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BEN SWOFFORD .propoganda
| my +internet+ identity |
Explorer. Listener. Observer. Maker. Thinker. Learner.
Thanks for stopping by.
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Info
- Summary
I am a graduating senior at Miami University, currently seeking a job or internship in film, design or related fields. I strive to be both professional and easy-going, and I am eager to make an impact. In addition to the creative instincts I have developed in my bachelor studies, I have strong analytical skills and a good sense of team dynamics in my projects and organizations. I am an effective listener and communicator, and a fast learner with a hunger for knowledge. As a passionate team-member, I give and welcome criticism freely while working toward common goals.
I will finish my degree in Architecture in May and will continue my current independent studies in film. I also hope to spend more time living abroad. I am interested in culture, place, entertainment, music, and making a positive impact on society.
I believe: I could soon be working in a job that never existed before.
I believe: my design studies, along with a liberal and global education at Miami University, have prepared me for a wide range of career possibilities.
I believe: an eagerness for learning and remaining open to opportunity and possibility will guide my career.Experience- 2012 - May 2013President / Miami University Rowing Club
• Director of the 12-member student executive board that manages 70 co-ed team members, a $40,000 budget, and 6 trips to regatta competitions per year
• Laid groundwork for new team endowment fund that will utilize a brick patio fundraiser and other donations in order to create transformational and sustainable growth, as well as to grow alumni support
• Improved transition standards by organizing manuals and binders for each officer's position
• Implemented weekly officer reports with Google forms, and integrated the Google calendar system to boost communication and organization among the executive board, and awareness in the president's position
• Practiced 10+ hours per week
• Gained valuable leadership experience, and was able to give back to an organization and sport that has done a lot for me - Sept 2009 - May 2013Technical Assistant / Miami University School of Fine Arts
• Graphic Design computer lab monitor and machine troubleshooter
• Created system to track printer supplies and inform future department purchases
• Worked with faculty and students to solve problems
• Assisted and learned from Computer Services director throughout college career - Jul 2012 - Jul 2012Production Assistant / Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment (Bunburry Music Festival)
• Assisted festival production directors during the first ever Bunbury Music Festival, a 3 day music event featuring 100 bands on 6 stages on the Cincinnati riverfront
• Dealt with artists and act representatives at the main stage to help the festival run smoothly; took pride in contributing to the festival's strong first impression as a new Cincinnati tradition - May 2011 - Jan 2012Publicity Chair / Miami University Rowing Club
• Redefined position by focusing on new technologies and professional presentation
• Created website at http://www.murowing.com incorporating new social media; ensured future of the website by leaving careful notes and using a web service with an intuitive interface
• Maintained a unified and informative web presence
• Coordinated recruitment efforts, resulting in increased attendance at tryouts and strong novice boats
• Managed ordering of uniforms - Jun 2009 - Aug 2011Camp Counselor / Coast Sports
• Supervised 3 to 6 year old "Rookies" in summer day camp
• Assorted sports, games, arts, crafts, high-jinks
• Responsible for daily photography used for company website and sold to parents - Jan 2010 - May 2011Design Editor / Love & Honors: H&S Info
• Led around a dozen honors students in production of monthly e-newsletter and website as part of 4 member editorial board; assisted in teaching the associated class
• Helped to recreate the newsletter in Spring 2010; increased readership by over 300%
• Authored grant application to expand digital media capabilities - Dec 2010 - Mar 2011Co-Founder + Designer / GBD Shirts 2011
• Created tee-shirt business with two friends to market for annual college town celebration
• Collaboratively conceptualized topical shirt ideas (ex. a dancing Buzz Lightyear for Toy Story 3)
• Designed all graphics and marketed to students on Facebook
• Profit paid for Spring Break trip to Florida
Education-
2009 - 2013Miami UniversityBA in Architecture
Activities: University Honors Program; Chartering member of Iota Zeta chapter of Delta Sigma Phi; MU Rowing; LeaderShape Institute; Fallingwater Institute -
