1 down, 14 to go! (Alternate title: Really, I DID tell you I'd be bad at this blogging thing...)

Hello world.

The last month has been just a whirlwind!  And we only have 14 months left to go!

Let me tell you some of the things I have been doing for the last four weeks...

1) We just finished Week 3 of being in our summer residency.  The Summer 1 Residency is a "course" we take, and what happens is we work with the education programs that the Museum has to offer.  For 7 days, we worked on the "carts".  These carts are placed throughout various halls of the museum, with objects for visitors to touch, observe, and learn more about.  This rotation reminded me a lot of what I did at the UW-Madison Geology Museum, showing specimens, asking if the visitors know what it is, and then explaining what the object is, where it comes from, and what we can learn from it.  I was in the Hall of Meteorites for 3 days, the Hall of Gems and Minerals for 2 days, and the Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs for 2 days.  I had a lot of fun interacting with visitors of various ages and backgrounds!

Teaching some young visitors about petrified wood!

And because we don't know the museum that well yet, one of our instructors set up a scavenger hunt for us! The team with the most correct answers that got back within the 1-hour timeframe won bragging rights.  My team won, of course.

My teammates, Jaime and Drew, and I posing with the frog!

2) People have been asking me, "So....how's the real world?!"  And to that I say...."Just like the undergraduate world!"  I am currently taking three courses in addition to the Museum Residency--in Edu 600 we learn pedagogy, or "the study and science of teaching"; we have a 2 hour seminar every week to review geology content (so far we've talked about rocks and minerals, igneous processes (aka volcanoes), metamorphic rocks, and geologic time); and an online course about the solar system.  So I have been VERY busy with homework, such as: writing up a lesson plan to teach about an aspect of the solar system; writing a 10-page paper about how people learn science in an informal setting; and designing a power point presentation on virtual tours that museums provide on their websites....these three alone were all only for this last week! Butttt I've been given lots of homework in short time frames already for the past three years, so it's really nothing new ;) just time consuming!

3) I really just want to talk about the people of New York.  I'm not sure about you, but when I thought about New York residents, I just figured I'd run into a bunch of rich hoity-toity people on the morning commute.  But honestly, there are so any good people here!  Here's just ONE example of what I mean:

It was one of the first weeks I was out here. My roommates and I were all traveling the subway for some reason, and I forget why...perhaps we were going to view an apartment? Anyway, we had exited the train, did whatever we needed to do, and went back to the train.  

-->Let me explain the MetroCard system to you...there are two types you can get. You can get a card with unlimited-rides for a certain amount per month, or you can put a dollar value on your card and every time it swipes, $2.50 is deducted from the card.  Well, being that I am commuting the train so often, buying the monthly pass with unlimited rides is the best deal for me.  However, there's a catch--once you swipe your card, you can't swipe it for another 18 minutes, because they don't want you to use the card for multiple people.<--

So, where was I...oh, we got back to the train. And I swiped my MetroCard. And the thing said "Please swipe again". So I swiped again. And it made a loud beep like it didn't go through. So I swiped the card a THIRD time and the little screen said "Already swiped".  And so I was like "OH NOOOOO" and Drew and Zack (my roommates) were already through the gate, and looked at me, and said "Uh oh. You have to wait 18 minutes now."  Just then, people were exiting the train station, and this nice fellow (about mid-20s) must have overheard my conundrum, because right after he exited, he pulled out his MetroCard and swiped me through. I was so taken aback! I hollered back to him "Oh my goodness, thank you SO much!!" like 10 million times as I continued to walk to the platform, and as he continued to walk toward the exit (I know he heard me too, he did holler back "you're welcome" and "no problem" a few times).  It was one of the nicest things that happened here so far.

4) Now, for the "entertainment".  Not a day goes by without some form of "entertainment" from people wanting to make a few extra bucks on the subway.  I have been told not to look the performers in the eye though, because then they come right up and ask you for money.  Some of the panhandlers aren't actually poor or anything, but in fact make a great big income off of their ventures in the subway day-in and day-out.  It's hard to tell who really needs it or who fakes it, which is just unfortunate.  But I have seen things from spoken word poetry to break dancing to instrument performance. And I have to say, some of them are quite talented!  But other than that, I really don't have much else to say.  It's just unfortunate that some people must resort to "making a living" that way, if you can even call it that.

I got this pic from the interwebz, but it's pretty much what I've seen.

