Fall Semester 2009

What a wonderful feeling to be back in Raleigh with friends and all kinds of familiar faces. I knew that was eager to get back, but being here reminds me of just how much I missed everything Southern. The "new thing to do" this semester, however, is to make fun of Ellen and her new found Minnesotan accent (Oh ya, oh no, uff da - haha not really the last one, but it's caught on).

This semester seems like it should be an easy one. Five classes:

- Food Preservation

- Food Microbiology

- Human Nutrition

- Seeds, Science, and Society (my token crop science course)

- Arabic 101 (my token languages course)

It's nice to have the time to take classes that I really want to take but don't need to graduate. I think that technically I'll only have two or maybe three classes left for next semester that I'll absolutely have to take, so I'll be able to take more of what I would like to take. Which of course will be either crop science or languages, but hey, that's me.

I am also a TA in the first-year college/inquiry section of Dr. Patterson's World Population and Food Prospects course. There are actually two TAs (well, maybe three, but that's a long story) so my role is more that of multi-cultural activities that will enhance classroom participation and also teach the students to think a little bit differently than they're used to. I have some pretty awesome activities lined up for them and I can't wait to see how they respond to them. And I'm also excited that I get to share all of my experiences with them and hopefully motivate a couple to help me save the world :)

I have already taken yet another road trip, but this time, thankfully, I didn't drive. A couple food science guys and I went to Atlanta this Saturday (just for the day - boo) to see the live 10th birthday special of Good Eats with Alton Brown. I really don't watch the show that much (or ever) but two of my friends know all of the episodes and really wanted to go. They wore matching shirts, although not on purpose, and brought their cookbooks to get an autograph. It was cute haha. We were in the third tier, but our seats were right in the middle, so I couldn't complain. Since it was live, we had the stage manager telling us when to clap, lots of good outtakes moments, and even a really catty/bitchy fan that just didn't know when to keep her mouth shut. I had a lot of fun and can't wait to watch it on TV (October 10th on the Food Network, if you were wondering).

A couple friends and I have made a Bucket List for senior year, and although I slept through one of them already, we've made a great looking list that I can't wait to finish. We just added losing 1/6 of our body weight haha which will be awesome if it actually gets accomplished. But all in all, I predict that this year will be EPIC.

Peace.