Jenny

Hi friends, I was pretty busy for the first week of term because I was still unpacking from my spring break trip and rehearsing for the dance show that weekend. My friend Suchita has been teaching us choreography that she put together since the beginning of second term way back in January. We danced to three songs, Beyoncé’s “I Slay,” Rihanna’s “Yeah I Said It,” and Iggy Azalea’s “Team.”

Hi friends,

Hi friends,

Hi friends,

Hi friends, I have a special treat for y’all: a guest post! This one’s from Daniel, myfriend who is also a senior and majors in physics but knows a lot about everything else, too. Last term, he tooka really cool class on remote sensing that took him to the heart of JPL and space missions. If you’ve done Science Olympiad, perhaps you’ve heard a bit about remote sensing. (If you don’t do SciOly, don’t fret–a lot of Techers haven’t, either!) When I was in high school, I somehow took up that event and ended up taking a test about satellites and other remote sensing topics that I really should have studied…

Hey friends, Lastterm I took L 106, the intro Japanese course. I lived in Japan briefly when I was young, and although I was once fluent in Japanese, I forgot it quicklyafter moving to the US. Even while growing up in Texas,I watched these amazing films by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli with my family. For those unfamiliar with Studio Ghibli, it’s a studio that makes gorgeous films with thought-provoking stories that remind people to love nature and respect strong women. It was my delight to find many Ghibli fans at Caltech. Last year, my house (Avery) even took on Studio Ghibli as the theme for our annual interhouse party. We painted giant eight-foot-tall murals that brought much-beloved films like Totoro, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke to life. It was the best interhouse yet–we spent the month before sprawled on these giant sheets of drywall, coloring in our favorite characters while listening to the beautiful Ghibli movie soundtracks composed by the extremely gifted Joe Hisaishi…

“Wake up, frosh; it’s ditch day!”

Hey friends, This past weekend my friends and I went to Abbot Kinney Blvd, on the other side of LA.GQ thinks it as “the coolest block in America.” After our visit, I think we can all say that we agree. Parking was a little difficult to find, but it wasn’t too terribly expensive. (I think Imight have finally gotten used to the concept of paying for parking everywhere out here in California…) The cloudy day was perfect for photos (:

Hello friends!

Hello friends, As I might have mentioned before, I’m a premed. At some schools, that might be a certain major, but at Caltech (and most schools, I think), that just means that I have the intention of applying to medical school. Premeds can major in whatever they’re interested in, but for a lot of people that means some sort of biology/chemistry/combination. I’m a chemistry major because I found that when I studied biology, I wished I had a stronger chemistry background.

Hello friends! Lunch after church: That’s been one of the most regular ways for me to explore and eat my way through Los Angeles with friends for the past few years. Yesterday, we went to the Alhambra Farmers’ Market on our way back to campus. Farmers’ markets are one of the most sure-fire ways to know what’s in season:right now, it’s apples, persimmons, tomatoes, and sunflowers. There are also somehow always these long stalks of sugarcane. I wonder what people use those for. If you know, please share? When I go, I like to stop by this little tent of Taiwanese snacks, where I can pay $5 for dan bing egg (蚕餅), a green onion pancake with egg. I love to snack on dan bing as I walk around the market.

Boo! Halloween has come to be one of my favorite holidays. When I was little, it would always manage to rain on Halloween night so that trick-or-treating was messy. I like it now because it’s the one day a year that I get to be someone/something else and amuse people when they recognize it. That is, in theory. I’ve been pretty bad at being other people/things so far. I’d like to say I improved this year compared to years past. Can you tell who I am?

As I was reminiscing about my study abroad experience last year, I dug up this old post that never got posted…

I can’t believe it’s somehow already been a year. I met this year’s exchange students from Edinburgh Uni, and talking to them brought me back to the cobbly wynds and layers of ghosts that is Edinburgh. Anyhow, here’s another one of my posts from London last year.

I keep discovering all these postcards that were lost in the mail, heh. Better late than never!Some of my friends have just settled in for their study abroad experience in Edinburgh, and hearing about their adventures reminded me of these museums I visited during my time there….

Autumn is upon us, but this one in Southern California feels a little lackluster compared to that in Edinburgh last year…

Hi friends,

Hello friends, I tell people on tours that there are two bigtraditions at Caltech: Interhouse and Ditch Day. The former is a party that each house builds and hosts every year. The term “build” might be confusing. We build a dance floor, paint and put up large murals, and make lots of food all to fit a theme. In my time at Caltech, Avery House has done The Great Gatsby, Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, and Studio Ghibli. I’ve written about other interhouse parties throughout the years.

Hi friends, On Saturday, Avery House went to the beach.

Hi friends,