One of America's Greatest Pastimes... Bowling

Last night I ventured to a bowling alley here in Columbus that I had never been to before (mind you I only go bowling MAYBE twice a year tops).  So, I'm driving to meet some friends and I'm winding through the streets of a neighborhood and out of nowhere pops up this alley.  Leave up to Americans to build a bowling alley into their neighborhood.

Anyway, it was the first time that I've gone bowling since the summertime and stating that I was a bit rusty in an understatement.  My first game I bowled a 3.  Yes, that's not a typo.  A 3.  I am a very competitive person and we had purchased 4 games, so you can imagine my spirit was broken.  Someone suggested that maybe I was using too heavy of a ball - and they were right, my next two games, I began to knock down pins.  Even get strikes.  My competitive nature was restored.

The bowling alley itself had a ton of interesting characters - families, long time friends, and even babies.  Yes, babies.  I too was surprised to see that families would be out after 11PM with an infant in arms... but we witnessed more than one family who found this to be the norm.  Moral of the story, I found that for those die hard bowlers, nothing gets in the way of their favorite pastime.  And I respect that.

High School Reunions

The holiday season is coming to a close after the ball drops marking the beginning of 2011.  Although the season is coming to an end, I've been happy to say that it's been quite an eventful holiday season.  I have been home in Grand Rapids for about the past two weeks, and I do admit that I'm a bit bored - I've never been one to vacation well when there isn't much on the agenda.  I mean, I am well rested... but I only needed one week to feel this good.  I digress.

Grand Rapids is one of the largest cities in the state of Michigan with a population of over 500,000 and our metro area reaches over 1 million.  In this city, I went to one of two Catholic high schools and the population of the school was less than 1,000.

With these statistics, it would seem near impossible to consistently run into my fellow classmates - but it never fails when we are home for the holidays.  It is crazy to me to think that almost 6 years have passed since I traveled the hallways of my high school, but running into my fellow classmates makes it feel as though time has not passed.

Some of my classmates apparently wanted to have an 'official' 5 year reunion.  High school reunions are fascinating to me with the idea of catching up with people from your past to touch base and catch up on the last few years.  The reunion was interesting - I guess I was thinking it would be awkward to sit and talk about our accomplishments since we left the halls of Catholic Central, but it wasn't.  It was really good to see people, and it was quite entertaining at times to see the best come out of people (and at one point, maybe the worst).  Although it seemed a bit silly to talk about ourselves 5 1/2 years later, I will only be more impressed at our 10 year when people are done with graduate/professional school, or have partners/spouses, and maybe even families.  Crazy. Ah, the joys of growing up.

Oh My God... I Love Surprises!

Have you ever had a secret?  Have you ever had to keep that secret from your best friend for months?  I have.  It was torture. 

One of my best friends lives in Chicago and I haven't seen her since our undergrad's homecoming in early October.  We were trying to figure out when we would see each other next - and I knew it was sooner than later.  

Why?  A surprise birthday party.

I think surprise birthday parties are a staple in American Culture.  What's better than the anticipation of thinking about their reaction, sneakily planning the event, and then the actual surprise itself?  If you really want to understand what I'm talking about, check out this SNL skit:  Surprise Party.

Personally, I've had one experience of being the recipient of a surprise party - I think it's when I turned 12 and my elementary school friends put it together.  My favorite gift of the evening: Pretty Woman. It was legit.

My best friend's party was a twenty-something celebration and was a bit more sophisticated, but the outcome was the same.  She was super surprised and we may or may not have made her cry.  So although it was hard to be the secret keeper - it was well worth seeing her face.  Cause that's the best part.

Ugly Sweaters and White Elephant Gifts

The Holiday Season has arrived full force.  Americans are excited to get to play holiday music whenever they please, have an excuse for spending insane amount of money at various shopping centers for loved ones, and have started to put in those holiday movies that make us laugh or cry.

One particular holiday tradition I'm a fan of: the ugly sweater.  That's right, find the oldest and craziest Holiday Garb from back in the day, put it on, and wear it with pride.  Every year back home, friends from high school dress up in this festive attire and head to a little hole in the wall establishment in my home town of Grand Rapids.  Last year, I wore a festive maroon sweater my sister made back in the early 90s with an ironed on Santa image.  Can't get much better than that, can it? 

So, I wanted to follow tradition and host an ugly sweater holiday party for my staff to celebrate the end of the quarter.  And let me tell you, some of them found some of the greatest sweaters of all time.  I was so proud.

To make the night that much more eventful, we did a white elephant gift exchange.  For those of you unfamiliar with this tradition, one brings a "gift" of something they do not want anymore and passes it off to someone else.  By the end, most are happy with receiving someone's trash and making it their treasure.  For those not satisfied with a gift, there are options to steal throughout the gift exchange.  Personally, I was quite please with my gift, as I received an official Hannah Montana pen. Now, that's American.

