Back From the World of Russian

So, now that I'm allowed to speak English again, I figured it was time for a summer update.

Russian School was excellent, it was literally summer camp/school/partying in Russian 24/7. I hardly slept, but mostly because in addition to classes I sang/danced/played instruments in the choir, played soccer on the Russian school team, DJed two radio shows, and saw several films and lectures. Here is what I look like in traditional Cossack dress playing the drova (literally means firewood):

I also played the block (kindergarten all over again) and learned a few traditional Cossack dances.

Playing soccer was another major highlight of Russian school and made me seriously question why I ever started swimming in the first place. For those of you who know soccer strategy, I played stopper. Even though we only played together for 9 weeks, by the end of the season we really started playing like a team and had thoroughly mastered cursing at the other teams in Russian.

DJing radio shows gave me the opportunity to find and seriously listen to Russian music, and I have decided that Russian pop is unquestionably better than American pop. A few examples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mACqXv0cWU8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFl7D1RqHeM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YqUhE9JZ3c&feature=related

I also discovered two fantastic Russian rock bands: Kino and Mashina Vremeni (Time Machine). Kino's lead singer is Viktor Tsoi, who is pretty much the Russian version of Jim Morrison, both in style and in following.

Perhaps the best part of Russian School were the people I met and the connections I was able to make. There are 3 Russian majors at Carleton. There were 140 people at Middlebury. Being surrounded by students with very similar interests was intellectually exhilarating and I loved every minute of it. In addition to other Russian/IR double majors, I met diplomats, businessmen, and FBI agents. I can honestly say that I spent most weekends at Middlebury drinking with FBI agents.

Middlebury also made me very thankful of my decision to go to Carleton: there isn't another Russian program in the US that is as well-rounded as the Carleton program. I often talked with students who were at Middlebury to receive their Master's, and found that in most cases I knew more about Russian lit/history/art than they did. I also learned that there isn't another Russian study abroad program in the US that travels as broadly as the Carleton program, or studies at a university as prestigious as Moscow State. I'm consistently surprised by Carleton, and this summer took my pride in Carleton to another level.

In the end, my Russian improved drastically at Middlebury. I am a fluent reader, my listening comprehension is between advanced and superior, and my speaking is on a grad student level. At the end of spring, I was deciding between accepting an internship teaching English in Russia and Middlebury, and I absolutely made the right decision in going to Middlebury.

After Middlebury, Anna Gallagher picked me up and I spent 2 nights at her house in Burlington. If you haven't been to Burlington, check it out if you're on the East coast. It's small but very cultured, I thought Church Street was a great little pedestrian road. We got to hear a MGMT concert while we were there, they pretty much sounded the same as they do on their albums. Anna left to see Louise in Boston on the second day (after a 20 mile bike ride, which was great), and I spent the rest of my time hanging out with her parents, who are some of the nicest people ever ever. Case in point: Anna's mom baked me a loaf of banana bread to take with me on the train.

Amtrak was a new experience for me. I arrived in DC early, which I didn't expect. The train wasn't even half full, it took 13 hours to get from Burlington to DC, but all in all it wasn't half bad.

In DC, I stayed with a friend from high school, Ashley, and we went to the Modern Art, Natural History, and American Art museums, as well as Arlington. I was fascinated by one work in particular at the Modern Art Museum: "The Day I Didn't Turn With the World" by Guido van der Werve. Essentially, it's a work of timelapse photography that is 8 minutes long. The artist stood on the geographic north pole for 24 hours, slowly turning in the opposite direction of the Earth. The camera stood still, and one can see the sun going in a circle around the artist. There's also a great Norman Rockwell exhibit at the American Art Museum.

I got back to Wichita yesterday, and I really have my work cut out for me this summer. First, I have a Fulbright proposal due on the first day of classes, and I have a good idea of my project but I need to write it out and get a letter of affiliation from Buryatia State University in the middle of Siberia. I also have my Russian comps test in the 3rd week of fall term, so I need to be prepped for that. That's a 6 hour long written exam on Russian history/art/lit and how they're all interconnected. I'm excited.

I had the Middlebury Radio Station music library open to my disposal this summer, so I've found some awesome new music. The three major standouts:

Charles Hamilton - Sonic the Hamilton

Sonic the Hamilton may be the best hip-hop concept album of all-time. It is told from the perspective of Charles "Sonic the" Hamilton, who after waking up finds that he is stuck within the Sega Genesis game Sonic the Hedgehog and has to play through it to get out. The sampling is top notch and the lyrics are much deeper than just following video games. Highly recommended.

