Graduation trip to Europe!!!

Europe is an interesting place. The people there speak English, haltingly, but they speak a ton of other languages too. It's a little confusing at times. Although... travel within Europe is wonderfully convenient. It's like traveling within the US, there's no need for customs check or passports or any of that sort.

First stop - Blois, France

My parents and I flew separately (they were on SIA and I was on United 'cause I used my mileage points and basically paid only 5bucks to fly from NYC to Frankfurt, Germany) and they got there before me, so by the time I got my luggage and stuff, they were waiting for me. We found this place at the airport to store our suitcases for 5 euro per suitcase per day, so we stored two huge ones and that took a tremendous load off our shoulders. Now we were left with one huge suitcase and three tiny ones. Not ideal, but not bad. Then we flew Air France to Paris, France, and drove like 3 hours to get to a quaint little town called Blois... in the countryside... in the middle of nowhere. It was total deja vu. I could've been in Upland, Indiana because the place was surrounded by fields and fields. Maybe not CORNfields, but fields nonetheless. But it didn't bother me, because I was in FRANCE!!!!! First time there!!!

We were tired after all that driving, so we had dinner at the hotel and went to bed. The room was SO uniquely decorated. It was not like a normal hotel room. It was modern, the walls were painted red, black, and white, the furniture was so cool, and there was a little winding staircase that led to a bedroom upstairs. I regret not taking a picture of it, it was so cool. Oh well.

So the next few days we went to visit chateaus and wineries, and it was pretty cool. The chateaus were amazing. We went to three in all, and they were HUGE and surrounded with TONS of land. probably as big as singapore, no kidding. Okay, maybe exaggerating, but they really were enormous. Some of them were surrounded by lakes and forests, and it took us a while to get around the entire estate. The architecture was gorgeous too, and the rooms inside the chateaus were all so quaint and charming.

Although I wouldn't want to live in a chateau (some descendants of royalty still lived there), they're too huge and I wouldn't know what to do with all that space. Plus I would never be able to find anyone ever. It would be like playing hide and seek all the time. And some of the rooms were a little scary, especially those covered with armors and moose heads and stuffed real foxes. But they were cool to visit.

The wineries were fun too, we got to see how wine was processed and bottled, and then we got to try some champagne and wine. It tasted alright. I prefer sweet wines. And so I took lots of pictures of the wine while my mom drank all my champagne/wine and she got a little tipsy. haha. It was infinitely amusing, seeing her slap happy and laughing at everything and claiming she was a little giddy - from like 4 tiny cups of wine. haha.

On a side note, EVERYTHING in France/Germany/Europe in general is CRAZY EXPENSIVE.Wine/beer/alcohol in general is actually CHEAPER than water. Isn't that ridiculous? That's why my parents drank wine in France and beer in Germany at every meal because it was cheaper than my Evian water. I couldn't deal with drinking alcohol while eating so I had to get water. And there's no such thing as tap water there. It must be Evian water in restaurants, and it's like freaking 5 euro, which is like about 9SGD. Just got water!!! Ridiculous. Also, I don't know if we just picked the wrong restaurants or the wrong dishes, but I didn't really like French food that much. They eat a lot of baguettes with cheese/pate (dip made out of pork/goose/other things), and that was pretty good, except the bread was always ROCK HARD. I think French people must have very strong teeth because mine were crying out in pain whenever I bit into a piece of bread. But I must admit, their baguettes (when fresh and piping hot from the oven) are DELICIOUS. Don't even need to eat it with butter or anything. Just by itself, it was SO GOOD. We polished off baguette after baguette.

But other than that... they had a lot of raw stuff. Like when my mom ordered tartare and realized (after it was served) that tartare means raw meat, like raw beef and fish. She looked at it, screamed, and sent it back immediately. It was funny. I laughed. But then I ordered a fish salad (they only had fish salads. who doesn't have a normal chicken caesar salad???), and it came with anchovies and some raw fish. Ew. I just ate the veggies and tried not to gag when they came in contact with the raw fish.
And I had stomachaches a couple times, after eating the food. Don't know why. Must be all that contact with the raw stuff!!! And their desserts were super duper sweet. And their portions were super duper huge. It's amazing not everyone is obese like in America. I thought French food was served in tiny portions but I guess they're becoming Americanized too.

Second stop - Paris, France

After 3 days in Blois, we drove 3 hours back to the city of Paris!!!! It was beautiful, all the architecture of the buildings were incredible. I wish Singapore had gorgeous buildings like that, but when I mentioned that to my dad, he said no one knows how to construct buildings like that anymore. I guess they all died a long time ago and everyone wants modern buildings now. Sad. Old buildings are really quite precious. So we stayed 2 streets away from Champs d'Elysees, the famous avenue in Paris that is filled with brand name shops and restaurants.

Our hotel was pretty swanky - it was the Renaissance hotel, which is affiliated with Marriott, which is where we stayed the entire trip because we used our Marriott points. And we were right by the Arc du Triomphe, a famous landmark in Paris, which is surrounded by a roundabout. Now, normal roundabouts (a circle with many exits for cars to choose from) are small and can probably fit about 2 cars and they're quite orderly. But this one, ohhhhh boy. It was like MASS CHAOS. It was wide enough to squeeze about 8 cars in the entire lane, and there were no lines separating any lanes, so everyone was just squeezing their way in, weaving in and out of the non-existent lanes, and then randomly shooting out of their lane and into the exit without warning. It's amazing there aren't traffic accidents there every second of every day. French drivers must have very fast reaction times. Mom nearly had a heart attack screaming at my dad to 'watch out for all the cars' and 'drive slower' and 'EXIT!! THERE!! NO, NOT THIS ONE, THE NEXT ONE!! OKAY NOW!!'

So we visited a couple famous places in Paris. The Eiffel Tower was one of them, of course. How could we not? It was pretty disappointing in the day, looked like a piece of scrap metal. But when it was all lit up at night, it was the prettiest sight, especially when the lights started blinking and going crazy every half an hour. We took the elevator to the top and the view of the city was incredible. It was freezing cold though, so we didn't stay long. We took a tour bus that allowed us to hop on and hop off anytime, so we toured the city that way.

Went to the Louvre, it was an incredibly huge museum, to the Notre Dame Cathedral, which, in my opinion, was an example of commercialized religion. They were having mass when we were visiting, and it was like they were on display for our entertainment. While the priest was speaking, visitors were walking up and down the outside aisles, taking pictures with flash, pointing at people, whispering loudly... It couldn't be any more distracting. And then there were machines for you to put 5euro in and get some kind of souvenir postcard or coin. Who does that in churches??? I don't understand how people can go there regularly as members.

