1. I have eaten at McDonalds in 9 countries. I hope to make it an even 10 this coming summer.
2. Last summer over the course of 10 days I traveled through Germany by plane, by train, by bus, by tram, by car, by motorcycle, by bicycle, and by moped...I think I'm only missing a boat ride.
3. When I was in elementary school and jr. high I was absolutely obsessed with the spelling bee. When I was in sixth grade I missed the word "piccolo" in the school spelling bee (how embarrassing, right?--I spelled it "piccollo") and was awarded 4th place. The top three got to go to the county bee and I was extremely outraged because the girl to whom they awarded third place misspelled her word in the same round that I did, but had drawn a later number so she got out "after me". According to the official rules,however, when this happens the two spellers are actually declared to have a "tie" and a spell-off is supposed to occur, in this case to determine who would win third place. There was no spell-off. Immediately after the bee I went directly to the principal, found the rule in the rulebook that specifically stated there should have been a spell-off and DEMANDED that they follow the rules. He pretended that I was misinterpreting the rulebook and didn't do anything about it. I went home and cried for hours. No joke. I'm still a little bitter, if you can't tell... The next year I did better--3rd place in the county bee. I misspelled "abdicate." (I spelled it "abdocate.") That was a long entry for number 3, so moving on...
4. In rereading this note I found that I skipped #4...I haven't grown an inch since I was 15 years old.
5. I love the Russian language and still study it on my own every day. This week's vocab list includes "aardvark", "acorn", and "acupuncture."
6. I have never lived in the same place for more than 5 years.
7. I am the only one of my grandfather's natural grandchildren that is not a twin.
8. The most gratifying and beneficial part of my undergrad experience was my employment at my school's music library.
9.I took my first steps in a library. Now I work in one.
10. Iowa is probably my favorite place I have lived in the US. No joke. Even though everything that could possibly have gone wrong since I moved here has gone wrong, I absolutely love living here. It will be hard to leave.
11. I have been to 13 foreign countries, but never to Canada.
12. I shared a bedroom in a hostel with two girls from Denmark and a girl from Montreal for two nights last summer. They were all taller than me.
13. When I was in elementary school I was obsessed with the Chronicles of Narnia. I would watch the BBC live-action film version of the books with the neighbor kids constantly. We knew them so well that we would act them out verbatim beginning-to-end in our yards.
14. My feelings concerning the last year of my undergrad and the following months can best be summed up by the first three tracks on the Dixie Chicks album "Taking the Long Way." I think Natalie Maines and I would be friends.
15. Over the course of this decade I have only been in the USA for the 4th of July four times.
16. I was always the youngest kid in my class until I got to the 10th grade.
17. I spent over eight hours on a train last summer sitting next to a drunk Russian who accused me of being an American spy. (This accusation came after he thought for the first four hours of the train ride that I was from Latvia.) His logic for determining that I was a spy was based on the fact that I spoke Russian and don't drink alcohol.
18. When I was in kindergarten I was reading at the 3rd-grade level but my teacher wanted to hold me back because I had "trouble using scissors." Thank you South Dakota education system. (In the end, I still went on to the first grade.)
19. When I was in eastern Germany and in Russia last summer I pondered a lot about the fact that 20 years ago our countries were bitter enemies yet here I was hanging out and living among my German and Russian friends. I thought a lot during this time about our grandfathers, who all probably fought against each other during World War II. I am sure that they (our grandfathers) would have been very proud to see their grandchildren two generations later together as friends. That experience made me feel very close to my grandfather who fought in the war but died before I was born.
20. I don't have a problem eating a slab of solid pig fat (it's a delicacy in Russia) but I think that drinking milk straight out of a glass is DISGUSTING.
21. The longest I have gone without a haircut is eleven months.
22. I have an amazingly insightful, funny, and poignant blog. Read it! (heintz57.blogspot.com) :)
23. i drive a 1990 Buick Park Avenue. I call it the Albino Rhino.
24. I have stuck my feet in the Mediterranean from both the European and African sides.
25. Despite the reassuring efforts of many, I still feel that I have not accomplished anything of real value with my life. This pains me sometimes.
3 comments:
very interesting, friendy
I laugh that you are obsessed with spelling bees. I think that you should sue for emotional damage! lol I have to say, however, that most people are incapable of spelling simple words like spaghetti so take heart in the fact that you are talented. (Also now that I know that are... do you know how insecure I am feeling about all of the words I am trying to spell on here. I had to delete my comment and spell a few words correctly. lol)
I am also very proud of your kindergarten teacher for noticing that you were so far being in you scissor wielding abilities. I mean when have I EVER had a job interview where I did NOT have to demonstrate my capabilities of using scissors.
Finally I agree with the Russian guy. I think you are a spy and you need to be stopped. I mean what kids of American speaks Russian and doesn't drink. Yep. Spy!
Very Funny!
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