Day 1 all over again

So, i'm back at Google, but this time in New York City! We haven't really been around the offices too much yet, but i'm sure we will over the next few days. I landed at La Guardia around 2:30 and met up with some other FUSErs before heading to the Google offices. I thought we were taking a shuttle, but turns out Will decided to order a white stretch limo? No big deal, I guess. It is his birthday after all! Turns out taking a limo was less expensive per person than taking an airport shuttle.. hmm.. i guess new york is a strange place.

We got to Google's offices around 4 today and got introduced to the team who organized FUSE and then did an icebreaker (though i'm still not anywhere close to learning everyone's name). We got to tour the office and saw some cool things like the game room and a jungle themed room. They also have lots of Legos lying around that you can play with too, so I don't think we'll be bored during breaks!

And now hanging out with some CSSI friends before getting some sleep before tomorrow!

Over an out,

Lynn

fourth and fifth week... again.

So, its the end of fifth week... the last time I updated my blog last quarter. Perhaps I'm picking up right where I left off then, huh. haha =P

These past few weeks have been extremely hectic, and I finally take my last midterm on Monday (though it was delayed from today after our two snow days!)

Basically, I woke up Wednesday morning to this:

And those people thought they were going somewhere... haha. there are still cars that have been reburied by the snow plows, and the roads are mostly passable... But some real pictures of the storm: Just flip through these. There were a couple of these showing cars completely snowed in and sitting on Lakeshore Drive. Pretty ridiculous...

My snowdays were unfortunately rather homework-filled, though I did get to go out to the Interclass snowball fight they had on the quad. It was pretty awesome. We have somewhere around 2 feet of snow, but the drifts are much deeper. I was up to my hips in some of them! I love snow though, even enough to get buried in it like sand....

Other than that my days have consisted of Hum paper, CS stuff, Math studying, and Spanish. woohoooo. Hopefully it'll let up slightly once I get my midterms out of the way, but something makes me doubt that slightly...

Even though my homework has been endless, i have still been knitting (of course). I just finished a headband to sell for the Commuknity Valentine's Day Fundraiser, oh boy. I think I really like this cabling pattern... 0=)

I'm heading back to Kentucky at the end of February too.. can't wait!

over and out,

Lynn

Oh hey there.

I'm going to start blogging again.

Startinggggg... tomorrow. Probably. I'm almost finished with midterms, but even after two snow days, I still have work to do! I am surviving the winter though!

over and out,

Lynn

fourth and fifth week

I'm pretty sure I need to cover fourth and fifth week in this blog.. again. playing catch up, and again, only in blogging.

Last weekend (the 23rd) was family weekend, and Nana, Leigh and my Dad came up here to visit. Of course, I happened to be really busy that weekend, but we still had a lot of fun. I played three lacrosse games (well, I played two, but the team played three) and then went out for dinner with the family. We ate at Noodles, which was good as usual. Overall we had a very Asian-themed weekend. We ate at Noodles on Friday night (not Saturday), then Saturday after my games, we went downtown and ate Thai food before hanging out at the hotel and going to sleep. Needless to say, I can't wait to go home for Thanksgiving! Seeing Rebecca all dressed up for Halloween really makes me miss being home- though I did get to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters in the dorm.

Let me back-track for a second:

The Sunday of family weekend I got dropped off pretty early back at the dorm and did some homework before heading back downtown for brunch with Graeme's parents and some shopping (though I didn't buy anything, the boys needed boots) The rest of Sunday was essentially homework day, like Sundays are becoming... Then last week was mostly uneventful. It was pretty normal homework-wise (it really doesn't ever let up), but I did get to have an awesome skype date with Emily and Will! We played bananagrams via skype which was insane and awesome. Emily won.. only because she was building on the floor instead of crammed on a desk ;)

but no, she really won legitimately. we should probably have a rematch though.. it was a well-needed study break!