 

So anyway, the weather there was a little chilly, but still alright. For me, at least. My parents (especially mom) were shivering like none other. I guess Indiana's crazy cold weather has trained me well indeed. They both ended up wearing my jackets on top of theirs while I wore a three-quarter sleeved jacket. haha.

We went to Galleries Lafayette, a huge brand name mall, but didn't buy anything because everything was just so expensive. Europe is totally NOT a place to shop. It's good just for sightseeing. Even when we went to the outlet mall, everything was cheaper, but still not cheap. It's ridiculous. People there must make a lot of money!

Third Stop - Berlin, Germany

So from Paris, we flew to Berlin, which was incredibly rich in history and wonderfully fascinating. After a while, the design of the buildings gets a little repetitive. I think most of the buildings look alike in Europe, at least the places I've been to (Greece, Italy, France, Germany). They're old and sometimes gothic and they have intricate carvings. But in Berlin it was a little different. Because it was badly damaged by the war, a ton of buildings were destroyed, and so now they have old buildings next to new, modern ones, and it looks a little weird.

Our cab driver who took us from the airport to the hotel was a middle-aged woman, and she totally gave us a summary of Berlin's history and pointed out all the major landmarks. PLUS she was like 15 years old when the war happened, and so she remembered everything. She even played by the Berlin wall as a teen. Isn't that so cool??? So anyway the wall's obviously torn down now, but there's little markings all over Berlin to show where the wall used to be, and which side was East Berlin and which side was West. It was incredibly cool to be there and see all that in person because I learned about the war and the Berlin wall in my JC history class. We saw a part of the wall that was left standing, and the holes that were in it from people from the East trying to escape, we read about the history of the wall and how tons of people escaped successfully but many others died in their attempt.

We also took the tour bus around, and so we saw the huge glass windowed Parliament House, the Jewish museum, the Jewish memorial, more monuments, and shopping places.

Our other cab driver who took us from the restaurant to the hotel was so cute. He was an elderly man who looked about 80 but turned out to be only 60! And he was SUCH a world traveler. He'd been to every single continent in the world (except for Antarctica), and he'd even been to Singapore a couple of times in his youth! It never ceases to amaze me when I meet people who've been to Singapore. It's just that Singapore is SUCH a tiny little DOT on the map, I marvel at how people even KNOW where it is!!

Oh and German food... is incredible. I love it. They have tons of potatoes, enough said. I love potatoes. Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, sliced potatoes, boiled potatoes, fried potatoes, ALL KINDS! haha. My dad went nuts and ordered pork knuckle at every restaurant we went to. It was pretty good...tasted like fried chicken. haha. And needless to say, we tried all kinds of german beer, and I don't normally like beer, but there was this one, called Dunkles Radler, at the famous beer restaurant in Munich called Hofbrauhaus... it was SO GOOD. I've never drank so much beer in my life. It came in this HUGE mug that I couldn't lift with one hand, and all 3 of us shared it. I couldn't stop drinking it, it tasted so good. Didn't even taste like regular beer. That's probably why I liked it. haha.

The people in Germany were so friendly and warm, much nicer than the French. Sometimes French people pretend they don't know English, and even if they do, they just keep speaking French to you as if you understand. I guess they're kind of snobby. But German people are so loud and boisterous and happy. I like them. I like the way German and French sound... the languages are just so cool. I wish I knew how to speak German/French. I'm glad their written language is in the English alphabet though. It helped us to kind of decipher certain words that sounded similar to English words. German words are CRAZY long though. It's like we'd be trying to figure out how to get to some particular street in Germany, and the street would be called something like Frastrandesbergstein. And so by the time we got to the last part of the word, we'd forget the first part. So to save time (and to keep ourselves from going crazy), we just memorized the first 5 letters to find the street. haha.

Fourth stop - Munich, Germany

Munich was alright, the day we spent there it rained all day. And not just sprinkles of rain, it was POURING like never before. So it kind of ruined the mood, but oh well. We went to Marianplatz and saw some more cool architecture, got a view of the city from above, and decided to leave before we got drenched. We met this really cute old chinese couple from Beijing at the Hofbrauhaus place... they were the sweetest little thing! The little old man was happily and slowly enjoying his pork knuckle, taking tiny bites and then smiling and raising his little camera on his little tripod and taking videos of the band performing. The little old woman was happily enjoying the pork knuckle too, and in between bites she would smile at the little old man and get up to help him take a closer video of the band. And then they would continue eating and smiling and clapping. It was the cutest thing ever. My dad and I laughed so hard at their cuteness and I tried to take a photo of them, but it was wobbly because I burst out laughing.

We also visited the Dachau concentration camp half an hour away from the city in Munich, and it was pretty intense. There were tons of people there even though it was raining, and the camp was HUGE! It housed over 6000 people I think, and there was a huge empty spacious courtyard for the prisoners to assemble for rollcall, where they would be counted and sometimes made to stand for hours. We also saw their living quarters, which had tiny beds and were really cold. I bet winters must be horribly harsh. There was a huge museum in place of where the prisoners used to live, and it had all kinds of pictures, facts, and videos about the camp and the war, from how it started to how Hitler took control to the awful things prisoners had to endure. The thing that stood out the most to me was how the prisoners were treated like they weren't human. Some of them were human experiments for SICK 'doctors' who used their bodies in the name of science. They took all kinds of people, especially healthy ones, and performed experimental surgeries on them. HOW SICK IS THAT?!?!? I almost fainted reading about it.

And then some of them went through other experiments like the Malaria experiment, where the guards attached boxes filled with malaria-infested mosquitoes to the prisoners' legs, and then tested them for malaria cures and all that. I couldn't read it all. It was too grotesque and inhumane. And there were all kinds of prisoners in the camp - it was one of the largest and longest-lasting camp during the war. It really was sad. I don't know how humans can commit such crimes against other humans. We didn't get a chance to walk through the entire site because it started raining super heavily and we only had one umbrella. Oh well. It was an interesting experience anyway.

We went to the BMW exhibition (I know, random, but it was indoors and away from the rain), and saw all kinds of cool cars and motorcycles. And then we went back to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner. It was good. I love german food so much.

So then the next day, when we were about to leave Munich, the sun finally decided to shine. So we walked around for a bit, then we embarked on a 5-hour-turned-8-hour drive to Frankfurt. My parents, in their attempt to be the smarty-pants, decided NOT to follow the GPS and try to get to Frankfurt on their own with a TINY MAP. Who does that?!?!?!? What is the GPS for, if not to help you get to your destination?!?!?! So of course we ended up straying from the path and getting lost and winding up in the woods an hour away from the highway!! They claimed the highway had a traffic jam. I say it was just an excuse. But oh well. I slept most of the time anyway. And we got to see little quaint German towns, so it wasn't so bad. We finally got to Frankfurt at 9pm and we were pretty much exhausted so we had dinner at the hotel, saw the view of the city from the swimming pool, and went to bed.