2012 - 2012Åbo Akademi
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2006 - 2009Sycamore High School
Additional Information-
Interests:Film, Music, Travel, Design, Technology, Architecture, Digital Media, Innovation, Rowing, Writing, Reading, Place, Culture, Social Issues, Space, Climate, Current Events, Postcards, Chocolate, Peanut butter, Coffee, Funny YouTube Videos,
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Tweets
- RT @GOOD: How a homeless guy inspired me to launch my startup http://t.co/x1FDfKaXicMay 13, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- RT @AP: Justice Dept. secretly obtains AP journalists' phone records in what AP top exec calls unprecedented intrusion: http://t.co/ZsUqm40…May 13, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- "She could be an accent pillow, but otherwise forget it." -- Jack Keegan
- "The first half of Full Metal Jacket is brilliant. Then the film degenerates into a masterpiece." -- Matthew Modine (actor, Private Joker)May 09, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- We of #MiamiOH in Oxford need @tasteofbelgium in our lives.May 09, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- 🎶 It's beginning to smell a lot like allergies... 🎶
- Toilets Without Borders @ WRA (Miami University) http://t.co/W8mXyw31K2
- "I'm just really into baked broccoli right now..." -- @brian_cash
- via @nprnews: Journey Of A Specialty Coffee Bean, From Cherry To Cup http://t.co/z8wJd76kKT
- Final Cut Pro X: where every tool you want to use is hidden in plain sight.
- My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
- RT @Slate: These are the two different types of muffins the world needs and here is how to make them--PHOTOS: http://t.co/PYfI1cR6Hl
- Fun fact: Daniel Day-Lewis is the son-in-law of Arthur Miller. Rebecca Miller directed the film version of her father's play, The Crucible.
- RT @conor64: Google has a "person finder" if you're trying to locate a loved one in Boston http://t.co/jroBoyJGQL
- How many envelopes can you seal before your tongue gets glued to the roof of your mouth?
- "There must be a prom..." -- pedestrian witnessing #deltasig Gatlinburg formal. @_TheAlleyCat
- Does Morgan Freeman narrate the @cincylibrary commercial on http://t.co/JuLV4pVEeP???
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Posts
- Dec 12, 12
- Jan 30, 12
Tuesday night I will head North to Lapland for snowy adventure. Forecasters are saying it will be -25°C (-13F). If so.. I hope I can last on the slopes. Anyway, I wanted to do a quick update on what’s been going on the past 2 weeks.
Basically, the story continues! I’ve only felt the need to do homework a few times so far, so most of my time is spent on other things. Some days I have spent just walking around the city or hanging out with friends inside. Many nights I meet with friends to have dinner, including two separate Taco nights–which here is considered, oddly enough, an American thing to do. I tried to make some guacamole for the latter occasion, but didn’t realize how not-ripe my avocados were until it was too late… I’m hoping to redeem myself from that disaster at some point before I leave.
Another night I got to celebrate Australia day with some friends from down unda’! That was a joy, although I arrived after most of the Australia-themed things had already happened. I did leave with a few packaged samples of Vegemite, however I’ve been too nervous to try it so far… Plus, I mean, I don’t have anything to put it on either. Mm. Similarly, there was a British Tea Party hosted by some lovely lady-britons with lots of tastey baked goods.The food thing is actually something noteworthy for me, in that for the first time I’m cooking a lot of my own meals. In the fall I had dinner at my apartment a lot of nights, but it was often a frozen meal or just pasta. Other times I just went to the dining halls. Here I’ve had the time to try a few new things and I think I will develop my skills in the kitchen even more as my stay continues! It’s usually cheaper anyway…
About a week ago I went to a sauna by the Baltic Sea. There were maybe a dozen of us who met in the city center to go to the sauna out by the water, having organized the trip on Facebook. When we all met up we realized no one knew which bus to take and spent a good chunk of time figuring it out. Finally, we got on the correct bus, and after asking some friendly-looking locals on the route where to get off we found the place. The section of the sea we encountered was really more lake-ish in appearance, and everything was frozen… Except for the part next to the sauna, where the ice was melted around a short pier with older men in speedos stepping down into the water and swimming around.
