On Friday night a couple of my friends and I were sitting around trying to decide what to do. After only a few minutes, the only things we could come up with were rent a movie, go to a movie, and bowling, which were not appealing at all. After seraching around online for awhile, one of my friends came up with the idea of playing Bingo at Oneida Casino in Green Bay. This was something none of us had ever done before, and since we had nothing better to do, we all piled into my car and headed towards Green Bay.
I assumed that not many people would be playing Bingo at 9 pm on a Friday night, but I was compltely wrong. As we pulled into the back lot, which was where the Bingo hall was located, I saw row after row lined with cars. The place was packed, and it took almost twenty five minutes to get through one of the four lines to get our boards. We walked into the extremely large open room and saw at least 400 people! I was completely shocked by the turn out.
After searching for an emptly table, I noticed tubes of what looked like paint sitting in front of people on the tables. One of my friends leaned over and asked an older lady who had about 12 what they were used for. She looked at us like we were complete idiots and responded by saying they were for marking your boards and you could get them at the front desk.
We finally found where the tubes of paint were, which I learned were called daubers, and got situated. All of a sudden a very serious voice came over the loud speaker and began reading of the bingo balls. I couldn't believe how serious and tesne the room became once the game started. I looked around and people were acting like they were taking an extremely hard test. This was the exact opposite of what I expected!
Finaly, after about two and a half hours, Bingo was finished. I couldn't believe how serious people got while playing. I over heard alady talking about hoo she plays three times a week! I really wish I would have asked her if she had actually ever won! Even though Bingo is probaly something I wouldn't invest time and money into on a weekly basis, it was definitely something I'm glad I experinced.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Japan
Over the weekend a terrible tragedy occured in the small country of Japan. An 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck, which is believed to be the largest earthquake in history to ever hit Japan. It was so strong, analysts believe that it may have actually moved Japan's main island eight feet, and shifted the Earth axis four inches. Not only were they struck by a record breaking earthquake, they also had to endure a gigantic tsunami that reached six miles inland. This horrific tragedy is expected to have a death toll of over 10,000.
When I heard the news late Friday morning it really hit home, because I traveled to Japan three summers ago. My family also has hosted 6 different Japanese exchange students from Kamogawa that we still stay in contact with. I immediately ran to my computer to check and see if the tsunami had hit Kamogawa, which was located about two hours away from Tokyo right on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. As I began to surf different news sites I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There were already videos posted of the fierce water whipping trucks around as if they were play tonka trucks. People were fleeing to the highest ground or running as fast as they could for shelter as the water rushed in destroying their homes. I was relieved to find that the Tsunami had hit farther north and had not damaged Kamogawa, but felt terrible watching other parts of Japan being destroyed and not being able to do anything.
On Sunday afternoon I recieved an email from Aya, an exchange student that had stayed with us a couple years ago. She described the mass hysteria that was going on in her country. She also told me how she had been in Tokyo when the earthquake occured and had to walk four hours to her aunts house for safety, because the public transportation had been shut down. On her long walk, she came across a nursing home that had completely crumbled to the ground. There were many people already helping drag people out, and they begged her to help too. She said it was the most horrific thing she had ever seen, and prayed that there weren't to many other buildings left like this. It wasn't until she got to her aunts house that she found out about the tsunami that devastated the coast.
Everyday I hear terrible stories on the news that I think about for a couple of minutes, and then I go on with my day. It wasn't until getting insight from someone who was there that it really effected me. It actually became reality for me rather than some guy on the news telling me a story about something that happened thousands of miles away.
When I heard the news late Friday morning it really hit home, because I traveled to Japan three summers ago. My family also has hosted 6 different Japanese exchange students from Kamogawa that we still stay in contact with. I immediately ran to my computer to check and see if the tsunami had hit Kamogawa, which was located about two hours away from Tokyo right on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. As I began to surf different news sites I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There were already videos posted of the fierce water whipping trucks around as if they were play tonka trucks. People were fleeing to the highest ground or running as fast as they could for shelter as the water rushed in destroying their homes. I was relieved to find that the Tsunami had hit farther north and had not damaged Kamogawa, but felt terrible watching other parts of Japan being destroyed and not being able to do anything.
On Sunday afternoon I recieved an email from Aya, an exchange student that had stayed with us a couple years ago. She described the mass hysteria that was going on in her country. She also told me how she had been in Tokyo when the earthquake occured and had to walk four hours to her aunts house for safety, because the public transportation had been shut down. On her long walk, she came across a nursing home that had completely crumbled to the ground. There were many people already helping drag people out, and they begged her to help too. She said it was the most horrific thing she had ever seen, and prayed that there weren't to many other buildings left like this. It wasn't until she got to her aunts house that she found out about the tsunami that devastated the coast.
Everyday I hear terrible stories on the news that I think about for a couple of minutes, and then I go on with my day. It wasn't until getting insight from someone who was there that it really effected me. It actually became reality for me rather than some guy on the news telling me a story about something that happened thousands of miles away.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Wes Leonard
On Friday while watching the news I heard a story about a high school basketball team from Fennville, Mi that seemed too horrific to be true. They reported that Wes Leonard a junior at Fennville High School had collapsed and died just a few minutes after scoring the game winning lay up in overtime. He went to shake his opponents hands and was about to take a picture with his team when he fell to the ground. He was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead a couple hours later. This win gave them a 20-0 record for the first time ever in Fennville history. He wasn't just an amazing basketball player, he also was a terrific quarterback.