And the next day we flew home. Thank God for wonderful SIA, which allowed us to check in 5 bags altogether, and 3 of them overweight, with no extra charge. I love SIA. Not like picky UNITED/DELTA/EVERY OTHER AIRLINE IN THE WORLD! And I got to watch 'Shutter Island,' 'Valentine's Day,' 'How to Train Your Dragon,' 'Alice in Wonderland,' and 'Tooth Fairy.' Didn't sleep much, maybe half an hour, but it was so worth it.

And now I'm totally experiencing jet lag because it's 6.30am and I'm wide awake. Great.

I am a college graduate

Ruwe, me, claire, and sungah. Friends since international orientation freshman year.


The Daudts and my parents. So grateful for all the things they've done for me; they've taken care of me these past four years.


Sungah, my parents, and me after graduation with our flowers.


I graduated with magna cum laude honors! (3.7 or more GPA)


Emily, me, katie, hannah, and sungah. Seniors from First West Olson :)

Wow. Feels so weird to be saying that. I don't think it's fully sunk in yet.

So... finals week was crazy. In between attempting to study for my 2 finals, packing, cleaning my room, donating 3/4 of the stuff I own, selling clothes to a thrift store and making $150, spending time with friends... time really flew by.
Finals turned out to be super easy after all, even though I hardly studied. So I have As in all my classes and I graduated with a 3.76/4.0 GPA! I think school in America is really easy. Especially compared to school in Singapore. I don't even know how people can get anything below a B here. It's ridiculous.

So on Tuesday we had a wing meeting, because people were getting their stuff stolen left and right. Cash, debit cards, phones, even computers. It was kind of scary. I guess this type of thing is normal as the school year comes to an end, because everyone's moving out and it's chaotic and anyone can just come into the dorm and steal whatever they want. But thank God my stuff was fine, even though I didn't lock my room door.

Went to the Senior Scoop after that to get free ice cream, listen to Habecker (president of the college) talk, and receive our caps and gowns for graduation. And of course we immediately went back to try them. haha. Those gowns are HUGE. But it's exciting. I've never worn a graduation gown and cap before!

And then we went to our last study break ever... at the Dining Commons. Ate way too much sugar and chocolate and chips, got on a sugar high. My hands were literally shaking. And I was so jittery. We had to find a way to let all that energy out... so we went to sungah's apartment and had a dance party. We videoed it cause it's our last dance party together... ever :(

Wednesday claire and I went to Plato's closet to sell our old clothes, books, accessories, shoes, everything. So glad I did cause I have WAY too much stuff to bring everything back, and it's insanely expensive to ship things overseas. 220USD for a mere 20 pounds! But I ended up shipping my guitar back cause it's too expensive to give away and I love it too much to leave it behind. But everything else, I gave away. Pillows, blankets, laundry baskets, drawers, storage containers, printer, hairdryer, stationery, everything. My friends now love me a whole lot more. haha.

I got super stressed while packing and so we ended up going to Indy as our last time together. It was pretty chill... we just made friends at the bar and met people who knew people from Taylor. I have to say I'm not going to miss all this sneaking around and secret drinking on campus. Although it's been pretty fun and thrilling to hide stuff and drink it in places like the Taylor lake, the forest, the environmental science building, the library, the geek room, the playground, and even the prayer chapel. haha. I think I'm kind of done with this whole partying thing though. I need to give my poor liver a vacation. I don't think I can ever be an alcoholic. Just the thought of drinking vodka makes me feel sick.

Thursday I met up with emily, who graduated in january and came back for graduation!! I missed her so much and it was so good to see her again :) We both realized we were thinking of teaching English in Korea in the fall!! So hopefully things work out and we can go there together!! People keep asking me what my plans are, I always say I have no idea. haha. I only know I'm going to Paris, Munich, and Berlin for 2 weeks with my parents, then back to Singapore for 2 weeks, then to Perth, Australia.... then who knows where I'll end up after that. We'll see :)

We also had our last ever noodle party... all these 'last' things... so nostalgic. But it was a good time just hanging out and spending time with each other eating asian food :) there was supposedly a huge party going on in one of the off-campus houses, but I have to say, I wasn't tempted at all to go. I'd rather spend the last day with my good friends than getting wasted with a bunch of strangers. I'll really miss some of these people... sam, ruben, mark, emily, sung ah, megan, claire...

I feel like I didn't get to say goodbye to several people, which sucked. But I guess maybe, hopefully, we'll get to meet up sometime in the future, when we're making enough money to go visit each other. It just sucks that everyone is splitting up and going their own way after graduation. I wish we had more time together.

Friday was really busy. We had our Media Communication majors senior brunch... the professors made delicious food and we shared our plans for after graduation... and we gave them a video of our 'thank yous'. it was pretty sweet.
Then I went back to my room and found my PARENTS WAITING FOR ME!!!! It was so good to see them again. life comes full circle. They came for my freshman orientation, and now they're here for my senior graduation. FOUR YEARS. it's ridiculous. So we cleaned up my room, donated a bunch more stuff, packed everything I ever owned into two tiny suitcases, closed my bank account, terminated my phone line, and checked out of the dorm. Goodbye Olson Hall, it's been a wonderful three years :)

Then we went to the DC for a final time, for a banquet. They actually had decent food there, which surprised me. Met a couple of my friends' parents, which was interesting. It's funny how kids are so much like their parents. Then we went to the chapel one final time for worship, a senior slideshow, senior testimonies, and one last address. Then I stayed over at sungah's apartment and we had a little ramen/nail painting party.

Saturday was THE DAY. The day we graduate. Felt so surreal. We woke up early, got ready, put our caps and gowns on, and headed to the KSAC fieldhouse for the ceremony. It was a mix of emotions, seeing all my friends in their caps and gowns, taking pictures, getting all excited and yet nostalgic at the same time... we processed into the fieldhouse and walked through the tunnel of professors. it was so cool to see all my professor and hear them say how proud they were of me. The ceremony itself was rather long... we had our senior class president speak, a testimony from a senior, an address by Dr. Habecker, our president, a song by Taylor Sounds, another address by our graduation speaker Gloria Gaither, this famous woman who wrote tons of Christian hymns, and then finally we walked across the stage, shook Dr. Habecker's hand, got our diploma/towel/bible, and it was over. It felt so good to walk across the stage and hear friends cheering for me. My 1 second of fame. haha. And then I saw my professors at the end, as well as my dad, who made me pose for a picture.

