I knew that Duke University students love their basketball, and I knew that Duke takes its basketball very seriously. Today I learned that Duke sports fans are crazy.
Being in Durham I took the time to visit my friend Steve, who graduated from Ithaca last year and is now doing his graduate studies at Duke. He took me around campus and showed me a small niche in the Duke culture: A tent city assembled on the grass in front of the atheltics center. Every year at the beginning of January students assemble this tent community (that's called K Town after the coach of the basketball team) and camp out until the Duke vs. UNC basketball game, which is not until February. So for a month and a half students of every grade gather in this tent community and follow very strict rules. What's the pay out? Some of them MIGHT get a ticket to the game.
Maybe it's because I go to a college where our sports aren't really that big of a deal that I find this a bit unbelievable and crazy. The biggest event at Ithaca College is the "Cortaca" football game, and even then it's only because it's an excuse to start drinking at 10am and not stop until well into the wee hours of the following Sunday. But even for Cortaca students don't camp out a month and a half in advance to get tickets.
I can't imagine living in a tent every day for that long to go to a basketball game, but I'm not going to lie, some part of me thinks that if you had the right group of people with you, it could be kind of fun.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Time Flys By in the City of Lights
I should apologize for my lack of posting these past few weeks. In certain places of my adventuring there is an alarming lack of internet available on my computer and I'm left diving at any free chance to use someone elses in a free moment.
On Saturday I went to Charlotte, NC, and had one fact confirmed: Charlotte is big.
It's also a city, and after I managed to unfluster myself from driving through it to get to a parking garage (I don't know if I'm ready to tackle city driving yet) I was able to spend the morning self-touring a beautifully designed city on a 60-degree and sunny day. I looked around at the architecture, soaking in the magnificent design of the buildings around me, and even got to go and see the Bank of America Stadium (where the Carolina Panthers call home) up close. And it was game day. But more on that later.
The thing that struck me about Charlotte (and mind you I had been warned by my voice teacher) was that everyone really was friendly. The women working in the Visitor Center were unbelievably helpful in finding me brochures on attractions, as well as a pamphlet for leading myself on a walking tour. Not 30 minutes after I left the building I was hit on twice and every time I passed someone and happen to not be smiling the would look at me and say, "Now where's your smile today, Girl?" or some derivation of the phrase.
In the bustling city there were plenty of small peaceful alcoves, beautifully designed and arranged, where a person could get away for a minute and almost forget that they were surrounded by skyscrapers and traffic. One little park, called The Green, was a little novella-themed patch of greenery taking up probably an entire block between two buildings, with allusions and references to great authors and their works of literature at every turn. On this particular Saturday there was also an ice-skating rink set up where people could throw on a pair of blades and skate together in the sun.
I must have wander the city for some 3 hours before I finally stopped to get something to eat and rest my legs for awhile.
Then at 2pm the people disappeared. The traffic died to barely a trickle and businesses began to close all around me and the activity of the city moved to a select parking lot nearby where I had parked. The game was in 6 hours and it was time for tail gating. Tickets were being scalped, merchandise was being sold, and Panther fans from all over gather together to grill and drink and get riled up for the football game. Having friends in North Carolina and being so conveniently located in the action I made some calls to see in anyone was interested in catching the game, but work is a cruel beast and it prevented anyone from being able to make the drive. It was probably for the best, since God only knows how much a person would have to pay for a ticket.
On Saturday I went to Charlotte, NC, and had one fact confirmed: Charlotte is big.
It's also a city, and after I managed to unfluster myself from driving through it to get to a parking garage (I don't know if I'm ready to tackle city driving yet) I was able to spend the morning self-touring a beautifully designed city on a 60-degree and sunny day. I looked around at the architecture, soaking in the magnificent design of the buildings around me, and even got to go and see the Bank of America Stadium (where the Carolina Panthers call home) up close. And it was game day. But more on that later.
