He's still alive?!!?

Yes in fact, I am still here, I haven't been posting because....yes you guessed it, I'm busy as heck!

Seriously i don't know how Santa does all this...

Updates with me:

I'm a Korean-American Student Association Board Member (KASA)

I'm the leader of CRC Super Sunday Supper Squad, which has became an official interest group!

I have been highly involved in Asian American Intervarsity (AAIV), going to weekly biblestudies, worship sessions, hangouts, weekend events, and prayer meetings

I got an internship at Spectrum Brands (think rayovac, remington)!! I'll work with the product and marketing teams as a paid intern!! woohoo!!


I miss you all: Family, chubbs, pido, rob, jon, mary, valenti, Leah, the usuals, Minjung, Helen, etc.

So how was your week?

Yes it has been far too long since i've posted. I have been crazy busy with Rush, school work, etc.

Here's a little summary of what has gone on in my life since we last spoke:

• Joined Alpha Kappa Psi, Korean-American Student Association, and Asian-American Intervarsity 
• Had an amazing Korean meal at Mary's
• Met alot of cool people through the organizations, really expanding my network of friends
• and I miss you all alot! It's weird to stop and think about you all, and realize how much my life has changed, and how fast. I can't wait to be with everyone again, just hanging out like the good old days. 
• Also I miss my car, walking was fun for the first 2 days, now it sucks. And no I don't want a bike, too much work. 

Love you all, hopefully I'll have time to write a more extensive and detailed post soon, if not I'll definitely do a video again! See you around!

RUSH WEEKS

Hey guys, so little update on whats going on with me!

As I said in the last video, I am rushing a fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional Business fraternity, and am very very busy. Almost everyday for a week, I go to a different rush event to make sure that the pledge trainers know who I am. In other words, I'm swamped with events to go to, things to do, and people to remember. So if your wondering, where has Dan been these last couple of days, well I'm still here. Hopefully after Rush is over, I can settle down a little bit. Thanks for all the wishes and love. See you around!

At Last A New Post!!

Sorry I'm crazy busy, trying to get a solid start on this whole college thing!

This vid's kind of long, have alot to share, and alot to say! Love you guys! See you around!

Sorry 4 the Wait!

So I was going to write this last night, but after I got home, started talking to people on Facebook and skype, I was so tired that I had no energy left in me to write a blog. So I'm doing it right now.

The most productive day ever was very exciting for me, it was filled with "Wow, I can actually do this" moments. The first was grocery shopping. I spent 45 minutes shopping for some supplies, including but not limited to: eggs, milk, butter, lunch meat, cheese, and jelly. I used the sales I found in stores, compared prices to similar products, and overall made off with a lot of food for under 40$ I was pretty proud, and I actually looked like a responsible young-adult buying reasonable food. I didn't spend $40 on cookies, chips, soda, and candy, I spent it on things to keep me going and keep me healthy. Except the dinosaur and spiral mac and cheese, that was all for the fun of it, and they were on sale.
After groceries, I decided it was about time I attempt the most dreaded feat for many of my fellow collegemen, Laundry. After struggling with the card reader (I swear it still hates me), the rest of my laundry went pretty fast and painless. Nothing was shrunken, overly wrinkled, and none of my socks came out pink. Once finished, I was left with that small voice of confidence inside saying "If I can do this, then I can do anything!"

Later on that evening, Kevin and I, were invited to a Korean barbecue meal at our friend Mary's apartment. The meal was fantastic, as all of her meals are, and it was nice to hang out with some other asian americans for a change of pace. Normally most asians here are international students, who on average, aren't very social with us "American-Asians", sorry for the generalization. I understand that, likes go to likes, so most internationals stay amongst themselves. But this makes it hard for me sometimes to find other people who are like me. But Mary, being the wonderful person she is, invited me to about 5 different events where I can meet and interact with other Korean and Asian-Americans, as well as adoptees and even a christian group.



Well thats all for today, I have my first real day of classes and events. So I guess I'll see you around!

Okay, so recap of last couple days...

Taste of Madison was a blast, I went with some of my friends on my floor, including my roommate, Kevin, my friend from Norway Leif Erik, and Marissa, a girl on my floor whose name I can never remember. Anyway, it was alot of fun, we got to see the beautiful capital building upclose for the first time, walked around, got some delicious food, and hung out in the cool, nice weather. I ate Bread pudding, dumplings, and a nice smoothie. Overall it was a fun way to start my day.
Last night, after hanging out at Lucky Apartments with Jesse, a usual routine, I came home around 1, very exhausted, wanting to just sleep. As I walked to the bathroom I noticed a large group of people hanging out in the lounge. My first thought? "It is 1:30 in the morning, why are you all awake!?" The answer: Charades. I decided to play one round, it looked like fun. One round turned into five, then twelve, then before I know it, it's 4:15 am! I learned that you should never play Charades with smart people, because they will bring up books and movies that are so unheard of that I swear they were making them up!
Whats on today's agenda? Well after waking up at two in the afternoon, I plan on going grocery shopping with Jesse, as both of our refrigerators are depressingly void of all things edible and delicious. After, I'm actually going to do laundry, do homework, and plan my week's activities with a friend of mine, Nick Wolfgram, whom I met at SOAR. Later this evening, Mary Howard, a counselor of mine at camp, is having us over for dinner. I want to retire later this evening by hanging out in the lounge, reviewing over my homework notes for the next day, and planning my day for tomorrow. Thats what's on my plate today, can't wait to see how well this works out.