Snow Angles and Tobogganing

This morning, I awoke to the first snow fall of the season - not much other than a small blanket covering the grass and leaves.  So, as we move into the winter season, I thought it'd be appropriate to note some (but not limited to) of the very American past times in the snow.

• Making snow angles - what's better than getting snow all over you?

• Snow ball fights - somehow as a child I was the one who always got one to the face. Whomp Whomp. 

• Driving very slowly - especially in the Midwest, people believe they are going to crash, so they chose to drive 10 miles per hour on any road

• Sledding/Tobogganing - there's nothing better than racing down a hill in a sled full of people.  It's like riding a roller coaster in the winter - add some jumps and its a popular attraction

• Snowmobiling - doesn't get more American than that.

• Catching snow flakes on tongue - when I was 5 this was one of my favorite ways to pass time... and actually is still one of mine today

• Build a snowman - or some sort of snow structure.  Below is a picture of a snow script Ohio that some students at OSU did last winter - can't beat it 

• My friend David sent this to me and I thought it was a good addition to the list: EATING SNOW!  I know this was a fun pastime on the playground as kindergartners.  Maybe it goes beyond the age of 5 too?

Turkey and Football

I think one of the greatest American traditions goes hand in hand with America's favorite sport. I can think back to my childhood and it never really felt like Thanksgiving unless the Detroit Lions lost their game. It was necessary conversation to hear my father and uncles talk about the team and then complain about them - and yet, still cheer them on. Detroit Lions fans are not fair-weather, they are constant.

This Thanksgiving was the first that I actually did not spend at home in Grand Rapids, but instead chose to stay in Columbus for multiple reasons:

1) I didn't feel like driving 10 hours round trip

2) I'm a grad studet - so naturally, all my work is due within the weeks leading up to winter break

3) It was Beat Michigan Week on campus.

What's Beat Michigan Week, you may ask? It is one of Ohio State's finest week of traditions. One of these traditions is the Mirror Lake Jump where students make maybe not the best choices and plunge into the cold waters of this lake around Midnight the Thursday before the Michigan game to raise the spirit of former coach Woody Hayes to ensure a Buckeye victory. There was one issue with this year's jump night... it happened to fall on Thanksgiving. Thanks to the power of social networking, students decided through facebook that the jump would instead for this year only take place on Tuesday... additionally the city of Columbus threatened to arrest anyone who jumped on Thursday... So we prepped for Tuesdays jump by purchasing 1200 donuts for the students who live in my complex. Between the hours of 10pm-2am they consumed them all. Additionally, I was able to go to the lake to hear the chants of not giving "a damn for the whole state of Michigan" which is obviously a favorite and seeing scantily clothed individuals take the plunge (as you can see in the video to the video below). I saw one student running around the perimeter of the lake in just a jock strap. I was briefly blinded.

Being it my final year at Ohio State - I also stuck around to experience the Michigan game on campus - I have to admit, although it was fun to cheer the Buckeyes on... I experienced a bit of an identity crisis. Therefore, after the game, I proudly supported a t-shirt I own that says "Say yes to Michigan." I felt a little more at ease.

And although I didn't get to experience my traditional Thanksgiving home in Grand Rapids, I was still able to get my mix of overeating with friends who have become my family here and a good dose of football. Go Bucks.

This is YOUR year Harry Potter!

Think back to the year 2007... times were simpler then, right?  Well, maybe they were for me as I was still in college living the good life.  My roommates and I were OBSESSED with Harry Potter and made it a point to go to the midnight showing that year - maybe it was the release of the 5th movie?  Anyway, we're sitting in the theater waiting for the show to start - observing those who chose to dress up.  All of a sudden, from behind us, this guy shouts "Harry Potter '07, this is your year Harry Potter!!!"  I about DIED.  Absolutely hilarious. 

Since this occurrence, I have brought this phrase (adjusting the year and movie title) to any midnight showing that I've attended with friends since this moment... these include, but are not limited to: Dark Night, Twilight, and High School Musical 3.

I so wanted to attend the movie this past Friday at Midnight, but my sister was coming into town so I waited to see it with her that Saturday morning because I'm nice like that.  So, we go see it and I was very impressed with the film in general.  I can remember when I started reading the HP series in 6th grade and it's just so epic that I've been able to see the pictures from my imagination come to life.  For a lot of my friends and people around the globe - we grew up with Harry Potter.  It's crazy to think that soon the excitement will all be over once the second half of the 7th books hits theaters in July 2011.  You better believe I'll be there at Midnight, hopefully surrounded by good friends, ready to shout the epic phrase, "Harry Potter '11, this is your year Harry Potter!"

