Chinese Calligraphy

When there is just the right light, just the right atmosphere, music and people, Beloiters like myself like to get together and try our hand at Chinese calligraphy. The Chinese students at our college and Vietnamese student Holly Pham were kind enough to extend their incredible knowledge of this amazing art to us (^__^) big thank you to them!
Here is a picture of me trying to concentrate with my friends (or family) Jackie and Jasmine..

Int'ls do it the best

Last weekend was the International dinner, an annual event that is an amazing collaborative effort by all the international and American students who are members of the International Club. We had eight main dishes, a crazy amount of deserts and entertainment from a Korean Drumming group, a Yemeni singer, a Tai kwan do duo and a Hungarian dance that had everyone up on stage shaking their groove thing.

To give you readers a small idea of how many countries were represented, I will now try to list as many countries as I can...(oh dear..)

Senegal, Vietnam, Japan, Morocco, India (hoot!), the Bahamas, Korea, Nepal, China and Hong Kong, Russia, Yemen, Jordan, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Germany, France, Hungary....the list goes on!!!!

So for those of you who had doubts about Beloit's multiculturalism....try and make it for an international event on campus..you won't be disappointed (^__^)

A picture

Mending Wall

While walking to the library in hopes of finally finishing my microeconomics homework, a fragmented memory of a poem creeped into my thoughts. "Something there is that doesn't love a wall." When I got to the library I quickly googled it and a flood of memories of my school years in India jumped out at me.
I remembered sitting in my school library, reading a book about the partition of India and discovering a scribbled message on one of the pages that read " mending wall"

I've read the poem several times since I rediscovered it and it has very little significance to most. Yet for me it will always be one of those odd messages you come across in life that link you with the past. In my case, with the person who scribbled in the book.
The poem itself aptly SUMS up the hope of many people in India who would want relations with their neighbor countries to be different but for now this is just one person's opinion...

Mending Wall
by Robert Frost


Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:

I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.

I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls

We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.

'Why do they make good neighbors?
Isn't it Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.

He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."

Spring Break is a necessary luxury

Spring Break is a necessary luxury and anyone to contest that should take it up with me. For my break, I went to Puerto Rico with a close friend from India and 24 yes...24 of his college friends from U of Richmond. Initially, I was really intimidated at the thought of going with people who were complete strangers to me but when I got there, I was welcomed by open arms of a truly awesome crew.

Puerto Rico has a wealth of natural beauty in its rainforests, beaches and people. For me, it was a chance to reconnect with an environment similar to one that I had left behind in India.

One of my friends described spring break as " a healing time" for students and it really is. Adults who are on a work/office schedule (not counting Admissions counselors who work around the clock!) have 9-5 schedules so that they can come home and spend some quality time with their families, students work around the clock (usually due to our own doing) and need that break to let go of their stress and tensions.

Interviews, Interviews..Spring break!!!

Usually, going for an interview seems like a horribly daunting process to me. The thought that I would have to open my mouth and express purpose to a stranger! Eeeks! but now, after the amount of interviews I have given, I've changed my mind. Interviews are the best way to let someone know what you are all about. Suddenly, you are not just a a piece of a paper or an ordinary application for a job, admission, project etc and are usually more than capable for the role you are applying for.

I got the chance to go through two pretty rigorous interview processes recently. One was for an Resident Assistant job and the other for study abroad in Brazil. Phew! I'm glad they are over with but I walked out of them feeling really clear about my future plans.

(there are probably some of you who by now know that interviews are beneficial etc so this maybe dawning upon me a little late..bare with me )

The RA interviews really challenged me in terms of teamwork, spirit, problem solving etc. By the end of the process, I discovered soooo many skills and capabilities in myself, I did not know existed. It was awesome!......I just have to wait patiently now for the results (-_-)

My Study Abroad interview was more centered around my capabilities to live outside of my familiar environment :) , my knowledge of the place I was going to and the survival techniques needed when doing an independent study project. Initially, I expected to be talking to someone who may have little knowledge of Brazil However, Luck was on my side and I ended up being interviewed by Patrick Polley, a physics professor, who was well versed about the political and economic situation in Brazil. After the interview, I thought to myself that I could have spoken to him for hours about that amazing country but deep inside I was happy the interview was done.

