So, welcome me back again folks, as I know I've been MIA again.  But I've been home for almost a week now, and this whole adjusting back to home-style living is just quite something to get around.  First of all, there are about a gazillion boxes and bags of things that have just been put in mounds and stacks all over my living room, my younger brother's room, and my room.  You don't ever realize how much stuff you accumulate over a period of one year until you have to move everything out and it's like you just ask yourself, "WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!?"  I feel like I've been going through all of my things for hours, and yet there are still more things to be sorted through.  Secondly, I've been back on the clock at CVS.  I started yesterday, and as much as I was worried about getting back into the groove of things, I surprised myself about how much I actually remembered from last summer.  And finally, as much as the familiarity is giving me the home-sweet-home vibe and mom's homemade cooking has been very much appreciated (she is basically cooking up every single one of my personal favorites ever since I got home), being back home is such a big change from being in Columbia and being on my own.  My parents are a bit more slack than I remember them being with me during my high school years, but there is something about their parental power that makes me feel like I can't quite do as much as I would like when I'm under their roof!

With all of that said, what exactly do I miss about Columbia?  I mean, I was pretty excited about getting out for the summer and going home.  As I said in the last few entries, I was pretty tired of the Russell House "cuisine."  I was also just plain over doing school work after such a grueling week of finals.  You would think that with those complaints that I'd be so happy to be away from Columbia!  But that is simply not the case!!!

Here are my top 3 reasons for missing Columbia, in no particular order of course:

1. The Vista, Harbison, oh the town of Columbia!

My friends and I usually take to the streets and enjoy some great dining in the Vista or some shopping down Harbison Boulevard when it comes to winding down the week.  With so many great restaurants lining the Vista downtown area of Columbia and so many stores all over Harbison, there's a lot to do on a Friday or Saturday night.  We also like to go to the shopping and dining area of Sandhills near Clemson Road (ironic to say Clemson, ain't it?) 

2.  The Horseshoe, the Russell House, oh the campus!

So, I probably don't miss the food of the Russell House, as y'all have read my whining and complaining and missing of my mom's cooking.  I do, however, miss the feeling of being on campus.  As much as I'd love to say that I have my own apartment or my own place, there's just something about the experience of being on campus.  I miss the hustle and bustle of Greene Street.  I miss the free movies and free concerts.  There's lots to miss about the Carolina campus.

3.  Lastly...but most definitely not the least: MY CAROLINA GAMECOCK FRIENDS!

My roommate sent me this bumper sticker from Facebook, and I couldn't agree more about how she felt.  The bumper sticker read: "We left our families to live with strangers, and now we left family to go home.  Miss you!"  It's so weird that my parents catch me referring to Columbia as "my home."  I'm always talking about how school was like this and like that and how I did this and that back "home."  I mean, home is still sweet, but I've just gotten so used to living on my own.  My friends are a great, big part of this home feel!  I'm going to enjoy my summer, but I will sorely be missing my friends as they all also spend their summers in their respective home cities!

And well...that's it for my top three!  What are y'alls top three things that you'll miss about being in school?  I know y'all probably can't wait to get out school, but I'm sure y'all will be missing hanging out with your friends.

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 08:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Miss Kaelie asked: "What exactly are the dorms like?  Are they really better than being off-campus and commuting?"

My answer...Well, let me start with the latter.  I really believe that being on campus is better than staying off-campus, and this is not even just a plug for USC Housing.  I really think it's the better option of the two because on-campus housing is very convenient for multiple reasons. 

One, you only have to pay once in the beginning of the semester while you are paying your tuition fees.  This means that you will not have to worry and fuss over monthly bills for rent and utilities.  No missed payments!  How horrible would it be if you forget because you get too busy with exams, papers, and what nots.  YIKES!

