Catch Up!

So, as everyone knows, I have been quite busy and have not updated my blog in quite a while. Now, on spring break, I will catch up in as much time as it takes, so be prepared for a long post.

I left off on Sunday the 20th of February. The following day was Presidents day, so Amy didn't have school, and it was her birthday, so it was perfect! We did some homework in the morning at our universities, and then we met at the Safeway at Georgetown to buy some things for her birthday cake. We bought some chocolate cake and cream cheese frosting and then headed to Georgetown to study a while before meeting with some of her friends to make the cakes. We also bought some disposable cake pans, since we didn't know if there were any pans for sure at Georgetown that we could use. I gave her a coupon to go dancing again sometime, since it was recently and it would be better to plan it when she has less homework too. She also showed me the presents that she got in the mail. She got this really cool tea making set and a nice mug and some different kinds of tea. She also got some cool ear rings to wear to the Lady Gaga Concert and the tickets to the concert. She got a nice blue dress, and some baked goods also. They were little bars that seemed to have a lot of brown sugar in them and also almond Roca pieces on top. They were delicious. After attempting to get some homework done, we went over to Reynolds 8th floor to see Amy's friend Rachel. She lives on a Living well floor, so the people there don't drink or smoke, and they seem really nice. We then started to make the cake and got everything ready. We learned about K-Pop and J-Pop (Korean and Japanese Pop). Rachel is Korean, and she was getting into an argument with Joe, this other kid on their floor about which type of music was better. They showed us some funny music videos of the various types of music. We then cooled the cake a long time before frosting it and played Catch Phrase with some of the people that were in their common room. It was really fun! It was a bit fun to try to light the candles, because no one had a lighter, so I lit one on the coils in the oven. It melted the candle a lot too though, before if finally lit, but then we were able to light the other 18 candles for Amy's 19 years! We sang and then cut the cake and ate it while playing more catch phrase. It seemed like a really nice floor. We then dropped of a piece of off cake with another one of her friends that had transferred from the University of Montana. We then went to library and did homework until late, then I rode my scooter home.

The rest of the week was spent trying to do homework while looking forward to the Lady Gaga concert on Thursday. We then got all dressed up on Thursday and I went over to Georgetown and we ate a Grab-and-go for dinner. It was really good, but I was still hungry, since I hadn't had much to eat before that. I had on my black slacks, a black long-sleeved button up shirt, and a black tie with small polka-dots. Amy had on a nice black and white dress and some black leggings. The style in DC, and possibly all around now, is to just wear leggings as pants. They are essentially footless tights. Anyway, they were meant to wear under dresses or skirts, and now, almost all the girls just wear them as pants, sometimes with longs shirts. Anyway, I think that style is ridiculous. Amy had a nice dress though, so they looked great! We left Georgetown at 6:30 and took the Circulator bus that takes us right over to the Verizon center, but the traffic was really bad, so it took a long time to get there, and we were afraid that we would be late for the show that started at 8, but since we already had tickets, it was really easy to get in after we were there. We walked a little way after we got off of the bus. We saw lots of people dressed up crazily and took some pictures. We found our seats, which were in the section 111, about at mid court, close to the floor. They were great seats and we had a good view of the show. We were there a little bit early, so I looked for the bathroom and walked about half way around the entire arena, because first, I passed a women's, and then they had converted a men's to a womens, then there was one more womens, before I finally found it. I think it would have been faster to just turn around after I was half way there and to just go the other way out of the section 11 seats. It seems like it is usually just worth it to go with your gut and keep going to save time, but it was a long way out of the way this time. Then, I finally made it back to my seat. The Scissor Sisters were the opening act and they performed for probably 25 minutes. They danced all around the stage and had quite interesting outfits, although nothing compared to Lady Gaga. Amy and I had looked up some of their songs before, when we heard they were opening, because it is more fun if you know the songs already. They were energetic and fun to watch, but there was a really long wait after their performance until she finally came out.

