Friday, May 18, 2007

Before Brazil...

While I had expected the days leading up to Brazil to be boring, reality has proved otherwise.

First, I hung out with these two slick dudes:

Ben and Sam!

We hung out in the city for the most part. I made a trip to the famed B&H store. That store is incredible - loaded with what every man fantasizes about (electronics...)! I couldn't resist the urge to splurge and bought a Canon Xti camera.

So, armed with the camera and my two partners in crime, I attended my first baseball game ever: New York Mets vs. Chicago Cubs. Honestly, the first eight and a half innings were probably the most boring two hours of my life. Ben fell asleep. However, in the bottom of the ninth, the Mets (down 5-1) made an incredible comeback. They loaded the bases and managed to score five straight runs to win the game! So, it turned out to be an amazing first time.

Anyways, here are some photos taken with the Xti. Keep in mind, we were on the upper deck when these were taken:




To cap off a fantastic first week of summer, Ben, Sam and I watched Michael Jordan's video "Come Fly with Me", visited the International Center of Photography, and hung out in the city.

Up next: Brazil!!!

Monday, May 7, 2007

Summer '07!

Freshman year is FINISHED!!!

Well... almost. Three more exams and I'm out!

Looking ahead, this summer has a chance to be really special. For the first couple of weeks, I will be staying on campus to perform a couple of concerts during commencement. Then, I will be flying down to Brazil for concert band tour. I have never been there, so that is going to be really sweet. Really, really sweet.

Finally, thanks to the Light and Greenberg fellowships, the majority (2+ months) of my summer will be spent in China! I am reaaally pumped for this trip. I will be studying Chinese at the Capital Normal University in Beijing. My oral skills are decent, but my reading and writing skills are quite shabby. Basically, I started out this year as what my roommate (Dan G!) calls "FBI" - Fluent But Illiterate. Anyways, I hope to improve my overall Chinese skills considerably this summer.

What do I look forward to? FOOD! Well, I've been before, but this will be the first time I will be alone and without my family there. Um... I hope to travel a bit and see things I haven't been able to with my family, such as Xi'an and Guiling. Also, I am very excited to see the transformations that are taking place all over Beijing due to preparations for the Olympics! Hmmm... I really like meeting new people, so I am sure I will make some great friends while I'm there.

Oh, yeah, I am looking forward to learning Chinese, of course.

What will I miss from the States? FOOD! I really like food... I'm going to miss the many conveniences I have here, such as being able to drive everywhere. More than anything else, I am going to miss my brother Devon! I haven't seen that kid at all this semester and I won't be seeing him this summer. :-(


Devon and me

Well, my first post is up and out of the way. I will update this blog whenever something new and exciting happens! Until then!