POKEMON! in the library!

Like Panic! in the disco. But way cooler. You'll figure out what this means later.. Trying to do my best in keeping my blog updated, but it's hard with midterms coming up!! Arghh.. two midterms this week (Tuesday & Wednesday) and two papers and another midterm the next week! Anyway.. on to more exciting news!

Wednesday, things happened like the usual. Work, class.. But after class, I had tennis practice, so that was great getting out there and preparing for our game tomorrow against Wake Forest!! I'm pretty excited. It's going to take up most of the day, though, so that kind of sucks, but otherwise, it's good! After practice, I went to my house course, where we talked about three articles we had read, and about the UN Millennium Development Goals and President Obama's speech on Wednesday. After class, I grabbed a quick dinner from The Tower, where I got a delicious Philly Cheesesteak with a side of mashed red potatoes. Then, I did a quick research study test for Fuqua (great ways to make money!!), and I made $15 in around 20 minutes. Awesome! After that, I went to the library I studied and got work done for Thursday. Boooo. Oh, and when I went to the BC during lunch, I spotted a cool photography exhibit about Pakistani relief refugees. And a picture from outside of a beautiful sunset!

Thursday, I had American Politics, where we had a TA teach since the professor was out, and we talked more about rights and examples of court cases. Then I had my Ethics lecture, where we talked about Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality, which was really interesting. His thoughts are really complicated and sometimes difficult to understand, but they never fail to bring up interesting concepts. On Thursday, we talked about the differences in good and bad (Roman-Greco tradition) and good and evil (Judea-Christian thought). It was a really great discussion about the strong and the weak and how the two look at those types of people differently, like if they glorify them or shun them. After that, I went back to my dorm and did a couple of phone interviews for my volleyball preview story about the Georgia Tech & Clemson games for The Chronicle. After that, I went to my stats lecture, where we finished up preparing for the midterm, and in French, we discussed our new novel, Balzac et La Petite Tailleuse Chinoise. Then I had a meeting I had to go to before napping for a bit and grabbing dinner. Then I headed to The Link to study and do work, and I saw Pokemon come through!! It was awesome, to say the least. After that, I went to Wilson Gym to do some erg workouts for rowing and then went to sleep. Also--there are group study rooms on the fourth floor of Perkins, and they are awesome! Now.. the pictures you guys have been waiting for!

On Friday, our Stats lab was canceled, so I slept in then headed to the Main Quad for Chi Omega's Scoop-A-Dish activity! Basically we were serving Coldstone's ice cream on food points to benefit Make-a-Wish Foundation. I'll try and put up pictures later once they're up! After that, I headed over to East Campus for my Ethics discussion, where we talked more about Nietzsche and the origin of values and ethics, and if they were inherent, or if they developed over time. After, I had practice in the erg (rowing) room again, and we did warm-ups of about 2000m and then a 3000m followed by a 4000m 5-person relay. It was a lot of fun, but definitely tiring! After that, I had a Chronicle sports meeting and got to chat it up with the other kids in sports. Then we had a Chronicle social so we could all get to know each other, and the writers and photographers. After that, we all went to get Pauly Dogs and then I headed back to the dorm with Caroline to get changed for the Homecoming Ball! I'll put up those pictures later once they're uploaded--should be soon!! Then I called it a night and went to sleep.

And now it's almost time for the football game, but I mainly just studied for Stats earlier instead of going to Tailgate (everyone dresses up like it's Halloween, and basically goes to a dance party in the Blue Zone. It's so much fun, but definitely pretty ridiculous!). I'm off now. Let's go Duke!!!

Whoaaaa.

First off--pictures from our first home game against Elon that I neglected to upload and didn't realize until now!!

Time is passing by so quickly! I know I say this every time, but I can't believe it's been so long since I last updated. These weeks are seriously going by as if they were single days! Anyway.. on to my week!

