Yes, as I should be studying for finals now, I am thinking about summer. I find that taking intermittent breaks like now help me concentrate better. Anyway, as I ask many what they are doing in the summer, as I still don't have an actual plan, most of course, are going back home. Others are taking classes, and others, are getting summer jobs and volunteering activities to fill up their summer. Wow, for most, we're actually going to be back in our parents' homes for 3 whole months!! It's going to take a while to adapt back to my old life.haha. Well, for my summer, I plan to learn how to cook since I am going to live in an apartment next semester! yay! Other than that, I plan to relax, have fun, get a tan, exercise, and spend time with my family! Nothing like a homecooked meal and my OWN ROOM!!!! What are your plans? Get ahead and think about making your summer productive and worthwhile!

Posted by Casey Wang at 1:02 AM | Permalink

Can you believe that this will be the only break we have until the end of the semester!!?? It's ridiculous. Now, we have 5 more weeks until finals.... time sure does fly. Spring break was fun- I went to San Francisco and it was actually WARM! My friends and I went to City Light Bookstore and it was really cool because we got to read books written by the owner of the bookstore! I never knew I would love poetry so much until I went here. Then, I went to Pier 39 and walked around looking at all the shops there. Oh my gosh!!! There was this cute musical box store that had hand made italian made music boxes that were so lavish and intricate and beautiful!! but everything in it was like 800 to 1000 dollars!!!! It was mental anguish i tell you...:(

Continue reading "Spring Break" »

Posted by Casey Wang at 11:47 AM | Permalink

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! Wait....except I have a paper due on Monday and two presentations due on Tuesday. That basically sums up what I'll be spending this week on. Well that's not too bad because I've decided to go visit family in Palm Springs because I need a break. Even if I'm doing homework at least I'll be by the pool! This semester has kept me extra busy, I don't recommend 17.5 units and 15-20 hours of work. Yes it's possible to do it, but it's really not that much fun. On a side note...I got my first C+ on something in college. I'm really annoyed because 1/3 of the class got D's and they get to re-write their papers but I don't and my grade is close to being just as bad. I plan on spending every waking hour of break working on my second paper...okay so maybe I'll spend some time in the pool, but I am determined to get an A on my next paper now.

Posted by Marissa Ponder at 8:53 AM | Permalink

I know it's a bit early to worry about my plans for this summer, but I just can't seem to decide what to do this summer. I've created two options for myself:

(1) Stay at Berkeley and take a summer course (maybe Chem 3B/L, Physics 8A, Bio 1A/L, or Bio 1B/L...any suggestions?), continue working at Moffitt Library, and maybe find a clinical positon...

OR

(2) Go home to SoCal, take Spanish somewhere, and find a clinical or volunteer position

Continue reading "Summer Plans?!" »

Posted by Victoria Eng at 10:00 AM | Permalink

Do you like bunnies? They're soft and fun to pet.
Well, even if you can't have one in your apartment, I know of a great place to go and visit them in the afternoons. The bunnies at the Oakland Animal Shelter will welcome your pets and affection, even if you do have to put them back in their cages and go home without them.

At the Oakland Animal Shelter, they take care of a couple dozen rabbits. With their no-kill policy, excellently trained volunteers, and plentiful healthy hay, they take great care of their rabbits. Unfortunately, they're trapped in little boxes in a back room for most of the day, with tons of hay and good sanitation - but still, not much room to hop or folks to cuddle with.

If you find some free time, you should definitely go to keep them company!

To get there from campus with your free bus pass, take the 1R line (#1lx/1) from Telegraph Ave. in the direction of the Bayfair BART station.

Here's a website that tells you all about the available dogs, cats, and rabbits in Oakland:
http://www.oaklandanimalservices.org/index.php?z=4

If you live anywhere in the United States, here's a great resource to help you find your new companion. With Petfinder, you can search all of the animal rescue centers nationwide, by zip code or city name:
http://www.petfinder.com/

Posted by Christina at 8:56 PM | Permalink

The yuletide relaxations have been concluded and now our hero set forth to smite his final semester at UC Berkeley. Last semester was a mind bending decerebrational dropkick of sub-epic proportions. This semester he will surely be transformed into a photo-phobic corpse of the benevolently peering sort. Yay philosophical zombies!! Speaking of which you should all submit to Jonathan Coulton's Re: Your Brains.

Posted by Eric Thurston at 3:03 PM | Permalink

I try hard to monopolize your attention. This time my new tactic is to write during vacation when I assume that nobody else is writing because their lives do not revolve around school like mine does. Yes. Today I am going out to buy lead for my pencils - this day is rife with excitement and pregnant with pungent anticipation. I am very picky about my pencil lead. I only use 0.7 mm 2B lead because it gives me the darkest line and the strength to hold up under my hard pressed hand.

