SUMMER EXPERIENCES

Here's where I'll talk about my experiences over Summer 2005 that aren't directly related to my work

State College

So when I told all my friends I was going to Penn State for the summer, they all kind of said "Oh... you'll be in the middle of nowhere". Maybe that was partially because they were used to Atlanta, but State College is pretty small, it's surrounded by mountains, and I flew into a tiny airport on the smallest plane I've ever been on. It did make me feel a little isolated at first. But after a couple days, I started to really like it here. It may be small, but it definitely has everything you would need. And it's great, because that means it's all nearby. The Penn State campus literally borders downtown, which is just full of stores, restaurants, etc. And if what you want isn't downtown, the public transportation is really good. All the people here seem to be really nice (except at the FedEx-Kinkos, but I would recommend you stay away from all FedExes anyway). It's been great experiencing a new place and just a new kind of place. I can't say I miss the traffic on the interstate to go anywhere.

Mount Nittany

So apparently one of the must do things in State College is hiking Mount Nittany. I'd never really gone hiking before... except once in high school the biology classes took a little nature hike kind of thing. It was pretty high up, but obviously not that bad if we managed to lay transects and study the soil and stuff. So Wendy from work took Libby and I and we hiked for about 2 hours. There are different trails and they go around the mountain and intersect each other and you can kind of make your own path to follow. There were a couple lookout points and we could see the school from where we were. I think the highest point we went to was almost 2000 ft. It was a little challenging and we had to rest a couple times, but it was a lot of fun and a great day to go hiking! I would definitely consider going again sometime. After 2 hrs we barely made a dent on the paths!

Me and Libby at a lookout point on Mt. Nittany

Visit from Atlanta

So my very cool boyfriend Jake, and our very cool friend Chris, drove all the way from Atlanta to State College to visit me! How special are they?! =D. It was the weekend before my birthday, so it made for a great birthday present =). They left one Wednesday afternoon, spent the night in North Carolina, then got here the Thursday evening about when I got off from work. I showed them around the pod and the lab a bit, we hung out in the apartment a while, then Libby joined us and we walked downtown and had dinner. Friday the boys joined me for lunch, then Chris went off to Bethlehem (about 3 hours away) to see another friend, and Jake hung out in the pod til I left work. The two of us and Libby went out to eat at this cool retro diner place downtown, and then Wendy joined us for a movie. Saturday's main event was going swimming. It was really hot and humid, so a great day for swimming. Sunday's main event was ice skating! It was pretty hot and humid, so a great day for being in an ice rink ;-). I'd only gone ice skating once before, so it took me a while to get used to it again and move without clinging to the wall for dear life =). It was a lot of fun though. Chris came back shortly after that. After dinner we went to the campus creamery, where they make their own ice cream, and had some dessert. Then took some pictures with the Nittany Lion sculpture, which seems to be the picture hot spot around here. Monday morning the boys and I went to Pittsburgh, where I was going to look for an apartment, since I'll be starting school there in the fall. Unfortunately we got horribly lost and confused and had some other complications, and I ended up not seeing anywhere =(. Chris and Jake had to head back by noon to get home before it was too late, then I took the Greyhound back here. I was sad that 4 days had gone by so quickly. Aside from Monday, their trip was a lot of fun. Just hanging out with them again and being silly. Let's just say they aren't the two most mature acting people sometimes. Maybe I'd been doing too much of that 9-5 desk job (rather 10-6 or 7) and just needed to roll down a hill or two and giggle about it =).

Chris, me and Jake on the Nittany Lion

My 22nd Birthday

My birthday was actually pretty non-exciting, but since I made reference to it, it seems I should talk about it. Apart from Tuesday birthdays not being too special, it was the day after my visitors left, so it was kind of sad =(. I did get way more calls, cards, e-mails and messages than I did last year, when I felt that everybody forgot about me and I was pretty sad, so that was good. Half-way through the day I decided we should go out to dinner, so I sent an e-mail around to other people in the office, to see if anybody wanted to do anything. It was pretty short notice, but Craig, Wendy and Lu ended up joining Libby and I at Olvie Garden. Mmmm. Definitely my favourite restaurant! Plus they treated me, so it was great =). They started to suggest post dinner activities, but I think I was still worn out from the day before, so I just called it an early night.