Two, convenience also comes with regards to your schedule.  If you're unlucky and your classes are all spread out with big gaps, if you live on campus you can easily just go back to your dorm and do things like homework, hang out, grab lunch, etc.  If you live off-campus, you are even more unlucky, and you will be forced to find a place in the University to spend your time because going back to your place will require driving time, gas, and parking space.  (I'll talk about the whole driving issue in a sec.)  For most of my off-campus friends, they try to get in touch with me so that they can stay in my dorm while waiting for class because the only places they can really otherwise go to would be the library (who can spend more than a couple of hours there unless you have exams?!), the Russell House (which can be quite loud when there are lots of things going on), or the Horseshoe (if you're luck on a nice day, it's quite nice but what about winter and those rainy spring days?!).  Really, you can go about your daily business much easier when you live on-campus.

Three, a continuation about the whole scheduling issue...It's much easier to join organizations when you live on-campus.  Not that there's a preference to students who are on-campus but more so on the fact that it's much easier to attend meetings, events, and functions that are school-related when you are already here.  Most weekly meetings take place in the Russell House building around 5-7PM.  Generally by that time, most classes are over and students are pretty much ready to just kick it.  If you're living off-campus and you've already gone back to your place after your morning/afternoon classes, it's such a hassle to come back to campus for an hour of meeting.  There are still lots of off-campus students that do join extracurricular activities.  Being off-campus has not stopped anyone from being involved; it is, however, just a little bit more inconvenient.  This is the main reason most universities require freshmen to live on-campus on their first year.  It gets first year students to be more engaged at an earlier stage.  It's been shown that those who begin extracurricular activities early in their college career tend to have better networking skills!

Last but definitely not least: THE DRIVING ISSUE.  Being off-campus means that you definitely need a car (although there are some apartment complexes that provide shuttles).  You'll have to calculate in driving time, which does not only mean getting to campus from your apartment but also possible city traffic AND finding a parking space.  Parking spaces can be tricky on campus since it is right in the middle of the city.  Sometimes students have to park in the Coliseum parking lot which is quite a walk to the center of campus.  If you're already on campus, you won't have to worry about this.  I'm not going to lie, but on some days, I wake up about 10 minutes before a class.  I brush my teeth, comb my hair, and get some clean clothes.  I hope to God that I look decent, and well walk on over to class.  Now, from Preston to PSC, which is a couple of blocks over, I can do all of that getting ready and get to class still on time within those 10 minutes.  Try that for on-campus housing!

There are perks to living off-campus (like your own room, your own visitation hours, a kitchen, etc.), but the perks to living on-campus has made it quite the attractive choice for me.  I've enjoyed living on campus for these two years, and will be doing so again next year (and probably until I graduate!)

NOW...as to the other question...What are dorms like?  Can I make this one into a cliffhanger for now, guys?  I promise to get on this tomorrow or Friday.  I have to get ready for a leadership retreat, which I'll also write about in the next few days.  It's another great community service and leadership opportunity on campus!  I hope this answers some of y'alls concern about deciding to live on or off-campus.

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 07:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, for the past 2-3 weeks I have given much business to restaurants around campus.  On-campus dining services does offer a lot of great choices, and there are several dining facilities around here.  The problem is that right when you get close towards the end of the semesters, everything starts to get kind of old.  It might sound great to have so many choices, and mom's cooking might get old when you're at home but...The double cheeseburger, Whopper Jr. with cheese, and a double stacker from Burger King all start to taste the same.  Pizzas from Pizza Hut or Pandinis are great, but a person can only take so many pizzas at a time.  And when you want to finally start eating healthy but your only choices are a boring salad or fried chicken Fridays, you know what ends up happening!

With that said, lately I've been really having a great hankering for some good ol' white rice.  Whether that's because I'm just straight up Asian and I'm really just craving a good sticky rice or maybe I'm really just homesick because everyone around me seems to be packing up their dorms and going home, here's my 4-1-1 on great Chinese Fast Food Joint finds around Columbia.  I've got two great options for a quick fix to a good Asian meal!

