Winter Snow and American Heroes

Hey there folks,

Sorry for the delay between posts. My computer has been on the fritz lately and I've been without one for about 2 weeks now. It's actually kinda nice; being in DC I really got addicted to checking my email constantly and fussing with my iPhone. This gives me a nice respite.

Anyways, the semester has gone quickly here at The Hill. Last Wednesday, the school closed down for a snow day. Unfortunately, I don't have any classes on Wednesdays, so it didn't matter to me. The Summit still had layout however, so I crashed a piece together talking about the snow and it's impact on campus. Layouts nights are pretty fun. Its the time when the entire editorial staff actually assembles the paper. They usually start early in the afternoon and usually go until the wee hours of the morning. In a few weeks, I'll take you inside of a layout night to show you what they're all about. Meanwhile, here are my friends Corinna and Rachel outside of Dunster...

Friday night was a special night in Dunster (our house in the Junior courts). We decided to celebrate the opening ceremonies the only way we knew how...with an America Celebration. Here's the thing: you HAD to come dressed as an American hero. Who did I come as? Well, see if you can guess...

If all you student's of history guessed our 26th President, you guessed right! I was Teddy Roosevelt. Conor, Nate, and me went to the Salvation Army shop on Friday afternoon. I got a old tie for 99 cents, while Conor got a jean jacket. Nate came as Johnny Appleseed and Conor went as Bruce Springsteen circa 1984. Brian and Eamon dressed as the famed explorer duo Lewis and Clark. My roommate Tommy came as none other than...me! haha! Next thing I knew, he burst into my room wearing my student ambassador name tag and JCrew sweater, carrying snacks by the armful!

We all had a great time! It was certainly a night to remember. A favorite moment for us was when we decided to take these costumes out in public by going to The Hill for a bite to eat! We forgot that there was a Valentine's dance going on that night, so among the sweaty dance patrons was none other than a man wearing a mustache and monocle ordering chicken tenders. That has since become our rule for all costumes: it is not official until you go in public with it! We had so much fun with it, we're thinking of doing a similar thing sometime in the future!

Anyways, I'm actually "borrowing" the Summit's computer to write this now. So I think I gotta head out, but take care and I should get back up to posting more regularly in about a week or so...

Take care!

Annnnddddd We're Back!

Hey there folks,

Very happy to say that I am BACK at Stonehill! It's been over a week since I've moved back and I feel like I never left. My junior year officially started two Sundays ago when I moved into my new room with my new roommate Tommy. Tommy, like me, is a fellow "Poli Sci guy" and I've know him since freshman year.

I also live across the hall from my friends Ray and Steve (he visited me in DC last fall), as well as Brian and Eamon. We've had a heck of a time so far! We've basically started playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare for Playstation 3 and watching episodes of Mad Men like its our job. (In fact, the amount we do that, it's increasingly likely that those will be our only prospects. Just kidding, Mom... ;) Other than that, it's been great seeing everyone that haven't seen in so long! Even some friends, like Tom (in the middle), were able to stop by campus before they left to go abroad. We also made sure to set aside some time to watch the last episode of Conan! (TEAM COCO!)

As soon as I got back it seems that we got right back to work. Classes have been going, slowly but surely. I'm trying to get a lot of General Education classes out of the way, so I'm taking courses on Astronomy, Economics, and Morality. For my Journalism minor, I'm taking a course in Narrative Writing. It is really unique; unlike any class I've taken here before-all about writing "magazine-type" pieces using lots of detail and description. Also, one of the coolest classes I'm taking this semester is War with Professor Finnegan. Our first two classes involved watching the opening scene of Gladiator and dissecting the battle strategy! (Awesome!)

I'm also up and running with my work as News Editor of the Stonehill newspaper The Summit, Conor and I are working on our radio show with the Love Doctor, and tomorrow I start an internship in the Admissions Office.

This weekend though, we really kicked things into gear: Saturday night was our Whiteout Ball. That night, Eamon and I grabbed some dinner at Bertucci's and braved the cold on the walk back to get ourselves ready. The attire for the ball was semi-formal (basically the closest thing Stonehill has to prom). My experience in DC made me the designated "tie-tyer" when guys came to me with perplexed looks and ties as long as a leash. Before you knew it however, the guys were emerging from their rooms wearing dress shirts and cuff-links-a true rarity.

