So it's been a full month since classes started up.
Midterms are right around the corner as classes are pumping through their respective curriculums.
So how do I feel?
It's going very well so far! I'm thankful that my classes get more fun as the day rolls on. I've found that time management is by FAR the biggest factor that comes into play as a college student. Thankfully due to the life experience I have prior to attending college, I've come well equipped to face any circumstance.
The teachers I have are good! One is quirky, one is very intellectual, one is fun and one is strict. I guess I can go on and say that everyone has their faults - especially me! Of course teachers do to, so you just gotta roll with it and adapt to any change that may come your way.
If school's going this well so far, the next 47 months ought to rock!
And the beat goes on...
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Japanese Students, UNITE!
Minasan konbanwa!
I have a confession to make: I love Japan.
I love the people and the culture, but most of all, I love the language!
I got into the language thanks to my best friend Josh. Initially I took it in high school so that Josh and I could speak "in code" and talk about people behind their backs where the chances of them knowing what we were saying were slim to nil. So while my intentions weren't the best at first, they took a rapid change the first day of class.
I enjoyed the challenge of writing something other than Roman letters. And what’s more – there are THREE different alphabets. The first two two years of high school were a lot fun thanks in part to this course!
Fast forward to 2007
I was surprised to see that UIS offered Japanese and jumped all over the chance to take it like white on rice and a glass of milk on a paper plate in the middle of a snowstorm! It got better from there. Class size: 7. I KNEW this class was going to rock!
The legendary, awesome, ALL Supreme Maeda Sensei (L)... and another professor.
The dinner provided an opportunity to mingle with current friends and make some new ones. It was a LOT of fun and hope there will be more events like these in the near future!
I have a confession to make: I love Japan.
I love the people and the culture, but most of all, I love the language!
I got into the language thanks to my best friend Josh. Initially I took it in high school so that Josh and I could speak "in code" and talk about people behind their backs where the chances of them knowing what we were saying were slim to nil. So while my intentions weren't the best at first, they took a rapid change the first day of class.
I enjoyed the challenge of writing something other than Roman letters. And what’s more – there are THREE different alphabets. The first two two years of high school were a lot fun thanks in part to this course!
Fast forward to 2007
I was surprised to see that UIS offered Japanese and jumped all over the chance to take it like white on rice and a glass of milk on a paper plate in the middle of a snowstorm! It got better from there. Class size: 7. I KNEW this class was going to rock!
And it did! Maeda Sensei is an extremely fun and effective professor. During the second week of class, he announced he was going to hold a Japanese student dinner for the exchange students from Ashikaga and all students currently taking Japanese.
The legendary, awesome, ALL Supreme Maeda Sensei (L)... and another professor.It was held at New Buffet City for the low price of 5 dollars. Hey, for a college student, you take what you can get! The back room was packed with host families and their exchange students and those taking the language course and their friends as well. I ate so much, I got sick. But it was worth it!
Chowin' down at New Buffet City with new friends.
Chowin' down at New Buffet City with new friends.Classmates Mat and Emily are on the right - they RULE!
The dinner provided an opportunity to mingle with current friends and make some new ones. It was a LOT of fun and hope there will be more events like these in the near future!
Rob P. rocks... my face off!!
I remember it as if it were yesterday. I logged onto Youtube.com and was just about to search for a video on Counterstrike: Source when it caught my eye: A 'Featured Video' called Pachelbel Rant.
Undoubtedly it had to be about Pachelbel's most famous work, Canon in D. I loved that piece and knew a host of others who did as well, so I was curious as to why someone would want to rant about such a lovely tune!
I haven't laughed that hard in MONTHS. This dude was hilarious! He was a cellist in high school who had the unfortunate experience of playing this piece. You'll have to watch the video to find out why it was called such. By the end of the video, all I had was a name that I could barely read through my tears: Rob Paravonian.
Over the course of the next year, I'd occasionally look up this hilarious comedian to see if he had any new videos posted. Every video I saw, I was crying. This guy RULED! So one day, I thought I'd actually check his website to see what all was new. I Checked his schedule and I saw it:
Sept. 6 - University of Illinois at Springfield
Price: Free (?!?!?!?!)
Oh yeah, the legend was coming to MY campus and it wasn't going to cost me a dime!! Unfortunately it wasn't publicized well, as I surely expected a comedian of this magnitude to pack the Brookens Auditorium on campus.
So there he was at about 9:30 standing up on the stage, dishing out jokes from the ridiculousness of strobe lights on school buses to Justin Timberlake's "manly" voice. Later, he busted out his guitar and played us several hilarious songs about being politically correct during a breakup, the stupidity of lyrics in famous songs and without fail... the Pachelbel Rant.
I laughed incredibly hard over the next hour and a half, but I think others laughed MUCH harder.
Rob playin' a funny tune.
It was a time I'll never forget. My first college experience NOT having to do with classes.
Me with the legend himself!
Thanks for coming out, Rob! Do come back soon - I'll make sure more people will be there! :D
Undoubtedly it had to be about Pachelbel's most famous work, Canon in D. I loved that piece and knew a host of others who did as well, so I was curious as to why someone would want to rant about such a lovely tune!