I was a bit nervous about going into the water, needless to say. But I had a friend who had done it before to show me how it was done (not that stepping down stairs is a difficult process… but you know). I also have been trying to seize each opportunity while I’m here, so that forced me in. As a great man likes to say, “You only live once!”
Please allow me to explain the sensations of this traditional bit of Finnish intensity: First, you go and sweat your ass off in the sauna. Very relaxing, though sometimes a bit too hot and maybe difficult to breathe for some. Eventually, you need to cool down and step outside to where, fifteen minutes ago, you were shivering–now your body is tricked into thinking that your surrounding environment is pleasant. You can stop here, or continue down to the water. If you’re like me, you were too stupid to think of bringing sandals to Finland and now your feet are quickly going numb and you’re gradually remembering that it’s freezing outside from the bottom up. As you slowly step down into water that should probably be frozen over, you might shout to make yourself tough it out. You would prefer to get out at this point, but your mind must tell your body to just keep going in. Once you’re wading neck-deep, your muscles have all tightened up, your breaths are short, you are definitely cold as hell. But you are smiling. Fifteen seconds later, you get out and it feels like little daggers are poking your body all over. Somehow, this is actually a good thing. The tingling subsides and maybe now you can legitimize being so extreme by saying that it was good for your circulation or something. Again, your body doesn’t feel as cold as it should for a few minutes. Then, head back to the sauna and repeat! Add in a roll in the snow now and then for flavor.A few more notes: I think I will go to Helsinki the weekend after this one, and I am planning a trip to London for Easter, by way of Amsterdam, Brussels, Bruges and maybe a few more cities. Pretty cool! Also, thank you to everyone who has emailed, facebooked, called or skyped. It’s great to hear from you! I’ll try to be in touch more as well.
<3 ben
- Jan 18, 12
(Since Nikon doesn’t give you a way to get pictures from the camera to a Mac, which is SD card-slot-less, I haven’t uploaded any photos from my “good” camera. I’ll add some of those to this post later on. Word.)
Well, since I last posted I have been keeping pretty busy. I have been trying to take advantage of everything, including that I haven’t had a lot of classes to attend, and little to no homework so far. You see, at Åbo Akademi the courses do not generally last the entire semester. Many take place in either Period 3 or 4, which are the first and second halves of the Spring Semester.
I have so far started 2 classes, and only really had 3 lectures to attend. The first thing I did, academically speaking, was to go to the Finnish language registration meeting on the first day of the term. Unfortunately, as I found out the next day, the 20 spots were filled and I was left off of the list. BUT I decided to go to the first class anyway, and 24 people showed up. I’ll see tomorrow, but it seems like I will be allowed in! I actually won’t even get credit for this course, but I would really love to take advantage of being here and learn some language skills. I might have been able to get into Swedish easier–Åbo is a university founded specifically to teach the Swedish speaking people of Finland–but I figured I’m in Finland, so I should learn Finnish. Maybe I’ll be able to order some food in a few weeks at least!
My other class was Nordic History, which I’m very glad to be taking. Already I am benefiting from having a better understanding of “Norden” (Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland… also, essentially, ‘Scandinavia’). So far we’ve had 2 lectures, one as a general overview and the second going over the Viking age. The teacher has a funny, dry sense of humor, and often brings up movies in a sort of sarcastic way. There is also pretty much no homework until the final exam, which is really a paper we do at home. (Excellent!!!!)