We soon were all together and decided to get in the mood for the night with some music by meeting up with some friends. The room fell silent when Bill Withers' "Lean on Me" came on. Instantly, we all formed a circle and began belting it out at the top of our lungs. (Nails on a chalkboard...)

Once we got to the dance, it was unanimous that we all had an amazing time. Being on campus again and living with some different people gave us the opportunity to meet some new people and made the night that much more fun.

The next day, we all slept in and made our way drowsily over to brunch. For us, half the fun is sitting at brunch for a few hours talking about the night before. After we pulled ourselves from our seats and stuffed our faces with waffles and cinnamon buns, we retreated to my room to watch the Jets game. Though we go to school in Massachusetts, we have a small, yet dedicated band of Jets fans here. Though they lost, we still we pretty shocked that they made it this far...I mean they BARELY made the playoffs.

Geeze, I guess that's a lot. Anyways, I'm kinda tired and there is another Mad Men episode on....hmmmm....

Take care!

New Year: New York, New Jersey

Hey there folks,

Happy New Year! I'm in a great mood! Come Sunday, I will be a) back at Stonehill for the first time in awhile and b) I will be watching my Jets take on the Chargers. It has been a great year for my sports teams with the Yankees winning the World Series and the Jets making a miracle run!

But before we get back into the swing of things, I wanted to bring you all up to date on what I've been doing in the first weeks of the new year.

First, my friend Brian came up on his way to Vermont to say hello. We roomed together at Stonehill during the summer and I had not seen him since then. He only had about an hour, so we went to a local pizzeria and told stories about our semester.

Later in the week, I made a pilgrimage to the lovely Garden State to see Conor and Eamon. Though I hadn't seen Conor in a few months, it was like we hadn't left! I was pretty hungry from my drive, so we picked our friends Jim and Po and we stopped at one of the many great diners in Jersey for a quick bite. I had a favorite of mine: a pulled pork sandwich. Sooo good.

That night, Eamon and our friend John (aka The Colonel) came over. I really wish that I could describe in detail all the incredible things that we did and show you pictures of the all the places we went to...but I can't. We really didn't do much of anything, actually. The four of us just basically sat around and swapped stories and reminisced about funny things that happened to us. It is a weird feeling coming back; my time in Washington feels like it's own entity, a time apart from the rest of reality. My friends and I just basically pick up from where we left off; you'd never know we had been apart. It seems like I feel asleep on a sweltering August night at Stonehill and woke up the next day in my house on a cold December day.

Come to think of it, we did do one thing of note: we made a Love Doctor video! What is a Love Doctor video, you ask? Well, Conor and I have a radio show the last two years on Stonehill's radio station. One night, we asked Eamon to come on and as a joke, we decided to portray him as a "Ph.D. in Aphrodisiology". Every now and then, people would call in or email him with questions and it just kept growing--more calls, more emails, more listeners etc. So we started promoted him by giving away faux business cards and making videos for YouTube plugging his appearances. (You can see the collection of them on the links to your right...)

While I was down in Jersey, we took the liberty to make yet another video, which you can view on this post. Stay tuned for more updates regarding "The Love Doctor" appearances throughout the semester.

Yesterday-because I'm apparently trying to make up for lost time-I met Conor in New York City for the day. We covered some pretty good ground during the course of the day. I took the train in from Connecticut and we met at Bryant Park. From there, we walked uptown to Rockefeller Center (a favorite spot in the City for me) because Conor wanted to see the famed Christmas tree. Apparently, he had forgotten that it was currently mid-January and the tree had been taken down but we did get a kick out of watching the poor people attempt to skate on the ice rink! (Shoulda brought popcorn!)

From there we went to Times Square and ate at a great deli for long while. I tested Conor's patience by insisting that we go to the Yankees Store, so I could grab some championship gear. After getting warm in a Barnes and Noble awhile and buying some Jets stuff at Modell's, we stopped into Burger Heaven for some dinner. Before I left however, we stopped in Grand Central Station for some tea to warm up.

(What do you think it says about me that I describe my time by the foods I ate?) Hmm....

Anyways, that'll do it for me. The next time you hear from me, I'll once again be a full-time Stonehill student. Get ready Stonehill, I'm comin'...

Take care!

Home for the Holidays

Hey folks,

Currently watching my Jets take on the Bengals and I figured I'd update you on what I've been doing since I've been on break.