This past weekend was Halloween weekend, and was also rather eventful. My family brought my lego costume from last year up so I could wear it again! I went to a Lacrosse party on Friday night, and then slept in Saturday morning for a change. I saw Arlene at breakfast and she told me that one of my friends from high school and one of her friends from high school had spontaneously decided to make the 6-7 hour trek from Danville, KY up here for the Obama rally. So I spent parts of the afternoon helping then get unlost in the very Southside of Chicago... It's not typically a good idea to be lost on East 73rd street, haha, but they finally made it, and we headed out to the rally with some of the kids in my house. We got there around 330 or 4, and Obama spoke at 7, 715ish, so we got to do a lot of cramped standing around. There was a band playing for a while called Dot Dot Dot (... ?) and Common came on and performed for about 15 minutes. Then we heard from Democratic candidates and current Democratic congressmen and the alderwoman from Hyde Park who got the crowd riled up for Obama's speech. The theme for the rally was really Moving America Forward, and there was a continuous urge to get out and vote. I, of course, realized as I went to put my absentee ballot request in the mailbox that it needs to be in the office a week before the election. Well, I was putting it in the mailbox a week before the election.. whoops. This is what happens when Nov 1 is on a monday! haha =P So I guess I'm not voting... we had lots of fun at the rally anyway, and then grabbed some pizza for dinner and helped get some friends ready for halloween! I stayed in Saturday night, and went to bed early so I could get up early and work out. No pain in my hamstring, so I think I'm good!

Yesterday I went downtown with Graeme for breakfast, and then to the Art Institute where I met Aunt Kit and her friend Michelle. We went through the miniatures, which are so amazing-- MaMa definitely needs to come up here to see them! It was really nice to see Aunt Kit and do some catching up before they headed out to grab some food, and Graeme and I explored the parts of the Art Institute that I didn't get to see last time I was there- Picasso, Miro', Magritte, El Greco... It's amazing to see all of the paintings they have!

I donned my Lego once more yesterday evening because we had trick-or-treaters in the dorm. I grossly underestimated how much candy I would need, and ran out rather early, which was sad. So I wandered the halls because I didnt want to take my Lego off... and had to pose for a few pictures on the way, haha. "Honey, get in a picture with Lego Lady" One mom did call me spongebob too, but then insisted thatI was so yellow that I had startled her, and it was quite clear that I was indeed a Lego, haha.

Today I took my last midterm - Computer Science, and it went really well. Don't worry, I wore my Chrome tshirt for luck. I hadn't worn it yet and figured today was as good as any! Now just to make it through this week.. I'm cooking study break next Wednesday and need to decide what I'm going to make (if the kitchen is clean enough to even function in.... =P ) Now, off to do math homework! proofs, proofs, proofs.. oh, and write letters. letters and proofs. until next time!

over and out,

Lynn

Playing Catch Up

Don't let the title worry you. The only things I'm playing catch-up in are blogging and facebook photo posting. So, Mother, I'm still on top of all my schoolwork, don't worry! I need to run through some things really quickly.. I'm sure I'll leave out something vital.

So, one day last week (I think it might've been last Monday actually) Graeme and I woke up and ran down to the lake to watch the sunrise.

So this picture is actually from another morning when I went down to the lake.. but its prettier than the sunrise picture I took last Monday 0=) It was unfortunately a rather hazy morning, but it wasn't too chilly! Now the weather has taken a turn towards colder, or rather, more customary fall weather. Though on Saturday the weather was really nice for our Lacrosse tournament. I'm going to make a big jump here, though I think I might be skipping over two weekends in the process. =P

This past Saturday we played our first tournament at a park a few miles north of downtown and right on the lake. It was really nice and breezy, though the fields themselves were more dirt than they were grass. Also, a weird thing (at least weird for me). In Chicago, you aren't allowed to line any city property with paint, so all of the lines on the fields were made with flour. Things got a little messy and the lines got more and more fuzzy as the day went on. but, they line the fields with flour?! I guess I'm going to experience the pain of doing that myself- we're playing a home tournament this weekend, and I know we have to get up early Saturday morning to line the fields. But anyway, we won our middle game, which was against Augustana, one of the other teams in our conference. Apparently we lost to them last season by one highly controversial goal, so the upperclassmen really enjoyed beating them. Overall the day went pretty well, I think we started to mesh more and definitely could have one our other games (though we were all pretty exhausted by the third). Playing three games in one day with few subs is physically taxing to say the least =P but we made it! I can't wait for our tournament this weekend. and also to see my family!

