Disturbing the Norm

I have not actually tried to disturb any of the norms at the gyms yet,but if I was going to, I have a few ideas of how I could do so. The most obvious way that I could disturb these norms is to try and bring a more social attitude to the gym and try to talk to my fellow gym goers. I could also possibly disrupt some of the courtesy gym practices and see how people react. I could leave my weights on the bar to see how people react. Although, I would imagine most people would just get angry or frustrated with someone that is hindering their workout. This reaction seems to fit with the people that go to the gym. For the most part, it seems as though anger would be a common reaction among people that are working out and trying to use so much power to lift so much weight. The other thing I was thinking of doing is just trying to start racquetball games with strangers at the courts. This is something that I feel no one is used to happening. I know I have never had anyone come up to me to try and start a game of doubles or anything.

Observation #1

One of the public spaces that I have observed around campus is the gym. I go there every now and then mostly to play racquetball but occasionally to do some lifting. The norm for the gym seems to be to keep to yourself and get your routine done as efficiently as possible and move on the next workout. No one really talks to each other that much and most of the people are shutting themselves off from everyone by having headphones in their ears. Most people are not their to socialize; they are their to "work out." There are certain courtesy practices as well of course. You know... wipe down the machine after you are done, put away your weights when you are done, etc. The same kind of deal goes for racquetball players. No one mingles, they came to play with whoever they came with, not anyone else. The extent of interaction among different groups of racquetball players is only when the ball happens to bounce into someone's court, and you have to get it back. This seems to be the norm when you go to the SRC or Ramshead.

Event # 1: Academic Lecture

I attended a really interesting lecture a while ago about sustainability for the future. The CEO of a company came to speak about how his company has reacted to the rising global issues dealing with resources, pollution, and global warming. He is the CEO of a yogurt company that makes all natural, organic yogurt. They do not use chemicals or preservatives in the yogurt, and they actually pay their farmers to not use any chemicals such as pesticides or anything. The CEO talked about how being sustainable can actually be quite profitable. There of course is an initial cost in the beginning, but over the long run, many of these investments will save money later. An example of this was his company investing in a large waste holder facility that was very expensive. However, the facility stores the waste as it decomposes and traps the methane and other substances that are given off and is able to reuse this for energy for operational needs. This saves a whole lot of money in energy costs over the long run despite the huge initial investment. This is most likely what the future of many businesses is going to be like. I am really interested in sustainability and the future of our planet. One of the topics that really interested me was the idea of mimicking structures in nature to construct our buildings and other things. One of the examples was a building that stays relatively cool without air conditioning which is modeled after giant termite hills in Africa that are built with passages to allow air flow. This flow of air keeps the inside of the termite hill at a stable cool temperature compared to the outside surrounding temperature. It was a very interesting talk, and I got some free yogurt out of it.

The lecture added to my experience as a college student because I felt as if I was an informed citizen of the college community that participates in enriching activities. The lecture was definitely geared towards an audience that is interested in business and current environmental issues such as resources and population. However, the speech was very easy to understand and very interesting. I find myself becoming more interested in environmental issues that face the world now and in the near future. Maybe I will be able to incorporate these interests into whatever major I decide to pursue.

Rushing Franklin!

I, like the majority of Carolina students, watched the Tarheels beat the Blue Devils in the basketball game on Wednesday night. This is one of those huge rivalries in college sports. It was fun watching the game with some friends because it was a close game for most of it. After we won, all my friends and I rushed Franklin Street to join the giant crowd and celebrate our win. There were people everywhere, and it was quite an experience. There were people climbing the light posts to stand on the stop/walk machines to cheer. I saw one guy do this and then right when he got down a cop was ready to handcuff him. I did not do anything too crazy just "moshed" for a while and put my friend on my shoulders. My friends and I left the crowd and ventured down Franklin to retrieve the pokey sticks we had ordered from Gumby's Pizza. We got two boxes and ravaged them right in front of the pizza place. It was an awesome night except for that I knew I had to wake up early to turn in my chemistry lab report. Despite the work I should have done, the workless night was worth it. This kid I know even ended up getting his picture on the front page of the Herald Sun newspaper crowd surfing on Franklin Street.

