Just a Little Update

I apologize for the consistent long delays between my postings. I’ve found myself quite busy as of late, whether its homework, studying, going to school related events, or going to the library, I haven’t really had the opportunity to do a posting. For this one I thought I’d just bring everyone up to speed with what is going on here in good ol’ Kalamazoo, MI.

Winter is still in full force here as I close out my second trimester. My last day of school before spring break will be sometime during the week of March 12th-18th, depending on my final exam schedule. With classes coming to an end for this trimester, the work load has picked up a bit and my nights are usually consumed with homework and studying for tests/quizzes. My three current classes are Constitutional Law, Spanish 102, and Econ 101, and they are all going really well. When I have found some free time over the last week or two, my roommate Nick and I have tuned into the Olympics to support the red, white, and blue. The weekends have been real nice and not nearly as time consuming with homework. I’ve gotten to see my lovely girlfriend Lauren and this weekend I’m actually really excited for because I’m going home for Cameron’s birthday! That kid is turning 16, which I’m still trying to wrap my head around. I’m really looking forward to seeing my family, along with my Aunt Mary, and of course my faithful feline Stanley.

Spring trimester starts up on the 29th and will, unfortunately, go until early June. With spring comes entirely new classes and also the start up of football again. I’m registered to take Calculus, Spanish 201, and Business Stats for classes, along with a mandatory 6 a.m. football workout class that meets four days a week. Booooooo! I’m not looking forward to the early awakenings, but the class will definitely get me in shape for next season. Other than that, not too much else is new. It feels almost surreal to think that I’m almost done with my first year of college. I don’t really know where the time goes anymore. I hope to find some self discipline though and get a consistent schedule going for my postings so I don’t leave you all hanging!

The Snow is a Fallin'

Well the title pretty much says it all.... the snow really was falling Tuesday, and at a pretty good rate I might add. I decided to include a picture with my posting for the first time ever! Now I know that most of you also read my mother’s blog, so please excuse the quality, or rather the lack there of, in my photo. I was just hoping to give you guys a visual of the winter wonderland that has unfolded here in Kalamazoo. It’s actually kind of funny because just last week the temperatures must have been close to 40 or 45 degrees, especially when the sun was out. Then boom, from the time I fell asleep on Monday night until I woke up at 9 the next morning, the sky had dropped about 2 or 3 inches of snow onto the ground. Snow continued to fall fervently throughout the day Tuesday and it actually got to the point where my face was taking a decent sized beating from the intense snowfall and brisk wind. I literally had to put my head down and just stare at the sidewalk when I was walking from place to place. The day was filled with the usual winter complaints and whines by my friends, classmates, and professors.

Snow fell for nearly the entire day Tuesday and by the time Wednesday morning had rolled in we probably had about half of a foot of accumulation. I had talked to my brother the night before and apparently they were getting the same type of weather back home, thus creating what I consider to be the 8th wonder of the world, a snow day. If only I could have been as lucky. All the public districts in the greater Kalamazoo area had the day off as well, but unfortunately I had to drag myself out of bed and go to class as usual. My Spanish professor actually complained about not having the day off along with all of us students. Even though the snow had stopped, it was still quite a pain in the ass to walk outside, but this time it was because of the good ol’ sun. With no clouds in the sky and 6 inches of snow on the ground, I felt like I was walking on a giant reflector panel. I couldn’t look in any direction without having to squint my eyes and put my forearm over my face. I probably would have had to put on some suntan lotion if I planned on being outside for an extended period of time; at the least maybe some sunglasses.

Anyways, I made it through the brightness of the day and decided to go to the basketball game later that night, mainly because we were playing our biggest rival, Hope College. Nick and I had gotten a text from our buddy who’s a sophomore and lives at the bottom of Academy St. (we live at the top) asking if we would be interested at painting our chest for the game. Uhhhh…. Duh? We immediately stop what we’re doing and head down to our friends room to start the festivities. Enough guys showed up to successfully spell out “Daa Zoo!” Personally, I decided to add emphasis to the phrase and be the exclamation point. We entered the arena and became an instant hit with the crowd. We screamed, taunted, and cheered our heads off for the ensuing hour and a half, but unfortunately in the end our fighting Hornets fell short of victory. About 23 points short. Oh well, the loss didn’t stop us from all having a blast at the game. Plus, not to brag or anything, but we all made the nightly news when they showed the highlights of the game. Are we local celebrities now? No, not even in the slightest. But even if we were, I wouldn’t think of myself like that. Nope, we were just a few students fulfilling our duties as diehard fans. Go Hornets.

Groundhog Day

Well yesterday was February 2nd which takes host in perhaps one of the silliest holidays of modern day: Groundhog Day. It is a day in which a little rodent comes out of a hole and decides our meteorological fate for the next six weeks. Everyone knows how the superstition works, if the groundhog comes out of his burrow and sees his shadow then we are plagued with another six weeks of winter. However, if the groundhog in fact does not see his shadow, then it is a sign of an early spring. Is it just me or does it seem like no matter what, the groundhog always ends up seeing his shadow anyways? Plus, what if it’s not even the shadow that scares him, could it possibly be the large group of people waiting outside his little hole to see what he does? I’d probably run back into my house too if I walked outside and was surrounded by a bunch of hooligans. Though, I have very little real knowledge about this holiday so I decided to do some research, just to see what it was really all about.

First of all, it apparently is just me who feels like he always sees his shadow, because according to a list of recent predictions by groundhogs, the results seem to be quite even actually. My real interest however, was in how this peculiar holiday was started and where it originated from. Currently it is celebrated in the U.S. and Canada, but originated from European cultures. The American version was said to have started as a Pennsylvania-German custom in the 18th and 19th centuries, however it holds resemblance to other European customs such as the day of Candlemas, which is a medieval Catholic holiday. One early account of a reference to Groundhog Day in America was found in a journal entry from a man in Pennsylvania in the year 1841.

Today the largest celebration of Groundhog Day takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, which happens to be home of the most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil. It’s said that they’ve had crowds of up to 40,000 people! It’s like I said earlier, maybe that’s why Phil is rushing back into his hole sometimes. I mean people must get the day off of work in that town just to go watch this little groundhog do his thing, which seems crazy to me. Perhaps I’ll never really understand all the hoopla involved with this holiday, but I at least have somewhat of a clearer picture. Oh by the way, Phil saw his shadow yesterday so stay bundled up!