Tuesday - I had a reaaally full day! First I had American Politics, where we talked about different parts of the Constitution and states rights, and the professor mentioned something pretty interesting--when he taught at Rutgers, he got in trouble for neglecting to pay the state wage tax even though he had paid the federal wage tax, something he used to explain sovereignty during class. After that, I had my Ethics class, and we started our discussion about Plato's Apology, and we discussed whether what Socrates did should have been unlawful or not. And then we launched into a discussion about similarities and differences between Socrates and Job. Other things we addressed were what it meant to be a good citizen--both in the modern context and in the Athenian community--whether or not being a good citizen was synonymous with being a good man, and more. After that, I met Will for lunch at the Great Hall, and I got Sitar, the Indian food served on campus. It's great because the food is really good value--you get an entree, rice, naan, and a samosa, plus a small drink for $5.99! And it's relatively healthy, which is a definite plus. After that, I headed to my Stats class, where we learned more about probability. Then I went to French, and we just about finished discussing La Joueuse de Go and themes in the novel. (I'll talk more about the book later). After, I had rowing practice, which was good, but since there were only eight rowers and three coxswains (including me), we took turns coxing, and we got to learn from each other, so that was helpful. After I got back, I grabbed dinner with another girl on the novice rowing team, Kristen, and we had Alpine Atrium, which is in the BC and serves wraps, salads, sandwiches, smoothies, and coffee. I got the Smoked Turkey, which was delicious, as usual. Then I got to work finishing up stuff for the next day and then going to sleep.

Wednesday - I had work in the morning again and worked a lot on updating the website and the upcoming Sanford Newsletter. I then grabbed fruits/vegetables from Quenchers, the smoothie place in Wilson Gym. They always have fresh fruit and vegetables, and it's a healthy alternative to McDonald's or other fast food on campus. After eating and resting for a bit, I went to Art History, and we continued talking about Paris and its transformation under Baron Van Haussmann and how that related to the rise of impressionism and art during that time period. After that, I picked up my tennis uniform for club tennis--a white tennis tank that says "Duke" on the front, a navy skirt, and warm-ups. Then, I rested for a bit again before heading to my house course. We talked about three of the articles we had read for the class, and one of them I found particularly fascinating. It talked about how by grouping "third world women" into one category instead of taking them each as individuals (culturally and socially), it was preventing us from moving forward since we treat them as one group that needs a solution versus individual solutions tailored toward a specific community. The house course always serves as a great refresher to a long day, and it passes by really quickly! After that, I worked on some more stuff due for next week and went to sleep. Oh--and some pictures! After Art History, I noticed there were frames with word poetry hanging on the hallway walls, so I took some snapshots!

Also, at work, I saw an exhibit in the hallways of Rubenstein Hall (part of the Sanford School of Public Policy). Check it out!

Thursday - Long class day again! In American Politics, we continued talking about the Constitution and states rights and got started into civil liberties. I find it fascinating when the professor brings up Supreme Court cases relating to the development of law because it's actual people challenging things they believe are unjust or unfair and actually making an impact on the way a law is carried out across the nation. After, we finished up with Plato's Apology in Ethics, and we talked about the hierarchy relating to the soul and the body, beasts and divinities, matter and spirit. We talked more about Athenian virtues, modern-day virtues, and Christian virtues.  Good discussions we had related to whether or not Socrates suffered and if that was relative to the society he was in or our belief in the spirit vs. matter. After that, I grabbed lunch and reviewed La Joueuse de Go. Then I headed to Stats, and we talked about variance and mean more in depth and discrete random variables. After, I headed to French, and we discussed the book and what we thought about it. The novel is split into short chapters, with each chapter narrated from a different character (two main characters total). One is a Japanese soldier, and one is a high school girl, and the novel is set during the Sino-Japanese war, and the girl lives in Manchuria. They both share a passion for the Chinese chess/board game called Go and meet at the central plaza every Sunday to play. They talk very little to each other and both have other lives completely unrelated to each other, but they end up falling in love. At the end of the novel, however, the girl must leave for Peking with a man who loves her but has been changed by the war to escape Manchuria, and she ends up leaving that man, as well, because she is afraid of him and cannot see herself spending the rest of her life with him. The soldier must leave Manchuria as well since the war is advancing, and the two were never to see each other again. But when the girl escapes, she looks for this soldier before being caught by the Japanese, and when she awakens, the soldier whom she loves and who loves her is forced to shoot her. They exchange brief words--including her name--before he shoots her and then turns the gun on himself so they can live together in the afterlife. The novel was very charged with emotion, especially toward the end, and it was a great read, but something I found very deep for an adolescent novel. After French, I had body circuit and erg room training for rowing, and we did a round of exercises, like burpies, side lunges, sprints, tri-dips, etc. We then went jogging for a bit then practiced rowing in the erg room. Following that, I grabbed dinner then headed to the Chronicle to edit some articles since I was associating for the night. After finally ending pretty late at night, I called it a day.