Change of Plans

Instead of going to target and doing laundry, I decided to just stay in, make some dinner, and maybe call up Jesse. Bahr and I decided to chill in the kitchen area, snack on some food, and lo'behold the girls wing of our floor came in and decided to cook. We shared some of our food, and soon we had a cool potluck going on. We decided to promote a healthy community, and to fight off the homesickness, we should start a student intrest group for Sunday Night family-style dinners. That way, CRC can pay for our expenses and we can cook and hang out. Also Jesse and I hung out with Lindsey and Val, two friends from high school. I used to mock all the kids who have "Centennial Get Togethers" but when you basically leave everything behind, I can see the appeal in seeing some old familiar faces once in a while. But I was thinking today, even if I could go back, everything is different. It's crazy to think how my life has changed. When I look back, all of that seems so long ago, it's hard to believe that it was only a week ago. I talked to Chubbs today, man I miss him. I miss the old gang. Guess you could say, it's starting to hit me.

Good night world, it's late! see you around.

Weekend!!

Well, it's my first weekend here at Madison. Overture was okay... here's my comments

• Not enough people or too big of space (felt half empty)
• Multiple performances happening randomly all around you, hard to pick just one
• lines took forever to get free soda
• Karaoke was so loud I couldn't even talk to people (girls).

 Today Chad'B is going to Target late at night, for a private, awesome event! Gonna stock up on some supplies, especially because we are getting discounts on lots of stuff!
Also I'm going to attempt to do laundry... kind of scared, but I'll survive. Good time to study while I'm down there.

Also I'm glad to see this page getting views, makes me feel loved! If you guys have questions, comments, concerns, etc. Please leave them by clicking the comment link in the bottom of each blog post.

Much love, See you around.

Woah Crazyy

Hey guys really busy crazy couple days!

Please watch the VLog for the updates, just a quick vid, running short on time, wanted to still keep you all up to date. I move my hands alot when I talk... also I look at the side or in the center of the screen, so I look awkward. I hate doing videos because I look weird...Sorry this took so long, videos take forever to upload on blogspot, so I left the room and decided to repost this later.

Much love, see you around.

Part II of official day I

It's 1:30 am, I'm exhausted. The rest of my day today was very exciting. I went to Convacation, which was basically just a "welcome" presentation, followed by free food. There is very little in this world that college students won't attend for free food. I've already had free dinner, free root beer floats, and free appetizers at the housing restaurant. Even though its definitely not my mother's cooking, a very important rule of college is: "hey, it was free, shut up and eat it, or the guy next to you will." 

In other culinary news, I had two very important college firsts:

1. I had my first cup of microwaved ramen. I'm not sure if I should be proud of it, but I was hungry, it was quick, free, and I'm not going to lie, it was a little bit of a taste of home. Plus I had a stuffy nose, and that clears you right up! 

My Slice is on the left

2. My SOAR-Friend Nick and I decided to head over to Ian's Pizza by State Street to indulge in quite possibly the best and most stereotypical college food ever, By-the-slice, huge, cheap Pizza!! 3.50 a slice, each slice measuring up quite nicely. I had a chicken fettucine slice (as seen in the picture), with chicken, noodles, and white sauce. I ate the slice in about 3 minutes. 

I also got to venture down Langdon with some friends, checked out the whole Greek scene here on campus, overall, Fraternity life isn't my thing, but I gotta say, those guys can draw a crowd. Every house was probably packed. I say probably because each had such a crowd around the front door I couldn't even get in if I tried. Instead, my friends and I went back to Lucky to hang in the room, what started as 6 guys turned into a fluctuating occupation of 8-20 freshmen and sophomores. I left with about 10 new numbers, most of them girls. Everyone was very kind, outgoing, (thankfully) normal people. After, Jesse and I retired back to his apartment for a few episodes of Blue Mountain State (terrific program, or as they say in England, "jolly good show"). Currently, I'm about to head off to bed, big day of events. Football game, classroom hunt, tour of Grainger Hall (Business School). Good night world, we'll see you around.  

Good Morning, Chadbourne

Well, I survived my first night. No trouble, no getting lost, no losing anything valuable. Mom, my room still is pretty clean. I spent my first day hanging with Jesse, Q, Bahr, a few other guys from our floor, and some guys in Jesse's place. We hung out, talked, b.s.'d, and explored the area a little bit. One of the things I love most about college towns, reassured by my experiences last night, is that college towns never sleep. At 11:45, on a Tuesday night, in the rain, people were outside just chilling and walking around. In Lino Lakes under such conditions, the whole town would be deserted.