The Glitch Mob - Drink the Sea

This is one of the most interesting electronic albums that I've heard in awhile. I think I can best describe it as: epic. The beats generally take the form of war drums, the bass is always rumbling in the background, and the melodies intertwine well with the beat. Very much a head-nodding album, but much more sophisticated than Deadmau5 or other house DJs.

Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia

Think David Bowie vocals, Beatles/Beach Boys harmonies, and highly brushed 80's synth pop, and you'll have an idea of what the Midnight Juggernauts sound like. This album is not always the most complicated or dynamic, but every song is solid, well-produced, and well-constructed.

For you guys who obsessed over The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time like I did, I present you with The Ocarina of Rhyme. And if you like Explosions in the Sky, check out Four Tet.

Well, I have a lot more music that I found, but I don't want to take up any more of your time. I hope I see you all at the alum meet, or sometime in the near future!

Long Time No Blog

So I’m finally back from spending another in the woods. A great time to be sure, but it was more exhausting then it ever had been before. My position was the Teen Director, so I developed and implemented the three Teen Programs we have at camp, and then when not leading those programs, I oversaw the counseling staff and helped the other support staff members run the camp. I don’t know about whether I’ll return or in what capacity. The executive director hinted that as the camp buys more property and expands that he may want me part of that process. But who knows. All I know is that I feel like I’ve been working at 90mph since spring break and so I am excited to just chillax for a month before school revs up again.

I had originally thought that this month was going to be full of absolutely nothing, but things have of course come up. I had toyed with the idea of heading out East to see Elliot, Annie and my sister, but too much is going on. For one thing, my dad is trying to move, which means my room at his place needs to be packed up to look presentable for prospective buyers. That blows. This coming weekend is also when all my OP friends head back to their respective colleges, so we all getting reckless this week. Typical college drankin stuff. Also, Alfreddy and I are gonna meet up and chill too.

I also joined a last minute trip to West Virginia to go white water rafting. This group of friends of mine said that one of their crew dropped out and asked if I wanted to go. The drive, food, gas and the rafting will all only cost like $180, so I said what the hell – once in a lifetime opportunity. So I’ll be doing that Aug 24th – 26th. Toto, I don’t know if it’s the same place as you went. I then have a family reunion on my Dad’s side of the family during Labor Day weekend.

I head up to my house to move in and chill before classes start on the 1st as well.
Have I talked about my house? I feel like not really. Well here are the details:
I am living with Pete, Eric B, Louise and Erin H. A house full of swimmers and divers. It’s a nice house, but the seniors who left it after their lease ended in June left it in shambles. The Cormier Family to the rescue! Last week, Pete, Grace and their mom went up to the house and scrubbed the carpets, cleaned the bathrooms thoroughly and brought some nice furniture up. I think its going to look great. We’re pumped because we have a nice side yard, an awesome garage and this bitchin front room. BBQs, parties and good times are bound to be aplenty. Obviously guests are welcome, so stop on by for a weekend or whenever.

I’m starting to think about Jobs after school. I’m also toying with the idea of graduating early and pulling a Karin Brown and just doing whatever the hell I want during spring term. It would sav my parents and myself a big chunk of change and maybe they’d be willing to still pay my rent. If I did that I think I would spend my time traveling and visiting friends, while also spending the big weekends (progressive, oleball, spring concert, rotblatt) at Carleton. When I was in Northfield, I’d study for the GRE since eventually I’ll head to grad school for teaching.

BUT SPRING TERM IS A LONG WAY AWAY!
Gonna just enjoy what I have left of the summertime chi.

MOLSON OUT.

Boys Night Out

Awesome Video.

Life Update, and Stoking the Flames of the Brocation

Hello friends. Time for Tim's life update. I forgot where I left you all last. Anyway, I quit my job at the place named after Mark, and moved to another agency that shares the name of the current host of Late Night on NBC. This place is a step up in every way and I'm very happy with what I'm doing. I'm not using names because I feel weird commenting on my job on the internet, but nonetheless I want you all to know what I'm doing.

The client I am working on is a resurging American luxury car brand that currently produces the fastest (production) sedan in the world. Yes, you bitches will try to tell me that the M3, M5, and E65 AMG are all faster (and I would venture to say the same), but the numbers don't lie. We recently started with this brand, and it's going to be crazy, but really really fun. Advertising agencies are very interesting places. The people are smart, they are convinced they can do ANYTHING creatively, and they love pressure. It's a fun environment to work in. The job I am doing is "account management". I am an "account manager". This means that instead of playing with Excel all day (my old job), I talk to the client on the phone, meet them, find out what they want, tell everyone else at my company, and then work to make sure it all gets done. It's involved a few late nights so far, a few mistakes, but a whole lot of interesting/fun experiences. Account management is also cool because I get to touch everything (not physically). I see production, I see concepting, I see finance, I see the client. Despite the fact that it's the "business side of things", I still get a chance to be creative at time. I'm convinced it's a great job for someone with a liberal arts background.

