Saturday, June 27, 2009

current location: northern virginia

Ah, gotta love northern Virginia. I came home yesterday evening, and promptly met up with some fellow officers (of a peer mentoring group I'm chair of) for dinner at Tyson's corner and late night showing of... Transformers!

My group received this movie with some mixed feelings. My friends didn't think it was that great, especially the plot. I guess I was too taken in by the money shots (all those explosions? Epic.), but I really really liked it. Maybe even better than the first one. Hmm. I really liked the scene in which the Nest soldiers were defending the Autobots - "we shed blood, sweat, and precious metal together!" I'll admit to being annoyed in some parts, especially when the Fallen started tearing the Great Pyramid to pieces. I really like the Great Pyramids alright? How dare you just tear it to pieces like that?? Serves you right when you got your core torn out. Pbthhh!

I'm planning a chill and grill event at my house on Tuesday, my parents recently got patio furniture and I have a slightly dated home karaoke machine to boot. Can't wait! And then it's off to New York to visit some relatives and partake in fourth of July fesitivities. Woot!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

current location: halifax

Rather, that’s where I had been all week – just got back into C’ville, pretty excited about the rest of the week.

Tonight I’ll be headed to Newcomb theater for a showing of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”. It’s one of the programs put on by UPC during the summer for the benefit of those still in town. UPC stands for University Programs Council, and is in charge of – yep, you guessed it, the University’s programs. During the summer they often have random events like these. I remember several Facebook invites for some study breaks (for those taking classes during the summer and were studying for exams), cook outs, and free Bodo’s on the Lawn. One quibble I have with UPC is that most of their events take place during the day. We-ell, not everyone staying in C’ville is taking classes, how are the people interning/doing research supposed to come out to these events, eh? (Anyone from UPC reading this, have more events when people get off work!)

But otherwise, life is all gravy. I’m learning a lot on my job, and it’s really given me a different perspective on life outside of college. I’ve gotten a much better understanding of what to expect, and what my life will be like as an auditor in the last month than I could have in an entire year of industry research. Several of my friends are in town this weekend, which means lots of late night talking and catching up. I’m going to try to get three other friends out this weekend for some doubles tennis – but everyone’s schedule is so ridiculously over the place that it’s going to be hard.

In other news, I heard that swine flu is now in northern Virginia. Be careful everyone, stay healthy!

Monday, June 15, 2009

whoo weekend!

Ah, what an amazing weekend (how was yours?). I went home (to NOVA) on Friday with two friends and just had a thoroughly good time. Got off work a tiny bit early, talked about everything underneath the sun on the way up, and went to an excellent Chinese buffet near my house for dinner. I can’t say enough good things about this buffet, the food isn’t quite as Americanized as your typical Chinese restaurant, they serve Vietnamese pho along with your food, just started offering bubble tea, and have dim sum along with the buffet!

Of course, being girls, we just had to hit up Tyson’s the next day. Shopping prospects are pretty dismal in Charlottesville, so whenever I get the chance to go home, I always make sure to go to Tyson’s Corner. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be bored with the details of three girls shopping, so we can skip these six hours. =D

We really went up to NOVA to attend a friend’s birthday celebration. Met up with the crowd at Reston town center later that night, and then went to Café Muse in Annandale for lots of karaoke. This is one of the reasons why I love northern VA so much. There are so many people here, and everything is pretty close to each other. Lots of selection, and it’s just bustling with people (but without the insane crazy amount of folks where I come from). We left early Sunday to go back to C’ville (after hitting up H mart), whereupon one friend promptly headed to Clemons to write a paper, one went to went, and I bummed around, called some friends over, and packed for work the next day (I do wish my coworkers would speak up a bit and stop mumbling. Or.. it may be my ears. I hope it’s the former).

That is my typical weekend in a nutshell, minus the travel during the school year. Wahoos definitely work hard and play hard.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

one of my greatest hobbies..


In college you'll meet a lot of quirky people. I like to think of myself as an unconventional person with all encompassing hobbies. One of them, a passion really, is that I play the ocarina.

The ocarina is a closed vessel wind instrument that can made out of ceramic, metal, wood, and more materials. Those of you who like to play Zelda will definitely recognize the instrument from those series -- and yes, it's an actual instrument! It actually has over 3000 years of history, and originates from China but was significantly developed in Italy. It comes in pendant, inline, and sweet potato forms. The sweet potato forms were actually distributed to soldiers in.. WWII I believe, to help them while away the time in trenches.

