in which it is continued

Probably the most exciting thing that happened this year was a huge surprise, courtesy of the University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt. Scav Hunt! It's rather a long story, but let me attempt to explain this phenomenon. The Scavenger Hunt is a UofC tradition, in which most of the campus goes temporarily insane for one weekend, and the rest is made miserable by the insanity. The Chicago Tribune has this to say about it, and a little closer to home, the Chicago Maroon (the university paper). It is described as the largest scavenger hunt in the world, and comprises some hundreds of items to be found, begged, borrowed, built, or performed. In addition there is a road trip, and this year they added things like Project (scavvie) Runway, and Top Scav Chef. More importantly (as far as I am concerned), this year they added the Scavven Warriors. That would be one member from each team who, among other things, could recite the alphabet backwards, swim 200 meters without stopping, pitch a tent, navigate the transportation systems of three major US cities, have a basic knowledge of the weather patterns of the continental US, and have seen several specific movies. Further requirements included a passport, and being over the age of 21. Except for the movies and the alphabet, I fulfilled all of the requirements, and knew I could learn the alphabet backwards and watch 10 or so movies in the weeks before Scav Hunt. Also, I had no midterms due around that time, and my UT show wasn't going up until two weeks later. Thus, with great apprehension, I agreed to be Broadview's Scavven Warrior. At this point, we still did not know what we would be doing. We only knew we would be gone (for all intents and purposes) for the entirety of Scav. The great day of list release approached, and still, I had no idea what was about to happen. We were told to pack a small bag with *everything* we would need for three days, and deliver it at 10pm on Wednesday night to the judges. When I delivered my bag, I had kept out things like my cell phone, ipod, extra pair of jeans (which I had planned on wearing), shoes, toothbrush... things which I was expecting to need that night. Just goes to show, always do *exactly* what the judges tell you! They told me to put my phone in, as I wouldn't be needing an alarm clock, but gave me no other information, so I went back to my room to try to focus on a few last bits of homework. List release was at midnight, but in keeping with tradition, the list had to be found, or won, not picked up, so it wasn't until 1am, after an hour of fruitless attempts at sleep, that I heard the list party returning. At last, you may be thinking, she will find out how she will be spending the weekend! But no! Item 20 of the list merely had this to say:
"Have your pre-selected Scav Warrior outside the Reynolds Club at 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning. They must be alone and they may not have any extraneous packages, bags or accessories. And, since it will be late into the evening, the attire for this event is evening-wear. Evening-wear with a bathing suit underneath."
There went my plan to have an extra pair of jeans. Good thing I'd packed one. Also, no toothbrush or ipod for me. And since I'd already packed my swimsuit, I had to borrow one, as well as a dress. Also, unless I wanted to spend the weekend in heels, I would have to wear normal shoes with said dress. I spent most of the remaining two hours finding these things, and then *tried* (and failed miserably) to sleep again. And thus, 3:30 am on a chilly Thursday found me standing outside the student activities center, in a ball gown over a swimsuit. We were met by several judges, gratefully reunited with our bags, fed jello, blindfolded and bundled into cars. Yup, you read that correctly. Our driver talked a lot about woods and camping, and said it was a long drive, which disappointed me, because there isn't that much terrifically exciting camping within reasonable driving distance of Chicago, at least not worth that build up. However, when we stopped, and were instructed to take our blindfolds off, we were at Midway airport, and the judges were handing us our itineraries to Las Vegas. seriously. I was boggled. We had to wait for security to open, we were so early, and people kept asking if we were a wedding party (9 people in tuxes and nice dresses in an airport...). We were met at the Las Vegas airport by a limousine, which took us to the Stratosphere, where we were staying. The flight, hotel, and limo were courtesy of Scav!
So, that is why, sixth week of Spring quarter, I was basking in the bright sun of Las Vegas, rather than racing around stressed to the max under Chicago's cold, unfriendly skies. Don't get me wrong, usually I prefer the midwest, but it was a cold spring. We had a list much like the road trip's, finding interesting places and people, rather than objects like the regular list. Here are my photos, and here and here. This was a truly surreal trip, with no foreknowledge at all. There was also a very low level of sleep happening, which probably didn't help the surreality. Anyways, there are way too many stories to tell, like swimming with sharks, and trying to enter last minute into an international swimsuit competition, or pretending to get married (twice!). We gambled, walked the entirety of the strip, got kissed by showgirls, and talked to a lot of people. Ask me about it sometime, if you want your ear talked off. :)
Now we're basically caught up to the present. This summer has been less than ideal, as it has taken me more than a month to find a job. However, after thirty some applications to various places, Kang's Korean Restaurant on S. University has hired me, practically on sight. Go figure. Hopefully that will continue to work out. The other less pleasant news of the summer is that I have had two eye operations, one unsuccessful, in an attempt to treat my dry eye, before I go blind. So, no pressure, right? They started by plugging my tear ducts, but the plugs touched my eyes, so I had to have them taken out the same day. Then they tried temporary plugs which could go in all the way, as they would dissolve. This was to find out if plugs would work out at all, and if it was worth pursuing that. Turns out it didn't really help, so now we're trying steroids. That's right folks, my eyes can't enter the Tour de France anymore. Aw, shucks, there goes a life dream... ;) On the up side, having the plugs not work means that they won't try another method of blocking the tear ducts, that is, cauterizing them shut. I wasn't too much of a fan of that one. So, we'll see what happens. The likelihood of my going blind seems pretty low, as there seem to be a lot of different treatments, and I get to try all of them, before I will go blind. Regardless, I'm not really supposed to wear contacts ever again, except maybe for a few hours at a time.
On a happier note, I have finally begun to take riding lessons on a regular basis. I found out a year and a half ago, while visiting and riding with Kate, that I have a bit of a knack for jumping horses. I rode again with Kate last December, but was only able to set up lessons here this summer. I'm loving it, and if I could afford it, would ride every day, all the time.
Other things this summer were a lovely family reunion with the Strothman (my maternal grandmother's) family. Very interesting, and I finally learned a little more about the woman who originally wore my heirloom ring (she was my great great grandmother). Later in the summer, my close family will be going back to Georgian Bay to sail.
The other exciting news is that I will be studying abroad at King's College London this year. I am currently fighting the visa application process, which is a little discouraging, but otherwise am really excited. I will be living in a small dorm on the grounds of Lambeth Palace (sooooo coool!), and my classes are on the Strand. Words cannot contain my happiness about all this. I will be taking really cool classes, including one on performance of Shakespeare, which will be in collaboration with professionals from the Globe theater and will culminate in a small production. You have my permission to be jealous now. :)
And that's just about all my news for the present. Of course there are a lot of details I'm leaving out for the sake of brevity, so please ask if you want the whole story. I will try to keep this updated on a somewhat regular basis in the future, and then posts can be of a more reasonable length.
Sorry about all the hyperlinks, but I wanted you all to have access to my photos, without having to repost them.