Yujian's Exchange In USA: Weekend of Fun...

Hey peepz,

it has been 2 days since i've updated my blog... there is someone who actually msned me and ask me why i haven't been updating my blog... hmmm... no worries! here i am back to update my blog! Right, my weekend has just ended and its time to hit the books. I've got a quiz tomorrow (i.e. around 12hrs down) but i guess it should be rather easy considering that it's only a 15min quiz. Anyway, the weekend was really eventful but really tiring...

Basically, i spent the WHOLE of saturday shopping @ franklin mills. Its an outlet factory shopping mall where you can get cheap stuff. I went with 3 other guys (kieren, you an and janan (janan is an exchange student from university of queensland)) and we shopped from 1030am to around 9pm. Nonetheless, at the end of the day, I didn't really buy anything. I only bought the following:
1) 2 x manicure sets @ US$20 each (for you-know-who)
2) 1 x mini-mantle that attaches to my bed @ US$10
I also received a gift from Kieren, a laddle set for me to cook (worth US$1)

Here's some pics:

this is a cool machine. basically, it challenges you to think about whether a coin's weight has to do with the speed it ROLLS down the thing above. There is a hole in the center and basically what you're supposed to do is to release 2 different size coins from identical points on both sides of the circle and see which falls through the hole first. We're supposed to test whether heavier (i.e. bigger coins) rolls down faster. This question is different from the one that Galileo (double check whether its him) did. Its not a freefall question but a question about coins ROLLING down... my hypothesis is that the big coin will fall in first but the reason is because of a larger circumference and not due to its weight... that means that although the bigger coin will fall faster, its due the its larger circumference leading it to cover larger ground per unit time. After doing some checking, we realize that the bigger coin does indeed fall faster. Anyway, it is also clearly marked as a "NOT non-profit item". This means that the "inventor" of this machine is making money from it (the money that you use to test the hypothesis and lose it at the end). All right.. here's more pics...

franklin mills entrance

lunch... really doesn't look appetizing right... and it costs US$5.95

A skatepark INSIDE franklin mills... SMUX should have this built in school...

Ok... up next is my White Water Rafting trip on Sunday. The whole event was from 8am and ended around 8pm for my group. It was @ Lehigh River Gorge and you can check out the website at http://www.whitewaterchallengers.com/... The trip was not bad and the way the University of Pennsylvania Outdoor Club (UPOC) organized it was quite different from my experience in SMUX. It was less structured and more free-flowing. Basically, after we met up in the morning, we just hang around to chat. This time, 4 people were driving and we randomly divided ourselves into the 4 vehicles. We then started a 2+hr self-navigated (navigation done by my fren Roman - see the tall & big guy at the back of the pictures below) to the Lehigh River Gorge whitewaterchallengers area.

When we reached there, it was all settled by the group (i.e. the vehicle group) themselves. Although we hung around at the same areas and sorta chatted with one another, we kinda stick within our own groups. After checking-in, getting our wetsuits and equipment, we waiting a while for a transportation to bring us to the start point. The briefing was done by professional instructors (they really remind me of the PA Instructors) and we were ready to set off. As much as the river was not as hiongz as the one I did in Nepal with the EBC team, it was still quite fun. What was most impressive was that I see ALOT and i really mean ALOT of white water kayakers. They were all in those stunt boats (check out the pics, its those super small ones) and they were chionging down the river... its really quite fun... the level of this part of the river is still quite low and i think you don't really need to know eskimo rolls... in fact, i see open deck kayaks around.... hmm... maybe next time i should go check it out...

check out the kayaks!

kayakers' silhouettes

my raft's crew (les Janan)

my raft's crew (less me)

me...

i really want to tell you guys more about the trip but i'm kinda in a hurry now since i haven't bathed since i got back! eee.... So last but not least, the standard thing that i usually end my blog with... my dinner on friday... its fried rice with western hao jian... wahahah....