I'm back!

ok...so the MAST assignments ended a loooooong time ago, and i promptly forgot about my little blog here. i don't think it has appreciated it very much, personally, so i'm here to give it a little love.

from the time that i last wrote, a lot has happened. i got to go back to the blistering cold of wisconsin for a month! :D that was awesome...no matter how much fun there is to be had, it's still hard to live 1300 miles from everyone and everything you've ever known, so it was nice to be back where everyone knowns your name...lol (yay cheers!) it was nice to just laze around with girls back home for a while. and i got to play in the snow!!! even got to go sledding <3

then...even though everything was going just peachy keen....i had to get all 4 of my wisdom teeth pulled, and some other things done to my teeth....can anyone say "worst day ever'??? i know i couldn't at the time, but i was sure thinking it! after a couple days, however, everything was good again, and i could eat normal food after a week, and there was no more pain! :)

now....on to bigger and better things. in the middle of january i once again packed up and headed back down to texas. the joy i experienced when i landed in dallas in 70 degree weather??? cannot even be put into words! i flew out of madison and it was only 16! it sure was good to be back where it was warm! even if no one else thought it was. life then quickly became overrun with the usual homework supply, but as always i've found time to also enjoy myself. mardi gras was a sight to behold for sure!

now....with spring break only a week away, i'm so excited to see my family again! and this time i don't even have to trek up to the cold :) we're meeting up in florida to visit some friends and the temperature is supposed to be almost 80 when we fly in! that's even warmer than here in galveston! YAY!!! i'm hoping to get some snorkeling done while we're there, but who knows what will eventually occur.

there....that about sums up the last few months, except for some stories...you couldn't expect me to tell them ALL right away could you? i have to have SOMETHING to write about until a new adventure to write about comes along...lol. til next time, which i promise won't be a few months.....

As always...

Peace out...

Rock on...

Do whatever it is you do!

Cassie :)

College Life 5: Out of the Arctic!!!

For your insight into the college life this week, I decided to rant about how happy I am to not be reading about the Arctic every night for my Intro. to Maritime Studies class!!! (sorry Dr. Pearl)...

For the roughly the last two weeks, we have been delving deep into the issues surrounding the indigenous peoples of the Arctic and the environment. I started out intrigued, because I had never really given much thought to Arctic peoples before, other than reading Julie of the Wolves, but that soon changed.

After reading different articles and books, everything started to meld together and sound like the Inuit were whining, and the "outsiders" were trying to ignore them. The whole thing started to make me angry at both sides of the issue, and Mark Nuttall (author of Protecting the Arctic) and his wordy chapters weren't helping matters.

Thankfully we have gotten off the topic, after reading an easier worded article, and my hopes are resurfacing quickly for this course. Hopefully we can stay off the topic of Arctic indigenous peoples for a long while!

I'm excited to learn about maritime peoples from ALL over the globe, instead of focusing on one society. Every group has so many differences, yet so many similarities when you look closely, and that idea fascinates me. Hopefully I don't change my mind in the near future!

As always...
Peace out...
Rock on...
Do whatever it is you do!

Cassie :)

College Life 4: Weekday Food v. Weekend Food

Since I wrote the post saying there wasn't anything I really disliked about college (see first post), I have found something! The food on the weekends makes me kind of angry.

During the week, there are multiple different entrees, even changing between lunch and dinner. The food is fresh and hot, no matter what time you come in to eat. The salad and fruit bar looks (and tastes) amazing. The cookies are warm, and there are even speciality sections that change for different days of the week, ranging from pasta to burritos.

However, the weekend food is a different story. The salad bar get brown and wilted, the food is many times overcooked, and some of it really doesn't look appealing at all. There's never really a choice to make as to what you want, because only limited food is offered. There are the ever present chicken tenders, and usually something that looks remarkably like old food remade into something new.

Now, this wouldn't be so bad if the price was different for the weekend, but it's not. These sub-par meals cost the same as the great ones during the week, which seems just wrong.

Wow, I sound ornery this week, but life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, now is it?

As always...
Peace out...
Rock on...
Do whatever it is you do!

Cassie :)

College Life 3: Days vs. Nights

So, another week has passed in my new adventure called college. The part of culture that has particularly caught my attention is how the days and nights of college students seem to get mixed up with each other.

Throughout my first month of college, I have steadily started to go to sleep later and later. The strange thing is that many other people are still roaming around, even at 2:00 am. When I was in high school, we had to be up by 6 in the morning, so late nights were very few and far between.

So I've established that the days don't end until the wee hours of the morning, but how does that really constitute a switch between day and night? I'll give away a secret to success in college...NAPS! College students revert back to their childhood ways when it comes to getting a reasonable amount of sleep. It isn't uncommon to hear people discussing who took the longest naps in the afternoon, or hearing some one's complaints about not be able to text someone because they're asleep and its 4 in the afternoon.