Friday - I had my Stats lab in the morning, where we calculated the distribution and concentration of farms across the nation, and it was pretty interesting figuring out which area was most populated (the South), etc. After, I grabbed lunch with Drew at Grace's again, and I got food from the hot bar, as well as some fruit, and it was delicious! Then I went to my Ethics discussion, where we did a mock trial to see if Socrates should be guilty for corrupting the youth. It brought to light a lot of interesting differences between Athenian society and modern society in terms of rights like free speech and freedom of religion. Then I left for rowing practice, where I coxed one boat and ended up rowing for the next two rounds, which was a good experience, and fairly tiring, too! After all of that, I took a long nap before my friends came by to get me out of bed and go out. There were a couple of parties happening, so we danced for a bit then went to The Loop to grab a couple of burgers. I fell asleep right when I got back for an early day Saturday.

Saturday - Really hectic day!! I had rowing in the morning, which was great, even though I was pretty tired. After I got back at lunch, I grabbed McDonald's and talked with a friend I saw there, and there were tons of Alabama fans here for the game! After finishing lunch and taking a shower, I rushed over to my friend's Junior Piano Recital on East, which was really great! After, we rushed back to West Campus to try and find a parking spot--which was impossible, and we ended up parking on Central--to go to the game. The line was ridiculously long, so we headed to the Armadillo Grill in the BC to watch the game on TV and headed over to Wallace Wade Stadium at halftime. After that and hanging out with my friends, I met up with Stephen's friends to eat some pizza and hang out before heading to Star Karaoke in Raleigh (sorry for the blurry pictures--my phone doesn't have flash!). It was sooo much fun! I have pictures, too! It's kind of dark, but the place was awesome, with disco lights, handheld microphones, and tambourines! It reminded me like the places back home, and it was so much fun! Now, pictures from the recital!

Sunday - I got up for brunch with the girls in my block, and we went to the Refectory. They have awesome food that's super delicious! After that, I went to the Bella Union and did work while watching football on the TV. They have awesome smoothies--I tried the superfruit one (well, not Sunday, but Monday), which is a mix of berries and antioxidants. Soooo delicious, and just the right size at 16oz. I actually got a White Mocha, which was similarly good, and it kept me going for five or so hours reading and doing work! After that, I headed over to the Chronicle office to associate some more and edit stories. Then, I headed to Great Hall where the old Pegram gang all had dinner together! I got fried chicken, green beans, and mashed potatoes, super unhealthy, but good. Then I headed back to Chron to do some stuff before heading out to my chapter meeting for Chi Omega. And then back to the room to do some work and sleep!

Monday - Work again, and I edited the website again. I was pretty busy the whole time, but it was all good! Then I had the TexMex wrap from Sanford Deli, which was yummy! And then I headed to the BC to pick up a package my mom sent me with mooncakes (for Chinese Moon Festival tomorrow!) and more food. Then I headed back to Rubenstein for an interview with a professor for the Sanford Newsletter. Then I headed over to East Campus with Gabby to go to Art History, where we learned more about Cabot and some about Monet. After, I called it an early night after doing work and went to sleep!

