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...