The thing that struck me about Charlotte (and mind you I had been warned by my voice teacher) was that everyone really was friendly. The women working in the Visitor Center were unbelievably helpful in finding me brochures on attractions, as well as a pamphlet for leading myself on a walking tour. Not 30 minutes after I left the building I was hit on twice and every time I passed someone and happen to not be smiling the would look at me and say, "Now where's your smile today, Girl?" or some derivation of the phrase.
In the bustling city there were plenty of small peaceful alcoves, beautifully designed and arranged, where a person could get away for a minute and almost forget that they were surrounded by skyscrapers and traffic. One little park, called The Green, was a little novella-themed patch of greenery taking up probably an entire block between two buildings, with allusions and references to great authors and their works of literature at every turn. On this particular Saturday there was also an ice-skating rink set up where people could throw on a pair of blades and skate together in the sun.
I must have wander the city for some 3 hours before I finally stopped to get something to eat and rest my legs for awhile.
Then at 2pm the people disappeared. The traffic died to barely a trickle and businesses began to close all around me and the activity of the city moved to a select parking lot nearby where I had parked. The game was in 6 hours and it was time for tail gating. Tickets were being scalped, merchandise was being sold, and Panther fans from all over gather together to grill and drink and get riled up for the football game. Having friends in North Carolina and being so conveniently located in the action I made some calls to see in anyone was interested in catching the game, but work is a cruel beast and it prevented anyone from being able to make the drive. It was probably for the best, since God only knows how much a person would have to pay for a ticket.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Paradise is 75 Degrees and Sunny
So a busy handful of days have passed, coupled with a flakey internet connection I was left with little way to update on my adventure.
To start off, as I stated before I feel in love with the Carolinas the moment my feet crossed the border into North Carolina. The weekend that ensued involved a lot of heavy lifting and unpacking of boxes, but by Monday most of the house was set-up and ready to be lived in. However, don't think that this was an easy task.
The very first night we had to stay in a hotel because there was no power in the house (a COMPLETELY spider-infested house I might add) because the property overseers didn't prepare the house to have the electricity turned on. The next morning, sun shining and full moving truck parked out front, Sara's mother went to work vacuuming spiders while the rest of us moved everything inside. This was how the next two days went, with bouts of cleaning in between the unpacking and unloading.
Then on Monday the upstairs toilet flooded while we were all out, which leaked through to one of the downstairs bedrooms and soaked the carpet running into the bedroom and the stairway. So between plumbers and ceiling repairmen and carpet cleaners we've had to spend a lot of time waiting around the house for people to show up and fix things.
But today we did get to go to the aquarium, and I can always find appreciation from a good aquarium. This one was decent. I've been to aquariums that I liked better, but this one was very nice. Sara and I spent an hour or two exploring the exhibits and got a nice little lunch from the cafe and had a nice time. And they had a baby sea turtle which was adorable. And otters. I love otters.
Right now as far as future living places go Charleston, SC, is winning by a landslide (granted I haven't been anywhere else yet). The weather here is fantastic, and I've found that even on cloudy days the sky is beautiful. There's a smell of water in the air everywhere and the atmosphere feels like the beach, which is one of my most favorite places in the world (the beach, that is). It would be extremely easy for me to get used to this kind of weather all the time (even the heat) and even now I'm not looking forward to returning to the frozen tundra that will be Ithaca, New York.
To start off, as I stated before I feel in love with the Carolinas the moment my feet crossed the border into North Carolina. The weekend that ensued involved a lot of heavy lifting and unpacking of boxes, but by Monday most of the house was set-up and ready to be lived in. However, don't think that this was an easy task.
The very first night we had to stay in a hotel because there was no power in the house (a COMPLETELY spider-infested house I might add) because the property overseers didn't prepare the house to have the electricity turned on. The next morning, sun shining and full moving truck parked out front, Sara's mother went to work vacuuming spiders while the rest of us moved everything inside. This was how the next two days went, with bouts of cleaning in between the unpacking and unloading.
