The Globetrotting Geek

Monday/Tuesday – Day 116/117

November 26, 2012

Monday was meant to be preparation for my big Physics midterm on Tuesday morning! Unfortunately despite my best efforts, I failed to get in all the study time that I deemed necessary, spending too much of the day picking at my other work in an attempt to avoid the more difficult subject. My main consolation was that at least my other work was completed!

Something that I previously forgot to mention was the Glee Club/Penn Dance Semi-Formal that had been announced which required me to source a date from the numerous people at Penn. The rules were a free-for-all, any date was acceptable, man, woman (or sheep in the case of Thomas Nance). As a result I was running through the list of my friends at Penn for someone who would most appreciate coming. My first thought was to Caitlyn Garcia, one of the girls living in Rodin who often worked at the front desk. Many a time I had been given the opportunity to chat with her on my way in and, after many hours spent together discussing the wonderful place that is Australia, she decided to apply for exchange to the University of Melbourne! So hopefully some of you will get to meet her next semester 2. Anyway, after spotting her at the desk in the morning as I was coming in from shopping, I decided to see if she’d be interested. She responded that she’d be very eager to come but that it was pending checking her calendar. Unfortunately for the both of us, it turned out that the very same evening was her sorority’s formal and thus after securing another evening for us to go out, I searched for someone else to go with. The next female friend I came across was Stephanie Li, of choral society, as I made my way there and this time I had a little more success. I greatly look forward to attending the semi-formal with her.

Choir this evening combined with glee rehearsal nearly killed me but I managed to learn a good amount of music and had another good walk with Steph following the end of it. Then it was back to my room to cram for the physics.

Tuesday was defined by the exam. I woke up earlier than usual, 7AM, to get in some early morning prep, eat a full breakfast and, get my mind working. I really made some progress in the hours before 10AM and felt nervous but somewhat under control as I headed into the exam. I sat down, looked at the paper and, panicked. I had no clue how to do two out of the three questions on the paper. Thus, I tried by best on the first and sat without a pen in hand for another few minutes while I tried to figure out how to approach the other two. Thankfully, after a few tense minutes, the insight came to me. Now pen in hand I attacked the other two problems and though I wasn’t confident I managed to carry through with it properly, I was relatively sure that I had at least given enough to get a decent mark.

The rest of the day was a celebration, despite the remaining work for me to do! Immediately after I finished classes at 5 I went to Mad Mex a Mexican bar with Molly to slurp down a margharita (in my case a mini one, in her case a good half litre). We ended up staying there until rehearsal time and were joined by Justin and Steven from PGC!
After rehearsal I managed to convince myself to work a little more but ended up taking a well deserved early night. Success tastes sweet. Even B grade success.

Wednesday/Thursday – Day 104/Day 105

November 16, 2012

The slog continues. Today I made up the remainder of my workshop hours and unfortunately spilled a can of paint over my runners (sneakers), destroying them in the process. I managed to make it to algorithms this morning, but by this point the combination of coding, solving and singing was really taking its toll. Though my voice was slowly coming back, every day my eyes drooped a little more and I was a little less attentive in class.

Tonight’s rehearsal was much the same as the previous nights, though this time we entered into act two and I was even given a little more of a role with a cameo as the prison guard in a few scenes.

Thursday was the day of the show and, thankfully my voice was back. As I’m writing this a week later I admit that I can hardly remember the day, only to say nothing of note really occurred, the usual classes with a just in time submission of some physics work and more struggles with my code.

Finally tonight the show opened and, as per usual, I was running about like a mad man, performing transition and, occasionally delivering a few lines. However, the show also gave me the opportunity to bond a little more with the other cast and crew members, culminating in a pleasant dinner after the show in which I got to talk in depth to Lauren and Anais amongst others.

I needed my sleep tonight more than ever and thankfully, I received it!

 

Kunsthaus Zurich – Day 3

July 22, 2012

This morning as per usual was spent waking up at a leisurely hour, followed by a delicious swiss breakfast. Today I took the ferry into the city, a forty-five minute trip on the lake, with the flag billowing in the wind behind me.  Following that, it was another morning in Zurich! For me, this meant the opportunity to visit the renowned ‘Kunsthaus Zurich’ (art-house), a gallery with many famous and wonderful works. Below I have included a selection of my favorites, famous pieces. Amongst them are works by Dali, Picasso and Chagall.

After lunch I briefly wandered the streets again, stopping to chat with a waitress at ‘Outback’, an Australian themed restaurant. She wanted me to come in and appease the patrons searching for a true blue Aussie experience. Next was a quick stop at Sprungli to buy a thing or two (see later post).

Returning to the Empting family, my afternoon continued in Lucerne/Luzern and the surrounding countryside…