After the ceremony, we all headed outside, where it was total chaos. I found some friends and took pictures with them. My parents gave me a bouquet of roses and a little graduation teddy bear, which was cute. I didn't get to see some people because it was so crazy, but oh well. We went over to the MuKappa reception and said goodbye to more people... I almost cried a few times, but I was trying to hold it in because I didn't want to ruin the pictures. haha. Then we went over to sungah's apartment and said more goodbyes. I totally cried buckets when saying bye to sungah. We wept together. haha. I love that girl. I will miss her so much. Said bye to susan campbell and mark, who came over. also to megan, who cried a lot too. her dad kept saying she was having allergies. haha. finally left with my parents to their hotel in Muncie. Was so tired... it was just an overall tiring day of overwhelming emotions.

Finals

I will be a college graduate SOON!!!

I had no final exams today. But I have two tomorrow. And it's 11pm. And I haven't started studying. One of the finals has a 30-page study guide. And I have no motivation to look at it. I did laundry, I went to sell my books back to the bookstore (and made 60bucks), I went to dinner, I went to the library to socialize, I watched Grey's Anatomy and The Vampire Diaries, I went to Starbucks with friends, I went out to the lounge for a cookies and coffee study break, and now I'm blogging. What a great waste of the entire day. I had a Caramel Light Frappuccino, and I think my hands are shaking now because my body's not used to coffee. This is probably the third cup of coffee I've had... in my entire life.

I can't think. I can't do anything. I just want to get the finals OVER WITH. 10am Tuesday morning can't come fast enough. I even changed my Wednesday final to Tuesday at 11am so I could be done by Tuesday at noon. That means I have to hurry through the first final for Web Design, get it done within half an hour, rush to the other final for Contemporary Christian Belief, and get it done. OMG I CANT WAIT. I don't even care if I'm prepared for them or not. I have an A+ in Web Design and 100% in Contemp. Not to brag, but I'm pretty sure my grades will be good no matter what I get for the finals.

I WILL BE DONE WITH COLLEGE TOMORROW AT NOON!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, Ruben, Sungah and I took a trip into the woods behind Bergwall dorm today after dinner to see his artwork for class. It was rainy and muddy and I shrieked everytime my foot squished in the mud. But it was an adventure, and we took pics to document it. haha. He also got poison ivy from god knows where (probably from being out in the woods building his tent thingy), and he tried to spread it to sungah and I by touching us. So we got paranoid and took a shower. I really hope I don't get it. Now I feel itchy all over. But I'm sure it's all in my head. At least I hope so. If I get it during graduation I will KILL HIM!!!


Ruben and his tent artwork (wayyy in the background) made out of sticks and things of nature.


Me and Sungah, being the good friends we are, braved the rain and mud to see and appreciate his work.

Last week of college classes

Megan, me, and Ruben. love them both!


Playing foosball in the Sammy basement while waiting for the surprise party to start


Awesome people :)


Salute to nakhoon, the korean guy who's leaving for the military


RUBEN! I'm seriously going to miss this kid SO much. he's pretty much awesome.


At campus safety waiting to go to Flattop. International students run on international time, as usual.


My two asian boys. i will miss them!!!


Seniors at Flattop.


International students at Flattop

This week's been a mixture of excitement, nerves, and nostalgia. I went to all my classes for the last time. The feeling was a little weird, knowing I'll never walk into a class here at Taylor in Upland, Indiana, ever again. There was joy, yes, but also sadness at the thought of leaving all these wonderful people who have been a huge part of my life for the past four years. A few months ago, graduation couldn't come fast enough. Now, it can't come slow enough. It's just hard trying to juggle finals and packing all my stuff and treasuring every waking moment (haven't gotten much sleep) with all the people I love.

Wednesday was my final theme presentation in my Performing Oral Literature class. My theme was Sisterhood, and I did a narration from the movie 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,' the song 'Still on Your Side' by BBMak, and an excerpt from 'Little Women' the play. It went pretty well, I think. By now I have no nerves getting up and performing in front of the class. I know I'm not the best performer, but it's actually kind of fun, this acting stuff.
We went to Indy at night... not the best idea. Ended up sleeping in the car and being super tired the next day.

Thursday I went shopping in Indy with claire... didn't really get much, because I already have WAY too much stuff to bring home. I honestly do not know how I'm going to fit everything I've owned this past four years into two tiny suitcases to bring home. I think there will be a lot of donating going on this coming week. I sold a bunch of clothes to this store called Plato's Closet, and they gave me $55 in return! It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.
Then AAA (Asian Awareness Association) had our annual spring dinner in Muncie at Red Sun, this Chinese buffet. It wasn't great, but it was better than most disgusting greasy asian buffets here.

Got back to campus late, and was planning to head straight to bed, but then we had not one, but TWO tornado warnings, and so we all had to go out in the hallway and wait for the warning to be over. So annoying. I was awake for the first, so I went out, but the second one was after midnight, so I just ignored it and stayed in my bed, praying that the tornado wouldn't hit us if not I'd probably be dead. So thank God I'm still alive and kicking. During the first warning I had a good heart-to-heart chat with a good friend who's been drifting away from me the past couple weeks. We talked things out, shared our struggles, ended up crying over the phone, and I felt much better about everything. I guess it just took some understanding on both our parts. But I'm glad we were honest... didn't want to leave here without setting things straight between us. I've done so many things this semester I'm not proud of, and they've damaged some of my friendships, so I guess I have less than a week to make things up and get my priorities straight.

Friday was the last day of classes... EVER. Such a weird feeling. Don't know what to think.
It was also ISS (International Students' Society) Senior Night, so we dressed up, piled up into 3 vans, and headed to Flattop Grille in Fort Wayne. It was a good time just being with friends and eating way too much. We took pictures, talked about memories, got gifts (photo album and photo collage) from others, shared our plans for after graduation... good times.

Went back to campus and hung out for a while at a friend's apartment. Almost went to Indy, but glad I didn't, because we went to Sammy, one of the dorms, for a friend's farewell party. One of the korean guys was leaving next year to go to the korean military, so we threw a surprise party for him. We all hid in the game room in the basement and jumped out and shocked him when he came in. He was touched to the point of tears. It made me almost cry too. But it was such a fun time just hanging out, eating cake, playing foosball and frisbee, and talking.

And then we went to another friend's apartment after that and got thoroughly entertained by a bunch of drunk people talking their heads off. It's funny how different people have different reactions to alcohol. Some people cry, some people start sharing their life story, some people fall asleep, some people laugh nonstop, some people get violent, and some people can't stop talking. So fascinating.