Tuesday - In American Politics, we learned more about civil rights and specific cases where the status quo was challenged. In Ethics, we finished up talking about Plato's Crito, where Socrates explains why he doesn't want to escape from jail. We discussed whether or not Socrates believed what he was saying or if he merely "dumbed" down his speech so Crito could understand. It was a really interesting lecture to say the least. After that, I visited Wonjo at The Link then went to the Great Hall, where I got Sitar again. Then I went to the BC Plaza and helped table for Chi Omega's Scoop-A-Dish for Make-A-Wish, an event on Friday where the sisters serve Coldstone's Ice Cream with toppings for $4, and all proceeds go toward the philanthropy. I'm super excited for Friday!! After that, I went to Stats and learned more about variance and prepared for our midterm next Tuesday. Then I went to French, and we discussed possible themes for our upcoming essay relating to La Joueuse de Go. After I headed to rowing practice, which was really exciting because we've improved a lot, and I'm getting the hang of coxswaining!! Now I'm back and working on this!

Long weekend!

Wow! It seems like just yesterday that I updated, but apparently not! Exciting post coming up--be prepared! Not many pictures, though, unfortunately.

Friday - In the morning, I met with my academic adviser and officially declared a double major in Political Science and Art History!! It was really exciting finally being an actual student in those departments, but I'm going to miss my academic adviser! (We get new ones in the department once we declare.) I'm still going to go visit her, though! After that, I headed to my Stats lab, where we did some more data entry with JMP about top grossing movies domestically and internationally. It was interesting looking at the revenue differences for different genres (drama, comedy, family, etc.) depending on if it was domestic or international, and I thought about how culture must affect the way people perceive movies. After that, I took a break and grabbed lunch at Grace's Cafe with my friend Drew on Central Campus. They serve Chinese food (and some other types of Asian food), as well as bubble tea! I got one of their lunch specials that came with noodles/rice/etc., an entree, and a side (soup, egg roll, etc.), and a Strawberry-Kiwi smoothie with bubbles. I was super full after lunch and ended up having left overs for dinner! After lunch, I headed over to East Campus for my Ethics discussion where we wrapped up the Book of Job and addressed questions everyone had about ethics in general. We're starting on Plato's Apology this week, so that's exciting! After all of that, I came back and grabbed dinner before heading out for a little bit since there was a rave happening in one of the quads that was hopping! Then I called it a night and went to bed to prepare for rowing the next day.

Saturday - I had rowing practice at Lake Michie in Bahama from 8am-12:30pm, where we got to row for the first time! I realized that it's harder being a coxswain than I thought! There is definitely a lot of thinking involved, and learning the jargon and what to do will take a while, but it was a lot of fun being out on the water!! I'm really excited for practice tomorrow! After that, I grabbed free lunch in the main quad on West Campus for Pets on the Quad weekend. The Tower was there with plenty of delicious mac 'n cheese, salad, pulled pork and chicken, and more! I was definitely really full. After eating lunch with a couple of the other novice rowers and a girl on the tennis team, I headed back to my dorm to get changed for an away match against Elon at 2pm. Once we got there, we rallied and warmed up for our match, but it started raining about halfway into the first set, and we postponed it for later. The girls ended up going to Panera to grab a quick lunch/snack before heading back to Duke. I ended up sleeping when I got back since I was pretty exhausted and woke up later to do some work and head to dinner. One of Stephen's friends bet that Miami would beat OSU on Friday, but since Miami lost, he agreed to have two of the other guys shave his head any way they wanted--and he would have to keep it until Monday. The haircut wasn't too bad--it was symmetrical, at least--but it was basically buzzed across the middle section, leaving a mullet in the back and some hair longer in the front. It could be hidden with a hat, though, so it wasn't too embarrassing. After all that happened, all 10 of us headed to Olive Garden in Raleigh, where we waited 45 minutes for a table and another 30 to get our food, but it was worth it in the end. We got more than our fair share of salad, bread sticks, and all-you-can-eat pasta! And I got to take some home for the next day's lunch! We got back pretty late, but it ended up being an awesome night. Plus, we fulfilled one of Duke's unofficial graduation requirements--going around the chapel circle in reverse!

Sunday - I ended up not really doing much at all! I woke up late and got some work done and hung out with the guys, watching some of the NFL games with them before hanging out with the girls and just talking. I grabbed diner with Gabby, Sagar, and Dwight at The Tower before heading to chapter for Chi Omega. I ended up leaving my flip-flops in the room, though, and someone picked it up, but I'm not entirely sure. I feel like a part of me is missing without them!! After chapter, I got back and continued doing some work and hanging out before heading out to the Chronicle to help watchdog the sports section and put the issue to bed.

