Wednesday, February 27, 2008
I’m In A Commercial!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Romeo and Juliet with the GR Symphony
my chinese professor is playing violin in there somewhere
The grand rapids symphony has a special deal for college students: on certain evenings, college students can get in for only $5. My housemate ian went a lot last year, so when my friends invited me to go, I took the opportunity to check it out. For once, I actually have some time for this stuff because I’m not in any religion classes. Because they’re so challenging, I always put double the amount of effort into religion classes. Even then, it’s not a guaranteed A.
The ironic part about the evening was that ian couldn’t make it because he had to do homework. For once I could go because of lack of homework, and ian couldn’t go because of homework. A little bit of a role reversal there. I felt bad for him, but I also felt proud of him for putting so much effort into studying for his optics test. I hope his grade on the test reflects the amount of effort he put into studying for it!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Too Cool for Snow Days
i walk down this street outside my house daily
We recently had a snow night, but not a snow day. According to our chaplain, Calvin’s last snow day was in the 70s. Why don’t we have snow days as often as other schools? Someone who worked for Calvin told me this…
Amongst calvin’s broad selection of core classes, some subjects have multiple sections. For instance, there’s Religion 121a, 121b, 121c, etc. Some sections meet on the even days of the week, while others meet on the odd days. If a prof teaches both even and odd sections of Religion 121, the prof will probably want to teach both sections at the same pace. That way, if there’s a test, and he uses the same test for both sections, teaching sections at the same pace ensures that one section won’t take the test 3 days early and have enough time to inform the other section about what questions are on the test. The system mitigates cheating, and that’s one reason why snow days are avoided. Makes sense right? Snow days would give one section a head start over the other.
So there you go. Just because cornerstone, hope, and grand valley have snow days doesn’t give calvin students an excuse to skip out. We’re more diligent than that ;)
A Balanced Diet
yum!
Sometimes parents wonder if you’re eating well, especially in college when most students are strapped for cash. At least mine do. So I thought I’d write a post reassuring my parents that I love cooking more than ever, and that eating is one of my favorite pasttimes. No worries mom, I won’t cut back on food to have save money for that $100 pair of louis vuitton-monogrammed socks. See, I’ve got my veggies (broccoli), meats (meatballs), and grains (spaghetti) packed into a single dish. Also, some kiwifruit lie in my fruit bowl just outside of the picture, so I’ve got my serving of fruits too. And I’m drinking a glass of water to fulfill my quota of 8 glasses a day. Now if only I get some exercise…
Monday, February 18, 2008
Rangeela
(almost) the entire int’l student body on stage
I think I saw the entire international student population at calvin today. I managed to grab a few photos with my blackberry, and I’m sorry that they’re not of the greatest quality. Until cell phones come with large glass lenses, photos will always look this terrible. But at least you get an idea of what I saw at rangeela!
this was my first rangeela. when i mention that to people, i usually get a response somewhere along the lines of “WHAT?!” i guess i’m expected to be either performing or watching if i’m an international student. sadly, that was never the case; usually something came up that pulled me away from the event. either that, or the tickets sold out before i could get to them. such was the case this year, but my next door blogging neighbor had extra tickets, so i got them from her.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Mars Hill Sermon: Rivalry
i know… blackberry photos don’t look so hot
I’ve been skeptical of short term missions, especially when the cost of the plane tickets alone could have done so much for the mission. But when Mars Hill explained that their short term missions to third world communities included analysis for generating long term solutions to water contamination and poverty - solutions such as chemical wells and microfinancing, I saw a bit of the business sense behind it. In a sense, the cost of the trips were like startup costs for a new business project. After all, consultation and meetings frequently fill the schedules of new business owners, right? I haven’t thought this through completely yet, and I still remain somewhat skeptical of short-term missions. However, its impact on people, especially those going on the trips, is certain.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Valentine’s Day
calvin pays for parties. that is, alcohol-free, responsible parties. initially, i was skeptical because it was a reimbursement grant with an application process, but after getting a personal email from the dean of student development, bob crow, about hosting a party, i decided to give it a shot. yeah, i did not expect mr. crow to invite me to host a party with calvin money. the invitation came after he apparently he heard a good report about our house from some of our neighbors. the head of calvin’s neighborhood relations department gave us and email, and then mr. crow followed it up shortly afterwards.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Blogging from a Blackberry
My laptop’s dead right now as I await a ram transplant, so I’m blogging from my new blackberry curve. I thought I’d give it a shot since I got the phone today after making the switch from verizon. The little keyboard types suprisingly efficiently, but I don’t know how long I’ll be able to do this. I’m hoping to somehow upload pictures from my blackberry, but that might be trickym we’ll see!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
I’m All In
i pulled the trigger. i quit my job working at Calvin’s digital studio, took my interim off, built a drum studio in my basement, and started teaching drums again. it’s been a while since i’ve taught (at least 3 years ago, when i was still in hong kong), and this time i’m taking it a lot more seriously. my time at the digital studio taught me the value of integrating media into an educational environment, so my drum studio doubles as a home theater, which i use for referencing useful videos and websites. i’ve got two students so far, and i’m looking to add six more by the end of april.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Happy Birthday Jesus!