Thought of the Day...

When I'm sitting around thinking about nothing, I sometimes like to check The Washington Post.  They have a daily section entitled: 'Today In History'.  I fell in love with this section of their paper - as my Stanford friends would know since I posted a fun fact daily from this site.  To me, I find it fascinating to think about monumental things that happened on this very day.  Sometimes, it's absolutely mind blowing.

For example, to keep on my Royal Family kick, today marks the Wedding Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip.  I find that to be a nice little fun-fact.

But what really got me was the thought of the day, and I thought I'd share it with you all - it's a quote that sums up the American Dream....

"People, when they first come to America, whether as travelers or settlers, become aware of a new and agreeable feeling: that the whole country is their oyster." - Alistair Cooke, British-born American journalist and broadcaster (1908-2004).

Now that's inspirational.

He's Off the Market

So I'm in the gym the other morning, doing my usual cardio warm up when I notice national news going crazy due to Prince William's engagement to Kate Middleton.

I was PUMPED.

I have to say that I am a fan of a lot of things in life, but nothing trumps my fascination with the Royal family. 

Why?  I have no clue.  All I know is I've been a super-fan of the princes at a young age - as Prince Harry's picture hung in my locker in 8th grade.  That's right, I've liked his red hair since day one.  I even tried to see him in person when I lived in NYC - not many famous people can get me running all over New York, that's for sure.

I have to say it's interesting to note how much Americans take interest in the happenings of the Windsor family.  It seems funny because a long time ago, the founding fathers of this country moved here to get away from the British hierarchy.  I know that the system is not the same and not at all what it once was... but I also find it interesting that we have become so fixated on it.  I mean, who wouldn't want to live a life of luxury?  And I would say the princes are something nice to look at.  So, to get a few glimpses of this luxurious life through national news while I get to gaze at some good looking chaps, to me, is a time well spent. 

Steel City

So I'm taking a Diversity class this quarter and one of our projects is to have an 'other side' experience with one of our classmates.  My friend and I chose to work with each other and were coming up short with ideas of what we could do to experience something we never had before.  After spending a dinner brainstorming ideas, we decided to head to Pittsburgh.  

Why?  

1) It's a cool city 

2) I had never been before and my friend was born there 

3) I had some high hopes of running into Sydney Crosby (A girl can have dreams, can't she?).

We decided that Veteran's Day would serve as the perfect day to take an adventure since we had the day off from school.  All I had heard prior to the trip was that Pittsburgh was the fallen city of a once booming industry.  Being from Michigan, I too know of a once great city that has fallen into economic hardship. 

Our day in the city started with a trip to Primanti Brothers, a famous sandwich shop in the city that serves your sandwich with fries and coleslaw all between two slices of bread.  Delicious. 

Some of you may know that I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with Ben Folds and his music - turned out he was playing in the city that evening and we walked past his tour bus on the way to and from lunch.  My friend claims that I am making this up - but I swear I saw him on our way back in his tour bus.  Regardless, I tried reaching out to Mr. Folds via social networking to spot him in the city, but, alas, no luck.

Throughout the rest of the day we spent it walking around downtown and then made our way to Pitt's campus.  I got to see the entire city from the 36th floor of the Cathedral of Learning (their library and the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere) and even made a friend from the Poconos.  We then headed to an area called Homestead where the Steel mining industry was huge and it was neat to see where the mills once were.

We ended our night in an area called Mt. Lebanon where we supposedly ate what had won the "best pizza in the country" award.  It was OK by my standards, but I think everyone is entitled to an opinion.  If anything, the company was great as I was present for 'guys night.'  My friend had some of his best friends come join us for a meal and we had a great time.  I felt a bit guilty to ask one who is a doctor, to put his MD hat back on for me to tell me how to treat a knee injury.  Nevertheless, dinner went well and we ended it with our goodbyes and made our journey back to 'The Bus'.

All in all, I was able to see an amazing city through the eyes of my friend and learned that even in this economy, cities with once strong industries can still bounce back and thrive.

Making it to the Top

I just got back earlier today from a wonderful experience at a professional conference.  The highlight of the trip: a night out on the town in St. Louis, MO. 

The last time I was in St. Louis it was 2am, I was with my Alternative Spring Break group, and was a sophomore in college.  I was saddened that we couldn't explore the city and being only 20 at the time, I would have been limited to the night life experience.

Flash forward to almost 4 years later and I finally got my night in St. Louis.  I was ecstatic.

