It’s been too long since my last post. A lot has happened since May, and I will lay it down in style. Prepare yourself…..

I left Holy Cross at 5am on a Wednesday after two finals, a final paper, a final Russian project, and five months of hard work. Academically, it was a difficult semester. I remember late nights filled with reading assignments and Russian vocabulary. I also remember spending entire weekends in the library. Yet, all the hard work was completely worth it, and I had friends to help me pull through and maintain my sanity. Mind you, I did have a lot of fun last semester. It was all about striking the necessary balance between fun and hard work. I THINK I found that balance. Needless to say, I was ready to return to sunny California for several reasons: relaxation, family, old friends, and the beach.

Now that I bored you with my academic challenges while slipping in the cliché of “striking the balance between social life and academics” (my parents will be so proud), it’s time to update you on what I’ve been up to this summer. Here. We. Go.

Upon meeting me at the airport, my parents embraced me with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. They helped me carry my bags (one of which weighed 60lbs, forcing me to pay an extra $50.00 to fly it) before heading to our car in the parking structure across the street. We went to a Mexican restaurant, which was where they broke the news to me: our family was going to spend two weeks in Hawaii. Taken by surprise, I was immediately filled with excitement at the thought of relaxing on the beach, taking in the sun, and maybe catching a few waves on a surfboard. Three days later, my family and I took off from LAX for our 14-day vacation in Maui.

At the end of June, my great aunt (Mary) and uncle (Joe) called me, asking me to visit them at their flat outside of London. I’ve been waiting to visit them for some time, and now I was free to go visit them. So, in mid-July, I flew eastward for a two-week vacation in England. I returned last Thursday. I think I am still struggling with the time difference……

Anyways, that’s the sparknotes version of my summer. The other days were filled with beach outings and random adventures with friends. Before heading back to Holy Cross, I have plans to go skydiving and obtain my scuba license. Fun!

And then I woke up……………

In reality, my summer has been nothing like the experience described above. It was merely my dream summer. But I didn’t make it all up! My parents did meet me with smiles (and hidden tears) at the airport before taking me out for delicious Mexican cuisine. Also, I did have to pay an extra $50.00 for a 60lb bag [insert rant about the evil airline empire here]. Lastly, I do have a great aunt and uncle outside of London that I have yet to visit. The rest was made up. The part about surfing in Hawaii was intentionally inserted into my dream summer to abolish the stereotype that all southern California people living near the beach know how to surf. I tried it once and failed miserably. That is all.

I have created an acronym to help me highlight my entire summer experience without going off topic. Also, it will help me to remain concise as I have already bored you with an immense blog (and a long lie for that matter). I doubt it will work, but let’s give it a try: F.F.F.R.S.L.W.B.R.U.K.R.L.M.T

I know that isn’t the best acronym. In fact, many wouldn’t even consider it an acronym. But it’s hard to create one with only one vowel. Plus, I didn’t want to lie about my summer for the sake of adding another vowel. Moving on……

F = Family. I guess there isn’t much to say here. I’ve been spending a lot of time with family – parents, brothers, grandparents, etc. – because I missed them.
F = Friends. From beach outings to a trip to Palm Springs, it’s been great catching up with old friends and talking about our college experiences. I really missed them and am glad to hear that their college experiences are going just as well as my own.
F = Facebook. I decided to delete my facebook. It took up too much of my time, and I didn’t like the fact that people can (though likely aren’t) stalking me. I miss face-to-face conversations and talking to people on the phone. Deleting my facebook was the first step to regaining this.
R = Reading. Books that I’ve been meaning to read yet collected dust while I was away at college have finally been opened. I love having the time to finally dive into these books, including: Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower; Glassner’s The Culture of Fear; Marilyn Manson’s The Long Hard Road Out of Hell; and Smith’s Child 44 and The Secret Speech. Although I read others, the ones mentioned in the previous sentence are the only ones worth mentioning. I highly recommend them. The one that I am working on right now is River Town by Peter Hessler, which was a suggested reading for my upcoming course titled “Modern China.”
S = Summer School. I never thought that I would take summer school again. However, as it was difficult to find a job this summer, I figured that I would take a class to fulfill a course requirement. I took Geology 1 at a local community college. I really enjoyed the material. Additionally, the professor had previous experience in the field, which made lectures much more interesting and informative. The class complements my major: political science. It’s great for students in the social sciences to learn more about the environment and upcoming geological challenges across the globe.
L = LOST. I never watched the television show “LOST” when it was originally on television. Only recently did my uncle introduce me to it. I have been obsessed ever since, watching the DVD set almost every night with my uncle and younger brother. I am currently on season 5 (out of 6) and plan to finish the series before returning to Holy Cross.
W = Work. My uncle works for a company that performs “legal services” (aka paperwork, authorizations and subpoenas) for lawyers. I go in every now and then when there’s extra work around the office. I guess it’s a good way to make a few extra bucks this summer.
B = Beach. I go to the beach with family and friends as often as I can.
R = Russian. I plan to go through my entire Russian textbook to refresh my memory. I plan to start that on Wednesday.
U = Ukulele. Although I don’t claim to be even remotely decent at playing the ukulele, I still love to play it have been practicing over the past couple of weeks.
P = Passport. I renewed my passport as I plan to study abroad during my junior year. My old one is five years old and is set to expire in April. It’s so funny to compare how I look now to how I looked as a freshman in high school!
R = Radio. Driving to and from class every week has allowed me to develop a newfound love for the radio. Listening to the same songs every day on the rock/rnb/pop stations encouraged me to change the radio station in frustration, leading me to discover a new love: talk radio. Try it sometime and you’ll likely never go back to mainstream stations.
L = Lake. Every summer, my family and I head to the lake to ride our seadoo and jetski. In fact, I am going tomorrow morning! Considering it’s now 11:00pm Pacific Time, I should probably go to bed soon so that I can wake up for that tomorrow.
M = Music. My itunes library is on my home computer rather than my college laptop. Throughout the academic year, I sought to listen to a particular song while studying or writing a paper, only to remember that I have yet add the song to my ipod. Consumed with frustration, I would have to write the paper without my song of choice playing through my headphones. The situation has now changed as I updated my itunes library and uploaded the songs to my ipod. Hello happy essay-writing!
T = Tennis. Near the end of last semester, my friends and I started to play tennis on the campus courts. It was so much fun! Yet, I lacked the experience and skills to actually beat my friends in a game. Therefore, I have been playing tennis against my family members to practice. I am not too bad at it now. Friends: prepare to lose!

That wraps up my entire summer so far. I apologize for the length of this blog. It’s been nearly three months since my last blog entry, so I figured I would leave a post that would successfully update you on my summer experience.

I hope your summers are going well. Enjoy the remaining days of summer, and talk to you soon!