Saturday Sungah and I went around campus with a friend and took pictures for memory's sake, because we realized we didn't have many pictures of us around campus. So that was fun. Then I worked on a web design project... I'm actually kind of getting the hang of doing HTML coding on Dreamweaver. Who would've thought?! And then we had a girls' night out to downtown Indy, but ended up at broad ripple, where we found new places to go to. It was fun... got to meet new people and stayed over at a friend's place.

Today we had our last MuKappa event...ever. SO SAD. Went to the Daudts' house for cookies, fellowship, and worship. I'm going to miss these cozy worship sessions at their house. Got to catch up with friends and talk about future plans and summer plans and everything. Good times.

Senior Reflection

This is my senior reflection for the senior show. We were required to write a story capturing our passions and aspirations, our 4 years of experience at Taylor, and our hopes and dreams and how we want to impact culture for the glory of God.

So here's what I came up with...

I love to write. It’s as simple as that. Writing allows me to express my thoughts and opinions about anything under the sun. The little joys of life inspire and motivate me to leave my own unique handprint on the world.

When I was young, I aspired to be a teacher so I could educate others and help shape their character and worldview. That dream fizzled out when I discovered the joys of playing the guitar and drums – I wanted to be a rock star. But after countless ‘jamming’ sessions that left my head pounding and my ears protesting, I came to the conclusion that I was not cut out for the grueling ‘rock ‘n roll’ lifestyle. So I decided to be a worship leader instead. That way, I could utilize my passion for music and still keep my hearing intact 30 years down the road.

I composed numerous songs and thought I was well on my way to fulfilling my purpose in life, when it hit me – I found greater pleasure in writing the songs than in performing them. That revelation set me on the path of writing, which opened up a whole new world filled with all kinds of possibilities.

My desire is to provide light-hearted entertainment through my words, as well as impact the lives of others by evoking emotion and provoking thought. I enjoy writing about my passions: entertainment, fashion, travel, culture, and food. I have worked for a diverse variety of companies, such as an online lifestyle magazine, a talent agency, a university newspaper, and a matchmaking agency. Each experience has been truly beneficial and eye opening. I wish to contribute to culture by crafting compelling stories that will speak profoundly to and leave a lasting impression on the hearts and minds of others.

My four years at Taylor have been an incredible rollercoaster ride of laughter and tears, convictions and doubts, successes and disappointments, and breakthroughs and setbacks. Every experience has taught me something new. I learned to step out of my comfort zone and reach out to a world in need. I found my own distinctive voice and style of writing. I came to appreciate the beauty of diversity. I built friendships with some of the most amazing people I have ever met.

Through the ups and downs of life, God is the one constant I can always depend on. To others, I may be just another writer, but I believe God has given me this gift so I may be a blessing to the world. I want to live my life in such a way that, at the end of the day, I can say I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.

Writing is my way of communicating to the world who I am, what I believe in, and what I want to achieve.

Dead Week

Pictures...


Carly and me. She's pretty dang awesome :)


ME AND MY TABLE AT THE SENIOR SHOW!!!!!!!!


AWWW I love my friends :)


The group of us at the David Choi concert. He was really, really short.

I think it's starting to hit me a little... that I'm leaving Taylor forever in less than 2 weeks. Kind of excited to never go to school again, but also kind of really sad to never see these people again. I wish we all didn't have to leave. But I guess things change, people change, life changes.

Anyway, Dead Week = A week of zero activities in preparation for finals week next week.
But that's a myth. Dead Week is NEVER dead. It's always FILLED with last minute tests, presentations, projects, events, and all sorts of nonsense. We think Dead Week actually means WE are dead due to excessive stress.

So this past weekend was crazy fun. I totally neglected all my homework, including my Senior Show (which was on Monday), in the name of fun :) We went to Indy on Friday and Saturday, but with a different group of people. Things were a little slow, maybe 'cause some of the universities have let out for summer, but it was still fun. Saw the usual 'loser crew' (old pervert men) there, so that was entertaining. Stayed over at a friend's apartment and got a shock when the parents came the next day.

Went to see Iron Man 2 on Sunday!! I love Iron Man, it's awesome, and the sequel lived up to expectations. Two hours full of action, adventure, explosions, and witty lines. Good times. Then we drove around at like 10 in the night trying to find some place to eat... and everything was closed, except Applebee's, so we went in. And they had a late night special - appetizers for $4! That made us happy. And then it was time to go back to Taylor and start doing homework.

I actually got some coffee from Starbucks (I NEVER drink coffee, EVER) because I was falling asleep and I needed to be up all night to work on my Senior Show. The last time I got coffee was many years ago, and it gave me a headache. But this time it actually tasted alright and it kept me up ALL NIGHT until 6am when I finally went to sleep. Wow. Coffee actually works wonders! But this isn't going to be a permanent fixture in my life - coffee is only for pulling all-nighters. So I finally started doing homework at 1am... putting together my works and writing my senior reflection. I freaked out a little because I had NO IDEA what to write for the reflection, but somehow it came to me thank God, and I managed to get it done and get 2 hours of sleep.

Anyway, the Senior Media Communication Show was on Monday, and I was printing out stuff and gluing the papers to cardboard and trying to make the cardboard stand up... all until the last minute. But everything worked out. TONS of people came to the show (it's a show displaying the works of all the Media Communication seniors), and all my friends came, which made me so very happy. And they were so proud of me, and I was so proud of myself... all my accomplishments in 4 years! Wow. Craziness. After that we had a Media Awards where they gave out school awards and state competition awards for works that people in the major did, and I got some 2nd place award from some Indiana press association for some feature news writing I did last year. Have no idea what it was, but that's cool :)

So glad the show is over and my portfolio is DONE! I have my life back now :) Not that I was doing much work on it before, but... it's nice to know I'm done with that.

Cinco de mayo

This week has been awesome so far. And the weekend's not even here yet.

Monday we watched 'Valentine's Day,' from a friend's downloaded copy of the movie, which was stupid, because it cut off before the ending so I guess I'll never get to see what happened in the end, even though my friend conveyed it to me. Somehow it's just different hearing about it and actually watching it. But it was pretty good, as far as romantic comedies go.

Tuesday we watched 'Blood Diamond,' for a friend's sociology project that I'm helping him with because I don't have homework and everyone else is swamped. Well actually I do have homework, I just don't particularly care about it. So I'm helping other people with theirs. haha.