Monday - The usual Monday routine. Before class, I had McDonald's with Dwight, and it was a good chance to catch up with him since he lives with the guys in Wannamaker, and I live with the girls in Edens, and we don't get to see as much of each other as we did last year. Then I headed to Wilson Gym, where I had to do a 10-minute basic swim skills test for rowing. We just had to stay afloat in the water and not touch the sides or bottom for 10 minutes. It wasn't that difficult, but since I'm not used to swimming for long (or to me it was long, at least!) periods of time with no rest, I was pretty tired. Good thing I passed, though! After that, I headed to the Bryan Center to get funding to publish our Summer 2010 issue of the Duke Journal of Public Affairs, which should come out in the next couple of weeks! Then I headed to Art History with Gabby. After class, I met with the director of undergraduate studies for Art History and discussed my second major plans. It was a pretty brief meeting, and it seemed like I was on track, so that was good news! After, I headed to Brill Media Room in Cameron Indoor Stadium for a Chronicle sports meeting with the athletic staff's sports information directors, where we introduced ourselves and got to meet the staff we would be working with for the year in terms of setting up interviews, getting information, etc. I then got working on reading some of my French novel then met up with Gabby, Stephen Han, Dwight, and Mike for dinner at Panda Express, where we discussed illegal immigration and multiculturalism. After that, Gabby and I headed to The Link, where we snagged a Group Study Room and worked on homework. Wonjo came by after and did work with us. Now it's time for bed and a long day tomorrow!!

Sidenote: Alabama game this weekend. It's going to be epic! I wonder how we'll perform against them...

Another one?!

Time sure passes by really quickly!! I can't believe it's already been four full days since I last updated. I could have sworn I just did it a couple of days ago! I'll definitely need to pay more attention to time and keep this blog exciting to read with new entries and pictures!

What have I been up to?

Monday - Since it was Labor Day, it was a staff holiday, meaning I didn't have work that morning! I did, however, still have class. We talked more about Impressionism (of course), but moved away from talk about salons and the academy and instead focused on some impressionists themselves and their inspiration. After class, Gabby and I walked right off of East Campus and went to Bruggher's Bagels, which is absolutely amazingly delicious! My favorite there is the Asiago Parmesan with Honey Walnut cream cheese. Thinking about it right now is making my tummy make sounds! I bought a few bagels for the week and have munching on them for breakfast. Their Cinnamon Sugar is also very delicious, and I have yet to try some more! After that, we had our first tennis practice of the year on East Campus, where I got to meet some of the new girls on the team. We hit around for a bit and then played doubles, which was a great way to get to know the new players better. When practice was over, I headed back to West Campus and relaxed for the rest of the evening, doing work and going to sleep early.

Tuesday - Incredibly busy day! I started off going to my American Politics class and reviewing some things about the constitution, public interest, etc. From there, I grabbed a vanilla latte from Twinnie's (which brews Starbucks coffee!) and headed to my Ethics class. We had a long, interesting discussion about the Book of Job again and what ethics are, if they're defined by adjectives like integrity, honesty, selflessness, etc., or if ethics were relative, and they could not be confined to a black-and-white definition. After that, I headed over to the Bryan Center and met up with my roommate and a friend and grabbed lunch at McDonald's, which has daily specials all day that are great for the college kid's diet (though not necessarily for his/her health). Then, I headed out and went to office hours for my Stats class just to double-check something. Turns out I did everything right--a great way to start off the first problem set for the class. Then, I went to my Stats class, and we talked about probability, something I learned in sophomore year of high school but had forgotten until the lecture, which jogged my memory. We went over a few examples, and the professor explained everything logically and stopped to answer questions, so everybody seemed to understand the concept pretty well. After that, I headed to my French seminar, where we discussed Shan Sa's novel, La Joueuse de Go (The Joy of Go--the Chinese checkers/chess-like board game), which is a very interesting read. We read the first 23 chapters of the book for Tuesday, and it was written in brief chapters with alternating perspectives--one from a girl living in Manchuria during the Japanese invasion, and the other a Japanese soldier. At first it was confusing because it was hard to differentiate the voice, but after a while, it became more distinct, and I was curious to find out how the two related, and how that connected with the title of the novel. After that, I ran back to my room to get changed for my first rowing practice. We all waited for the bus, which took us to Lake Michie, and we got an introduction of the boathouse and got a chance to take the boat out and sit in it, but not do any rowing because we hadn't been cleared with physicals yet. After that, I got back and had dinner with one of the girls at The Loop, where I tried the grilled fish sandwich, which was absolutely to-die-for. I'm definitely getting that again next time! I came back and did some more work and talked with Gabby and Caroline before finally getting to bed after a long, but exilhirating day!