5) The following was a story I put on Facebook but I think I'll put it here too :D

The guy at Starbucks says I have an accent. He asked me my name. I said "Ariel", and I said the "a" like in the word "air".  Then he repeated it "Ahriel", and he said the "a" like in the word "apple". He proceeded to say "I like your accent, the way you pronounce your 'a'," and then I said, "I don't have an accent, you do." And then he said something to the effect of living in NYC, and then I got my drink and sat down. But I don't have an accent.

6) The Mac. We have been given a Mac to use while at the program. And unfortunately, I am getting used to the thing. GRRR. However, I had a VERY scary moment last night while writing my paper...I hit "command+H" and my paper DISAPPEARED. IT JUST FRICKEN DISAPPEARED. (...props to anyone who got the Peanut reference!) Anyway, to re-find it, I had to FORCE CLOSE Word with blind faith that the program would recover my paper. And thankfully it did! But still. Lesson Learned: DO NOT PRESS "COMMAND+H"!

This is what I used to feel like. Now I'm a bit so-so, even after my almost-horrific event.

7) Okay, now that I think I've summed up all the important stuff of the past, time for the forecast. Tomorrow, ladies and gents, my sister is coming to visit for 7 days!! She has never been here before so it's going to be an absolute BLAST! I'm really excited to have her here, because I've been waiting for someone to come visit me to do all the touristy-things with ;) I'll have to update you all on what we do over the next week, next week. I promise to take lots of pictures and not steal any from the interwebz for my next post!

D'awww we're so cute!

8) So. I think that pretty much sums up the important things I've been doing so far.  I haven't been able to see or do much else.  I did see a free showing of "World War Z" (with Brad Pitt) in 3D down by Times Square, so that was really cool.  It was actually a really good movie!

Did I mention that my days are like a full time job, pretty much 9am-5pm? Whenever we get an hour or more for lunch break, a group of us like to go out to Central Park and toss around a frisbee.  It's been super fun! I thought about maybe joining an Ultimate Frisbee group with another gal from the MAT program. It'd be a great way to meet new people outside of the program!

I also met up with a friend from UW Madison who just graduated as well and is originally from NYC! It's nice to know someone in the city! We went to see a really good improv-comedy show. Really fun and really cheap!

OH and I almost forgot. While on the way to see the comedy group, look what I found:

I know that wherever I go, I will always have Masonic Family around!

Appleton to the Big Apple (Alternate title: I told you I'd be bad at this blogging thing.)

You know, there is been SO MUCH that has gone on since I last posted in my blog here.  I knew I wouldn't be too good at this.  But anywho, I'm going to try to sum up my last 8 days in a fun and engaging way. Soooo....let's get to it!

1) I LIVE SOMEWHERE! Yes, that's right, we FINALLY have an apartment! And due for safety reasons, I won't be posting the address on here, but feel free to message me and ask for it!  First I'll explain the "we" I mentioned.  I am living with 2 other participants from the MAT program, their names are Drew and Zack.  They hail from Minnesota and Ohio, respectively, and an addition to the "we" will be Zack's girlfriend in July.  So there's that.
We live in a cute little 4 bedroom apartment in upper Manhattan (and I don't just mean "upper" Manhattan...I mean UPPER upper Manhattan, as in practically the Bronx.)  It's only a 30 minute commute on the train, which happens to be RIGHT outside our apartment.  It's pretty swell!
(ummm...pictures are to come? Because I'm still not *fully* unpacked. Or else preliminary pix are up on my Facebook!)

2) On the first day of the MAT Program Orientation, I KNEW I made the right decision.  Not only is it about me becoming a teacher of the earth sciences, but being able to have one of the BEST resources available--the American Museum of Natural History--just makes me itch to use it as a teaching tool.  The people in the program are just as incredible--we  come from all walks of life: some have just graduated undergrad, others grad school, some have families and were non-traditional students, and a couple are full-out switching careers.  It's amazing to be acquainted with these people.

3) During the MAT program, we will have 2 teaching residencies (like being a student teacher)--I'll be at one school during first semester and a different school during second semester.  To get a feel of what the MAT partner schools are like, we took some field-trips to visit a few of the 6 schools that agreed to partner with the MAT program and have us students in their schools during our residencies.
The school system in NYC is VERY very different from anything I have been exposed to.  In my home district, if we were in a certain area of the city, we were "sent" to a specific school--you know, the invisible "school zone" lines were drawn throughout the city.  That is NOT how they do in New York.  When students reach 8th grade, they write down a list of 12 high schools they would like to go to within the city (I don't even know how many total high schools they have in the NYC district!)  The reason for this system is because many (I think almost all) of the high schools have a certain kind of "specialty" about them.  An example is, I went with a group of MAT participants to tour Queens Vocational and Technical High School. This high school is set up in a way so that students not only receive your typical high school diploma (algebra, pre-calc, chemistry, physics, language arts, social studies, etc), but *also* gives its students the opportunity to prepare for a job right out of high school.  Queens Voc has 8 tracks of vocations, (some of which are cosmetology, plumbing, robotics, and graphic arts), and students who attend Queens Voc must follow one of those 8 tracks from grades 10-12, in which they may receive an Associate's degree or other certification in their vocation.  This way, they can go on to college (and perhaps work at a salon to pay their way through college) or can head straight across the street to the Plumber's Union and become a plumber, right out of high school.  Interesting, huh?