Wednesday was CINCO DE MAYO!!!!! I've always wanted to go out and party during this Mexican holiday, but never got the chance to... until now! Usually the guys from Penthouse come around to the different dorms and do a keg stand (filled with root beer of course, no beer here at Taylor), which is pretty entertaining because they dress up in ridiculous outfits involving tight shorts, spandex, and lots of skin showing. And they yell and do crazy chants and dances. But three years of the same thing is boring.

So this year a bunch of us went to Indianapolis... and got crazy. Too much fun. Good thing I didn't have classes today because I wouldn't have made it to any of them. But yeah... I don't think I have much self-control when intoxicated. But then again, I do actually have a lot of self-control, compared to others. It's a weird mix. I think I might have broken one of the cardinal rules of friendship about guys, so... don't really know what to do about that. Blame it on the alcohol, I guess. At least we made some random friends and got free drinks. I feel kind of mean saying this, but, Indiana might possibly be the ugliest state in America, in every sense of the word. Not like I've been to every state, but just compared to the ones I've been to.

Tomorrow's the weekend, which means... more partying!! I've made so many more friends who like to party too, but I feel like I've also pissed off friends who don't condone this type of lifestyle. Oh well. Can't please everyone.

Live like we're dying

I think this song is so interesting, and so true. Life is so short and so unpredictable. We ought to live each day like we were dying. Then we would be so much more honest, vulnerable, open, and loving toward each other. Don't you think? I think if I had a few days left to live, I would fly home immediately and spend every waking moment with my family and friends. Doesn't even matter what we do... or what we eat. Some people say that if they were dying they would like their last meal to be ______. But I think when it comes down to it, nothing else matters except being with the ones you love. You could sit together in silence the entire time, and it would still be beautiful. 

Okay, I don't know why I went off on that tangent. Well I guess I do. I kind of miss my family and I'm really looking forward to seeing my parents because I really need someone to be accountable to. Also kind of why I'm taking a gap year. I need to deal with my struggles and get my priorities straight before I go off to live in NYC (if I ever do), corrupt capital of the world. Sometimes I worry about myself, I might seem stable and strong, but I'm so easily influenced, it's not even funny.

Anyway, this week has been pretty uneventful. At this point, I have given up on studies and my mind is totally off in summer mode. In class, I either sleep or chat with friends on my computer or space out. I don't know what's happening to me... usually I'm so hardworking and I do all the assignments way ahead of the deadline. But now, with just 2 weeks of classes left until I leave Taylor forever, academics just seem unimportant. They're pushed to the back of my mind, because all I want to do is spend time with people.

Somehow I feel like I will probably never see some of my friends here again, just because we're all on such different paths in life, and they'll probably end up all over the world. And that just makes me so nostalgic and sad, so I want to spend all the time I have left here with people. And not with my head buried in the books. Because relationships are ultimately more important to me than some class I will probably never remember 10 years from now. But thankfully the workload in my classes is dying off, so I don't have much to do, except finals, which I don't care about. I'm resigned to my GPA not going any higher than 3.8/4.0 anyway. I guess a 3.7 is just as good. Hopefully it gets me into graduate school a year from now in NYC. We'll see about that.

So I've been hanging out a lot with this one friend I've known since freshman year, but we've never been super close until now, when we've found out we both have a common interest - partying. And she's pretty crazy, so I've been learning a lot from her... about interesting things. haha. Too much information to go into detail.

But I think, even though I like to go out and have fun, there's three things I won't ever do: Drugs, smoking, and sex. Even though sometimes it's kind of hard because everyone else is doing it and I feel so pressured and people poke fun at me for being the 'party pooper' or whatever. And sometimes it's overwhelmingly tempting. But I know I'll regret it if I do any of those 3 things, and I don't even want to think about the consequences, so... I keep my ground as best as I can. But sometimes I'm afraid I'll give in, especially if all my good friends are doing it.

Tuesday we went shopping, and it was such a relief to get away from campus and go to the city. I didn't really buy much though, just necessities; I've been on a saving kick. I've been much less reckless with my money this year, maybe it's because I'm graduating and I have to start working sometime and I'm finally realizing money doesn't grow on trees. Plus my brothers want to go to med school, and that's expensive.

Friday we went to the play, called 'Crimes of the Heart,' which was actually pretty decent. Normally I fall asleep at Taylor plays because it just bores me, but this one I actually liked. Too bad we left early to go to Indianapolis, and... the night ended up being a little too crazy for my liking. I feel like people have been telling other people stories about me. My reputation is probably going down the drain, but oh well, in 2 weeks I won't have to deal with this anymore. It's so weird, because at a state school, this would be totally normal. But just because this is conservative Taylor, it's like a huge deal.

My website!

I HAVE A WEBSITE!!!!!!! FOR MY PORTFOLIO!!!!!!!

www.benitaleeportfolio.com

I made it in DreamWeaver and bought the domain name (someone already bought benitalee.com and filled it with pictures. lame) and got a friend to host it and TA-DA! I have a real live website! coolness. the site itself isn't that great, its just a basic layout, but hey. it's a huge accomplishment for technology-dumb me. haha. Had to pay about $16 for the domain name for 2 years, but that's pretty alright.

Party people... and life goals

FUN FUN FUN!! I'm having so much fun in school, now that I've found like-minded party people here WITH CARS!!! Why didn't I meet them sooner??? Will have to party every weekend until graduation - 3 more weeks! Ridiculous. I guess people here aren't that uptight after all.

We went to Indianapolis this past weekend, twice in a row. Indiana is so cheap compared to everywhere else like NYC or LA. Cover charge? $5 measly dollars, or even free! Nothing compared to LA where it's like at least $20! Although it wasn't as fun as LA or NYC, it was still decent. The people we went with were pretty fun and crazy :)
I think it's funny how we're all buddy-buddy in the club, and then when we see each other around campus, we're like practically strangers, almost too ashamed to even say hi for fear of people asking how we know each other. Only at Taylor do people have to do this (and secretly buy alcohol)! But it's okay. THREE MORE WEEKS!!!!! (plus finals week)

Saturday was a bit awkward initially, because my friend invited this guy who likes me (seriously, I should just move to Africa and find a husband. why do black guys always like me???!), but i didn't really like him more than just a friend, so I didn't really know what to do. But in the end it was pretty fun 'cause he was cool.

Okay, anyway. BIG NEWS! I have some semblance of a plan for my life...............

I AM APPLYING TO TEACH ENGLISH IN KOREA/JAPAN/HONGKONG!!!!!

