Duke Weeks 4-6 and Baltimore Trip

Well since my Swiss flatmate (otherwise known as Pascal) bugged me all week to update my blog I thought I would since im staying in tonight and just chilling...

In terms of what has been going on on campus here at Duke well I went to the Duke v Florida State game (see previous blog entry) and also it was announced that Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab for Cutie are coming to play on campus, and for students its only $25 so me and a bunch of friends are going!!! I also witnessed something really special on Tuesday night (Feb 14) - J.J. Redick who is a play for Duke now holds the NCAA Record for the most 3-pt shots made in a college career, and I was at the game to see it, it definatly was a special moment and I'm glad I skipped class to wait in line for 5 hours to get into the game (this time I was #3 in the walk up line ;-)) - now mum, don't kill me, but I am probably going to camp out, for a night or two, to get into the UNC game as this is the biggest rivalry in American College Sports, and to see it would definalty be a night I would never forget!!!

I have also attended the Duke tennis matches, and these guys really are good, and I will definatly be going to more. Also the Baseball and Lacrosse seasons are starting up so I will definatly be going to those matches as well!!!

Back to the Duke v UNC rivalry for a minute, the other week (Feb 7th) I went out to a friend's place to watch the Duke v UNC game that was being played at UNC (which is 15 minutes away), and it was such a good night and it was a close game but we came through in the end, so we were all happy, and we had a special cookie made for the occassion (see above)!!!

Another highlight of the past 3 weeks has been my trip to Baltimore, in Maryland. It was my intention to head down to Washington DC for a day during this trip but becuase of the snowstorms we could not, and as it turned out my return flights on the sunday were cancelled as the airports in Baltimore and New York were closed (yes, I had to fly via New York, which is amazing from the air - see above!!!)!

Baltimore Harbour was very cool, such a nice area, and we had lunch that day at ESPNZone, which is basically a restaurant with all TV screens in it playing the sport on ESPN (a sport channel over here), it was so cool, I actually watched the Duke v Maryland game while eating and Courtney (a friend from 043) watched the Villanova v DePaul game, we were both very content since both our teams won!!!

So when I got to the airport on the monday to return I found out that the NY airports were still closed so the lady kindly re-routed me through Charlotte (biggest city in NC), and I will definatly be hiring a car and driving down for a weekend as it looks pretty cool!!! It was ok becuase my monday night class was cancelled as our lecturer was stuck in NY himself!!! (Alan can we get some fake snow to cancel classes somedays???). To cap off that day I basically arrived back and as soon as I walked in the door I walked out again to go to the Women's basketball game!!!

On to other news, I got the confirmation that I have been accepted to stay here and work in a summer camp in Greensboro here in NC. It's cool because I get 3 weeks off between the end of uni and orientation in NY, so that should be cool, and I will be back in time for 063, all I have to do now is go to Canada and get another Visa, oh the US Consulate is going to LOVE me!!!

Well I think I have confused you enough for now so I will let you all go, be safe, keep in touch and make sure u check out my pics (http://community.webshots.com/user/thechadmeister2)

Only 3 weeks till Spring Break (New York City, ALbany and Pittsburgh!!!)

Duke v Florida State Game, Feb 4

Well, WOW, that is all about how much I can say about today, it was an AMAZING day! I've decided to write a seperate entry about the Duke v Florida State game since the day, well the part which consisted of the game, was AWESOME!!!!

So the day all began with my and Pascal, my flatmate, getting up at 7am to leave our place at 7:45am to go and wait in line to get in for tip-off which is at 12 midday!!! Needless to say you make friends with the others who are waiting in line, however today was definatly a test as it rained for a majority of the 4 hours, and I'm not talking annoying rain, im talking near enough to a downpour and both Pascal and I forgot to bring an umbrella, so although I got completly drenched in my jeans and hoodie it would have been a lot worse if the other people in the line didnt share their brolly's!!! However needless to say that my jeans got completly soaking wet, and the picture is enough to prove!!!

Anyways, at about 11:50am after standing in the constant rain for close to 4 hours they decide to let the walk in line (that is us, who dont have a season ticket) into the game, and whenever they let u in you are so damn pumped as you have waited for so long to get in!!! Furthermore when you walk into the stadium itself when it is so close to tip off the atmosphere is just AMAZING as it seriously is like a Greek Colusem with the Pep Band (all brass) playing, all the spectators cheering and the teams warming up, that is the best how I can describe it, and I will definatly miss it when I return back to Australia!!!

The game itself was great, an arm wrestle from start to end and in the end we had to go into overtime and we eventually won by one point. The game was seriously intense with every play in the last 10 minutes crucial and turnovers and fouls on both sides as well, as well as some dubious umpiring and an intentional foul on one of our players, Sheldon Willaims, which made the entire 9,000 capacity at Cameron Indoor Stadium come to their feet and verbally pounce on the opposing player who foulded, he basically took out Sheldon from behind while he was dunking and was going to make it too!!! Admist all the cheers and the "heckeling" of the opposition it was an awesome game and I was so happy to be a part of it and the wait in line in the rain was definatly worth it!!!

After the game we waited around and went onto the court, which was HUGE, this stadium is a common household name across America and any sport fan over here knows of it! I can't describe how it felt being on there, considering that the first time I saw it was on cable TV back in Melbourne in 1997, all I know was that I was there, and WOW!!! I also got a picture with the "Blue Devil" which is the official mascot of Duke, much better then the Bond Bunny!

Needless to say after I got home after grabbing McDonalds after the game for lunch I hopped stright in the bathroom for a hot shower and then had a nice nap as I went to bed at 1:30am the night before and was up at 7am!!!

I think tonight I might just chill and do some work, as I should probably do some of that, as well as listening to a real cool local North Carolinan band, "Jump, Little Children" who I now love, and I thank Dan for getting me into them!!!

Next update when I get back from Baltimore/Washington DC
Chad