Of course, most of the excitement has happened outside of class. There are parties nearly everyday to go to if one desires. Lacking houses like we have at Miami, students here throw kitchen parties in the shared kitchens of the “Student Hostel,” especially as “pre-parties” at which you can drink cheaper alcohol before the big parties organized in town at the bars. TYS, the company that owns all the student housing, has strictly forbidden these kitchen parties.. I have to wonder what their idea of life in Turku is, because there are anywhere from 12-80 people in these kitchens on any given night. Anyway, they’re pretty fun; I’ve been to a few of these shindigs so far and it’s been a good way to meet a few new people and hang out with some friends.
One very interesting party was a “sauna party” thrown at the sauna on the roof of my building. As many people will know, the Finns have a long and proud tradition of using Saunas. I had been in one only once or twice before, but never like this. The crazy head ESN guy organized it for about 12 of us, and had music and some lights on in the outer room. He also unscrewed the windows so that we could go out on the snowy roof in between sweating sessions, which is also a traditional, extreme thing that Finns like to do (the snow thing, not so much the unscrewing of windows part..). I must say, it was very cold. But a thrill! It definitely wakes your body up, and I think it adds to the therapy of sweating out all the toxins and shit that happens in the sauna. Plus, it’s cool to say that you went and made a snow angel in just swimming trunks. (Note: Finns usually go naked, but we did the swimsuit thing.) On Saturday a bunch of exchange students got together and went to see the Turku hockey team play at the arena a bit outside of town. We got there and got tickets for about 16 euro. As we were going in, I saw a lot people wearing jerseys with a cool clown logo on the front. I desperately hoped that was the logo for the Turku team. We took our seats and I saw a huge section of fans in the clown-colors sitting on the other side of the arena, already going a little crazy. I realized that, no, unfortunately that was the other team: the Helsinki something-or-other. And unbeknownst to us, it was a big rivalry game between Turku and Helsinki, so the Helsinki people came in hoardes and drowned out the smaller TPS (“tay-pay-ess”) cheering section. The game was exciting in the first period, but extremely slow in the final 2. In the end, Helsinki won 4-1, scoring on an open net in the final seconds. But it was fun and actually the first professional hockey I’ve seen live.Another day, I went ice skating and was able to play some ice hockey of my own. Another day I was able to workout with the rowers of Åbo Akademi, and last night I went and had the traditional Christmas drink Glögg (“gluhg”) which is a sort of mulled wine. Fun fun fun. But now this has gotten far too long, so I will just end it by saying that I was able to get one of the 50 remaining tickets to go on ESN’s trip to Lapland in Northern (arctic circle!) Finland! I’ll be going at the end of the month and will have some pretty cool things to do. If you pray to god, allah, tom cruise, bieber or whoever, ask them for clear skies for me so I can see the northern lights! Or maybe at least that I don’t freeze to death or break myself skiing…
moi moi //ben
- Jan 12, 12
Starting off my exchange has been such a thrill! My experience so far has been full of problems, opportunities, new friends, observations, and odd sleeping habits. Plus an embarrassing night of drinking and dancing my heart out a local club, The Monkey. (But I’ll leave that story to the pictures on Facebook and the memories of friends. Mine’s a bit fuzzy anyway…)
As I said in my last post, somewhere amidst my changed air travel plans the airlines lost both the bags I checked (including one I meant to carry-on but decided last minute to check since it was free). I’ll start off saying that, lucky enough, one bag came the second night I was in Åbo (the Swedish name for Turku) and the second, smaller one came the next night. The airline guy was nice enough to bring that second bag to me at Bremer, a local bar, when he called and realized I wasn’t at my apartment. I was also very fortunate to have a very nice tutor who lent me a pillow, blanket and towel so that I could get by until my things came. She also has let me use her spare Nokia phone for the duration of my stay, so all I need to do is reload minutes on the sim card I got from the student union (“KÅREN,” pronouncec KO-REN).From the first day, I easily made friends with other exchange students. The first days consisted of an orientation led by the International Office at Åbo Akademi, as well as taking care of chores such as opening a bank account, paying for student cards, buying groceries, etc., etc. All the while, I was hanging out with people from all over the world. It’s been very interesting to learn about their countries and cultures, as well as share my own when I can–although sometimes I feel like everyone already knows a lot of what America is about, thanks to Hollywood films and television.