Can you imagine me teaching.... anything? Don't laugh, I can't either. I feel like I would give all the kids 'A' just because they're cute. haha. And I don't even have a teaching certificate/degree! But apparently they're so desperate for English native speakers they'll take anyone with a bachelor's degree in anything who's a US citizen, which is ME! So yeah. I will apply and wait anxiously. It's not like I'm giving up on my dream to go to NYC, I'm just taking a gap year. This concept of a gap year is increasingly popular among Americans, especially with the crappy economy now. So I take one year off between college and work, go do something good with my life, discover myself, make money, save money, and then move to NYC next year! Sounds good huh.

Have no idea if it's what God wants for me, but I figure He'll open/close the door. So if I get a job teaching English, I'm thinking He wants me to go. SO EXCITED! Although I wish I spoke Korean/Japanese/Cantonese. It will be a challenge, but it's exciting. We'll see what happens :)

1 month to graduation

EXACTLY. Time really does fly. I can't believe I'm actually graduating from college IN A MONTH! It's ridiculous. I'm kind of but also not really ready to be an independent adult living in the big bad world out there. This semester I've learned that the world is really big. And full of bad things and bad people. Even in a little Christian college like Taylor, sketchy stuff abounds. The things I've seen/heard about Taylor people has made me rather cynical of Christians in general. I guess we really are hypocrites. We go to church on Sunday and pretend to worship God and be holy and everything, and then during the week we get drunk and have free sex and do whatever we want. That's right, I said it. The thing that bugs me now is, doesn't anyone value their virginity anymore???? Seriously. I think there must be something wrong with me. Despite all the partying, I don't struggle with controlling myself when it comes to getting physical with guys. And I feel like everyone else does... except me. Maybe God really wants me to be a nun. Sigh.

Okay anyway, I haven't gotten much sleep since getting back from spring break; having Cartoon around is like a 24/7 party. haha. We went to the Reject Show, a Taylor performance where people can showcase whatever talents they have - dancing, singing, acting, doing lame stuff. It was pretty entertaining, especially watching a bunch of guys in tracksuits dancing to some kid song called 'Yummy in my Tummy.'

Friday we went with a bunch of random guys we just met to this place called Piere's, supposedly the biggest club in the midwest. Scoff, scoff. It was pretty lame. I mean, there were 5 bars/clubs in the place, and there was a stage with live performances and stuff, but if this is the best place, then I think everything in Indiana is truly pathetic. Can't wait to get out. One of the rooms was filled with black people - we went in for 5 seconds and ran out. Too scary. Not that I'm racist or anything, but they were just so aggressive and kinda really scary. I think we were the only 2 asians there. So I guess we kinda accomplished our 'goal' of dancing with Taylor boys, although they can't really be considered 'Taylor boys' since they were pretty corrupt.

So after being out all night, we slept for like 2 hours and then drove 2 hours to Purdue University with friends. We were pretty much dead the entire day. But it was fun, we went bowling, ate japanese food and frozen yogurt, went shopping at the mall, went to Flattop, and admired Purdue's huge campus. WHY DIDN'T I GO THERE?!?! I would have so much more fun. There's actually restaurants and stuff to do on campus. Seeing places like that makes me feel like I seriously wasted 4 years of my life. My prime years too. Should stop thinking about it.

And then Saturday night was awful. Won't elaborate, but it involved friends with benefits, dip, whiskey, and someone's apartment. Sometimes... people are just too crazy.

Sunday we cooked Thai curry and ramen and had a pretty big party. Then we went to Payne's to catch up with a friend we've known since freshmen year. It's weird to think I've known some of my friends for about 4 years now. Doesn't seem that long. Then we had a party/therapy session in the galleria of the library in the wee hours of the morning. I think the people trying to study there must have hated us. We tried to play a prank by moving some of the benches outside into the building, but in the morning someone moved them back. Sad.

Monday we caught up with old friends again, had Greek food at Trejo's Gyros, which was awesome. And I realized how much we've changed. We've all become more... liberal, I guess, is the politically correct term. And I also realized how annoying it is to have to find places to drink in secret in this school.

Thursday (and Sunday) was another random night of drinking. I guess no one here really cares about the covenant we make not to smoke/drink/sin. Some people are seriously HILARIOUS when they get tipsy. And I didn't know the legal age to buy cigarettes was 18! ohhhhh... fun times.

Sunday we went to Ivanhoe's, just the two of us. I was kinda sad Cartoon was leaving. When we said goodbye on Monday we both were secretly pretending to be okay but I was kinda tearing up and later I found out so was she. It's just that normally we say bye and we see each other the next school year. But now it's like... we're going our separate ways after graduation, and I don't know when I'll see her again. In fact, I don't know if I'll ever see some of the people here ever again. Kind of depressing to think about that.

So anyway, I found out this new AWESOME workout called ZUMBA. OMG it's the best workout in the world!!! It's like dancing/aerobics for an hour to awesome hip hop/latin dance music!!! SO. MUCH. FUN. I've been doing it everyday this week. My dance skills will be improved by the end of this semester. haha.

Yesterday we drove to Ball State University to see Youtube star David Choi in action. My first thought? He's SUPER SHORT, even shorter than me, and I'm pretty short. But his performance was solid. Sung ah was pretty starstruck. haha. We had some time to pen questions we had for him, and I asked 'If you could be any Disney princess, which would you be?' I didn't actually think he would pick mine, but he did, and my friends pointed to me when he asked who wrote it, and apparently my face was beet red. hehe. I feel kinda bad we left the concert early, and not only that, we met this cute Caucasian guy who spoke Chinese, and so all 6 of us were crowded around him, with our backs to David Choi. haha. He was probably like, these girls came to see me and now they're flirting with a random guy?!!? And then they leave early??!?! Sorry, David Choi.

Then we went to Walmart and then MT Cup to hang out and play games - typical Taylor fun activity.

Today was MOSAIC NIGHT! International performances and stuff. This year the turnout was awesome. SO many people came, I was shocked. There was an African dance, a Bahamian dance/song, a Chinese song, an Indian song, a Middle Eastern dance, etc. It was pretty cool, but the best part was this guy from Hawaii who did a fire dance. Totally reminded me of how awesome Hawaii is and how I want to go back there again sometime.

In other news, my portfolio's almost done! YES.

The rest of spring break

This is really belated, but I figured better late than never, so I can look back next time and remember the craziest spring break I had :)

So we explored the Waikiki Beach area many times, because it was like 5 minutes away from where we lived. The girl we stayed with was so sweet, she let us stay in her room (and mess it up) while she slept on the couch in the living room for 10 days. We bought her Godiva chocs as a thank-you gift. She was so laidback, just like everyone else. It made me feel like no one in Hawaii had any sort of goal or purpose in life. They were all just drifting along, enjoying life, doing what they wanted. Perfect for me! But then I think I would be bored with it after a while, just like Singapore.