Now that my interviews are out of the way and my break is around the corner, I am ready to hit the beaches of Puerto Rico and relax in the sun for a week.

Some higher force must think I deserve this awesome break therefore I thank thee and will write my next entry after I get back...
Wooooohooooooo

Beloiters Can Relax

There is a serious danger that if students in college work work work and dont relax, they pop...Its a rare phoenomenon but It has been known to happen, lucky for us, the staff, faculty and the students themselves have figured out ways to keep this messy problem at bay...
Here are just some of them :

1) Meditation:
We have a small room tucked away in Pearson's( the busiest building on campus) that has been especially designed for people to just go and reeeeelax. Throw pillows, soft lighting, warm tones on the walls, it truly is a sancutary away from the hustle and bustle of the college. Every week on Thursdays at 4pm, meditation and relaxation techniques will be taught so that students can do just that.

2) Tai Chi Classes:
Every Wednesday, tai chi is taught by Professor Oswaldo Voysest (Dept of Modern Languages)
The class is a unique experience as it lets each person advance to their own pace of movements.
As described by Oswaldo "Tai Chi is an extraordinarily subtle system, and is one of the so-called soft style or internal martial arts. Tai Chi requires relaxed natural movements that integrate the whole body with the mind. Tai Chi relies on the intrinsic strength of functionally aligned postures, in contrast to muscular strength normally exhibited by hard-style or external martial arts, such as Karate"

3) Sports!:
You don't have to play for the school to take part in sports (although thats pretty cool too!)
There are several Intramural games on campus such as frisbee, hockey, basketball, badminton, soccer etc. This is an awesome way to get to know faculty, students, Beloiters as just about anyone can make a team and play.

4) Theatre and Dance:
From watching a play to acting in it to directing one! There are several opportunities for people to participate in the glamorous world of Performing Arts! Here is a list of events going on this semester
Play "Blithe Spirit" , "Angels in America"
Dance "Senior Workshops" "Chelonia", Formal Dances, DJ Nights at the Chaus.

5) MUUUUUSSSSIIIC
This campus is diverse in taste and to cater to those tastes we have several people showcasing their talents for others to Enjoy! Classical, Hip Hop, Rock, Rap, House, Trance, Bluegrass are all welcomed at Beloit. We have talented DJ's who keep us dancing, a Battle of Bands is going on as I type this and various Baroque and choir performances coming up.


This is just a jist of the things that keep Beloit students on campus on the weekends and chilled.

Oi Gente!

Coma vai?!

Ive realized that there is nothing more amazing than a college student's schedule...There is so much that can be said about the person from the classes he/she chooses...But you cant count those semesters where u have to finish compulsory classes(you just can't ok!)
Here is my schedule for the world to see
Microeconomics
Economic development
Music in Film
Calculus( I see some of you all are praying for me now.:(..Thank you)
Piano
Arabic (audit)

All my classes balance out well, there is the necessary work I have to do for my major but there are also other classes where I can stretch myself a little:) It has to be said that Ive seen schedules more diverse than this..Such as Genetics, Jazz Dance, Photography and Tapestry Weaving (I kid you not!)

I know Im at the right school when the Economic Development class is so big it has to be divided into two and there are still students who want to join. I usually never talk class but this one blows me away. Understanding development isn't something that comes easy, defined in so many ways it is difficult to put words to this phenomenon. Yet my class with Emily Chamlee-Wright is challenging, mind boggling and overall an amazing experience......btw its only been one week!

Im also in two amazing music classes to balance out all the coal burning my brain is doing and the balance is working out perfectly.

Arabic...I dont know what to tell you, Ill probably post an update in a week..yeesh!

As of now....this semester is going pretty ok....
P:S For entertainment check these out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_GlmF0qlbs

I Work With The Most Soulful Person In The World

Eu te-amo!!
:) :) :)