Since then, the exchange students have sectioned off a bit and I’ve started getting to know certain people better, and more interesting things have happened, such as a trip to IKEA to spice up my digs, eating a spicey dinner with Spaniards in our corridor’s shared kitchen, and spicing up the Irish pub The Castle‘s Wednesday night trivia game (our team name: “That’s what she said”).
More later….
b.
- Jan 12, 12
I knew something wasn’t right when the pilot’s voice came on the intercom.
It was my first flight, the 12:10 from Cincinnati to JFK, and we had already been in the air for at least 40 minutes so it didn’t seem like a normal time for a “this is your captain speaking” message.
It turned out that the hydraulics (or something) had failed in our little connector plane and, even though the backup was working fine, protocol was to land the plane. So instead of New York City, we would be landing in Cleveland. Fuck.
The weather was windy, and the constant turbulence didn’t help calm my nerves after the realization that I was careening thousands of feet in the air in a heap of metal with a bum engine (or whatever). I accidentally let myself start thinking about the movie United 93–I never should have watched that movie–and when we made a sharp left at a low altitude at Lake Erie–into a beeline for downtown–I started wondering… Obviously everything was fine, but it was strange to fly so close to skyscrapers. I thought that wasn’t “allowed”, but maybe since it was a slight emergency it was okay. But there I was, flying a couple hundred feet from downtown Cleveland.
Once safely on the ground, I noticed some fire engines and ambulances with lights flashing waiting to guide us back to the gate. A lady in front of me looked distraught to see this, but I felt fine. The workers in the cars looked bored. I pretty much figured that this was standard and yet another item on the checklist for our shit aircraft.
We deplaned. The guy at the gate counter was friendly and helped me figure out how to get to Helsinki, since I was obviously going to miss the über-convenient straight shot from JFK. I accepted to go to New York at 5:15 with most of the other displaced passengers from the original flight, and would catch a ride to Manchester before going to Finland. Blah blah blah, whatever. I figured it was good to be safe, and at least I wouldn’t have to spend the night at some airport hotel. I tried not to focus on the fact that I had just added about 10 hours to my travel time.
It turned out that the father of the girl who took me to Prom as a freshman in high school was on the same flight as me. An anthropology professor at Miami (Ohio), he was on the way to Miami (Florida) for the night, where he would then leave for the Bahamas the next morning to take part in a dig at the site where Columbus landed. He wasn’t too inconvenienced because there was a flight from Cleveland to Miami at 5:30, so in all he was only loosing 30 minutes–which I think you can usually expect to happen anyway. We had a nice chat while waiting for our new flights.
The other passenger of note was a girl who was also flying to Helsinki. She overheard that I was headed there as well, so we talked a bit. I learned that she was originally from Cleveland, went to Xavier University, and now plays professional basketball in Finland. We would talk from time to time over the course of our long trip.
Finally, about 5 hours after I had expected to, I was leaving Ohio. I’m always excited to take off under a grey sky to find the sun once you finally bounce your way above the clouds. Over Cleveland, I got to watch the orange light turn quickly to dark blue and black over the cottony white clouds.
In New York, they sent our plane to a gate at the very end of the terminal. I was the first to exit, and found that the jetway led us into a deserted hallway. The ramp inside dead-ended on a set of doors with signs warning to knock and have personnel open the doors for you. I banged on the doors as the rest of the passengers crammed in behind me. Somebody said something about being screwed by the airline once again. We decided to just go through, so I had the honor of setting off an alarm in an airport and smiling back as JFK’s finest greeted me with disapproving frowns and head shaking.