The Curtains went down and they played some music to keep everyone entertained somewhat. After about 20 minutes, following every song would be applause, because they were hoping that she would come out after that song, but nope. They eventually lowered this large white curtain over the rich blue one, similar in appearance to the type at the Mother Lode Theater. Then, they projected pictures onto it and had some crazy music/ bass noises to get the crowd pumped up. They then went into a count down on the screen and at 0, she appeared in an outline of purple. They had taken up the big blue curtain and then shined with a bright purple light behind her to cast her shadow on the large white curtain. She was up on a platform and everyone went crazy! She then opened with some song that no one had heard, since it was just like a part of the show. The show was somewhat along a story line and had her main songs spread throughout it. There were many back up dancers and they were all over the stage. She then opened up this car that was on the stage and it had a keyboard in the hood. That was the beginning to her first main song, and it was really cool! There were many costume changes and entire set changes, which were quite the feat! The stage was huge, so the entire set changes would take a lot of effort. To do this, they would lower the large white thing and project a video, or possibly have some other act performing on the platform outside of the curtain. The first set was a staircase on one side with huge syringes as the hand rail supports. On the other side was the car, and I'm sure there is much that I am forgetting, since there was so much going on. Then next set had a jungle gym with lights on each of the rungs so they had crazy patterns of lights going all they time, while people were climbing on it. Then she and the other dancers sang and danced.

I could tell you more specifics, but it would probably be boring, so I will just note some of the crazy instruments that they had. There was an electric harp, a normal harp, this bass guitar that was crazy, a flaming piano, and an electric violin. The bass thing had a bass guitar in down the middle and then it had a keyboard sticking off one side and a synthesizer thing off the other side. It stood on the floor like a normal bass would, but she played it like a guitar. The violin was really cool too, because it looked similar to an electric guitar that has an upside down v as the base, except it was a violin. The flaming piano was the coolest though, through my eyes anyway, because first of all, it had a row of flames for its whole length. Then, halfway through the song, a whirl wind of fire rose out of it and had varying heights for the rest of the song. It was really cool! Another interesting part of the concert was when she was dressed up in this huge white dress that had moving parts. The head dress moved and somewhat flapped, along with the back of the dress. Then, it seemed like it was going to be the last song, because I thought she was giving her closing remarks, and then they put the curtains down. I was a little disappointed, because she didn't do the main song that I really wanted to hear, Bad Romance. It just has a really epic beginning and I thought it would have been THE song to do at a concert. Then, they drew up the curtains again, and she was sitting in a ginormous gyroscope type ball. It was really cool. She then did one more song, one from her new album, which comes out in May. It is called Born this Way, and is a pretty cool song.

After the Concert, Amy and I walked out of the Verizon center and attempted to get on the Circulator bus since the Georgetown shuttles wouldn't be open this late. But, just our luck, that specific circulator route wasn't running so late on a Thursday night. So, We walked around looking for a cab. We did a loop around several blacks and then thought that we might as well walk towards Georgetown so it would save a little bit on the cab fare. Oh, I forgot to mention it was raining a bit and was chilly. Anyway, we had a nice walk in the rain for 8 blocks or so and finally found a cab on 14th street. We started walking at 7th street, and had to go to about 33rd street. We then were really hungry, since we hadn't had anything to eat for a long tine and had been wandering around in the rain for a half hour or so. We went to Johnny Rockets and shared a double bacon Cheeseburger. It was very delicious and had potent onions on it, so I still could taste them the next day, even though I brushed my teeth in at night and in the morning as usual. We had a nice late snack, and saw Beth, the one from UM there with her guy friend that is transferring to George Washington University next semester. We then walked the rest of the way to Georgetown, which was probably 5 blocks, and then I rode my scooter home.

The next different/ cool thing we did was to go to the Syracuse Georgetown basketball game. The game was sold out, but the Georgetown students with season passes got an email telling them there were extra tickets available, so Amy bought me one:) It was for seat M19 in the 400 something section which was 5 rows from the top of the stadium. It was not that good of a seat, but I still wanted to go to a game, and it was a big rivalry. The students tickets are first come first served, so many of the students were waiting at the stadium overnight to get really close seats. Amy left at 9:30 am to the game at 12 with some of her friends, and was still way in the 400s like me. I saw her way down there and then went over to see her, but there was an extra seat right next to her, so I sat there and it was a lot better seat. The game was really fun too, and it was much better to be close to people that I knew, Amy, and the other girls from Chi Alpha. The Georgetown Chimes, an Acapella group sang the National Anthem, and then they did the Syracuse lineups and all of the students turned around to show a lack of interest. Then, for the Georgetown lineups, they had spotlights and loud music and the crowd went wild. It was pretty much like a College basketball game that I would watch on TV, so it was really cool. They had lots of commercial breaks for the broadcast games, so they have many random sponsored events. We saw Bill Clinton, and the Geico Caveman, and saw Jack, the bulldog (Georgetown's mascot) rip up a box that had the Syracuse mascot all over it (an Orange). Georgetown lost the game, partly because one of their star players, Chris Wright, broke his hand the game before and wasn't playing. They held in there pretty well until the end, but couldn't pull it off. They also played a really cool video: http://www.georgetown.edu/video/1242667691460.html during halftime or one of the many other breaks. Chris Wright is number 4 here with the arm thing. After the game, the Circulator bus line was really full, and we waited and waited. It took probably 5 minutes to load, and then, all of our group except Leslie and I made it on the first bus. We got on the next one that came in a little bit. The traffic was pretty bad, but we made it back eventually and met up with Amy and then got some lunch.