Craig, Wendy, Libby, me and Lu at Olive Garden

Visit to Pittsburgh

So Wendy was going to Pittsburgh one Wednesday (well, Tuesday night to Thursday morning) to see a friend, so I decided to tag along and try this apartment hunting thing again! Taking just under three hours in a car each way was a lot better than over 5 in a bus. And the car time went by really quickly because Wendy and I had fun chatting about all sorts of things. I was pretty busy all Wednesday, seeing 6 different places. I had so many maps and bus schedules, it was pretty impossible for me to get too lost. Well, except for this road (that I was planning to take) existed on my google map that literally did just not exist in real life. That's what you get for using a beta release =). It was sooo exhausting. I really liked a few of the places, but it seemed they all had some sort of downside. I was also really worried about picking a place that my roommate to be, Tammy, would like, since she wasn't with me. But she seems pretty easy going, so I think it'll be ok. Early Thursday morning I saw one last place that I wasn't even planning to see, but it's a good thing I did, because it ended up being the place we decided to go with! Hopefully it turns out ok when we move in and stuff.

My new place! (This is the best picture I could get considering the trees)

Visit to Atlanta

After three weeks of being away from Jake and Chris, and seven weeks of being away from all my other Atlanta friends, I decided to treat myself to a long weekend in Atlanta. Airtran has this special program for students where you can fly cheap if you fly standby. This led to me having to leave Friday instead of Saturday because the Saturday morning flight sold out early in the week. It also led to me coming back later than I'd planned, but I'll get to that later. So since State College is so small and kind of, you know, in the middle of nowhere, I had to take a bus to Pittsburgh and then fly to Atlanta. I got there in time to have lunch at this on campus place called Juniors with Jake, Chris and Jake's roommate Casey, which is kind of a Friday tradition. Most of Friday was spent hanging out at Jake's apartment with his roommates and our friend Kelly, Casey's gf who came in for the weekend too. I also got to hang out with my friend Stephanie, and Jake and I went to dinner with our friend Gail to this Jamaican restaurant. Mmm. I fell asleep pretty early because I was exhausted from all that early morning travelling! Saturday we got up early and Jake, Casey, Kelly and I went to Helen (~2 hrs North of Atl) to go tubing down the Chattahoochee! That was a lot of fun! Chris came by later and eventually Jake and I went out to dinner with him, our friend Pat and his gf Stephanie. Later that night Gail and I went out to grand re-opening of Vision, one of my favourite clubs in Atlanta! After not nearly enough sleep, I went to church Sunday morning with Chen and Christine, two of my roommates from the last two years. Then we grabbed brunch at I-hop! Mmm =D. After a long nap and some more hanging out at Jake's, my friend Michelle came for me and we had dinner and caught up for a while. While I was hanging out with Jake and his roommates Sunday night, I realized that the early flight to pittsburgh in the morning was sold out =/. So I made plans to go through Baltimore instead, but managed to miss my flight Monday morning =(. Only the first flight to Pittsburgh (or Baltimore) would've gotten me there early enough to catch the last bus to State College. So I ended up taking a late flight to Pittsburgh and having to stay there overnight with a relative (who I just met!), and then leaving on one of the Tueday morning buses. I didn't quite get to do an 8hr day, so I'll have to make it up. Despite my stressing out about it, it wasn't so bad having to spend almost 12 more hours in Atlanta. I got to hang out with Gail and Jake some more, and I got to see Maureen, and advisor and friend in the College of Computing who was actually the one who recommended the DMP program to me! Anyway, I think I managed to do a lot in my weekend!