We left New York City a little late, but luckily a big tailwind got us across the pond earlier even than was planned, around 8:00 a.m. I had gotten a bit of sleep on the plane, but only an hour or two. I got to watch the sun come up from above Dublin, and hoped that that when I saw it set next I would be ground-level in Finland.
The Manchester airport was an interesting place. Once I got to the Finnair Terminal, I found that to get to any gates you have to go through a shopping mall full of fragrances and chocolate and beer. It was a bit like Disney World in that sense. I was able to get some currency converted without charge at a bank there, thankfully, and soon I was in the air headed to Helsinki.My lack of sleep began to catch up with me on my final flight. I watched Denmark go by between nodding off for 10-minute naps.
We finally landed in Helsinki, in what was apparently the first real snow of the season. My biggest regret of the trip is that I didn’t photograph the scene when we deplaned in the middle of the tarmac, snow billowing, into a standing-room-only bus that took us the rest of the way to the gate. It was a quite a welcome to the country.
The airport was as well. I saw how clean the Finns are right away, in a design sense from judging the architecture, as well as the cleanliness of the bathrooms. After hours of travel, that was enough to make me fall in love with Finland right away.
I went down to baggage claim a bit apprehensive… And, yes, they lost my luggage, of course. (The basketball player’s, too.) Finnair apologized and gave me a dop kit and sent me on my merry way. I still had to get to Turku so I let that be and went looking for the bus.
The language barrier made itself apparent quickly, as I realized that although people speak English here, the ability to converse in it is not as consistent. Nonetheless I found my bus and, just before departing the airport, I was able to update my student tutor on when I would finally get to Turku via email with my iPod wifi connection.
It felt like a miracle once I got off the bus in Turku and met my tutor, Julia. I’d been nodding the entire trip, and somehow managed to switch buses in Espoo even though the bus driver only alerted the passengers of our location in Finnish. I was so thankful to have someone meet me and lead my estranged self to a warm bed for the night!In all, it was about 24 hours of flights, crash landings (so I say), lost luggage and sleepy bus rides to get from my bedroom in Cincinnati to my new student apartment in the Student Village of Turku.
Whew! I promise I won’t write that long again. But I thought it was worth recounting. Now the fun begins!
-b
- Jan 01, 12
I’m currently at the airport in Cincinnati. We got here a tad bit ridiculously early. Especially because security was the shortest line anyone in my family had ever seen (deeming my previous post with airport security tips worthless, of course). Flying on new years day ain’t too bad!
Anyway, now I have to connect at JFK, get through customs in Helsinki, catch a bus to Turku where I will hopefully meetup with my tutor at the bus station, and then get moved in to my apartment.
It’s weird to be leaving. I’m not sure I’ll realize the gravity of it until I’m laying in my bed in Finland. (ooh, where I just remembered I won’t have bed linens provided. hm…) Right now, the lethargia* of flight travel has set in and I’ll be just trying to be on my game at the airports.
Peace out OHIO!
* is “lethargia” a word? I don’t think so… maybe “apathy” is better.
- Dec 28, 11
We went to Kansas to visit family Dec 21-25, and it was a useful in that I remembered what an annoyance airports can be. Since I got my laptop, that’s been one more tray to worry about sending through. After a few too-lengthy stays at the “put all your medal shit in the baskets” stop, I’ve realized that you really should go into security with a plan in order to get through quickly.
Here are a few things I thought of to make security go faster:
1. Wear boat shoes. Retying your sneakers (or whatever) at those chairs after security is lame and a waste of time, so go for slip-ons. Also, take your shoes off before you get to the front of the line. Or untie them at least, if you need to.
2. Put your phone and wallet in your bag. Instead of piling all the crap from your pockets into a little tray for the scanner, it’s so much easier to just put them in your carry-on before you even get to the conveyor belt. When you grab your pack on the other side, you can re-pocket everything at your convenience. And maybe your keys can just stay in there at this point anyway?