Later that evening, we went to this thing called Pizza Theology, which doesn't discuss the theology of pizza, but rather we talked about the history of the Bible while eating pizza. IT was really interesting and we learned a history of the compilation of the Bible, and also about the other books that didn't make it in. We also talked about the time frames in each section of the Bible and I thought I learned quite a bit. It isn't something that is every week or anything, but they will do it one more time this semester. It was put on by the same people that do Chi Alpha. John led the discussion and had prepared a little class for us.

On Sunday, Amy didn't come to church, because she had too much homework, but I went for a while. Afterward, I talked with Brian, a deacon, for a while about science and such. He is an electrical engineer and originally had a degree in Math and a minor in Physics. He told me a lot about his work, and we talked for a long time. After church, someone there had an HP slate. I looked at it and thought that it was better than an Ipad. It is about the same size, but not quite as stylish. It has bigger processors and is essentially a netbook in a tablet form. After church, I was planning to go to dinner with Amy and Beth, because Beth was planning a Montanan brunch, but on Saturday night I found out it was only for Georgetown Montanans, so I couldn't go, but I think it was good, because it was just Girls that way. Amy and I met later in the evening at a park down by Safeway on Wisconsin Avenue. It is a nice park, and she had planned out a little date. We sat there and talked for a while, and it was really nice. The park is on a Hill and right next to a library. After that, we walked up to Safeway and bought a couple of doughnuts, which were excellent! They are pretty cheap too, so it is perfect.

On Monday, I signed up for soccer in the spring and also practiced my French Horn and choir stuff for a long time in the evening. Then, as I was practicing a difficult part, I though, "I really hope we go over this at sectionals... Oh Shoot! Sectionals are on Monday, and today is Monday, I hope I'm not late!" Then I hurried over to the room where it was held and I was only 5 minutes late and they hadn't started yet, phewf! My voice was already pretty tired from the practicing, but the rehearsal was fast, since the men know their parts mostly, and We were out of there by 9!

On Tuesday, I saw the American Idol recruiting bus in the Quad and they had a little booth. I didn't sign up, but I saw several people talking to the man that I heard ask, "So what do you do?" The other main thing I did on Tuesday besides all my classes was to go to the housing session in the early afternoon. There is a lottery and I had number 205 out of 2000, so I was pretty lucky and got my request in first. I looked up the floor plans of the buildings and found some large triple rooms in Roper Hall. I then got in line finally after waiting in the sunny hot room with lots of people, and he asked me where I wanted to live, and I said Roper room whatever, and he told me that was Freshman only housing... Dang! He told me that the only triple rooms for returning students were in McDowell, so I said I would go there. They then showed me where to go, and I talked to the people at a table about which room I would like. There was one triple on each McDowell floor, and most of them were taken except the terrace and the 6th and 7th floors. I choose the Terrace, since it has been pretty handy to not have to go up the elevator or stairs often. It turns out that my room is the biggest in the whole building at 203 square feet as opposed to the 185 that my current room is. I don't yet know who my roommates will be, but I will find out when they officially post the results of the housing.

On Wednesday, I went to Georgetown to study and to go to Chi Alpha. We ate a grab and go and had some delicious oranges! They were especially good, so Amy got several of them. We studied for a long time and then got a pepperoni and meatball sub sandwich from Subway before we went to Chi Alpha.

Thursday was rather uneventful for me, but I met with Jeff in the afternoon, and we worked for a long time. I helped him with his homework, since he had a final and paper that he was working on for a long time all week. I ate lunch with him and his friend Becky after our lab in the morning. We talked about politics/government in China and Japan, and we talked about the currency/ exchange rates, since I am thinking about going to China with him next summer. The exchange rate as of now is in my favor, since food costs about $2.5 on average for a meal, and all of the subway costs are less than a dollar wherever you go. The plane ticket is really expensive though.

