definitely something I didn't realize I missed over the summer. Sure, there's a ton of homework and reading--your typical workload--but I missed being in that intellectual environment and having really interesting discussions with everyone, even in other languages! I missed hearing from professors and learning new things (or maybe reviewing things), and listening to other students' insight, perspectives I had never really thought about or seen before. I'm glad classes are back, even if it means I have three chapters of Art History to read by tomorrow and a bunch more homework for Thursday. Off into the land of Manet.. au revoir!

C/O 2014 moves in tomorrow!!

It's getting late, and I should be sleeping soon, but I'm super excited to meet all the new freshmen!! But now, for this week..

Monday-Tuesday: Serena and I headed to UCLA in the afternoon, and that was super fun! We met up with my best friend Kevin and his friend Caitlin and headed to Santa Monica Beach/Pier right near UCLA to check out the place. Needless to say, it was super fun and amazing, and I had Bubba Gump's for the first time!! After, we headed back to UCLA and then went to Diddy Riese, which is this amazing cookie/ice cream place where they had super cheap and delicious ice cream sandwiches! Then, we headed to Pasadena/LA (near USC), where I met up with my other best friend Connie, who works at 21 Choices, a Coldstone-like frozen yogurt place right outside of USC. Serena and I then went back to UCLA and stayed over at Kevin's frat's house and left in the morning and grabbed pho for lunch. Deeee-licious! Dinner was with the relatives who were flying to Texas that night, and it was really yummy again!

Wednesday - I had lunch with my friend Mike and then went with my dad to get a haircut. It feels super nice now since it's shorter, and it's perfect for the summer weather!!

Thursday - In the morning, I went to the dentist for a checkup, and good news! I don't have to get my wisdom teeth pulled out yet. Woohooo! After, I went to lunch with my mom at Le Diplomate Cafe at Brea Mall, and we had calimari, a fish sandwich, and a linguine. They were all delicious! After, I came home and hung out with Serena again, and my friend David came over, as well as my cousins Jon & Dexter and Jessie and Nevin who were with them at the time. We talked for a long time, and then they all had to get going, so I went swimming in the backyard, which was super refreshing, though it got a little cold near the end. After, we went to dinner at a small Chinese cafe sort of place, and then I went home and packed to leave for LAX. It was great being home, and I was really excited to be back at Duke, but I wish I could have stayed a bit longer, especially since I was only home for around 2-3 weeks this entire summer. But, anyway.. pictures!

Friday - I got to Duke at 6 in the morning, and Gabby picked me up from RDU. Then, we slept for a while at her house (in Durham), and then I went with her to get a haircut and we moved in all our stuff. It took a while, and it was pretty heavy/hot carrying everything in, but it wasn't too bad overall. After all that, we had FAC (first-year advisory counselor) training for a while then went to bed early since I was jet-lagged.

Saturday - We had another long day of training from 10am-5pm, but it was great because we had a scavenger hunt, which was fun!!

Youngest to Oldest

Shortest to Tallest

Leap frog

The Link!

Multimedia Project Studio in Old Chem

Spelling out "Pegram!"

With one of our RA's from last year, Lawrence!

Locopops!

The Outpost

Sunday - More FAC training in the afternoon/evening and then painting the bridge going to East Campus from Campus Drive! And then in the evening, I went to Chronicle to copy edit. & Here are some pictures from the Recess hallway and the sports hallway!

Monday - More FAC training then dinner at one of our co-head FAC's apartment on central! We had breakfast for dinner.. delicious!

Time to sleep!!