I was shocked when I heard this and extremely curious to find out what caused this 16 year old to die unexpectedly and so quickly without warning. The next day an autopsy report came back stating that he had gone into cardiac arrest from an undiagnosed enlarged heart. I began to do research and found that there are rarely any symptoms at first, but you may begin to feel tired or out of breathe which is typical for anyone who just got done playing a two hour basketball game. This makes it very hard to detect. Only 1 in every 1000 high school athletes die from this each year.
My next question was is there anything that we can do to prevent this from happening again? I found that you can use something called an electrocardiograms that is used to pick up irregular heart rhythms. The only problem is that they are very costly and not always the most accurate. They don't always pick up all the defects within the heart. Also, do we really want to be scaring our kids about a condition that is so uncommon?
His visitation was held today and over 1,400 people attended. Even 12 teams from within their conference showed up to pay their respects. After a long weekend of mourning, the Flennville basketball team decided that they would still participate in the start of the playoffs on Monday in honor of Wes. The game is going to be held at Hope College, because of the large expected attendance.
I was shocked when I heard this and extremely curious to find out what caused this 16 year old to die unexpectedly and so quickly without warning. The next day an autopsy report came back stating that he had gone into cardiac arrest from an undiagnosed enlarged heart. I began to do research and found that there are rarely any symptoms at first, but you may begin to feel tired or out of breathe which is typical for anyone who just got done playing a two hour basketball game. This makes it very hard to detect. Only 1 in every 1000 high school athletes die from this each year.
My next question was is there anything that we can do to prevent this from happening again? I found that you can use something called an electrocardiograms that is used to pick up irregular heart rhythms. The only problem is that they are very costly and not always the most accurate. They don't always pick up all the defects within the heart. Also, do we really want to be scaring our kids about a condition that is so uncommon?
His visitation was held today and over 1,400 people attended. Even 12 teams from within their conference showed up to pay their respects. After a long weekend of mourning, the Flennville basketball team decided that they would still participate in the start of the playoffs on Monday in honor of Wes. The game is going to be held at Hope College, because of the large expected attendance.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
My boyfriend started a friendship with a classmate at UW-Manitowoc nearly six years ago. The two have played on the same softball team every summer since. However, as quickly as they were able to build their friendship over a game of softball, the frienship fell apart just as fast over Scott Walker's budget fix bill.
My boyfriend has been known to voice his opinion too much in the past, but this time he quietly stood in Walker's corner while the protestors filled the airwaves with their strong opinions. One of those people was his friend. Without my boyfriend even speaking to his friend, he got a message saying "Dude, you and I are done. I will no longer consider you my friend." This was all because he clicked that he liked Scott Walker on facebook. Seems childish, but I guess politics can bring out a side of people that you never knew existed. I feel that just because someone has a different opinion in politics doesn't mean that we shouldn't be able to civily discuss our different opinions.
I encourage you to write a comment on my blog whether you agree or disagree. I feel it is your right to have an opinion, and that opinion would not change how I feel about you as a classsmate or friend.
My boyfriend has been known to voice his opinion too much in the past, but this time he quietly stood in Walker's corner while the protestors filled the airwaves with their strong opinions. One of those people was his friend. Without my boyfriend even speaking to his friend, he got a message saying "Dude, you and I are done. I will no longer consider you my friend." This was all because he clicked that he liked Scott Walker on facebook. Seems childish, but I guess politics can bring out a side of people that you never knew existed. I feel that just because someone has a different opinion in politics doesn't mean that we shouldn't be able to civily discuss our different opinions.
I encourage you to write a comment on my blog whether you agree or disagree. I feel it is your right to have an opinion, and that opinion would not change how I feel about you as a classsmate or friend.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Never Say Never
Over the weekend I went to the movie Never Say Never, which was an inside look of Justin Bieber's life. If you don't already know Justin Bieber is an extremely popular singer who is only 16 years old. To tell you the truth I wasn't really looking foward to going, but after a lot of convincing by my 16 year old sister, I finally gave in.
As I walked in, I was hoping no one I knew was there, because I was a little embaressed to be at this "kid movie". Of course right behind me was someone I knew from school. I couldn't believe how packed the theatre was, and it wasn't just a bunch of little girls, it was people of all ages. I was completely shocked.
All of a sudden shrieking came from five six year olds in the first row of the theatre. I thought that maybe their was a bat or a mouse, but no, they were screaming because Justin Bieber appeared on the screen.
As I began to watch the movie, I became pleasently supprised. It was an uplifiting story about a boy who came from nothing, and worked really hard to become famous by doing what he loved. I felt it was a good message to send kids, that if you really want to do something you can, as long as you work really hard at it.
He is definately sending a better message than Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton, who are in and out of jail.
So I guess this weekend I learned that even a teenage pop star can teach you a thing or two. :)
As I walked in, I was hoping no one I knew was there, because I was a little embaressed to be at this "kid movie". Of course right behind me was someone I knew from school. I couldn't believe how packed the theatre was, and it wasn't just a bunch of little girls, it was people of all ages. I was completely shocked.
All of a sudden shrieking came from five six year olds in the first row of the theatre. I thought that maybe their was a bat or a mouse, but no, they were screaming because Justin Bieber appeared on the screen.
As I began to watch the movie, I became pleasently supprised. It was an uplifiting story about a boy who came from nothing, and worked really hard to become famous by doing what he loved. I felt it was a good message to send kids, that if you really want to do something you can, as long as you work really hard at it.
He is definately sending a better message than Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton, who are in and out of jail.
So I guess this weekend I learned that even a teenage pop star can teach you a thing or two. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)