I haven't laughed that hard in MONTHS. This dude was hilarious! He was a cellist in high school who had the unfortunate experience of playing this piece. You'll have to watch the video to find out why it was called such. By the end of the video, all I had was a name that I could barely read through my tears: Rob Paravonian.
Over the course of the next year, I'd occasionally look up this hilarious comedian to see if he had any new videos posted. Every video I saw, I was crying. This guy RULED! So one day, I thought I'd actually check his website to see what all was new. I Checked his schedule and I saw it:
Sept. 6 - University of Illinois at Springfield
Price: Free (?!?!?!?!)
Oh yeah, the legend was coming to MY campus and it wasn't going to cost me a dime!! Unfortunately it wasn't publicized well, as I surely expected a comedian of this magnitude to pack the Brookens Auditorium on campus.
So there he was at about 9:30 standing up on the stage, dishing out jokes from the ridiculousness of strobe lights on school buses to Justin Timberlake's "manly" voice. Later, he busted out his guitar and played us several hilarious songs about being politically correct during a breakup, the stupidity of lyrics in famous songs and without fail... the Pachelbel Rant.
I laughed incredibly hard over the next hour and a half, but I think others laughed MUCH harder.
Rob playin' a funny tune.
Me with the legend himself!Monday, September 3, 2007
An Ice Breaker...
Alright. For those who don't know me, I like dreams. Like actual, sleeping during the night type dreams. Daydreams are a COMPLETELY different topic which I may or may not bring up later...
So what is it about dreams that I like so much? At freshman orientation, this question was raised: If you could have any super power, what would it be? I said that I'd like to fly. Reason being, I have had one dream in which I flew and it was remarkable to wake up and realize that sensation.
I like dreams because you'll never know what you're going to get. If you read my blogs on my myspace page (search: Nick Hanscom), you'll see a huge variety of dreams I've had so far this year. I think dreams are interesting, and that's enough for me.
And last night, I had my very first dream where I time travelled. Yeah. I went back to the 1970's and it was freakin' awesome!
In the present time I had this mission to retrieve this one particular trophy jumping through all of these hoops; sneaking past guards, getting past alarms, etc. Come to find out that this trophy was hidden by someone a long time ago. So that was my goal, to find this person way back then and ask them THEN what they did with it.
Unfortunately, I didn't get that far in the dream. But here's the cool part:
I went back in time. I was driving a car down a road leading to a parking lot, where I parked (duh.) I was supposed to go to a nearby beach/park to conduct surveillance on someone. So I stepped out of the car and headed toward the the rear of the car. There was a van parked next to me and an older lady was filling up her cooler in the back. I tried to get her attention, "Ma'am?" No response.
"MA'AM??" Still nothing.
I touched her shoulder. She jumped. I apologized.
"Ma'am, can you please tell me where Blahblahblah Beach is?"
"Yeah, actually - I'm heading there myself. I'll walk you there."
And now the dilemma. Do I walk with her and talk, possibly ruining future events? It was fun to actually have to think this. Of course, since I was just shooting the breeze with her, there'd be no harm. So I walked and talked with this older lady to the beach back in the 70's.
And that's pretty much it. I know it wasn't that intense or anything. It's one of those things where you just had to be there.
Anyhow, if any of you out there have some interesting dreams, feel free to share 'em with me! Could be fun.
Have a good one!
~ Nick
So what is it about dreams that I like so much? At freshman orientation, this question was raised: If you could have any super power, what would it be? I said that I'd like to fly. Reason being, I have had one dream in which I flew and it was remarkable to wake up and realize that sensation.
I like dreams because you'll never know what you're going to get. If you read my blogs on my myspace page (search: Nick Hanscom), you'll see a huge variety of dreams I've had so far this year. I think dreams are interesting, and that's enough for me.
And last night, I had my very first dream where I time travelled. Yeah. I went back to the 1970's and it was freakin' awesome!
In the present time I had this mission to retrieve this one particular trophy jumping through all of these hoops; sneaking past guards, getting past alarms, etc. Come to find out that this trophy was hidden by someone a long time ago. So that was my goal, to find this person way back then and ask them THEN what they did with it.
Unfortunately, I didn't get that far in the dream. But here's the cool part:
I went back in time. I was driving a car down a road leading to a parking lot, where I parked (duh.) I was supposed to go to a nearby beach/park to conduct surveillance on someone. So I stepped out of the car and headed toward the the rear of the car. There was a van parked next to me and an older lady was filling up her cooler in the back. I tried to get her attention, "Ma'am?" No response.
"MA'AM??" Still nothing.
I touched her shoulder. She jumped. I apologized.
"Ma'am, can you please tell me where Blahblahblah Beach is?"
"Yeah, actually - I'm heading there myself. I'll walk you there."
And now the dilemma. Do I walk with her and talk, possibly ruining future events? It was fun to actually have to think this. Of course, since I was just shooting the breeze with her, there'd be no harm. So I walked and talked with this older lady to the beach back in the 70's.
And that's pretty much it. I know it wasn't that intense or anything. It's one of those things where you just had to be there.
Anyhow, if any of you out there have some interesting dreams, feel free to share 'em with me! Could be fun.
Have a good one!
~ Nick
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