I got back late Saturday afternoon and Skyped Emily briefly =). Next time it will be longer, a group call, and a bananagrams date. Oh, speaking of Skype, I had a massive group Skype reunion on Thursday with some of my friends from high school. Needless to say it was rather insane (thanks, John) but really awesome. If you haven't downloaded the new version of Skype, you should! You get 28 free days of group calls with up to 5 people with video. Sooo, I need to be group Skyping constantly in the next 28 days. 0=)

Now, back to Saturday. I went out with some of my housemates Saturday evening for Sushi at this Sushi restaurant whose name escapes me up on 53rd street. It was realllly good. I had some good tofu for a change (the dining halls haven't quite mastered the art of cooking tofu and having it taste like... anything yet, haha) and I crashed really early.

Then yesterday was a homework day! I got up early to do homework, but ended up falling asleep after breakfast, and didn't really start work until after lunch, but had a productive afternoon. And did lots of laundry.

So basically, my college life can be summarized into eating, sleeping, homework, and laundry. With a little lacrosse and fun thrown in there sometimes ;)

Now back to writing my first college paper =0. Now to make it through this and a math midterm on Friday afternoon, and my family will be here! Wish me luck!

over and out,

Lynn

Vegan Diners and Knitting Circles

The one thing that discourages me from blogging is the daunting task of coming up with titles for my blog posts.. I've had a pretty exciting past few days though, so I must blog! On Saturday I went to Ratner and worked out (though I couldn't find my umbrella before I left) and ended up having to walk alllll the way back to South Campus in a downpour.. which would have been worse if my hair hadn't already been wet from my shower.. but I was pretty soaked by the time I got back, even WITH my warrior jacket (which is somewhat waterproof) I searched in vain for my umbrella when I got back up to my room too and ended up borrowing Victoria's! Ahh, my room is too small for me to be losing things... Its gotta be in there somewhere =P

I went to the Northside of Chicago (Belmont) with Mattie and her cousin to go to The Chicago Diner, a totally vegan restaurant, and the food was awesome! I ate a "Reuben".. with fake roast beef i guess.. it was very strange, but still good. I also had Macaroni and Cheeze with a z.

We were trying to make it back for Contra Dancing in Ida Noyes at 730, but it took us about an hour to get to the diner, and we ended up spending too much time enjoying our food (we shared a (vegan) cookie dough milkshake and (vegan) chocolate mousse cake for dessert) for so long that we didn't end up getting back to campus until after 8.

Sunday was a homework day, but I did get quite a bit finished.. now I have to get to work on stuff due next week =P

Monday I went to my first Communknity meeting.. yeah. its a knitting club that knits things for charity, and I'm rather excited about that.. its basically just a knitting circle. We meet for an hour on Monday evenings, sit around, talk, and knit.

Now its Friday, but I'm going to go sit out on the Quad in the sun and write letters =) I'll have to blog about the rest of the week later on. until then!

over and out,

Lynn

So this is college.

I have almost successfully made it through my first week of classes! I have one more Calculus class after lunch before my weekend has officially started. I did successfully add/drop and switch into the math class i wanted, *phew*. It was actually a lot easier than I was expecting it to be.. but anyways.

Tuesday was my big errands day. I went and bought all of my books, got my math class changed - I got the last spot in the class of the professor that I wanted! I really like all of my professors so far. My CS professor is actually friends with Charles and has a somewhat similar sense of humor. My math teacher is just kind of awesome.. and really really helpful. Graeme and I went to his office hours one day this week, and we were in there with 2 or 3 of our classmates, and the professor was super helpful with all of the questions we had.

I also spent one afternoon this week (the same afternoon that I went to office hours.. though i don't remember which afternoon) working up on the 5th floor of the Library. You can actually see downtown if you're sitting on north side! I ended up reading an essay for my Reading Cultures class and then falling asleep in a big comfy chair =)

Last night was a really exciting night, because I went out and played midnight soccer! Though it started at 1015, it was really fun.. and we only lost by one (which is apparently a significant improvement because we're known as the house that always loses, haha). Then I stuck around after the game and played some 3 on 3 with a few guys in my house... I think I remember why i typically choose frisbee over soccer, but I had lots of fun! It was basically like playing fribee in the dark at Google! except it was later, darker, and harder to spot the ball 0=)

Today is a busy day for sure too. I have a math club meeting at 3, followed by dinner, but I don't think I'm going to dinner because there's also an RSO (Registered Student Organization) Fair tonight, and Friday with Faculty back in my dorm, and I need to do laundry, and ah! So much going on all at once. And now its time for me to head out for an early lunch before Calculus, woohoo!

over and out,

Lynn