Ever since I got home it was hit the ground running in preparation for Christmas. My first night back was spent baking with my Mom. We have Christmas Eve over our house every year, which we've been doing ever since my Mom was a kid. Our whole family comes over for a traditional Slovak meal. Part of the preparation involves an awful lot of baking. That night, we made a sweet bread filled with either poppyseed, nuts, or prunes called Kolach (cole-lah-chi).

Since my Mom is usually doing other things, the past two years I've taken to making it by myself. It's sometimes hard to read my Grandma's old cursive writing but they came out great this year!

The next day my family and I took a trip up to Boston. The last few years we've gotten tickets to see the Boston Pops Holiday Show and this year we decided to make a day of it! We started our day at Fanueil Hall and had some coffee at Cheers. It was really cold!

We then grabbed a ride to Symphony Hall. We had great seats and really enjoyed the show. We were pretty hungry afterwards and went to Ruth Chris Steakhouse for a great dinner. I'm a big steak guy , so it was heaven.

Sure enough, it was soon Christmas Eve, which always guarantees to be a busy day. My Dad and I woke up early, to do some last-minute shopping and grab a slice of pizza. This has long been a tradition in our family: it gives my Dad and I a chance to finish shopping and it gives my Mom a chance to get her work done without us getting in her way!

We finished up our shopping and got home in time to get ready for our family, which arrived around 3pm. Christmas Eve is a really big holiday in our family, this year was no different with 14 people coming over. We started off with some appetizers, but soon came our traditional Slovak supper.

We start the meal with oplatki-a type of thin wafer which we dip in honey. This was used instead of communion in the old country, when people were snowed in and couldn't make it to church. Next is bobalki-balls of sweet dough served in warm milk. This symbolizes all the good throughout the last year. After bobalki is kapustnica, which is a bitter soup made with sauerkraut and noodles that symbolizes the difficulties of the year. Next are pierogies filled with either potatoes or prune, a family favorite. Our last course is shrimp with rice. The idea is a very simple meal-one that has been in our family for generations.

After dinner, we all mingled and opened presents. We had alot of my cousins around and it was pretty rowdy! We were all laughing and having a great time! It was also a chance for me to see my cousin Ed and fiancee Ashley and thank them again for their hospitality while in DC! My cousin Jessica came again this year and I got the chance to see her again. While for Chris--my cousin Elise's boyfriend--it was his first chance to get a taste of our family's Christmas celebration.

We were all pretty tired and we went to bed early. But dawn broke and--in what would have been unthinkable ten years ago--my parents woke me up! I made my way up the stairs and opened my gifts! I got some great stuff this year: from some great political books, Yankees gear, and a car adapter for my iPhone!

After a nice breakfast, we piled into the car and drove to Hingham, Mass. to my cousin Steph's house. It was nice to see some other family that couldn't make it to our house Christmas Eve. I also had the chance to see my cousins Jackson and Chase. We had a great meal and opened up some more presents. The weather was a little iffy and we headed back home early. As we pulled in the driveway, I could not believe that Christmas was over! But at least I still had some time at home to enjoy before heading back to the Hill

.

Merry Christmas!

Alright, everybody it's finally here!

I'll be back with some posts on what my family did and a little more on DC, but in the mean time...

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Let It Snow: My Final Weekend in D.C.

Hey there folks,

I am currently writing this post in the comfort of my warm and toasty living room. But the question was how did I get here? Well, sometimes I'm having trouble believing that I finally got here myself.

Let's go through my final weekend in D.C. and tell you about some of the things I did to cap off my amazing few months...

Friday was the last day of my internship. I helped to train our new intern and worked on some papers for school. It was a pretty quiet day. I made sure to take an extra-long lunch and stroll around the Capitol for a final time. The thing I miss most about my internship is getting an "all-access pass" to the building. It's really unbelievable--even the parts the public doesn't normally see.

Late in the afternoon, the Chief of Staff called a "staff meeting". I thought it was odd since it was Friday afternoon and a few people had decided to take the day off. Well, when I walked in I was greeted with a big sheet cake and a hearty yell of "Surprise!" Sure enough, the staff in the office had chipped in and thrown me a surprise party. They got me a card and a few gifts and we all ate cake and chatted for a good two hours. What a way to end my internship! I miss that place already! After work, I walked down to see the Capitol's Christmas tree.

I had planned to go home Saturday afternoon around 3pm, but when we heard of the impending forecast (a boatload of snow for both DC and CT) my parents and I decided to move it up to 1pm. Then, after even that looked ominous, we decided to postpone my train until Sunday morning. I had to be out of my apartment at noon Saturday, so I stayed with my cousin Eddie and his now fiance, Ashley.