4. Anchor yourself by the stack of trays until you don’t need them anymore. Here’s what I do: I put my backpack on the table as soon as there’s room. As people in front of me move their thing forward, I occupy the new space with my shoes, laptop, etc., and then only move my bag forward once everything else is on the table. This helps make sure those hurried business people don’t muck everything up before I even have everything on the conveyor belt.
5. Speaking of belts, don’t wear one. If you can, it will save you from going back through when you froget to take it off. Ever hear the buzzers go off, and the first thing they say is “are you wearing a belt?” That’s because they usually are. Don’t let yourself be “that guy”.
These things become even more important when traveling internationally, as getting through customs is yet another pain in the arse. I’ve been trying to remember that customs process, since the only time I have done it was 4 years ago. And that was for a school trip, not an extended stay. I know I have a residence permit and my passport, so hopefully everything will be fine. I wonder if it will be a problem that my permit is in Finnish though. Hm… I guess I’ll keep perusing cbp.gov (#yawnsville). It should be easier leaving the country than coming in anyway.
Got any other travel tips?
Let me know–comment below!
- Dec 27, 11
Christmas 2011 is gone (RIP). The big present from my mom and stepdad was a DSLR camera, something I’ve been wanting for years and that I am so excited to take on my travels. For anyone who cares, it is a Nikon D3100, but I don’t remember the specs for the lens. Anyway, I hope to post some cool shots on the blog using it.
- Dec 27, 11
I’m not nervous about going across the world alone. Yet. Maybe as Sunday gets steadily closer it will hit me?
My list of present concerns:
1. the piles of “stuff” from my apartment in Oxford that I still need to store away in order to pack. Unfortunately I currently have limited myself to about 5 sq ft of walking space in my room. This will need to be addressed if I am ever going to be organized enough to leave the country.
2. packing the most essential of the “stuff” into manageable weights and sizes for my travels. Considering baggage fees and convenience, I will probably be packing in one large suitcase (under 50 lb I hope), one small carry-on size suitcase, a backpack (w/laptop), and maybe a camera bag. Going up north isn’t going to make light packing the easiest task though…
3. preparing for the weather. Whatever that will be….. This is the best guessing tool I’ve found so far, at weather.com. Thanks to weather patterns Turku is apparently mild relative to similar latitudes. But, I still need to get a decent parka. Hoping to be able to cash in on a coupon at Macy’s for a Patagonia. We’ll see.
4. making sure my finances are figured out… Getting a Finnish bank account, knowing international processing fees for my current bank cards, making sure I’m getting all the aid I am counting on, etc.
5. getting this blog in working order. …or shit-canning it if I realize it’s not for me, which could very well still happen. I really would like to give it a good shot; I want to do some type of consistent journaling anyway, so why not publish it for the benefit of those who care to read? The experience will definitely be worth it, so long as I can make time for it.
I will spare the internet the trouble of documenting here the remaining chores I have to do. (haircut, etc.) With my remaining 4.5 days in the states, I hope to post at least once more.
- Dec 18, 11
Dear Oxford,
I am saying goodbye to you for a couple of months today. (Actually, I’ll be back to pick up more things tomorrow. Maybe the next day also. I’m not really that far away yet. But…let’s ignore that.)
While I am extremely excited to spend a semester somewhere (anywhere?) else, I don’t want you to think that I don’t appreciate you. You are, as the location of Miami University, an amazing environment to spend the college years within. There’s just enough distance between you and real places that most everyone stays around all the time. And it is those people that make you awesome. Those people, I will miss like crazy.
Thankfully, there is Skype. And Facebook. And corny travel blogs. And so the distance between Turku and the Ox-Box will not be too great to handle.
And next time I see you, I’ll be 21. Look out!!
With
great- ah, some amount of fondness,me
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Photos
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Recent Tracks
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- 99 Problems by Jay-Z21 plays
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