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

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