Work has been much of my life, with the balance being taken up by playing men's league soccer, hanging out with the lady, sleep, eating, etc. Viv has an internship in Minneapolis this summer so we snagged a sweet loft to live in. It's been great - obviously there have been the ups and downs (as expected), but I've really enjoyed it. Living with a girl isn't all that bad, but I hate having to put the toilet seat down. Next weekend, I'm headed to my family's cabin for a week-long respite from work and the city life.

After that, it will be close to the end of August, we will move out of our place. I will then move back to Uptown to live with Joel Winer, Lena Tjosvold, and Laura Myers.

BROCATION: what is the deal? WE MUST DECIDE. The next time we will all see each other is homecoming/alumni weekend. So at worst case, let's make a plan then whilst we drink aplenty.

peace outs, cub scouts.

hey doodz, summer update

Similarly to a few other Stadium members, I’ve spent my summer starting up with a real, honest-to-goodness research project. At the moment, my main task is helping gear up for a test in early August of a system that uses a laser frequency comb to calibrate an infrared spectrograph. This will (hopefully) enable us/someone to build a spectrograph that can detect sub-m/s radial velocity shifts (from an Earth-sized planet) in M-dwarfs (the most common type of star, they are cool and small). I’m pretty excited about the synthesis of a laser physics project and a planet hunting project that I’m getting into, and spending a few weeks in August at the Hobby-Eberly telescope in Texas will be fun. I’ve also been enjoying the vastly increased amount of free time I’ve been having this summer. “Vast” because any free time is like an infinityfold increase over zero.

So I’ve gotten to spend plenty of time outside the astronomy building lately, and I’ve done some pretty neat stuff. First and foremost, I accompanied Scuba Girl on a trip to Ireland a few weeks ago, and it was awesome. It was only rainy/cloudy for two of the eight days we were there, and it was like the Irish didn’t know what to do. Many had old “summer” clothes that looked like they were from the 90’s, and the majority of them were suffering from varying degrees of sunburn. But they were quite happy, and everyone we met was very friendly.

So we drove around, mainly around the western coast. We hiked around the Ring of Kerry region (beautiful, but not how you would imagine Ireland), visited Galway (a cooler city than Dublin, in my opinion), saw the Hill of Tara (with the oldest man-made thing I will probably ever see: the 5000 year-old Mound of Hostages), visited the Guinness brewery (overdone, but the gravity bar at the top gives free Guinness pints and has a gorgeous 360degree view of Dublin), and ate/drank in plenty of good pubs with good music. The coolest part, for me, was being in a place that has more than 300ish years of history. And it was hard to forget that history, as you could hardly throw a rock without hitting some ancient church/castle/monastery.






After I’ve got back from that, I started research in earnest. Of note recently: last week the astro department here held their annual “Astro Fest,” concurrently with the gigantic Central PA Arts Festival. We had about 1600 people go through, playing with the telescopes, going to presentations, and doing the kids activities. It was a really fun outreach event, and it was really fun for me to talk to kids (and adults) who have self-selected to come learn/talk about astronomy. A very different tone of conversation than you get used to, talking to only astronomers and people taking astro classes. Also, I got to make a giant tub of oobleck (corn starch + water), which was amazingly entertaining. If you’ve never played with this stuff before, I strongly recommend it. If you can build a big enough tub to walk on, let me know and I’m flying out to play with it.

I also went whitewater rafting for the first time (Ohiopyle Park), where I got to be the “captain” of my raft and miraculously no one died. One of my friends got launched off on the first rapid, but we hauled him back on, and after that we were good.

Finally, this past Sunday, two friends and I impulsively decided it would be a good idea to participate in a biathlon. We paid $20, drove down to the Altoona Pistol/Rifle Club, and ran a 5k with two stops for target shooting. I can hardly run without falling over, and I certainly can’t shoot, but it was a blast. My final time was something like 26:48, and I hit 3/5 targets prone and 2/5 standing. As you might imagine, it’s not easy to aim properly when you’re breathing hard. The top guy had about a 19:50, which I can’t even comprehend. That’s amazing for running alone, let alone the facts that it was a difficult course and there were stops for shooting. Obviously, he hit all his targets and didn’t have to run any penalty loops.

