Sophomore Year, Entry 1

Hi everyone!

It's good to be back at Dartmouth. The weather's been nice, classes start tomorrow, my room is all set up...today we inaugurated our new president. It was kind of exciting.

I've put up some pictures of my new room. Enjoy!

Finally, some pictures!

Some pictures of the house and  our vacation Up North. First, in front of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island; Zan, Dad, and I in Petoskey; Mom in Steve and Kathy's lake house; and the view from the top of our stairs at home. : )

Mt. Washington

I took a field trip today to Mount Washington, the highest mountain east of the Rockies and famed home of "the world's worst weather." It's cloudy there 75% of the time...but somehow, we managed to snag the most beautiful day imaginable. Even at the top it was almost 40 degrees, and as you can see, it was totally cloudless. I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was. We drove up the auto road, stopping along the way to learn things. It was pretty fun.

Pictures:

1. As you can see, the weather was beautiful.

2. The spot where we ate lunch.

3. Me on the summit.

4. One of the views from the summit -- they were all absolutely breathtaking.

5. A picture taken from the van, looking down. The strip at the bottom is the edge of the road. The rest is the terrifying drop.

Clarification

When I took a walk the other night, it was on well lit pathways with people around, not dark isolated alleyways.So no worries. : )

In other news, I'm getting very tired of the food here. I can't wait to be home and have scrambled eggs and homecooked food (not necessarily cooked in *our* home...) and restaurants and fruit. Dartmouth's food is good but after almost 9 straight months, I definitely need a break. Only 3 more weeks!

Nature Again

One of the best things about Dartmouth compared to the other schools I was considering -- namely U Chicago and Columbia -- is that because it's not in a city, I can take a walk around campus on a beautiful warm night and not feel at all worried. As I was coming back from a movie last night, I decided to take the long way because I was pondering and didn't want to be interrupted by artificial lights and the temptations of my laptop. I kept going further and further though and ended up circling most of campus. It was quite nice. (Note: it wasn't too late, only 10:30. Even at Dartmouth I would be more cautious at like 2:30 in the morning.)

Pictured above is an elm tree, for those of you who were intrigued by my last post. : ) This picture is from early April though -- it has leaves now. I'll have to take another picture...

Got a Question about Elm Trees?

Feel free to ask me. I'm an expert. I know that elm trees have probably been plaguing you all for weeks now. You've been sitting there thinking, "I have so many questions about elm trees! I wish I knew someone who had done 6 hours of research on elm trees and could therefore answer my questions!"

Well, your time has come. You can officially reclaim your peace of mind now. : )

First Sunburn of the Year

Signs of unusual April weather:

1. Sunburn on shoulder after being outside for less than 2 hours

2. Flushed, heated face

3. Straightened, windswept hair

Ah well, I love it anyway. I bought a variety of cold drinks and plan to hang out in the shade from now on.