4) As a pre-requisite to obtaining my Master's degree, I needed to take a class that satisfies "Artistic Expression".  The class I chose to satisfy this pre-req was "Fundamentals of Music."....WHAT. A. JOKE. Having been a musician for, uh, ELEVEN YEARS, some of the things I am "learning" in this class are just wayyyyyy too simple and easy.  I'm almost halfway done with the coursework I need to accomplish, but I can't even sit down and do a lot at one time because of how simple it is!!! Anyway, I think that's my only gripe...for now. ;)

5) Oh goodness, I don't even know what else to write!!  How about I take some questions? PEOPLE, GIVE ME YOUR QUESTIONS.  I want to know what YOU want to know!!!  Please please please leave a comment!!!

Sorry if this post is so...dry, I guess.  I never said I was the most creative writer.

New York, New York!

I don't even know where I should begin.

I guess, first I'll start with explaining that the reason I'm here a week before the program starts on June 3 is to look for an apartment. My roommate Drew met me out here in New York so that we could start apartment searching.  We had about 8 showings on Monday (two of which were repeat apartments...oops!)  But I guess that's what happens when you call numbers from Craigslist and multiple people have access to the same apartment.  But we learned our lesson from that.

I really don't feel like writing out all the hulabaloo we've gone through with the apartment searching except that 1) It has taken up the vast majority of our time so far here in NYC and 2) We have an application in on an apartment and we are waiting to hear back! Pictures will be posted later if we happen to get it. Fingers crossed!

Other than that, I just have to say that I've been to NYC before, and I knew it was big...well, all I explored last time was Manhattan.  Right now I'm staying in Brooklyn and my goodness, NYC is BBBBBIIIIIGGGGG.  You think you leave enough time for subway travel, but really, you should DOUBLE that time you think will be enough, because seriously if you leave only an hour to travel between lower Manhattan and upper Manhattan you are NOT going to make it in an hour.  That's lesson #1 I've learned.

As for the subway system....*grab hair at scalp, pull, and scream*.  SERIOUSLY. THEY COULD NOT HAVE MADE IT MORE CONFUSING. Why couldn't they model after Paris's or DC's subway system?  There is so many exceptions for the late nights and weekends too.  How does one remember everything about it?!  Beats me. Subway Map, be prepared to become my best friend for 15 months.

...yup. This may not look bad, but once you zoom
in, man...IT'S THE BIGGEST PUZZLE I'VE EVER
BEEN GIVEN TO SOLVE.

On my very little down-time, I've so far completed our first homework assignment for the online seminar I'm enrolled in, and Drew and I went to go see the new WTC building and Times Square.  A couple of the people who were showing us apartments gave us some tips on places to eat (that were student affordable too).   I also got to have lunch with my friend BG on Tuesday, and I had a really really REALLY good BLT.  If you come to visit me, I am taking you to the little pub where I had that BLT.  On Wednesday we checked out where Macy's was and ate at a little bar and grill...this is where I discovered 8% tax...bummer.  But the food was pretty good.  A bit overpriced, but then again, everything is NYC is going to be overpriced according to a Midwesterner like me!

I also took the liberty of looking up where the Packer bars are in NYC.  There is NO WAY I'm going to go the whole season without being able to watch a Packer game!  I also need a Badger bar.  I will learn by heart how to get to these magical places.

I guess that's it for now. I absolutely love the hustle and bustle of the city.  In a nutshell, every day I am reminded of a single scene from the movie Madagascar.  Do you remember when Alex dreams of steaks in the zoo?  Well, I'm talking about right before that, when the zookeepers turned on the ambiance sound of crickets chirping and other "nature sounds", Alex says "They forgot to turn off the ambiance again!" and so Marty kicks the speaker which turns off the ambiance, and what you hear is: honk-crash-screechingtires-weeeeeoooooweeeeoooooambulence-hooooooonnnnnnnkkkkkkkkkfiretruck-etc. etc.  (I've been trying for 20 minutes to find a video or something that goes along with this side effect. Nothing does really. Except this I guess.)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CslD_6L4oTs

I'm leaving today! Can't wait to be a part of it...