Then on Monday the upstairs toilet flooded while we were all out, which leaked through to one of the downstairs bedrooms and soaked the carpet running into the bedroom and the stairway. So between plumbers and ceiling repairmen and carpet cleaners we've had to spend a lot of time waiting around the house for people to show up and fix things.
But today we did get to go to the aquarium, and I can always find appreciation from a good aquarium. This one was decent. I've been to aquariums that I liked better, but this one was very nice. Sara and I spent an hour or two exploring the exhibits and got a nice little lunch from the cafe and had a nice time. And they had a baby sea turtle which was adorable. And otters. I love otters.
Right now as far as future living places go Charleston, SC, is winning by a landslide (granted I haven't been anywhere else yet). The weather here is fantastic, and I've found that even on cloudy days the sky is beautiful. There's a smell of water in the air everywhere and the atmosphere feels like the beach, which is one of my most favorite places in the world (the beach, that is). It would be extremely easy for me to get used to this kind of weather all the time (even the heat) and even now I'm not looking forward to returning to the frozen tundra that will be Ithaca, New York.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The Sky is Bluer in the Carolinas
It's a legendary saying that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. These old adages are seldom to be taken literally, but I realized today, that when you know in your heart you want to be a certain area in particular, all of the colors of the world seem a little brighter.
But I guess I should start with the beginning.
There's a lot you can do in a 12-hour car ride, especially when you're driving a "soccer mom" style van filled to the brim with boxes and suitcases on January 1st. You can write stories in your head; you can imagine relationships with people you may or may not know, putting each of you in a situation and pondering what the outcome may be; you can think about the people in your life that you care about, and the people you care about that aren't really in your life; you can ponder what you're planning to write later in your blog; and you can think about what you've learned about yourself and the world around you that you want to take and use to shape the brand new year you're facing the dawn of. I hope I'm not the only one who does this, because it's how I spent the better part of the day traveling from Columbus, Ohio, to Summerville, South Carolina, to help my cousin with the big move that will start her new life.
On a drive like this, it's important to observe the scenery. It's a gorgeous drive once you get in the mountains, the tree-covered hills rising up into the sky like a fuzzy blanket spread across a bed without being smoothed down after. The dips and falls captivate your attention: The way the sun and shadows play across the landscape, the town nestled in a valley just to your right.
The entire ride anticipation was building inside me to get to the one place I had been waiting to go since October: The Carolinas. It's my hope to someday make my future in one of the cities there and for the next two and a half weeks I will be adventuring to find my niche in their embrace.
The first thing I learned on my car ride to South Carolina: The sky really is bluer there.
But I guess I should start with the beginning.
There's a lot you can do in a 12-hour car ride, especially when you're driving a "soccer mom" style van filled to the brim with boxes and suitcases on January 1st. You can write stories in your head; you can imagine relationships with people you may or may not know, putting each of you in a situation and pondering what the outcome may be; you can think about the people in your life that you care about, and the people you care about that aren't really in your life; you can ponder what you're planning to write later in your blog; and you can think about what you've learned about yourself and the world around you that you want to take and use to shape the brand new year you're facing the dawn of. I hope I'm not the only one who does this, because it's how I spent the better part of the day traveling from Columbus, Ohio, to Summerville, South Carolina, to help my cousin with the big move that will start her new life.
On a drive like this, it's important to observe the scenery. It's a gorgeous drive once you get in the mountains, the tree-covered hills rising up into the sky like a fuzzy blanket spread across a bed without being smoothed down after. The dips and falls captivate your attention: The way the sun and shadows play across the landscape, the town nestled in a valley just to your right.
The entire ride anticipation was building inside me to get to the one place I had been waiting to go since October: The Carolinas. It's my hope to someday make my future in one of the cities there and for the next two and a half weeks I will be adventuring to find my niche in their embrace.
The first thing I learned on my car ride to South Carolina: The sky really is bluer there.
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