Being on semester schedule is unusual. All my other UC friends are on the quarter schedule so their classes start today. This essentially leaves me with more reading and eating time. I wonder if this semester thing is a plot from Berkeley to deliberately isolate itself and its students from the rest of the system. The chess club in my high school did this too and it lead to two things: 1) Unparalleled chess genius-ry - I mean seriously. They'll win even if they give you their queen and let you continually beat them over the head with it. and 2) They danced with only themselves during the school dances.

My search for peace, purpose and good TV reception on CBS continues. I HAVE to watch the Patriots game on Saturday even if it means me wrapping myself in aluminum and sticking my arms out of a 2nd story window.

Posted by Jonathan Yu at 4:18 PM | Permalink

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! To think that a whole year has already gone by...2007 is fast drawing to a close.

The celebration of the new year is rather low-key in my household. No big parties, no fancy dinners (in fact, our food is rather pedestrian in comparison to some of the feasts I've heard other people entertain), no drunken revelry. Usually we have a few families from our church gather together, chat, and eat before the New Year's Eve service.

In fact, we're having one of those dinners right now. This year, the gathering is at our house. The adults are talking in the sitting room, while we kids (yes, kids) are scattered in different parts of the house. My brother is working on AP Bio homework with some friends, and a couple other friends are here. Soon we will join the adults at the dinner table for some Dduk Guk (a Korean dish traditionally served to welcome the new year, the name means "Rice Cake Soup").

Again, it's not a very fancy or fanciful celebration, but it is what it is. I don't think I'd be able to handle a loud, raucous party, anyways.

Posted by Joel Kim at 6:58 PM | Permalink

On Christmas day, my brother and I were alone in the house. My mother was still at work at the hospital, and my father had gone to the meditation center for his afternoon session. Dale was working on AP Bio homework, and I was just lounging around the house, looking for something to do.

Bored and a little edgy from spending so much time indoors, I decided to go for a walk. After a moment's thought, I took my brother with me. No sense in keeping him locked up indoors, you see, and I figured he would enjoy some fresh air.

We bundled up as best we could and soldiered into the night air. The Santa Ana winds were blowing something fierce, and the shrieking winds brought a strange eeriness to our friendly evening street. We headed for the park, my brother on rollerblades, myself on foot.

After a brief excursion onto the tennis courts, where we played tag and whacked each other with sticks, we arrived at our destination. The playground. A modest ensemble of plastic, metal, and sand, it had served us well in our youth in amusement and sport. Seeing it now, after such long years at college, brought some comfort. There was no one else around; no one else was foolish enough to come out at this time of night to a playground beset by such winds.

Continue reading "Sand, Steel, and Swings: Christmas at the park with my brother" »

Posted by Joel Kim at 12:35 PM | Permalink

So I took my first trip to San Diego about three weeks ago. I'm originally from Miami and had never been down there even though I'd been living in California since 2003. It was a great trip! The flight only takes about an hour or hour and a half. Being used to flights back to Miami, this short trip was a very welcomed change. We actually went to meet my mom who I hadn't seen in almost a year. The only "bad" part was that the trip was the last week before finals began lol. Anyway, I wanted to share some pictures. Most of these are my girlfriend's pictures since my camera broke the first day we were out there.

Click to view larger


Flickr

Continue reading "San Diego!" »

Posted by Juan at 10:16 PM | Permalink

Last Saturday my friend drove me down from Berkeley to LA. There were four of us in the car; Ezra (the driver), Milton, Danny, and myself. We had to leave early, because Milton had to be at a wedding at 5. Half an hour out from Berkeley, he realized he had forgot his suit, so we had to turn around and get it. So we left Berkeley around 10.

For those of you traveling by car from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, prepare for a long ride. Luckily we didn't have too much traffic, but I have heard some horror stories. One friend was driving up right after the Thanksgiving break. He left his home at 1 PM. By the time he had picked up everyone else and gotten to Berkeley, it was 1 AM. He resolved to never make the mistake of leaving so late again.

The car ride was uneventful. We talked, laughed, and joked around. These three guys are from my fellowship, which is the closest circle of friends I have at Berkeley, so we had a lot of in-jokes and fun memories to share.

We stopped at an In-N-Out for lunch. For those of you not familiar with it, In-N-Out is a popular fast food chain in California. They are known for their quality burgers and great customer service. In-N-Out is noteworthy in that it pays its employees $10.50/hour, as opposed to the California minimum wage of $8.00/hour (which is higher than the federal mandated rate of $5.85/hour). I really do enjoy their burgers, their fresh ingredients and their tasty fries.

Continue reading "Winter Break (In-N-Out)" »

Posted by Joel Kim at 5:48 PM | Permalink

Over the Thanksgiving break, I went home to Granada Hills and relaxed with my family. I drove down with a few friends on Wednesday and got home around midnight. Some things had changed; my brother had put in a big mat in the middle of the living room to practice his break-dancing. My family greeted me with a hug and sent me off to bed. However, even though I was really tired, I stayed up until 3 AM playing Lumines on my brother's PSP. I guess some things don't change as much.

Continue reading "Provision of Gratitude" »

Posted by Joel Kim at 2:13 PM | Permalink