March 27, 2011
Funny Translation for Today
from my Swedish friend Viktoria in a Facebook message: "It's so funny by the way that your word "semester" is the Swedish word for "holiday." (We had been talking about school) Well, it's definitely no holiday, but I'll keep that in mind when I just can't make myself study for one more test as I near the end of the school year. "You're on "holiday" Avery. Enjoy it!" will make me laugh and maybe motivate me to pick up that book again. That's all for today. Until next time, Avery
March 20, 2011
Family Fun in Florida 2011
It's been about a week since I got back from Florida. Upon reflection I've realized that I am probably the only 22-year-old college student who went on Spring Break with her parents and younger sister in the history of students but that's okay, I've got Vegas coming up in May. It was nice to spend some time with them since I'm hoping to find a job and stay in Mankato this summer, and then I enter the real world briefly with an internship before I graduate in December 2011, then I'm really in the real world.
So here's the daily log, as best as I can remember:
DAY 1: From Security to a Ski Show
Sunday March 6th was an early day. We got up at 3:30 to get to the airport in time to catch our 7 a.m. flight to Fort Myers. The roads were deserted. I felt like we were driving in some apocalyptic place as we were driving to the airport. We got to the airport and went through security; we wanted to save some money so we just did a carry-on bag because we were only going to be in Florida for a few days.
We went through, my bag got pulled over and searched because I had been packing the night before around midnight and forgot to put some creams or make-up in the liquids bag. I know that it's their job, but really TSA: is a very tired girl, with glasses and her hair thrown in a ponytail, who looks like she just rolled out of bed, and can barely hold a conversation with you because she hasn't had her coffee yet a significant threat? Of course my bag that I had packed was packed perfectly so that everything could fit. I had to repack it so that I could zip it up before we could get to our gate but my dad's pat-down because of his new hip bought me some time.
Our flight went to Atlanta, and then we caught a connecting flight to Fort Myers. Both the flights were alright. The first flight had some really horrible turbulence but that was because of the rainstorm that was brewing.
We landed in Fort Myers around 10-ish and called our hotel to see if we could check in. Our room wasn't ready yet so we took our rental car and tooled around Fort Myers to check out the places that we wanted to go. We stopped by our hotel, Homewood Suites, around 3 and were told that our room still wasn't ready. It hadn't been cleaned yet. This has never happened to us at this hotel chain before so I'm thinking that the guests that checked out that morning had checked out late. They said it would be done in two hours so we left and went to a water-ski show around 4.
What's cool about this water-ski show was that it's on the edge of an outlet mall called Miromar Outlets. They have a lake with a fountain built in and this group gives shows every day at 4. They're mostly high school and college students so it was fun to see them show off. Below are some photos:
opening piece
killing some time because of boat troubles
lifts
After the show we did some more driving around and then went back to the hotel and went to bed so that we could get up bright and early without crankiness to go to the beach the next day.
Inside The Lazy Flamingo
Day 3: Twins Training Camp Day! Bring on the Boys of Summer.
This is the main reason why we went to Fort Myers. My parents had gotten tickets to Twins Training Camp back in January. This was going to be a good day. Sadly my original favorites, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau did not play in the game we watched. I have new favorites now, Danny Valencia Jeff Manship, and Kevin Slowey. They were the only three players to sign anything for anyone who was standing next to the field before the game when the other players were just standing around for 10 minutes doing nothing.
We saw raccoons, catfish, and an alligator, which my dad and sister were really excited about. They had been looking for alligators for the whole trip and had yet to see one. So the fact that there was this gigantic alligator sitting on the shore totally made their day. Our tour guide was really good and he liked to speed around corners and do donuts with the air boat in the middle of larger areas of water. It was a lot of fun and I saw a lot of things I normally wouldn't have seen.
I did not like the fact that the guide told me that snakes have fallen out of the trees onto the air boats in the past. *shivers* That would not have been cool. I hate snakes.