Ok that’s enough from me. I’m off. I hope everyone is having a great summer.
One more thing actually: we swam masters with a guy that was 50 yesterday, and he kicked all of our asses. For example, I was doing about 1:20-1:25 100m frees, and he was wasting me. Holy shit I hope I’ll have that kind of speed when I get old.

So I just recently returned from the motherland, which I call Mexico. My brother and I decided to drive down taking a total of 36 hours and according to Google.com 2030 miles. This was way too much time to spend in a car. I hadn’t visited Mexico in 2 years and with the drug wars and kidnappings that have started in the last few years the trip was a little tense for me when I crossed the border in Mexico. Also driving in Mexico makes you appreciate the roads and driving in the United States since double semi trucks drive at about 70 mph and have no disregard for other vehicles on the road. Anyway, it’s a little sad to see that the drug cartels have begun to infiltrate my parent’s hometown and violence has slowly begun. In the last few months there’s been two shootings and this one guy was brutally beaten and tortured and executed in the town. Like I said this trip was a bit tense, but I was assured that I would be safe as long as I didn’t go looking for trouble. So I usually kept my distance and actually had a lot of fun during my short stay.

For starters, the day I arrived there was a huge party. This party was a bit special because it was essentially my cousin’s prom. However proms in Mexico or at least this one was a bit different from the ones we’re used to. This prom was not necessarily a party for the graduates as much as it was a party for everyone in town. Also since my cousin pretty much organized the party he sat us down at a table right next to the band and set up two bottle of tequila on our table, which later multiplied to 5. Needless to say we were pretty drunk and we had to wake up the next morning at 9:00am to vaccinate the cattle on our ranch. It was quite an interesting day especially since the sun was also blistering hot.

As far as parties went that was pretty much the craziest it got while I was there. However, I am sure my liver is glad to be home since on average I think I consumed at least 2 beers or 1 drink a day. My excuse, I was just partaking in the culture of Mexico but it seems like Mexicans just really don’t stop drinking sometimes. They even wake up to it sometimes. My brother was really excited about drinking this drink that is pretty common with people who work on ranches and farms. The way the drink, known as a pajarete (pah-jareteh) is set up is you take chocolate powder and sugar in a cup you pour some alcohol that makes everclear look like water and then you add freshly milked milk. And I mean fresh the milk goes straight from the cow to your cup. I was a bit skeptical at first, but it was actually quite tasty and I also didn’t get sick, which often occurs to people who don’t regularly drink fresh milk of this sort. With this drink I also got my first crack at milking a cow. This task is a lot more difficult than it seems but I did get some milk out. However, the cow did not like my milking and almost knocked out my teeth. Luckily her back feet were tied up.

While in Mexico I also got a chance to try Mexican moonshine raicilla. It is no wonder some of this stuff is illegal since I’m sure I could have run my car on it, but when it was mixed with something it wasn’t too bad.

Aside from drinking I did some things that I thought were pretty cool. I taught myself how to drive stick. I drove a truck that was stick for the first time and only staled once which is cool considering that the road was windy with many ups and downs and was significantly bumpy. I also fired a firearm for the first time. That’s what happens when rival drug cartels come onto our turf, no I’m just kidding. The person who takes care of our ranch when we’re not there loves to go hunting and has quite a few rifles and guns. So one day when we were out working he brought out his rifle and asked if we wanted to shot some cans. For being my first time I was pretty good I managed to hit 2 can on three shoots and the cans were about 50 meters away. The next time I was not so good though. This guy brought out his favorite rifle, which is a 243 and has a scope on the top. After the last time I was feeling pretty confident about my shot but the last rifle didn’t have a scope and it didn’t have as much of a kickback. Well anyway we put the target much farther about 150-200 meters away. I set up to shoot and when I fired I realized I had setup with my face way too close to the scope and the kickback from the rifle caused the scope to split part of my eyebrow. Luckily it didn’t split deep enough to require stitches but it still bled a bit. I didn’t give up though; I went up again this time with my face farther away from the scope and managed to hit the target. Take that scope.

Well I hope all of you are enjoying your summers and I will post more of my adventures as the summer goes on.

Alfredy out.

You Just Got Nonberged

It finally happened; my name has been turned into a verb.

So as many of you know, virtually no one on the planet calls me by my first name (David, wait are you serious that is your name?). Yes, I know its strange, but since I got to college I have been known to most as Nonberg. The same continues to hold true in my graduate student years.