We also had a floor meeting, where our RA, David, laid down the ground rules and everything. Very funny guy, who though coming off as fun but hard-ass-capable, is actually a very cool, chill bro. The rules, in summary, are:

1. Don't be an asshole

2. Don't be a dumbass

3. Don't be a child

4. Know where to go for help

Pretty easy to follow?

My first night of sleep however, was amazing! I have a memory foam pillow, memory foam bed pad, and the worlds softest bedding. It's like sleeping in a cloud filled with Santa's beard and wrapped in a blanket woven from only the softest of eyebrow hair. Yes, that soft. I just got back from eating at Rheta's, the cafe attached to our dorm, about to go out and run some errands. I have a full day ahead of myself, a day full of opportunities.

Check back later today to read part IV + III -V= II: A Day Full of Opportunities

The Student has landed!

The local time is 5:08, the current weather conditions are high 70's with heavy cloud cover, and in todays news, I'm finally here! After waking up at 6:30 (by the way, nobody should be up at 6:30), I promptly got ready, packed up my few belongings from the hotel, and spent the next 5+ Hours unpacking. To believe what stated as a random collection of necessities and accessories piled onto a pool table in my basement could actually well furnish a small cardboard box. After a run to Target, for some last-minute items (futon, rug, sticky-hooky things), I am actually very proud to call this sad excuse for a broom closet my dorm.

I'm so exhausted from moving in, I literally sat in my dorm for about an hour and just tried to soak it all in, but I'm not sure if I fully understand what it means to be here, right now, in this situation. Change is a process that requires time, I suppose. But lo'behold, just as boredom curls its cold fingers around my weak attention-span, I hear noises outside, and before I know it, we have an impromptu meet-n-greet. Today I met some guys who are beyond hilarious. There's "Q" the athletic, outgoing, always peppy guy who could make a statue bust out laughing, and Bahr, the always surprising, slightly shy, but very cool, nice, normal kid. I guess thats what I learned about my new home, despite all the labels, judgements, and preconceptions, at the end of the day, there are bound to be people just as crazy and abnormally normal as me.
I have a meeting at 8 with the dorm, hopefully I'll meet more cool people like Bahr and Q, Kevin has been very welcoming and helpful, but like a good roommate has a separate life and doesn't require me to be his best friend. We get along, thats all I ask for. If we become good friends, that's great. If we stay this way, I'll be more than happy. Jesse has been cool too, we hang out, but also aren't attached at the hip. Tomorrow is my first full day here, let's hope hilarity ensues.

And so the Journey begins...

As I turned back one last time to look at my house, realizing this is the last time I will see it for a very long time, I dealt with a mix of emotions, thoughts, and expectations. For those of you who didn't read my last post, today is the day that I move to Madison, WI for college. I have spent the last week of my life rushing to pack my ludicrous amount of belongs, make final preparations for life in Mad-town, and say my last goodbyes to the friends and family who have shaped my life for the last 18 or so years. All of that packing, hugging, and driving has left me utterly exhausted, to a point that I don't know what to feel anymore. Should I be excited? nervous? anxious? carsick?! It still feels like this whole new world is an indescribable feeling.. (disney ftw!)

I've been going this whole day like it is a complete dream, like I was watching myself hug my last friends goodbye, not really in my body. I wonder if I'll wake up in my dorm, all unpacked, and that feeling of "you are here" will finally set in. As of right now here's the break down of thoughts running through my head. I'm going to try to write these in stream of consciousness, hopefully that will do my overactive brain (and literary training with Mrs. Bledsoe) some justice.

Wow i'm almost there. It seems like just an hour ago I was hugging them goodbye, I can't believe i'm not going to see them for 3 months, This summer is all about over, yet i don't feel like I'm going to school. Shouldn't some cheesy 80's music be motivating me right now to "stay forever young?" MADTOWN HERE I COME! I spent so much of my time making such strong friendships I hope I can keep them. From here, things change. It's a brave new world.

See my problem? Well I'm planning on sleeping off the thoughts, thats what Owl City and 5 hours of driving can do to a guy. Tomorrow I start unpacking my truck-full of stuff. It took a week to pack...How long will it take to unpack? That's a scary thought! Well thanks for reading, check back tomorrow for the epic conclusion to the Move-in Day, and i'll see you around.

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 7, 9?

Ello!

This is just a test-run of this blog. Good news, the internet is still working!

For those of you who are taking the time to read this, Thanks, gracias, danke, merci, Kamsahamnida, sheshe, grazi, etc. This is just me, sharing my experience in College with those of you who care, in other words, digitally shouting into space wondering if anyone can hear me, and if they do, do they care? Family, friends, they'll use this to keep up. But technology has compressed time and space in such a way that we are never truly apart. Guess that makes this whole blog an excuse for me to say "I'm not ignoring you, just check my blog!".

I leave in a week. This is just the Preview, the show starts Monday. Thanks for listening, we'll see you next week for our season premier!