After one last tour of the island in our rental we headed back to the airport and flew home, back to the frozen tundra.
Until Next Time,
Avery
So here's the daily log, as best as I can remember:
DAY 1: From Security to a Ski Show
Sunday March 6th was an early day. We got up at 3:30 to get to the airport in time to catch our 7 a.m. flight to Fort Myers. The roads were deserted. I felt like we were driving in some apocalyptic place as we were driving to the airport. We got to the airport and went through security; we wanted to save some money so we just did a carry-on bag because we were only going to be in Florida for a few days.
We went through, my bag got pulled over and searched because I had been packing the night before around midnight and forgot to put some creams or make-up in the liquids bag. I know that it's their job, but really TSA: is a very tired girl, with glasses and her hair thrown in a ponytail, who looks like she just rolled out of bed, and can barely hold a conversation with you because she hasn't had her coffee yet a significant threat? Of course my bag that I had packed was packed perfectly so that everything could fit. I had to repack it so that I could zip it up before we could get to our gate but my dad's pat-down because of his new hip bought me some time.
Our flight went to Atlanta, and then we caught a connecting flight to Fort Myers. Both the flights were alright. The first flight had some really horrible turbulence but that was because of the rainstorm that was brewing.
We landed in Fort Myers around 10-ish and called our hotel to see if we could check in. Our room wasn't ready yet so we took our rental car and tooled around Fort Myers to check out the places that we wanted to go. We stopped by our hotel, Homewood Suites, around 3 and were told that our room still wasn't ready. It hadn't been cleaned yet. This has never happened to us at this hotel chain before so I'm thinking that the guests that checked out that morning had checked out late. They said it would be done in two hours so we left and went to a water-ski show around 4.
What's cool about this water-ski show was that it's on the edge of an outlet mall called Miromar Outlets. They have a lake with a fountain built in and this group gives shows every day at 4. They're mostly high school and college students so it was fun to see them show off. Below are some photos:
opening piecekilling some time because of boat troubles
lifts
After the show we did some more driving around and then went back to the hotel and went to bed so that we could get up bright and early without crankiness to go to the beach the next day.
DAY 2: Bring on the Sand, Sun, and Surf
Footprints in the sand
Beach day! This was the day that I was looking forward to where I didn't have to do a single thing. I could lay on my towel, read a book for fun, and went swimming and looked for seashells.
Our first stop was Sanibel Island.
We stayed there for most of the morning and it's extremely beautiful. It has perfect sand that feels like silk when it runs through your fingers, and it's a great place to look for seashells. We had bought a small net because one of my parent's friends back home had suggested it. The net's goal is to catch the shells as the waves are cresting by you. It worked pretty well. We found some small but unique shells. It was my dad's favorite activity.
Our first stop was Sanibel Island.
We stayed there for most of the morning and it's extremely beautiful. It has perfect sand that feels like silk when it runs through your fingers, and it's a great place to look for seashells. We had bought a small net because one of my parent's friends back home had suggested it. The net's goal is to catch the shells as the waves are cresting by you. It worked pretty well. We found some small but unique shells. It was my dad's favorite activity.
shells my dad collected
At one point there was a huge commotion at the other end of the beach. So, naturally I went to check it out. In the water were three stingrays swimming in the shallows. They were so graceful and they were probably medium-sized. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera with me to snap a picture but Rianna; my sister, has one on hers. It was kind of cool but after that I didn't exactly feel like swimming anymore.
We noticed we were starting to get a little too much sun so to avoid looking and feeling like lobsters later on we got in our car and went to lunch. We ended up at a local place called The Lazy Flamingo. It was a place that was off the beaten track and the food was delicious, two of the best words to use when it comes to a restaurant in my opinion. It was a small restaurant with two people manning it. One manned the register and took orders and the other cooked. When orders came in the waiter attached them to a clip and slid them along a cable to the kitchen that hung in the restaurant. It was pretty relaxed and the ambience was just what we were looking for after a morning at the beach.