On Friday, I worked on homework and packed for the short time that I was there. I also got a package from Home for my birthday, and they sent a lot of baked goods which are very delicious. Also a couple of presents, one of which was some spices, so I can cook better in the dorm:) After class, I hurried and got on the shuttle to go to Union Station to catch the train to Charlottesville. Amy was there when I got there, but we were early, so we waited in the food court and ate some of the cookies my family sent and also some delicious and unhealthy french fries with cheese, sour cream, bacon, and green onions on them. We then waited in the designated area until our train arrived, and then we went out and got on. The train was pretty dirty, but it was cool none the less. The seats were comfy and they had power outlets next to each seat. We arrived just on time at 7:20 and found Mary and George who came into town to get us. We then went to a restaurant that had somewhat unique yet very excellent food. I had Chicken Dumplings that were in a Dutch Oven, and Amy had Toads in a Hole, which were eggs cooked into a hole in some toast. We then had some very good ice cream sandwiches that were made with home made ice cream and cookies. One was a cranberry cookie similar to oatmeal raisin cookies, and it was filled with black raspberry ice cream! So delicious! Another fun part about the restaurant were the people. Our waiter had long gray hair in a pony tail and a big mustache. He had quite a charismatic attitude and was always joking with us. There was also a man behind the scenes that we would have been scared to meet. He let out a big yell of, "Up!" whenever the next order was ready, and the waiters always hurried back there as fast as they could to get the food and bring it to the customers. We then rode back to their house and listened to the last part of the Whitehall basketball game. They lost to the best team, but they put up a good fight. Then we went to bed early for the first time in about 2 months.

On Saturday, I woke up pretty early, but it didn't matter since I went to bed at 10:30:) We went into Charlottesville with Mary and she dropped us off at the Hair Cuttery while she went to some meetings. Apparently my "scalp is severely inflamed and that is why I have acne. I should really buy their shampoo, because it helps to sooth the scalp, and... it is 4 dollars or so cheaper than if I went down the road to buy it." Don't worry, I didn't give in, and I only got the haircut. Amy and I then walked around the shopping area and went to GAP. I had never been to that store before, but it was cool, since I learned about that a little in International Business, because they are one of the main competitors of Benetton in the US. Amy bought a pretty dark blue shirt with tiny flowers all over it and I bought a plain T-shirt for an undershirt. After that Mary picked us up and we went to Duo's a new and used women's clothes store near the University of Virginia. Amy had fun shopping with her aunt while I read some of an article for Global Business.

The University of Virginia was founded and designed by Thomas Jefferson. He had this idea of an academical village. There was a large courtyard with dorms and professor housing on the sides with a large rotunda on one end. It had class rooms and larger lecture halls in it too. The whole campus is quite beautiful and very large. Lots of the buildings are old brick ones, while there are some newer ones also. We also visited a large chapel with very elaborate stained glass windows. We went to lunch at a place called Little Johns that was fairly cheap and delicious. They had flatbread sandwiches and subs and salads.

We then went to a make up/shampoo/perfume/all things beautifying. You really spend a lot of money on appearance if you wanted to! Back at the Risers, we watched a horror film from the 50s called Bride of the Gorilla. It wasn't really scary at all, but it might have been back in the day. Amy had received a 40 horror film pack from the 50s for Christmas, so we finally watched one of them. For dinner, we had pork chops, mashed potatoes, glazed apples, green beans, and salad. It was a very good home made meal! We then just sat around, worked on homework and listened to a bit of the Whitehall basketball game on the internet. They won, so they will be going to State:) Everyone went to bed early again, and it was wonderful to get so much sleep.

Today, wow, am finally saying today, it has been so long! Today, I woke up at 7:40, and got ready and read some more of the article for global business called, Chiquita Brands International, a case study. I worked on this for an hour or so after reading, and then we went to the movie, King's Speech, with Mary and Amy. It was a really good movie about King George VI in the 1930s. We first ate pizza at a place called Christian's which has lots of different kinds of pizza and you just choose a slice. They add cheese to it and then stick it in the oven before they give it to you. OK, we then went home and I wrote on this until now. There are 4,317 words total!

Thanks to all of those who made it to the end of this monstrous post, and I hope you have enjoyed it.