A picture from the middle of the bus

I didn't get a chance to take pictures at the lake since I left all of my stuff on the bus, but hopefully next time!

Wednesday - I woke up pretty early in the morning since I had work at 8. I was pretty busy, working on the Sanford School website and getting in contact with people for interviews. The time passed by really quickly, and I was tempted to get something from the Sanford Deli after work, but instead, I went to the BC and saw my friend Stephanie, and we had lunch together. I had Panda Express for the first time in a while, but it was just as good (unhealthy?) as I remembered! Then I came back to my room for a little bit to relax and headed to Art History again, meeting up with Gabby at the bus stop. The professor talked more specifically about people who influenced the Impressionists, and we went over more slides and the use of color, light, perspective, etc. After that, I came back and met up with my FAClets for dinner, where I got to hear updates about their lives and how they were adjusting to school. Then I rushed over to my Duke Journal of Public Affairs meeting, where we discussed topics for our next issue. After that, I ran over (not literally, but almost), to my house course (a half-credit, pass/fail small class taught by Duke students and moderated by a professor/adviser, who shows up to a couple of the sessions), called Women & International Development. We spent some time getting to know each other before jumping into the topic of women, education, economic growth, etc., and it was a great introduction to what the class would be about, and I'm really excited for it. House courses are a great way to discuss topics that interest you without having the time commitment/workload of being a regular class. After that, I went to The Tower with Caroline, where I tried their Grilled Cheese + tomato and avocado. It was an interesting combination, but I liked it. I also had a side of mashed red potatoes instead of mac & cheese, and it was absolutely delicious. I think I'm going to try one of the salads next time, or the burger, and get a side of sweet corn...Yum. I can't wait! All this talk about food is making me hungry!! I got back and did work, had a mini dance party in my room with Gabby and Caroline, and went to bed.

The Tower has awesome beverages--including old-school, limited-edition Mountain Dew bottles, glass soda ginger ale, orange creme, & creme soda, and this delightful thing called MASH, which is kind of like an Izze--a carbonated beverage that's not as sweet as soda, so sort of like a carbonated vitamin water, I guess?

Thursday - Long day again! Started off with my American Politics class, where we talked about the social contract between American citizens and its government, in addition to the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, etc. My Ethics class didn't meet because the professor had to go to a conference, so I took advantage of the time and took a quick nap before heading out to dinner with my Chi Omega family. We ate at the Refectory--FYI: they have an amazing tomato soup. After talking about what we did over the summer and the wonderful experience of studying abroad (they studied in France over the summer and Australia last fall), I got really excited for next Fall--keeping my fingers crossed!--in Paris. Then I headed out to my Stats class, where he mentioned more formulas about probability and focused on a lot more examples, including ones about Bayes Theorem. After that, I went to my French seminar, where we discussed the next 23 chapters of the novel (they finally meet in chapter 45!!), including the style of the novel, the voices of the different characters, and what the story is about, as well as the setting and context. Then I headed to rowing practice, where we got to see the rowing room--filled with machines--and the Duke Women's Rowing's locker room, which we can use! We also got to see the varsity weight room and training room, as well as the academic center, where student-athletes can study, request tutors, etc. Then we learned the proper technique for rowing before heading out to get our physicals done. With that out of the way, I'm really excited for an exciting (real) practice on the water tomorrow!! I came back and had dinner with all the Pegram kids at Bali Hai, a Mongolian bbq place right off of Ninth St./East Campus. Then Caroline and I came back and did some work before a couple of our friends dropped by to chat and hang out. Now it's time for sleep. Long day ahead. Good night!