I find this whole thing incredibly entertaining, and admit that I too have become accustomed to a nice afternoon nap. As long as I can stay on top of my homework and studying, I don't see why it matters when I get my sleep, and many of my peers agree, I'm sure.

As always...
Peace out...
Rock on...
Do whatever it is you do!

Cassie :)

College Life 2: Fightin' Texas Aggie Football Game

Everything is bigger in Texas. This is a motto that many Texans take to heart. They want to make everything they do bigger (and better) than anyone else can make it. This also goes for their football atmosphere.

This weekend, I attended my second Aggie football game at Kyle Field, in College Station, Texas. The pride in A&M football is seen hours before actually arriving in College Station. Stickers, license plate frames, and maroon clad families are a common site on FR 6, all the way from Houston, and they only become more abundant as time goes on.

After arriving in College Station, one begins to realize that there are TONS of people EVERYWHERE, and every one of them greets you (usually in a HOWDY!). Anyone from the age of a few months, to 85 years of age comes out to cheer on the Aggies, and the energy is contagious.

Now, everything that I've said so far has been the 'best of the best' of my feelings, and now comes the not-so-good parts. I don't have any major problems with the atmosphere, but it feels slanted to me. The seniors seem to be having a whole lot more fun, and EVERYTHING the student section does revolves around them. Don't get me wrong...seniors should get special treatment some of the time, but the whole game? It honestly takes away some of the experience for me.

Also, the stadium needs to stay alive inbetween yells and major plays. This weekend there was a point in the game where it seemed like NO ONE was doing anything. It was honestly quiet, and that should not happen when there are 75,000 people gathered together. I was really disappointed, almost sad, when that happened.

Wow...that was a downer. Sorry if I crushed your dreams about Aggie football, but this is my blog, and you're asking for my cultural perspective! You got yourself into this mess that is my thoughts and opinions! lol

'Til next time...
Peace out...
Rock on...
Do whatever it is you do!

Cassie :)

College Life 1: First Impressions

How do I feel about college life?

As simple as this question seems to be, I'm having a hard time deciding how I really feel about it. There are somethings I really like, maybe even love, about being away from home, and on my own (sort of). Then again, there are somethings I wish I had from living at home.

Let's start out with the things I like about Texas A&M Galveston (TAMUG). I love the little campus! It is so nice to walk around and recognize people, and to actually have people look me in the face and say "Howdy." (Yes, people really do say that!) Professors here actually make the effort to learn your name, and maybe (if they like you) even get to know you. At a big campus, there's hardly an opportunity to speak to a professor, much less form any kind of relationship with them. I also like how gradual the transition from high school has been. With the small class sizes and proximity to the professors, I feel like I'm having a much easier time than some of my friends who went to huge campuses.

Now, what don't I like so much about college? I wouldn't go as far to say that I don't like anything. However, there are somethings that I still need to get used to. Grocery shopping has been interesting so far. At home, I just looked at things, asked my parents if we could buy it, and they made the final decisions. Now, I am looking for sales, comparing prices, and noticing how long grocery shopping can take. Also, and more school related, I have been trying to figure out time management. At home, I always had my parents to gently (and sometimes not so gently) push me to do homework in a timely manner. Here, there isn't anything like that, just myself. That will take some getting used to.

Other than that, life is looking up! People are nice, and making friends has been very easy. So far college is looking to be a pretty awesome adventure!

Peace out...
Rock on...
Do whatever it is you do!

cassie :)

Assignment #2~Indigenous Rights Essay

Who owns culture? Do the indigenous peoples have the right to keep it to themselves, or do scholars and researchers have the right to publish other people's cultures? There are multiple opinions on these questions, and I'm going to give you mine.

I believe that every person, in every culture, has a right to privacy. I believe people have the right to refuse to give information to any researcher they choose. If a researcher does something to make themselves untrustworthy in another person's eyes, then they have every right to be cautious. This point especially applies to one's culture and way of life. If they feel disclosing information will be a threat to the way they live, then so be it for them to keep their mouths shut.

On the other hand, some indigenous peoples have become too cautious, and are keeping any information on their culture shut from all ears. I do believe there is a benefit for these peoples to share culutral information with people who want to educate others on it. Researchers who really just want to learn more and pass their knowledge on to others. I realize seeking these people out from all the others is a hard task, but it is beneficial to all when it does happen.

In conclusion, indigenous peoples have the right to keep their culture to themselves. After all, it is their culture, not the researcher's. Though it is beneficial to learn about cultures from all over the world, it is the choice of the people, whose culture it is, to share it with the world or not.

As always...
Peace out...
Rock on...
Do whatever it is you do!

Cassie :)