But I woke up early on Saturday, because earlier in the week I bought tickets to the Washington Monument. I braved the foot and a half of snow that had already fell and trudged to the top. It was something I had never done before. The visability was obviously not the best, but it was cool just to go up there (especially at such a unique time)! I then walked all around the mall and got some GREAT pictures. It was totally deserted. It was really eerie. I ended with going up to the Capitol and grabbing some pictures of the snow.

the National Mall...deserted

I checked out of my apartment in the snow (here's the view from our balcony) and braved the snow to my cousin's house a few Metro stops away. No one had shoveled the sidewalks yet, so my busting-at-the seams suitcase acted as a shovel. You're welcome Arlington Public Works! Once there, we stayed in all day and had a little HBO marathon. From Shawshank Redemption, to Into the Wild, to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (one of my all-time favorites), and Marley and Me.

For the movie buffs out there, I'll give my grades:

Christmas Vacation - A++ (it's a holiday tradition)

Shawshank - A (really well done)

Into the Wild - B (cool movie, good cast but couldn't really get into the character- such a hippie!)

Marley and Me - C (ehh, coulda been better. they kept mixing the years up: small, modern cell phones with giant Windows 95-esque computers. What gives?!

But I digress...

Anyways, I woke up early on Sunday to head to the train station. The Metro was still a mess and cabs weren't running. All in all, we got about 26 inches of snow. Last year, they got about 1-2 inches all winter! Eddie drove me there and sure enough, my train was delayed. We waited for about 2 hours just to find out it was then canceled. I raced to the ticket counter to try and get on another train. I waited for an hour and a half in line, while my Dad was on the phone with Amtrak trying do the same. Finally got on a 4pm train, so I grabbed a bite to eat and caught up on some reading.

FINALLY, I boarded the train (just after the New York Giants got off it, oddly enough) and I was headed home to meet my parents. We got in to our house about midnight. It's good to be home.

Coming up: Just because I'm out of DC, doesn't mean it's gone forever: I'm still working on some cool little posts about the Capitol. Look for those around the start of the new year!

Take care everybody!

Christmastime Snapshots

Hey folks,

It's officially the Christmas season here in Washington. The past few weeks I've been putting the finishing touches on my semester here: doing some work for the Washington Center, visiting places I'd been meaning to go to, and saying goodbye to friends.

However, last Saturday we got our first snowfall here in the District. My room is next to a bay window that overlooks Arlington and I couldn't believe my eyes when I woke up that morning. I hurried down to the Capitol and met my friend Brenna. We walked around and took pictures in front of the things we had walked by all semester. I really tried hard not to take for granted being able to walk in and out of the Capitol building at my leisure. It really is something. I'll never forget it.

After we got our fill of the Capitol, we walked along Pennsylvania Avenue and took in the sights and sounds. We stopped at the National Botanical Garden for a bit. We had heard that they had a special Christmas exhibit but we weren't sure exactly what it was. When we walked in, we found the main foyer decked out in Christmas decorations with famous DC buildings adorning the room, made from acorns.

They were very intricately made, right down to many small details, as you can see. Another cool touch was that they were laid out in the room, as they are in the city itself. (Supreme court north of the Capitol, Jefferson Memorial west of the Lincoln Memorial and so on...)

After our time in the NBG, we walked to National Christmas Tree behind the White House. The tree was translplanted there in 1977 and has been there ever since. Along the tree are fifty smaller tree adorned with ornaments from all fifty states. Unfortunately, we got there a little early and the tree wasn't lit yet, but it was still great to see it.

Later in the week, I got to meet Andy Card, former President Bush's Chief of Staff from 2001-2006. I had met him once before--about two years ago--when he visited Stonehill. Card has close Stonehill ties. He was a visiting professor in the mid-90's, a member of the Board of Trustees, and the Commemencement speaker in 2003 (while he was Chief of Staff).

Sidenote: another great thing about the season...Christmas parties! Free food, free drink, and the chance to meet people...it really can't get better. It seems like most days have a reception or party after work that I'm more than happy to go to. My intern budget is pretty tight, so free food is always welcome.

That's it for me tonight. Today was pretty hectic and so I'm hitting the sack relatively early. Get ready though. I have a few special posts coming up talking about a little art history within the Capitol rotunda. Stay tuned. Thanks for the checking out the Gorm-zone. Until next time, take care!