"Bringin' Down the Hammer of Joy"

This is my team’s theory right now for our presence in the school right now. The children are under a lot of pressure right now in the first few weeks of school to behave properly. They must walk on the taped down arrows on the floor in the hallway, stay silent during breakfast, and sometimes lunch, and they have merits taken away for misbehavior. I guess it is better to start the year off with some serious stringency. So, as the “good cops” we are going to be as upbeat, joyful and excited for learning as possible. The Hammer of Joy.



Fitting in was the middle school issue and it came back around upon the event of the big move south. I am finally starting to feel like I fit in. I know where all the major roads are, including a basic map of the grid of the center of town. I know where to find food and gas and Wachovia. I know where to find fun things to do and I know where to play ultimate. Life is good.
In a recent training session about “what the average middle-schooler is like,” we were asked to remember what it was like to be at that age. (Scary!) I was reluctant to think about the ups and downs because that was such an awkward time, as it was for most people. I realized that I really did need as much adult support as possible, and I looked up to older kids. I used to think being in high school was the coolest thing ever, so I thought of them as my role models. I am proud to be a role model for the pre-teens one Saturday a month with Columbia Heroes!
Another one of the training sessions we had was a session about diversity. We split into about 6 groups and made a list of everything we have heard about our designated “culture.” Ironically, my group was given “Northerners.” I laughed a little, and allowed my group members, none of whom are Yankee, to speak while I wrote. Some things that people think of when they think of the North are:
• Sad in the winter
• Hate the south
• Drive crazy
• Laid back (i.e. North Dakota)
• Fast-paced
• Tough love
• Funny accents
• Fried clams and clam chowder
• Pretentious
• Guidos, hair gel, spray tans, and fist pumps
Then I added…
• Historical
• The best, the first
There are a few new ways that I have gotten involved in Columbia. I checked out the giant lake, Lake Murray (Google map it!), I went to the art museum on Main Street, and I have diligently been going to weekly trivia at The Flying Saucer. I have also been playing more Frisbee and I got to play in Georgia this past weekend!
We probably explored about 1/50 of Lake Murray on our 3 hour trip. I went with a few lovely ladies from work and we drove to the entrance of Dreher Island State Park. We walked in (so that we did not have to pay the $2 car fee haha). I brought my hand-held GPS and I introduced some people to Geocaching. It was awesome! We found 3 out of 4 before my battery died! There are more than 40 caches hidden around the lake. A few girls went swimming, but I couldn’t take my shoes/socks off and then put them back on (gross, yuck, no). They said the water was really warm. That makes sense, being shallow and under the hot sun all day. I have to go back for sure, with someone who owns a boat, of course.
The art museum is free on Sundays, so Kristen, Amanda and I checked that out. It was a nice air-conditioned activity to do. There is this amazing 14-foot structure hanging from the ceiling made of hundreds of blown glass pieces. It is called the Chihuly Chandelier. (check out link) There was a temporary exhibit of ceramics, which was really cool, except for the creepy faces. There was a Monet upstairs, many giant religious paintings, and a lot of old furniture. There are also Renaissance tapestries from Vienna on display. Amazing! My favorite part was the children’s art that was in the hallway. They displayed local artists’ work from the middle school. 
The Flying Saucer is getting to know two of my friends very well. They have signed up for the UFO club: They have to drink 200 different beers by graduation (June 2). They each get a t-shirt, a $200 gift card to the bar, and a plate with their names up on the wall. The bar is so awesome because they have way more than 200 beers. The beers come from everywhere, including Victory Brewery in Downingtown, PA! Anyway, I will not be going 3 days a week like my friends, but Tuesday nights the bar has team trivia. We have not been in the top 3 teams at all, but we do know random answers. I like to write the answers down so I can learn more. There is always a beer-related question, which we rarely get, so I have to start becoming more familiar with beer specifics. We always come up with a creative team name, and now we have decided to make it a tongue twister, so when the hostess reads our score she stumbles over the words. Is that rude? Oh well, it’s funny.
I traveled to Augusta, South Carolina/Georgia August 28-29 for an ultimate tournament. The reason it is SC and GA is because I was very excited to be able to tell everyone that I played in GA, but I was told later that the fields were actually technically in SC. I was bummed but, I did sleep and eat at an Arby’s in GA. Also, after the games we went swimming in the Savannah River, which I consider both SC and GA. So there. There was this cute mini town that I would say is a cross between the town that Truman lives in on the “Truman Show” and Ocean City. It was an adorable town, almost like its own little entity, sitting right by the river. The houses looked a lot like shore houses, with nice big porches. We went swimming off the nearby dock and ate some pizza in a sweet pavilion next to it. All of the people I met were awesome! I’m loving the ultimate scene so far down here. There was one team, called the Moose, who are nothing like the amazing Millersville Moose. They were kind of jerks. Oh well. Hopefully, I will be playing some more with the co-ed group with whom I had so much fun!
Alright, I have to share a couple more things about food down here. I ate a chicken fillet sandwich at Drake’s Duck In on Main Street, and it was the most delicious chicken sandwich I have ever had. Also, Shanice’s parents came to visit and they brought a huge tupperware of banana pudding. This stuff is so good! Soon my CY Team will be a having a home-cooked southern meal, thanks to the ideas of Ashley and Marcus. I cannot wait.
City Year Columbia was on the local news for a very significant ribbon-cutting and press conference at the logo painted on Main Street. It was really cool because I was on the news and the mayor and the superintendent of Richland 1 schools was present! I met some of our board members. Check out the link for more information!

Song of the day: "Colors" by Barcelona