1.  The Teapot:  Once you get to campus and you start setting up your desk, you'll probably find that there's a folded-up menu on your desk.  Complementary of the restaurant Teapot, an array of Americanized Chinese food awaits you.  If you decide to throw the menu away, don't worry.  When that late night hankering comes, you'll find that there are about a couple more stacks of the menus in your dorm lobby.  The Teapot is very attractive to students on campus because they DELIVER!  A great alternative to pizza night, students can make a call and have Chinese food within 15-20 minutes on a less-than busy night (even quicker than Domino's 30-minute promise.)  The food's not too expensive either, and so when you throw in the delivery charge and the tip, it's not bad.  You'll have quite the spread for your dinner.  My favorite dishes to order from them are Chicken with Garlic Sauce, Sweet and Sour Shrimp, and Ginger Chicken.

2. Bamboo House:  If you can somehow access a car (if you have one on campus or you can find a friend with one), the Bamboo House is another great Chinese Food option.  Of the two, I actually like this one better.  The only drawback is that this place can't deliver, and you'll have to go out into the highway to get to it.  But it's really not that far from campus.  About a 5-10 minute drive, the Bamboo House is off of the Bush River Road exit on I-26.  It's cheaper, and in my opinion, the food tastes even better.  My favorites are crab rangoon, fried baby shrimp, sweet and sour chicken, and egg drop soup!

Even my American boyfriend who used to only enjoy plain food--no onions, no peppers, no sauce, please!--even enjoys eating Chinese food with me.  This is not to rave about great Chinese food as if it were authentic, but hey, it hits the right spot when I'm craving and I can no longer go without my white rice.  I really want to go home soon.  I've already told my mother a list of Filipino food that I would dearly love of her to prepare for me for my first week back home!

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside and enjoy your mom's cooking (and appreciate her because Mothers' day is right around the corner!), Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 04:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm back.  I feel like I went on a really long vacation, except I didn't go to Hawaii or Disney or Paris.  Worse than being stuck in the airport waiting for a series of delayed flights, my long vacation that kept me away from blogging and keeping you guys updated was a hibernation to my desk.  And let me let it be known that that desk was not much of a happy place.  Piles of practice exams, binders of notes, and textbooks galore!  The crazy thing about it all was that I was only studying for two finals!  Finally, I was really lucky to have only two exams this semester, but the "exam gods" would just not let me have it my way.  My only two exams were back-to-back and scheduled for the first two days of exam week.  Although I am excited and thorougly happy to be done with worrying about exams, I sure would have appreciated a break and some time to study.  The 3-4 days right after lecture classes were just way too stressul! 

(A side note to my Anatomy and Physiology classmates and any individuals who may get this:  Thank the Lord that my cortisol levels were pretty good.  I know that my adrenal cortex was putting in some major hours making sure I had those glucocorticoid levels maintained....oooohhh those stress hormones!)

But don't let me get y'all started and worked up about college finals.  Just like the end of the year assessments, Advance Placement, and IB exams that y'all may be taking in the next month and a half...the key to avoiding any and all stress that I obviously got myself into is really just getting organized.  Study early.  No pain, no gain, right?  You really have to have your game on if you want to do well, especially if you are taking classes like Organic Chemistry and Anatomy and Physiology, yikes!  (As y'all may recall from a previous entry, games aren't just played in the courts and the fields.  They're also played in the classrooms, and you always have to have your A-game on if you want to win!  Here's the link, to those who may want to brush up on that!)

I was also always told that you also never really have to study very hard to do great in classes.  You just have to study WELL.  What's the difference?  It's not necessarily going to be the time that you put in to studying, as much as it's the quality of the work you do in that time that you spend.  It's insane because you don't know just how much time you can actually spend doing something that  may seem like a great study technique but results won't show the same.  Find the thing that works for you, and find it quick!  Notecards?  Practice exams?  Re-writing notes?  Re-doing homework?  Whatever it is, find it!

It truly is the finale of finals for me, and I'm sure glad that this is the case.  It is perhaps the first and only finale I have ever truly looked forward to.  (I'm still bitter about "Friends" being over!!!)

Well, good luck on y'alls finals.  Rest assured, I'll be blogging more often again!

Catch y'all on the flipside, gamecocks! 

Posted by Kriska at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)