At one point there was a huge commotion at the other end of the beach. So, naturally I went to check it out. In the water were three stingrays swimming in the shallows. They were so graceful and they were probably medium-sized. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera with me to snap a picture but Rianna; my sister, has one on hers. It was kind of cool but after that I didn't exactly feel like swimming anymore.
We noticed we were starting to get a little too much sun so to avoid looking and feeling like lobsters later on we got in our car and went to lunch. We ended up at a local place called The Lazy Flamingo. It was a place that was off the beaten track and the food was delicious, two of the best words to use when it comes to a restaurant in my opinion. It was a small restaurant with two people manning it. One manned the register and took orders and the other cooked. When orders came in the waiter attached them to a clip and slid them along a cable to the kitchen that hung in the restaurant. It was pretty relaxed and the ambience was just what we were looking for after a morning at the beach.
Inside The Lazy FlamingoWe went to one more beach, had dinner and then went mini-golfing at this really cool place that had a renaissance theme to it: castles, moats, knights-in-shining-armor, and the works. It was a weird combination of Disney World and golf.
Day 3: Twins Training Camp Day! Bring on the Boys of Summer.
This is the main reason why we went to Fort Myers. My parents had gotten tickets to Twins Training Camp back in January. This was going to be a good day. Sadly my original favorites, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau did not play in the game we watched. I have new favorites now, Danny Valencia Jeff Manship, and Kevin Slowey. They were the only three players to sign anything for anyone who was standing next to the field before the game when the other players were just standing around for 10 minutes doing nothing.
Hammond Stadium is a very beautiful facility and it was so green that I felt like I was looking at Ireland or something. That was a welcome change from the gray Minnesota Winter. The announcer told us while we were sitting and waiting for the game to start that the current temperature back home was 10 degrees and there I was sitting in 80 degree sunny weather. You don't realize what a different world it is when you're there. My mom said many times over the trip that she couldn't believe that it was snowing in Minnesota and she felt like she was on some other planet. 
After some technical difficulties with the national anthem that resulted in the whole stadium singing it together, the Twins took on the Pirates. Unfortunately, they lost by two runs but it was a really cool experience.
That evening we went down to Fort Myers Beach and caught the sunset. I forgot how beautiful they could be. I haven't been able to see many lately. There was also a street magician that we saw perform after the sunset too. He was pretty good.
After some technical difficulties with the national anthem that resulted in the whole stadium singing it together, the Twins took on the Pirates. Unfortunately, they lost by two runs but it was a really cool experience.That evening we went down to Fort Myers Beach and caught the sunset. I forgot how beautiful they could be. I haven't been able to see many lately. There was also a street magician that we saw perform after the sunset too. He was pretty good.
Day 4: The Everglades and Alligator "Hunting"
Sadly, this was our last day in Florida. My parents only had so much vacation time. We took ourselves down to the Everglades and had it planned out so that we could come back with time to spare to catch our flight.
Sadly, this was our last day in Florida. My parents only had so much vacation time. We took ourselves down to the Everglades and had it planned out so that we could come back with time to spare to catch our flight. We took an Air Boat ride through the Everglades which was pretty cool but very loud. It was a good time and we had a lot of fun. I knew when a Pelican landed on our boat and stayed there that it was going to be an interesting tour.
We saw raccoons, catfish, and an alligator, which my dad and sister were really excited about. They had been looking for alligators for the whole trip and had yet to see one. So the fact that there was this gigantic alligator sitting on the shore totally made their day. Our tour guide was really good and he liked to speed around corners and do donuts with the air boat in the middle of larger areas of water. It was a lot of fun and I saw a lot of things I normally wouldn't have seen.
I did not like the fact that the guide told me that snakes have fallen out of the trees onto the air boats in the past. *shivers* That would not have been cool. I hate snakes.After one last tour of the island in our rental we headed back to the airport and flew home, back to the frozen tundra.
