Showing posts with label columbus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label columbus. Show all posts

Oct 29, 2014

Every Day Life

Hi guys! It's been forever, I'm so sorry. I accidentally broke my laptop-charger and had to order a new one, which is why I haven't been able to use my laptop for three weeks and why I haven't updated in so long and which is my this will be such a long post with lots and lots of pictures :)

The last few weeks have been stuffed: I'm always busy doing something.

We have had lots of field hockey related things to do and are nearing the end of season. We have had practice four times a week, have had lifting once a week and have had about two games a week. Usually, we get dinner just before or after practice with the team. We've been doing great as a team: we're entering the NCAA tournament in about a week, and will be playing our first tournament game against Kenyon. Luckily, I'm getting more and more used to the hour-long bus rides to the games. The team has had multiple get togethers with the fans (family and friends;) and often hangs out and goes out together: we are, after all, a big group of friends.

My courses have been fine and I'm glad that the midterms are over. I only have 12 hours of classes a week, but that doesn't mean that I'm not busy: every hour of class will leave you with two hours of homework. I'm big on procrastinating, and am making a bad habit out of taking naps in between classes and practice, so I often end up doing my homework until after midnight. This is probably the reason that I nap so often.

One of the things that I love most about Wittenberg is that there is always something to do. These past few weeks I've been to comedians, have watched many sports games, have had pizza-tastings and have witnessed many activities, such as the zombie-games in my own dorm. I especially love watching sports games: the sports atmosphere in America is amazing and it's fun to do with friends. Today, for example, was Alex (another international) his last soccer game for Wittenberg. Obviously a lot of internationals went to the game together. It was fun cheering the team on, eating snacks and freaking the other audience members out by speaking in different languages.

Last week, we had a four-day break better known as fall break. I really needed the break and it was great to leave campus for a bit. I spent the first day having a game, doing some grocery shopping and going out. Since most people (except for some of the athletes and internationals) left campus to visit their families and friends, campus was kind of empty and there weren't a lot of parties. The soccer team and the field hockey team (what was left of it that is) teamed up and had a party together, which was lots of fun. Just like most parties I hung out a bit and played some drinking games. And I once again ended up streaking…

The second day, I spent with Sarah and Sam, two of my friends. We went to Easton, a shopping area in Colombus, and had lots of fun. We all ended up buying a lot of new clothes, we ended up going to the movies (we went to Guardians of the Galaxy, which I found a pretty funny movie) and we ended up doing some more shopping in Springfield, after which we had dinner at Chipotle. I tend to go to Chipotles a lot…

I spent the third day with Sally, my host family. We went to The Greens, a shopping area closer to Springfield, and did some clothes-shopping there. I had my first frozen yoghurt and I can promise you that I'm getting more this year. After shopping at The Greens, we went to Columbus and did some shopping at stores like Target, which has become my favorite store. Dinner was amazing: we went to this steak-house that had better food than I had ever expected to eat in a not-overpriced American restaurant. 

The last day of fall break, the team had practice again. I ended up spending the day doing homework, playing field hockey and sleeping.

This weekend was homecoming weekend. Campus was unbelievably full - alumnus and their families, friends and families of current students and townies (people from Springfield who have nothing to do with Wittenberg) were everywhere. We had our homecoming game (a Football game), which we won, there were even more events than usually and there were even more parties than usually. I wasn't allowed to drink (we're in dry-season at the moment because we're entering the tournament, which means that we aren't allowed to drink any alcohol) but had a blast anyways: I think I've been to at least five different parties, and each one of them was fun.

I've been talking to my family on Skype at least once a week and I do miss them a lot. They are great though and always know how to crack me up. I'm glad that all is well back home. My dad has been helping me choosing my subjects for next semester (I'm planning on doing community service, following psychology, microbiology and calculus) and is helping me make a plan for next year. I didn't realize that I already had to start thinking about this: time flies! I feel like I only arrived yesterday, but I'm already at one fourth of my year. Time really goes fast when you're having a great time.


Dinner with the team

Family gathering with the team

Classroom session with the team

A bus ride to a game - I usually end up spending the entire time chatting, napping, listening to music and playing games on my phone

Getting ready for a game!

Getting ready for our second game against Earlham - it's save to say that we spent most of the time doing things that are not related to field hockey. At all. 