Nonberged (verb) Non-berg-ed From the latin Norburgium meaning to or as related to Nonberg.
To be Nonberged is to be put in an awkward situation by David Nonberg. Even though his intentions are good, when one is Nonberged, they often find themselves either not hooking up with a girl they wanted to, or placed in an uncomfortable situation.

Well there you go.

As far as other things go. I am going to be making a documentary in Uganda this summer and would love your input on the other documentary I have done (see facebook profile). Please let me know your thoughts. I am sorry I have not updated you all on what has been happening with me, but here is a short list of things that has been going on in my life.

Named Assistant Coach of Chapman's Swim Program (Go Panthers!)
I have been dating someone for 7 months.
Got accepted into a scholarship program (Uganda Documentary)
Filmed a Documentary while Hiking to Machu Picchu
I am currently interning at Fox Sports
I am set to Produce a Sports Show for Chapman's Athletic Dept (Similar to what I did at Carleton)
That's pretty much about it. Working hard and still Nonberging people as I go.

Miss you guys,
The Giver

P.S. If you like Eminem his new album is really good

Смешной Русский Фильм

Неделя назад мы посмотрели фильм "Особенности национальной охоты," очень популярный русский фильм. Если вам скучно летом, я советую вам смотреть фильм. Это похоже, по-моему, на канадском юморе, примерно "Красный зелёный шоу." Ссылка на фильм здесь: http://www.lovi.tv/video/play.php?Code=zcksubasdr

EARTHQUAKE!

Between game-winning goals in stoppage time and my building shaking I've gotten hardly a lick of work done today. And so I thought I'd come on here to waste some more time and tell ya'll about it.

The entire summer I spent at Stanford and the other various times I visited California I kept hoping to feel an earthquake (not a big one obviously--that would be scary--but a small one to see what it's like). Today I can finally cross that one of the list of random geological events that I've experienced in my life. But surprisingly, it happened in Rochester, NY, not in California.

The quake was 5.5 magnitude, centered just north of Ontario, Canada. This is probably not all that exciting to our Californian readers, but it was pretty exciting for me. I was on the 4th floor of our building, and I could see and feel the entire building shaking for a few seconds. After the quake I trekked over to the Geology building on campus and got a shot of the seismograph there.




Apparently there are some fault lines along lake Erie and Ontario, and earthquakes like this happen every couple decades. Learn something new every day.



Anyway, I should try to get something done now. Right now its looking like the Krauts in the next round. U.S.A! U.S.A!

The Next Step In Life

So if you haven’t heard yet I recently graduated from our very own Carleton College. I took the next step in my life and entered the real world. So what did I learn…well that I can get a chemistry degree without really knowing much about chemistry and a bunch of other stuff that I’m not sure if I’ll use again. As cliché as it might seem what I enjoyed the best were my memories and my accomplishments. So what were my accomplishments while at Carleton. Well here is a list no particular order.

Joined a Varsity Sport

Went tubing in the Cannon River

Roomed with a Jew

Roomed in Stadium

Became a Captain

Played an Instrument

Made a best friend

Got drunk before 9:00am

Got drunk before 6:00am

Peed on a couch

Stole a newspaper sign

Stole a street sign

Went abroad

Wrote a paper while drunk

Tasted the rainbow

Met First Mate Charlie

Worked reunion

Those are among a few that I can think of right now. I have also come to realize as I am sure most of you have that there are only two remaining stadium residents. Mark Olson and Bkay are going to have to hold it down next year. This also means that we should start organizing our stadium reunion brocation. I really don’t care where we go as long as it’s with you guys.

The big question: In the last few months someone has asked what I am doing after Carleton more times than I wish to remember. Instead of having all you ask me I figured I’d let you all know my plans for this summer and the year to follow. I actually leave this Thursday for Mexico to visit my ranch and actually do some ranching. I’ll be there for two weeks which means I’ll get to celebrate Mexican 4^th of July while there. After I come back I will probably hang out here at home and maybe do some volunteer work for a month. Then I’m going back to Northfield at the end of August to potentially hang out with the 6^th and College house. This depends on when Mark Olson heads back as well. If anything I’ll head back to see my lady friend and then we’re taking a trip to South Dakota to visit Badlands National Park. I’m sorry I’m just not as cool as Toto who took his lady friend to Ireland, but it should still be nice. Then I actually start life. I just got hired by an Alumn named Dave Halman. I will be managing a bookstore called The Spitting Llama for him in La Paz, Bolivia. I will be doing this for 6 months to a year. Since I’m not getting paid much and tickets are expensive as hell I will not be back in the U.S. until I’m done with my job. I will keep everyone posted with my experience in Bolivia and throughout the summer, but hopefully I will get to see all of you before I leave.