“you’ve spent over 12 hours with my family!” that’s what kaitlyn said on christmas evening. she had invited me over to spend christmas with her family, and after a morning church service, lunch, gift swap, snacks, board game, and more eating, i had indeed spent the entire day with her extended family. in fact, now that i know what her family’s like, i wouldn’t have had christmas any other way. well, i take that back; if world peace were possible, that might’ve been a better christmas. but besides world peace, christmas with the hekstras was up there.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Fall Down Hill… and Repeat… and Repeat
while people gathered at my house to go sledding, a bunch of us had a prolonged snowball fight in our front yard. before the fight, light reflected serenely off the manicured snow-covered lawn. now it’s a mess. we used our saucer sleds as shields, and occasionally used them to shovel snow at each other in melee combat. eventually, everyone arrived and we packed into a truck with our sleds in the back and headed to the sledding hill!
A Rambunctious Dinner
they seemed to like playing with my hair!
my housemate matt invited me to a dinner with his aunt and uncle out in zeeland. he warned me in advance that their three boys would probably love my hair. i had a wonderful time meeting the aunt and uncle, but really, the best part was playing with the three kids. they were rambunctious boys, which was fine with me because i’m pretty rambunctious myself. we armwrestled, played foosball, played nintendo DS, played with the dog, played played played. i have no idea why there aren’t too many male babysitters, because i’d totally do it. i had so much fun, and i wouldn’t mind getting paid to have that kind of fun.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
The Christmas Schbang
(L-R) kaitlyn, betsy, schmitty, luke, eric, me, tim, kara, and lisa
i love the above photo, and you should too. for some reason, it reminds me of the intro to Friends, that popular TV show where jennifer aniston brought her hairdo, the middle straight hair part, to millions of teenage girls across america. there’s a lot of people in that photo, but even more came later in the evening.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Christmas Birthday Farewell Dinner Party
(L-R) nicole, me, kathryn, andrew, matt, and glowing birthday girl
due to a snowstorm in southern ontario, matt didn’t want to drive home on saturday as planned. instead, he and his canadian companions stayed the night before heading out on sunday afternoon. so on saturday evening, we put together a big dinner. i think the dinner was meant to celebrate a 19th birthday, but i suspect it was also because we had nothing better to do. thankfully, we weren’t having a snowstorm in grand rapids, so we headed out to meijer and bought everything that we needed for dinner. i also bought groceries for the next week because i was going to be home alone (all my housemates will be home in kalamazoo, alaska, and canada) and without a car. we put together a splendid meal of chicken alfredo, corn and peas, garlic bread, and chocolate muffins for dessert. there were also enough leftovers for me to eat during the week, so i wouldn’t need to cook much. after dinner, we decided to digest by the fireplace, so matt and andrew cooked up a roaring fire while the rest of us lounged around on sofas and read magazines or slept. i find that cooking and reading by a fire are some of the most relaxing activities in the world, so i’d say that my holidays have started out on the right foot.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Finishing With a 3 Hour 4 Minute Bang
for 3 hours and 4 minutes, i sat in a classroom writing in a blue book knowing in the back of my mind that i could drop the pen at any moment and begin 5 weeks of holiday. it was not an intellectually-stimulating situation. however, i powered through my religion 309 exam, getting into a groove and writing one and a half blue books. i felt pretty good leaving the room because i knew that i had given it my best shot: i remembered what i had studied, backed up my essays with relevant biblical references, and answered all the questions. even if i had forgotten some stuff, it didn’t matter because i would have run out of time anyway. in other words, i had done the best i could given the 3 hours (and 4 minutes) i had. so now i’m DONE for the next 5 weeks. christmas break goes for 2 weeks, then i’m taking my interim off, which is another 3 weeks. every calvin student can take an interim off in their four-year career, and i’m doing it now. i have no idea how it plays out in a five-year situation, which is what i’m aiming for. maybe i’ll find out when i become a super senior!
About Me
My life at Calvin College
Name:
Nehemiah Chu
Class of 2009
Hometown:
Hong Kong
Major: Rhetoric
Communications & Religion
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