Also--sorry about the lack of pictures! I have several more to post from the quad games, which I realized I didn't post! The email from my phone wasn't working, though, so I couldn't send them through. I'll try and post them within the next two days, though!!

First week - done!

It's Sunday, which means I'm officially done with the first week of school and about to begin the second week. This week has been so crazy getting adjusted to classes and activities! & It's just about to get crazier. Here's a quick breakdown of what happened the past week.. and pictures, of course, though most of them are from the end of the week.

Wednesday - Started my first day of work as one of two Communications Interns at the Sanford School of Public Policy. I was pretty busy the entire time working on the upcoming newsletter, a summer reading list from faculty, etc. I'll be learning how to make changes to the webpage on Wednesday (no work on Monday since it's a staff holiday, but I still have class). The building's awesome, but definitely hard to navigate. It's all in a square, but some stairs go down and some go up, and there are great study places throughout the middle to study with tables, comfy couches, and chairs. It's definitely really cold in there, though, so I'll be bringing a sweater to work on Wednesday! My work station is right above the Sanford Deli, so I can smell all the delicious food. I tried the deli for the first time, and I loved the menu! Since it's the school of public policy, all of the sandwiches are named different things, like The Fillibuster, The Page, etc. I tried The Fillibuster, and it was amazing! I'll definitely try a different one on Wednesday and tell you about it!! After work, I headed to Art History again and learned about salons and how impressionism was a really radical, rebel movement. I never really thought about that since impressionism doesn't seem all that crazy to me (relative to Duchamp, Kandinsky, etc.), but I guess it was during the time, especially when religious and historical paintings were at the top of the hierarchy, and suddenly Manet (the so-called "Father of Impressionism") came out with Olympia and Le Dejeuner sur L'herbe and there was a naked figure lying on the grass--something so shocking  for the time that people immediately shunned him and talked about him. I think it's fascinating how these things change over time and how the definition of art is so fluid.. Anyway, back to my day. After class, my friend Will and I went to go pick up Stephen from the Amtrak station (literally a 2-minute drive from Duke) since he rode down from Maryland to come visit everyone (he's studying in Venice in the Fall and just arrived earlier today). He brought me a lobster stuffed animal (named "Lobby"--original, no?). Pictures now (only two for this day, unfortunately).

Two books that the lady I'm working with--Jackie Ogburn--had published and were sitting in front of the window!!

An awesome picture of Lobby clinging to the back of the front seat in the car

Thursday - Stephen left early in the morning, so my friend Drew and I dropped him off at the Amtrak station again. I had my Ethics class in the morning, and we discussed a lot about The Book of Job, which I'll mention later in my recap of Friday since we had a 15-person discussion section about it. After that, I took a nap and grabbed a quick bite to eat from the cafe--Bella Union--upstairs. Then I went to Stats class, where we learned about means, standard deviation, etc. Then, I headed to French class, and we talked about what it meant to be a Francophone author and about writers' identity when they are foreign to the place in which they're writing (ex: Chinese writers in Paris). We also discussed why Paris is the city of literature and about salons, language, etc. We just started reading La Joueuse de go for homework, so I'll be sure to update everyone about that. I'm in a couple of pages, but hopefully I'll get a better idea of what it's about as I keep reading. After class, I met up with my friend Sagar and Caroline and we studied in the Bella Union since it's a very relaxed good place to just meet up with someone or to get some work done. We worked for a few hours and then went downstairs to The Tower and grabbed dinner with 15 other people from Pegram for Caroline's 20th birthday!! The food was delicious, and we had red velvet cake after. Then we all went to hang out in the guys' room in Few Quad and stayed for a couple of hours before heading back to rest up for Friday.

A picture of the menu--it used to be called "Tommy's" & they have amazing sides and food!!