Friday night was our first night out in Hawaii!! So we went to this place called Level 4, which was a 10 minute walk, and my feet really appreciated that. It was pretty packed and fun. We met this funny korean guy who wouldn't leave us alone, and his friend, and got stalked by some other asian guys. Was pretty interesting.

We went to the mall on Saturday, supposedly it was tiny, but we found it to be so huge that we didn't even finish walking around. There were tons of brand name shops - Hawaiians/japanese tourists are super rich.

And there, in the mall, we made the worst decision EVER. We bought this bottle of vodka called 'Fleischmann's', because we were being cheapskate and it was only 8bucks. But boy, did we regret it. That crap smelled like nail polish remover (and probably tasted like it), and it gave us the worst feeling in the world the day after. Needless to say, we spent sunday at home trying to recover. Lesson learned - never buy cheap alcohol ever again. Ever. Like seriously.

Sunday we went partying to make up for Saturday's crappy night, but it was kinda lame. I guess sunday's a rest night. The place we went was kind of ghetto, they even had a dance competition (obviously for girls to shake their booty), and oh, my, gosh. Those girls got DOWN on the floor to the point where guys were throwing cash at them like they were strippers. It was pretty entertaining.

Monday was an interesting day. After laying out and swimming at the beach, we went to the Cheesecake Factory to get reservations. It's supposedly this awesome restaurant we both never tried but always wanted to. So while walking around Waikiki area waiting for our reservations, these two guys bumped into us and started talking to us.
Their first words? 'Do you girls know where the Cheesecake Factory is?' We were like, YEAH! We just came from there!

And so we got talking, and they asked if they could join us for dinner, and we said yes. It was kind of random, but they seemed pretty cool and funny, so we thought, why not. Dinner ended up being really fun, and they paid for it, so that was the icing on the cake. They also got my number so we could hang out again. Wish this type of thing happens more at boring old Taylor.

Tuesday we went on a tour to the Pearl Harbor memorial, which was pretty sweet. Got to see all the ships and missiles and stuff, but the waters were too choppy to go out to the actual USS Arizona memorial, so that was depressing. But we got to take a tour of Honolulu and see the king's statue and chinatown and all that.

Wednesday was beach day again! Hilton beach this time. They had a nice man-made wave-free beach, but the wind was insanely strong and blew sand into our faces every few minutes. At least we got tanner. And then we met those guys at night for dinner/drinks and hung out. It was cool.

Thursday we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, but we got there late so we didn't get to see everything, which was kind of annoying. But oh well. We ate dinner at a luau, got leis (flowers) around our necks, got to see a pig being roasted and dancers perform during dinner. It was pretty fun and the food was good - sweet potatoes (I love), pulled pork, real rice and noodles, taro buns, yum. Much improved from bland DC food. Then we went to the night performance where the natives danced and acted for like two hours. It was so fascinating seeing them dance; we were inspired. They sure can shake what their mama gave them.

Friday we went to Hanauma Bay for snorkeling! I am so proud of myself for being able to go into the ocean without freaking out. Seriously, ever since watching the stupid shark movie 'Jaws,' I haven't stepped into an ocean in like, maybe 5 years. Or a pool. Not even kidding. So the fact that I've gone swimming so many times in Hawaii is some kind of breakthrough for me. It's actually pretty fun, although I still do get the occasional mini panic attack if I go out too far or if I get too close to the corals. I always think they will swallow me whole for some reason, even though I know that's completely ridiculous. So we got our snorkeling gear and swam around fishes and rocks, and then I got tired and took a nap on the beach while Cartoon snorkeled for like, 2 hours. Also, we got to see the studio where Lost is filmed and several movie star vacation homes, including Keanu Reeves'.

Friday night we went to this place called Oceans 808, supposedly an asian-filled club, but it was so not. (I have recently realized I like Asian guys more than Caucasians, I don't know why. Cartoon attributes this to my mom's persistent prayer. She must be praying hard for me to like asian guys. haha.) We joked that we've never seen so many ugly people in one place before. Sounds awfully mean, I know, but so true. Compared to all the places I've been, this ranks low on the looks scale. But we had fun anyway, picked up some local guys, talked to these two rich guys from LA here on a business trip, got lots of free drinks (which is always nice). AND THEN, we met my friend's ex-boyfriend. This is such a small world! Of all the people to meet on a Friday night, we met him. I only recognized him because I saw him in her pictures on facebook. So weird, huh. But anyway, we got a free ride back from them, and the only reason I accepted their offer was because I recognized him and knew he couldn't be that sketchy (which he wasn't). They bought us late night supper at Jack in the Box and took us home safely. Man, Hawaiians are so nice.

Saturday those two guys from Monday night were supposed to take us skydiving, but they bailed, so we went to Chinatown instead. We ate dim sum, which made me super duper happy. It was so cheap, too.

At night we went back to Level 4, but it was dead. We met these 3 asian guys who paid for a cab ride to Ginza, which was supposedly way better. One was from LA, the other two were from Maui, another island in Hawaii. They were SO incredibly nice! I still can't get over it. We were pretty worried about money, because we didn't bring much out, so we asked if we could borrow cash from the guys for the freaking 30dollar cover charge. They lent it to us, but then when we reached the cashier, she said we could go ahead without paying anything.

So we shrieked in joy and yelled repeatedly, 'Yes, now we have money to go home!!' Pretty pathetic. And we hugged the LA guy in joy. (I call him the LA guy 'cause I have no recollection of what his name was, which was a shame because we really wanted to thank him). At that time, he didn't reveal it, but upon looking back, we're pretty sure he paid for our cover charge. 60dollars!! He must be rich. And he bought us drinks and paid for our cab ride back home and DIDN'T TRY ANYTHING. I mean, how much nicer can a guy get?? So yeah it was a pretty fun night for our last night in Hawaii. We made more friends, some of whom we're facebook friends with. haha.

Sunday we went to the beach, and met my friend's ex-boyfriend and his friend, who took us out to dinner at this nice restaurant (and paid for it). I love getting free stuff from guys :) They were hilarious, and dinner was fun. Also, they didn't try anything. So I'm thinking Hawaiians are incredibly nice. Then we karaoke-ed the night away.

Monday was so sad - our last day in awesome Hawaii. We walked around the area one last time, said our goodbyes, and left.

Such a great spring break. Unforgettable, too. Totally what I needed after being bored at Taylor since january :)


I guess this is appropriate. Apparently I have an angelic face/reputation.


Watching a dancer hula dance.




We cooked food for ourselves a lot in an effort to save money.