Way Down South

Howdy ya'll!

I just got back from Georgia. I was there for a long weekend to visit my Aunt and all of my cousins. Georgia is way down South. It's about a 12 hour drive from Maryland, but my mom and I went by plane so it only took about two hours.

In Georgia, all the older girl cousins went on an away weekend. We chatted, went to fancy resteraunts, and did a lot of shopping. I've been buying a lot of professional clothes because I am student teaching once a week and starting next semester I will be in the classroom every day. As you all remember I normally just wear t-shirts and jeans so I didn't have many nice clothes for teaching.

Anyways, while I was in Georgia I also got to visit with my little cousins. I have eighteen second cousins! The youngest is ten months old and the oldest is 14. I only see them twice a year because they live so far away so it was really fun to see them and play with them.

Now I'm back in Maryland. I had a long day of classes today and now I am watching "The Joy Luck Club" with my roommates to relax. I'm really excited because my boyfriend, Michael, is coming to visit on Friday. I haven't seen him since July so I really miss him!

It was great to chat with some of you on Saturday. Sorry that I couldn't stay too long. Hopefully next time I can stay longer.

Your friend,
Nikki

This is the Good Life

Hello, all!

I hope you all had an amazing weekend, I sure did.

On Friday my friends and I all went to Happy Hour. Happy Hour is when a lot of food and drinks are on special so it does not cost very much to eat. A lot of bars and resteraunts have happy hours on Friday afternoons and evenings. My friends and I go every weekend to a bar called Cornerstone which is one Route 1, not too far from the Quality Inn. I always get hot wings, they are delicious, but spicy! My roommate, Qing who is from China, told me that when she first came to America she couldn't believe that we ate the wings with our fingers. She thought Americans were so messy and dirty. The first time she ate the wings she used her chopsticks! That was seven years ago, now she uses her hands just like everybody else. By the end of the meal we both had sauce all over our hands and face. Yummmmmmmy!

On Saturday I went to the Maryland Football game against California. We were expected to lose because we do not have a very good team this year, but we surprised everybody and won! It was a very exciting game. Maryland sports, especially football and basketball, is one of my favorite things about going to the University of Maryland. Do you all remember going to the top of Byrd stadium at night? If you look at my pictures you can see that it looks a little bit different with 40,000 fans watching the Terps win!

Well, it's time to go start my Monday.

Your friend,
Nikki

Music!

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Hello, all!

Last night I went to a really fun concert with my friends. It was in Baltimore (Charm City!) at a place called Rams Head Live. Walking through the city reminded me of you guys! Especially the scaring little kids with the babies and watching the Orioles win! Rams Head Live is a very small place to go to concerts which is really fun because than you are super close to the artists. The two people that performed were Matt Wertz and Gaven DeGraw. They are not my favorite singers, but they are really good. Below are links to my favorite songs by each of them.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPdXdx9Zc68 <---Matt Wertz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftZ0jpYdn70 <--- Gaven Degraw

Do you all often go to concerts? If I was to listen to one Japanese artist, who would you reccomend? I am very interested to listen to new music. My favorite bands are Sister Hazel, O.A.R, Train, Tom Petty, and Modern Skirts. I have seen all of them except for Tom Petty and Modern Skirts in concert. If you are ever bored you can search for some of their songs on-line.

Well, I'm off to class!

Your friend,
Nikki

My Last First Days

Hey all!

So I just finished my last first week of classes! I only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is nice because then I have a four day weekend every week. The only bad part is that my Tuesdays and Thursdays are really long. Today I had classes from 12:30 to 8 with no break. By the time I got back to my apartment I was exhausted and HUNGRY! I can't really complain though because it is nice not having classes the other days.

In addition to classes, I am also student teaching. For those of you who don't know (or just forgot) my major is Secondary Education English. This means I want to be a high school English teacher. Right now, I go to a school once a week to observe a teacher and to help him teach. His name is Mr. Tallon and he is a very funny man. He gives his students a lot of noogies. I have no clue how the word noogie would translate in Japanese, but it's basically rubbing a person's head really hard. I will see if I can take a picture of him giving somebody a noogie to post on this blog. It's really fun to be in the classroom because I am so excited to be a teacher. Next semester, instead of taking classes at the University of Maryland, I will be student teaching every day at a high school.

Well, even though it is only Thursday it's the weekend for me. I'm off to go celebrat my week!

Your friend who misses you all very, very much,
Nikki

Here Are a Few of my Favorite Things

Hello, AGUers!

So, I've never kept a blog before, but I thought it would be a great way to keep in touch with you all. Also, one of the best ways to really understand a language is to constantly read and write in the language. I will try to write in the blog at least once a week so you all should check in to see what's going on in my life. This is an easier way to keep in touch than e-mail because I feel like I keep sending the same e-mail over and over again!

Anyways...

Today my friends and I had a cookout. We ate crabs, hotdogs, shrimp, grilled pineapple, and ice cream. I am so full I can barely move! Above is a picture of all the crabs I ate. Have you all ever been to a crab feast? It's one of my favorite things about Maryland. It was a lot of fun eating and hanging out with my friends especially considering school starts tomorrow. It is my first day of senior year, so I am both nervous and excited. I hope it goes well!

I hope you all are doing well. I can't wait to continue to read your blogs.

Your friend,
Nikki