Bad Day...

Today was not a very good day to say the least. The only positive so far is that now I am done with everything, and it is Friday. This morning I overslept and missed biology. Then woke up to go to chemistry and french... and this was okay but I knew I had to still go to a doctor's appointment. I left french got some lunch then headed towards the doctor. I hate going to the doctor because it is a big hassle and a waste of time. It was unfortunate because, being as it was a Friday afternoon, the office was pretty busy. I had to wait in the waiting room for an almost an hour before they finally called me into the back. Then I had to sit in that room for multiple periods of ten to fifteen minutes. Then they finally let me go, but I still had to get blood drawn at the lab. Then after all of this hellishness I get to walk all the way back to my dorm. It was not a very good day at all but now I just get to relax and enjoy the first night of the weekend.

Australia

Australia is one cool country. I went there about two summers ago by now, and it was one of the best trips I have ever taken. There I was getting dropped off at the airport about to fly alone for the first time. I have always been somewhat scared of flying... especially alone. It is funny because my first time flying alone and my destination is halfway around the globe. Needless to say, after this trip I got over my fear of flying and the worries of flying alone. It was so worth it though. However, I did lose one of my bags on my transfer through New Zealand. I landed in Sydney with my dad waiting at the airport because he had already been in Australia for a few weeks previously with his class from UNCW. It was great; Sydney is the prettiest city, and I loved every minute while I was there. One of the only downsides was the fact that it was winter in Australia in July, but it was not too cold. My friend actually came with me too but we had different flights the whole way to Australia, and he arrived a day after I did. We all stayed in Sydney for a few days, but my father had a condo in a town called Wollongong which is about an hour and a half south of Sydney. The condo was pretty nice but it was a temporary place to stay while my dad taught this class for a duration of about five or six weeks. Wollongong was also a really cool place. It definitely had a "beach town" feel even more so than Wilmington where I am from. The beach was just down the street from the condo and th waves looked incredible. The view at the beach was amazing because much of the coastline in this area was more like rocky cliffs without much actual sandy beach spots like I am used to. Then we flew to Cairns which is a city in Northeast Australia. The worthwhile experience I had here was to be able to go out on a dive boat to a section of the Great Barrier Reef and go scuba diving. I saw a giant sea turtle that had to be as big as I was. On the way back to the US, we stopped in New Zealand for a few days and stayed in Auckland. Auckland was an awesome city, and I became a fan of the national rugby team there called the "All Blacks." This explains why I have a coat that says "All Blacks" on it if you have ever seen it and did not understand what it was. I returned home after about three weeks, but these three weeks were some of the most enjoyable weeks I have ever had. I am yet to travel to Europe, but I am confident Australia and New Zealand will always be two of my favorite countries. I am partially planning on studying abroad in Australia, but this is till up in the air. But if anyone ever has the chance to travel to Australia or New Zealand, I highly recommend it.

Caffiene in the form of Coffee

I have Biology Monday/Wednesday/Friday this semester at 9 am. This is not too early, but it is still a drag especially cause I find myself going to sleep at 2 to 3 in the morning every night. It is unfortunate that Biology is my first class on these days because I inevitably fall asleep in class every time. This being the case, I have missed huge chunks of info in class when I doze off. I feel behind and confused when it comes to doing the biology homework because of material that I may have missed. So I had to change what I was doing. This morning I woke up 50 to 40 minutes before class instead of the usual 30 to 20 minutes before. I got ready and went out the door with enough time to go grab a caffeinated coffee beverage from Starbucks. I drank it on the way to class and over the first few minutes of class. It was wonderful because I felt up and alert. I did not even think about falling asleep. I am going to incorporate the Starbucks stop into every one of my mon./wed./fri. mornings as well as trying to get to bed a little earlier on most nights. I am sure my biology grade will look much better if I am able to not sleep in class. I have never been a coffee person, but I think I just might have to become one.