The conference had organized buses for us to take to the city.  Our first stop was the St. Louis Arch.  Let me tell you - what a beautiful monument.  When I found out you could ride to the top of that thing - I was ready to go.  So, I got in line with some friends and awaited our capsule to take it to the top.  This capsule that you travel in is probably the scariest thing I've been in for some time.  It literally is shaped like a tiny egg that has 5 little seats for people to cram in to take to the top of the arch.  These were not designed for present day - and I highly doubt they will ever be modified.  As the door closed, I felt a slight tightening in my chest for fear of getting stuck along the way. 

We also wondered as we traveled to the top if there is a weight limit or what do you do if you are over 6'5, would you even fit inside?  Thankfully, there was a tiny window at the front that allowed us to see the inside of the arch as we traveled to the top - this eased my claustrophobia.  

The top offered a beautiful night view of the city - and the scariest/most amazing part was we could feel the arch sway with the wind.

All in all, St. Louis proved to be a city worth visiting and lived up to my expectations as a 20 year old.  The arch can now be taken off my bucket list - you won't be getting me in those little capsules again.

The Great American Road Trip

This morning, I awoke to embark on the great American road trip. OK, so maybe we we weren't going across the country, but instead we headed to Collinsville, IL - a small city just outside of St. Louis.
 The last time I went on a serious road trip was back in college when I traveled on an alternative spring break. I don't know how I survived the 32 hours we spent going to San Antonio by car - but I recall the time being effortless. The same goes for today - as we traveled across the Midwest, time past effortlessly as we talked about life, work, and other random topics.
 On our way we counted the numerous crosses on the side of the highway (there are approximately 50 varying in sizes on I-70 from Columbus to Collinsville). We stopped for lunch outside of Indianapolis at a Burger King because they have veggie burgers on the menu - we're convinced it was the first time in a while that there were three orders in a row.

Additionally, we made a clutch stop in the middle of Illinois. As we got off the highway, we found our destination: Walmart. The best part - it was located on a street called "Avenue of Middle America." The street itself had very American things located on it including a KFC with a buffet, a Game Stop, a Denny's, and a B Dubs. To complete the look, Starbucks was on the corner. I felt we truly were eye to eye with American Culture.
 Another cliche' thing about road trips is to locate novelty tourists stops along the way. We were excited to find out that Collinsville is home to the World's Largest Bottle of Ketchup. It is on our bucket list of places to visit before we head home - there will be pictures to come.
 All in all, the road trip served as a fun time to connect with friends and experience the great Midwest at its finest. It proves that something so simple as riding in a car can turn into a day full of excitement.

Public Displays of Affection

I have had far too many experiences in the past few months in regards to Public Displays of Affection (PDA) that I can no longer sit and take in the awkward moments these couples have created for me. I must express. 

I do not know if it is an American thing or the fact that I am currently living in Ohio which is the Midwest's home for young couples seeking a spouse. I have seen PDA in other countries and maybe because I was in Rome or Paris, I did not take it to be inappropriate or uncomfortable.

I really started to notice random acts of PDA starting a few months back when I saw the movie Inception with a group of friends. The theater was so crowded that I was given no other option but to sit next to strangers. Mid-way through the first scene, the woman next to me proceeded to feed her boyfriend his popcorn. It continued throughout the entire movie.

OK - maybe it isn't a Midwestern thing since this situation did happen while I was living in California... But I have to say the random PDA sightings have increased upon my return to Buckeye Nation. 

PDA Moment #1: I was at an Iron & Wine concert and during the second song of the evening, a couple was canoodling right next to me, singing, swaying, kissing. I personally don't believe that an Iron & Wine concert is necessarily the most appropriate venue for PDA. Now, you may think this to be a romantic moment, one that you too would like to share in. Maybe this is coming from a bitter single gal place. Yet, if you were standing in my place watching this moment unfold, you too would have felt the awkwardness of everyone around.

PDA Moment #2: Literally later that week, I was at a political rally anxiously awaiting the arrival of President Obama and the First Lady. Not to mention, John Legend was performing... At the political rally, I happened to be the one sitting next to the PDA couple. The woman did not even face forward as the President spoke. Yes, the President of the United States did not even distract her from her work of hugging, kissing, touching her partner.

PDA Moment #3: Just yesterday, I was sitting in the library reading law cases when the couple next to me began to go all out. I was with a friend and as I looked to him he too felt awkward and we moved tables. I felt a bit guilty for doing so, but the most amusing part was that others around us looked up too and laughed knowing why the move was necessary.

My point is... PDA can be great - I know I've been someone who has been guilty of it. Is it because Americans are too sensitive that we make comments and judge others based on their happiness? Maybe it stems from a place of jealousy. Maybe were just too uncomfortable with feeling uncomfortable. Yet, I argue - is a political rally really the best venue for displaying your affection? I guess that's your personal choice. I digress.