Hey y'all.
What a week this has been!  So first I'll start with graduation.
For those of you who don't know, my sister Lyla and I graduated on the same day. She graduation from UW Milwaukee with a degree in print journalism with a minor in history.  No, we're not twins ;) but she transferred schools and studied abroad so I think those experiences may have caused some set-back due to degree requirements not being matched or something.  But I'm sure she thinks it was worth it, considering she spent SIX MONTHS IN AUSTRALIA. That lucky girl.  As for me, I got out in 3 years. I like to say I donated my 4th year to Lyla :D

Lyla came to visit Saturday before
commencement. We had a photo sesh ;)

So we both graduated Sunday, May 19.  Her ceremony in Milwaukee was at 9 am, mine was in Madison at 10 am. Dad and Grandpa went to Lyla's ceremony, Mom and Grandma came to mine.  That was really the bummer part about it, that the family had to split up like that. BUT then we had a celebration in Johnson Creek (right in the middle!) and had a lot of family and friends come out to celebrate with us! (It also kind of acted as my going away party too.)  I was able to see a bunch of friends from Madison that I didn't get to hang out with too much over the last year, and it was really great getting to spend some time with them!  My old roommate, Sarah, even got me a bag of the BEST M&Ms ever--crispy!!! (You can't get those in the states anymore. I don't know why. It aggravates me. But I don't need to start a rant.)  So there was a lot of fun and fellowship and swimming and FOOD and laughing and playing games and inhaling the helium from the graduation balloons and singing Les Miserable's "Confrontation" at the end of the night. (I've always said I want to put the cast of Les Mis on helium and then hear them sing...)  So all in all it was a wonderful celebration, but of course it wouldn't have been possible without the hard work and planning by my parents! And shout out to the best party planner I know, my mom! Thanks for such a special celebration :)

T-Rex and I are best buds!

Now, the week.
PACK PACK PACK PACK PACK sit PACK PACK PACK PACK hydrate PACK PACK PACK unpack and re-PACK PACK PACK PACK.  Maybe throw an "eat" in there.  It was a busy week.

This is all coming to NYC.
Not now, but my roommate's parents
are driving out with a U-Haul and they're
stopping by to pick up my pile.  How nice!

And finally this weekend!
A really great couple of friends of mine (well, of our whole family), Holly and Kenny, got married this weekend! It was a wonderful wedding.  It was held in one of the most beautiful buildings in Wisconsin (the Racine Masonic Center) and the food was suuuper good and the music was fabulous and don't get me started on how delicious the white zin was.  This wedding was one of the most fun weddings I have ever been to and I certainly had an absolute blast--what an awesome Wisconsin-y send-off it turned out to be!
So here I am, sitting in the hotel room, my two large FREE checked-luggage bags sitting in the van, my duffel  bag in a huge heap, waiting for me to pack it, my other items kind of strewn about the room due to rushing to get ready yesterday. But I'm super excited for the next adventure I am about to embark on!

Start spreading the news

Hey everyone.

I'm not quite sure how this blog thing is going to turn out.  I mean, it was suggested a few months ago that I should start one, and I figured why not, join the bandwagon of bloggers and give it a try.  And it's not really just going to be about my everyday life.  This blog has a purpose.  It's to give you the chance to live vicariously through my adventures of the largest city in the USA: New York City.

For those of you who do not know, I was accepted into a Master of Arts in Teaching program through the American Museum of Natural History. And also for those of you who do not know, I am graduating (today!) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Science in Geology.  Now that's kind of confusing, right? Geology to teaching? Why? How?  Well, the gist of it is, New York (the state) passed some sort of rule or something that required all public school curricula to include earth science in middle and/or high school, and they are just low on earth science teachers.  So the American Museum of Natural History (which I will from this point forth refer to as AMNH) developed this program to provide the state with certified earth science teachers.  It is a tuition-free, stipend-giving program, and in turn I must teach in New York (again, the state) for 4 years after the program in a high-needs school district.  Simple, right? I hope so. We shall see.

So as I said. I'm graduating tomorrow. HOLY BUCKETS BATMAN!  Where have the last 3 years gone?!  While I'm saddened by the fact that my undergraduate career is ending, I'm super stoked for my next journey.  And many people want me to keep in touch. And so I will. And hopefully partially through this blog.

I'll leave my introduction as this.  And I'll definitely try to become a more captivating writer.  Because I don't want to bore my audience.  Perhaps pictures will help.

A graduating sloth.