Friday - I had my first Stats lab, which was sort of frustrating at first because we couldn't log in to the computers, and the program was expired on the computers. But after a while, we finally got it to work, and the lab went by smoothly. We were sorting through data of CEOs of head companies from 1994 and figuring out things like how many graduated from Duke, which professional degree (MBA, JD, no degree, etc.) had the highest total compensation. The lab was really easy, and it was a great way for us to get acquainted with the JMP program. After lab, I went back to my room and relaxed before heading out again for my afternoon Ethics discussion section. It was great because it was a small group, and everyone had something to say and contributed. I left the room with a lot more insight into the book than I had when I entered the room and heard a lot of different things from both sides of the conversation. I distinctly remember thinking while I was there that I was so happy to be at Duke and surrounded by people who had so many ideas and disagreed (nicely!) about a lot of things, and that allowed us all to think about different angles of the book we hadn't really thought about before. The 1-1/2 hour discussion went by really quickly, and I'm definitely looking forward to this week's section. After classes, I headed to the Duke Store and finally got my NCAA champions shirt!!--for both basketball and lacrosse. Then I took the bus to East Campus and helped table for Club Tennis & Duke Journal of Public Affairs at the Activities Fair. It was pretty hectic with a lot of people visiting all the tables, and it was definitely hot. It was great, though, because Duke's radio station was at the fair, as well as inflatables, and an ice cream truck where everything was free! I ended up getting an ice cream sandwich and a Dora the Explorer popsicle!! At night, all the girls got ready to go out for the night since there was an 80s party (as well as an "Into the City" themed one, a toga party, and a black light party!), and it was a lot of fun because Caroline's two friends from UNC & Elon came along, and so did Gabby's two friends from College of Charleston & UNC. We had a lot of fun and came back kind of early since we were ridiculously tired.

Saturday - We slept in and grabbed lunch at Alpine Atrium then headed back and talked for a bit before meeting up with Caroline's parents for Tailgate. After lunch, as we were walking back, inflatables were set up on the main quad on West Campus since it was Sophomore Game Day, and Caroline and I ended up doing the race (inside one of the inflatables) and saw our friends there who decided to sumo wrestle in the fat suits and do some of the other games. After all that, Caroline, me, and Megan (her friend from Elon) went to the parking lot to meet up with Caroline's parents and friends, and we sat around relaxing and eating before the 7pm game against Elon (which we won 41-27!!). The game was really packed, and everything was pretty hectic with food vendors everywhere. At halftime, we met up with her parents again and had some more food, and Gabby and I met up and headed back for a bit since we were tired, then came back after the game to sing happy birthday for Caroline and try some of her mom's super delicious homemade pound cake!! Then all of us headed back, and we did some work, and Caroline and Megan watched Gilmore Girls for a bit before calling it a night.

Sunday - I woke up this morning and headed to East Campus since it was club tennis tryouts! We watched all the girls play and accepted seven of them for the traveling team, and the rest for the practice team. The weather was perfect, and the girls looked good. It makes me excited for the upcoming year! After that, I had lunch with Steph at Bruegger's Bagels, and it was absolutely delicious!! I had the Asiago Parmesan bagel with Honey Walnut cream cheese. Gabby and I are planning on getting a dozen after class tomorrow, since Bruegger's is right off of East Campus. After that, I came back and started writing this blog post--which I'm still doing! I'm about to head to office hours for Stats, though, since I just wanted to check one of my questions. This week will be ridiculously hectic, so I'll try to update often so I won't have it all lumped up into one. I don't have work tomorrow, which lets me rest more, but tennis practice starts tomorrow! Then I have rowing (Ahhh I'm so nervous/excited!!) on Tuesday and Thursday, and I'll be playing tennis with Steph on Wednesday. Then it's back to rowing on Friday and Saturday, and if I have time, I might be able to make it to the away match against Elon on Saturday (for tennis), as well. I'm also meeting with my FAClets for dinner and have a Duke Journal meeting and a chapter meeting on Sunday for Chi Omega. Ridiculous. I'll definitely keep you all updated on how my crazy schedule goes!! (& I'll try and have more pictures next time!!)