Studying at Post with some friends

What my desk usually looks like

The sororities and fraternities are going through the informal process of getting new members at the moment, and are having lots of charity events. Posters of these events can be found anywhere on campus.

Homecoming weekend!

One of the homecoming parties - this one was in the blue house, also known as the Fiji's house (a fraternity)

The international picnic! Internationals from all years and their host families got together and had a picnic near a lake. I chatted with many internationals, some that I knew before and some that I met that very day, we played frisbee, soccer and ate great food. Even though it was really cold, I had a great day.

Squirrels - they're everywhere.

Alex his last soccer game for Wittenberg! 

A lot of the internationals came to Alex his game to cheer him on for the last time. We lost, but had lots of fun anyways.

I for some reason eat a lot of Chipotle at the moment.

I love you mom and dad :)

So… This week, I held a snake for the first time. Honestly it was great - Carl was cute, soft and cute.

Aug 14, 2014

Columbus - Day 3 & 4 + Tanger Outlet

On day 3 in Columbus, my mom had a lot of work to do and the hotel room still smelled like smoke. This is why Julie and I spent hours exploring the gym, pool and supermarket. The gym and pool were empty, so we used all the space we could get to do… nothing really. After a couple of hours we got bored and went to a Wholefoods Supermarket, a biological supermarket, to get our lunch. 

After our lunch, my mom was done working and we decided to pay Easton another visit. We went to a candy store and some clothes stores, but the candy store was definitely the coolest. Because we went to Easton before, we didn't spent too long there. We went to my all time favorite American restaurant Steak 'n Shake and decided to go to bed early.

We spent most of our fourth day in Columbus in the Columbus Museum of Art, an amazing museum with lots of cool do-it-yourself's (we made some art pieces ourselves), interactive art pieces and paintings. Mom even got dressed up. The nice lady that gave us our tickets heard about me going to Wittenberg University and got me a host family while we were in the museum, how sweet!

When we had seen all of the museum, we went from one big store (Five Below) to another big store (Target) to get some presents for the family and to get some last things for my dorm room, which will be my room in two days!

On Wednesday, it was time to go to Springfield. We went to the Tanger Outlet on the way to Springfield (not really on the way, but it was close enough) and spent hours in many stores, which resulted in buying a lot of new jeans, shirts, jackets, etc. for not only ourselves, but for my dad, brother and sister as well. After a lot of puzzling we were able to get everything in the car. We can't deny looking (and acting) a bit like shopaholics.


Our hotel room in Columbus

The Candy Factory in Easton

Steak 'n Shake - Best milkshakes ever

Mom dresses up nicely in The museum of Art in Columbus

The museum of Art in Columbus

We might've went overboard with the shopping..

Aug 11, 2014

Columbus - Day 1 & 2

After waking up at the Homewood Suites hotel in Columbus, the three of us went shopping in Easton, a shopping area in Columbus. We spent hours in the Barnes & Noble, Abercrombie & Fitch, Forever XXI, Victoria Secret and H&M and went home with many bags. It's safe to say that we acted a bit like shopaholics going on a shop therapy session. Since the three of us are not too impressed by the American kitchen, we decided to skip dinner.

The second day in Columbus we were planning to rent bicycles and see a bit more of downtown Columbus. We had brunch at a cute American cafe and enthusiastically planned our route. Sadly, the rental company didn't accept European credit cards. We were quite disappointed but decided to drive our route by car.

Our first (and last) stop on the route was the COSI Science Center/ museum. We were planning on visiting COSI for two hours tops, but ended up spending most of our day here. We spend hours in this interactive center, doing tests, playing games and learning more about many different subjects such as energy, the ocean etc.

When we had seen most of the museum, it was time to go shopping for my dorm room. We went to a Walmart Supercenter and came home with almost two full shopping carts filled with pillows, lamps, school supplies, shampoos and many other items. 

When we arrived back at our hotel, it was already past 11 PM. We were pretty hungry, so we decided to make some sausage rolls. The rolls were in the oven for a couple of minutes, when suddenly one roll started to smoke really badly (there wasn't a fire). Before we realized what was happening, the smoke alarm went off and the hotel was evacuated. After a nice conversation with three reallyyyy big firefighters, the hotel guests were able to go back to their room. We decided we didn't feel like eating sausage rolls anymore and had some lemonade instead.


The Victoria Secret in Easton

We did some shopping, yeah..

COSI

COSI

COSI