Until Next Time,
Avery
March 4, 2011
People wonder why I do this
"Why did you choose journalism? You could be anything, you're smart enough to be whatever you want to be: doctor, lawyer, rocket scientist. Why journalism, when you could be in any one of those professions that could allow you to make more money."
This seems to have been a common theme in the past month. Why they're choosing to not believe in me now, or sway me away from my chosen profession as I'm getting ready to start a journalism internship, and am about to graduate I don't know. This is the worst time for the people around me to start questioning why I went in to the major that I went in to.
They may not understand me or my choices but every time I write a new article for The Reporter I know that it's what I want to do with my life. I want to talk to people every day, I want to learn new things every day, I want to have an office but never be there because I'm out in the field talking to people and telling their stories.
I have had the honor of meeting so many amazing people through my interviews and it's something that I never want to stop doing. I don't care about the money. I've never cared about money. I think that as long as I'm in a profession that makes me want to get up in the morning and go to work every day that I have successfully led my life.
It's not the easiest life choice, but those of you who know me know that I've never taken the easy way out. I know that I'll have to be extremely frugal, and I know that competition is stiff in the field, but if it makes me happy I don't see why I should go anywhere else.
I've been writing my whole life. Writing is a familiar comfort to me, like the two-year-old who always drags their favorite stuffed animal around with them.
When I write my articles I have the power to touch someone's life, change someone's world-view, tell someone's story, open people's eyes to a problem in the world that needs to be solved, raise awareness about different cultures, and motivate people to do something about an issue.
When I write for fun I have the power to create worlds, form pictures in my reader's minds, and make them experience empathy for my characters.
We are currently studying works by Isabel Allende in my Spanish Literature class. A while back we watched a lecture that she gave at Georgetown in 1997 about her book, Paula, which is about the death of her daughter.
She's a writer, she always has been, she always will be, and she started out as a journalist and is now one of the most successful Latin-American authors. In fact most of the authors I've been reading in that class started out as journalists. They've changed worlds, they've brought attention to social issues and they have been named some of the most intelligent people of our time. I admire them.
This seems to have been a common theme in the past month. Why they're choosing to not believe in me now, or sway me away from my chosen profession as I'm getting ready to start a journalism internship, and am about to graduate I don't know. This is the worst time for the people around me to start questioning why I went in to the major that I went in to.
They may not understand me or my choices but every time I write a new article for The Reporter I know that it's what I want to do with my life. I want to talk to people every day, I want to learn new things every day, I want to have an office but never be there because I'm out in the field talking to people and telling their stories.
I have had the honor of meeting so many amazing people through my interviews and it's something that I never want to stop doing. I don't care about the money. I've never cared about money. I think that as long as I'm in a profession that makes me want to get up in the morning and go to work every day that I have successfully led my life.
It's not the easiest life choice, but those of you who know me know that I've never taken the easy way out. I know that I'll have to be extremely frugal, and I know that competition is stiff in the field, but if it makes me happy I don't see why I should go anywhere else.
I've been writing my whole life. Writing is a familiar comfort to me, like the two-year-old who always drags their favorite stuffed animal around with them.
When I write my articles I have the power to touch someone's life, change someone's world-view, tell someone's story, open people's eyes to a problem in the world that needs to be solved, raise awareness about different cultures, and motivate people to do something about an issue.
When I write for fun I have the power to create worlds, form pictures in my reader's minds, and make them experience empathy for my characters.
We are currently studying works by Isabel Allende in my Spanish Literature class. A while back we watched a lecture that she gave at Georgetown in 1997 about her book, Paula, which is about the death of her daughter.
She's a writer, she always has been, she always will be, and she started out as a journalist and is now one of the most successful Latin-American authors. In fact most of the authors I've been reading in that class started out as journalists. They've changed worlds, they've brought attention to social issues and they have been named some of the most intelligent people of our time. I admire them.
"I write to sort out the confusion of life,to make the world more tolerable,and ultimately to create change."
That is why I want to be a journalist.
Until next time,
Avery
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