Travels
YEAR: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007
July 8 – 13: Hot Mess in Philly
Hot Mess was a fast dance weekend in Philadelphia. First time in the city, and it was definitely the hottest and messiest dance event I’ve ever attended. Crazy humid and miserably hot though it was, it was extremely exciting to get to dance at such higher tempos all weekend. The energy was enormous and people friendly and welcoming. On the way back I stopped in DC to visit friends and enjoy a few more days off before heading back to MT for work.
June 1 – 14: Road Trip to Montreal
After graduation and just before starting work in Montana, I decided to take a solo road trip up to Montreal for a vacation. Details of the trip can be read here. I drove about 2,000 miles and visited 5 cities. Much needed break and a great time to reunite with friends.
View June 2010 Roadtrip in a larger map
March 5 – 7: Steel City Blues, Pittsburgh, PA
My first blues dancing event ever! Lots of wonderful classes and great social dancing. I made it into the Jack & Jill finals comp, but didn’t place. At the end of the weekend, I stayed with my friend Mark and spent a lot of time pondering the decision to attend Carnegie Mellon for graduate school. Had many great conversations and made lots of big decision. My last day in town, I bought my Macbook!
December 27, 2009 – January 1, 2010: Lindy Focus VIII
Three years in a row and Lindy Focus is still one of my favorite places on Earth. 5 sweet days of swing dancing with incredibly talented people! This year it got pretty big and there were way more newcomers than previous years, but it still had the same levels of intensity and excitement that keeps me coming back. I love Lindy Focus!
August 5 – August 17, 2009: South Korea
Immediately after my CLS experience, I decided to visit South Korea, mainly to experience it’s renowned swing dancing scene. I spent a week and two weekends (10 days) visiting the country. The first weekend I attended the Pusan Summer Swing Festival in Pusan, South Korea. For my first dance in Korea, it was unbelievable. Roughly 700 Korean dancers attended the camp, which went on for the whole weekend. I had an incredible time meeting and dancing with a fun bunch of dancers. I spent the next week in Seoul exploring the city and dancing at nearly every swing bar at night. The next weekend I attended and DJed at the Jeju Swing Camp in Jeju Island. Many of my Shanghai dancer friends attended too, and it was wonderful to get to see all of them again. Definitely one of the most fun times I have ever had at a dance camp – thanks Jeju Camp!
June 3 – August 4, 2009: Harbin, China
In the spring of 2009, I was selected as a scholar for the Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship in Harbin, China. I spent 8 weeks in Harbin in an intensive Chinese language program, which included 4 hours of classroom study every weekday in addition to several excursions to other parts of China. The map below shows in detail the places we traveled while on the CLS language program. Great experience with lots of amazing people!
Map of Travels in Asia 2009
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December 27, 2008 – January 1, 2009: Lindy Focus VII
My second Lindy Focus experience in a row! 5 more days of swing dancing with some of my favorite dancers in the US! Workshops by day, social dancing by night, and competitions sprinkled all about. I won 3rd place with Hillary Mercer in the Intermediate Jack and Jill competition this year.
September 9 – December 1, 2008: Shanghai, China
I worked as in intern for General Electric in the China Technology Center (CTC) in Shanghai, China. I was a member of the Wind Turbine Conceptual Design Advanced Technology Operations (Wind ATO) team. I lived with a young couple in the Pudong area of Shanghai and the entire experience was fantastic. My Chinese improved significantly, and I witnessed and experienced how one of the largest companies in the world runs as it employs its resources from all over the world. You can read my entire blog and see many photos / videos of my time in Shanghai at my china site. Below is a map of my travels during my time in China.
Map of Travels in China 2008
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May 10 – August 9, 2008: Dalian, China
During the summer of 2008, I traveled to Dalian, China, to study Chinese language and Culture. I spent 8 weeks taking courses as Liaoning Normal University. After classes, I took a week long vacation to Beijing to tour the city, then returned for another month of studying. During my last month, I decided to only study with a private tutor instead of taking classes. This gave me much more time to practice conversation and my Chinese dramatically improved. By the end of the summer, I had built a very strong basis on which to build my language skills. I also had many wonderful experiences throughout the summer as I encountered Chinese culture. The food was terrific and the people were incredibly welcoming. You can read my entire blog and see many photos / videos of my time there at my china site.
January 3 – 6, 2008: Montreat College Conference
The 2008 Montreat College Conference theme was “Hope Has a Voice.” Given the recent shootings at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, we were invited to attend the conference as the worship leadership team. During the conference, several of my friends gave speeches on hope and their experience on April 16. I had made a video in Blacksburg before the conference in which I asked people “What is Hope?” The video was played at the conference. I also made another similar video while at the conference and it was played the next night. Both videos can be views on my Video page.
December 27, 2007 – January 1, 2008: Lindy Focus VI
Five incredible days of swing dancing with absolutely amazing people! Workshops by day, social dancing by night, and competitions sprinkled all about. This was by far my favorite week of 2007, and oddly the last one. I won 2nd place in the Novice Jack and Jill competition, which was my first competition experience.
May 23 – August 3, 2007: Greenville, SC
I spent the summer of 2007 working for General Electric in Greenville, SC. I worked in the Wind ATO primarily on competitive assessment and a blade noise prediction model. Working for GE was my first real intership experience in which I got to work as an engineer and apply some of the education I’ve been paying for at Virginia Tech. I also learned a lot about wind turbines and am considering considering going into that field as a result. I posted some photos from my summer in Greenville on my Photos page.