I personally play ocarinas made by Charlie Hind, completely handmade ocarinas made out of exotic wood. I really prefer the mellow tone of the wood as I like to perform flowing, languid songs. The picture you see is a picture of one of mine.

Interested? Think I'm completely nuts? Whatever your reaction may be, I also moderate the largest online community for ocarinists (ocarina players): The Ocarina Network (TON). Life isn't all about studying, grades, and work. Leave some time for your interests. TON can be found at http://www.theocarinanetwork.com

current location: front royal, va

Haha, I feel like the student blog is almost becoming a travel blog this summer. Any of you guys in the area? You should drop by the county building and say hi.

I'm attempting to define the college to workplace transition this summer. After all, that change is only a year (less than, really) away for me. It's definitely a bit scary, taking a step out into the 'real, adult' world and leaving behind classes, parties until 5am, midterms and finals, etc. When you think about it, the only thing we'll have known throughout life by the time we graduate is... school. This transition is one of the biggest life changes we'll go through (the other two I put in the same category is marriage/kids and death). I don't know if I'll transition well, I've only been working for a month. I do know that I like auditing though, I like the variety and travel. But going from filling my days up however I like it.. to having my days mandatorily filled up with work. I... really don't know if I like it. =S

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

current location: emporia, va

Another day at work, and more experiences to reflect upon. The following might read more as a rambling stream of consciousness than a coherent entry. I hope you'll be entertained by my journey of professional development this summer. :D

I still like the people (always a plus), maybe one quibble.. just one minor quibble... There are so many Tech people in the firm! *cue physical agony* A majority of the people in the firm are awash in red and orange, and there's precious few Wahoos around. That silliness aside, my team, and I feel that the firm as a whole, is pretty relaxed. We have some friendly banter when we're sitting around the table, and my partner doesn't seem to mind when someone's phone inadvertently goes off (the most telling sign, in my opinion). I like this kind of atmosphere, it's conducive to question asking and heavens know I've been pounding everyone with questions every day. He also doesn't seem to mind that I bring small snacks and munch on them. I'm not sure I'd be able to make it through the day if he did though (I'm one of those that eats a lot of small meals).

I'm doing mostly audit work this summer, and I have to say I really like it. Those of you considering accounting, but don't want to be stuck behind a desk, want to talk to people, and like to verify if work's being done correctly, then audit may be the path for you (my one week experiences summed up in a verrry small nutshell). However, accounting in general is so stereotyped that I'm going to have to dedicate an entry to that later this summer.
Thus far my work has consisted of running random tests of disbursements, checking VRS and 941s, and verifying revenues. My current impression is that audit consists of constant work, which is certainly a welcome respite from the two/three week pressure cookers in the comm school. Groups usually need to deliver on a proposal, starting from brainstorm and development all the way through to finish. When it works out, like my amazing group last semester, it's wonderful. When it doesn't, like my group from hell first semester, it really... really... really sucks.

current location regardless, where would i rather be?

Well, not exactly a matter of hating work, or even disliking it, but who doesn't like spending time at home? Food's cooked for you, great furniture and clean surroundings, home is almost like an alien planet sometimes.

I've finally had the privilege to realize what a blessing it is to have family in state this summer. My dad spends some time in Virginia every year, and this year it happened to coincide with summer time. He's helped me move out and in, and I've had the luxury of going home every two weeks thus far. I'll probably consider this pattern all through summer. Gosh, in staters have it nice!

On the other hand, I finally switched from T-Mobile to AT&T last weekend. Love my new phone, love the service. I thoroughly detest T-Mobile right now, absolutely horrid service, especially in C'ville. Then again, most major providers seem to have a difficult time in C'ville. However! I can't stand it that I can't call out, even when I have full bars, or I'll have no bars and will be standing in the middle of the Lawn, furiously shaking my phone because I need to contact someone. My phone being as aesthetically pleasing as a block of turd didn't help things either. (Yeah, you might detect a little bit of bitterness. I've had this phone and service for about 2.5 years now, lots of time for resentment to build up).

Got on my dad's family plan on Saturday, along with a free LG Shine. I'm currently in the rapturous "oh em gee I have a new toy!" phase. I also discovered how to send ringtones and pictures to myself so I don't have to get ripped off buying them through the phone, so now I can't wait for someone to call and text me.

But more on the topic on C'ville and UVA, those of you wondering which provider you should get should probably go for Verizon or AT&T. The majority of my friends have either of the two and they seem to get the best service.