The Weekend

This weekend was packed with events. On Friday, I went and picked up my certificate from The European School of Management. I was taking some Marketing courses, and it looks like I'm going to take some more in the fall. I want to get a Masters in Marketing or Business or something that will get me a better job. After receiving my certificate I went to the Lettonia house to hear one of the other pledges give his dissertation about Latvia and NATO, but I had to leave early because I had to meet a lady who is friends with my Mom and Aunt. She had an envelope that I needed to pick up to give to another reletive here. The lady said it was great that I was hear and all that junk, but she didn't talk long so that was good, because I had to get back to the Lettonia house. On my way back I met the other pledges. Friday was planned the Aizbegsana which is when all the pledges run away to some place, throw a party, and hide from the brothers. It was fun. Then on Saturday, Lena and I went to a mall that just re-opened, because I needed shoes. I knew that I needed new shoes, because when it rained on Friday my foot got wet. Unfortunately, Something happened with the bank and no body could use their cards or take money out of the machines, so we had to go back on Sun and get the shoes. But we had to get the shoes early because we were meeting one of our friends from Germany who is here visiting his girl for the week. The German and I met when I was studying at the Latvian University in the fall of 2002. The four of us went to the beach for the afternoon. The weather was finally good enough to make that kind of trip enjoyable. I think this post is getting too long. So I'll just wrap it up. Overall it was a great weekend and I had a lot of fun.

A Lost Day

I don't know how I missed a day. I could have sworn that I posted something yesterday. Oh, well I guess its just more proof that "My mind is slowly wandering away from me". Thats a sutble reference to a song that was written and sung by a friend of mine from college. His website is www.zelazowa.com. I think everyone should check them out. They are regulars at CBGB's in New York City. I'm still waiting for the world tour. First concert Riga!

Last Night's Party

Yesterday after work I had to go to the Lettonia house and work in the kitchen. I have to do it twice a month during the semester. It involves selling beer and making food for anyone that wants it. Usually its pretty boring, mostly because I always pick the nights when I know that no one is going to be around. However, last night there was a big meeting of representatives from all the fraternities that I had to set up for. Then I had to make dinner and run the store around the corner to get more food and mixer for the drinks. The drinks were required for the bachelor party for one of the brothers. There was a lot of food and beer, but that's not the best part of the night. The groom to be was given the task of conducting a random survey of women with a few specific questions. I as the pledge had to follow him and write down the answers, while the other brothers tried hard to not be noticed as they looked on and laughed. The Questions were; 1. Are you Married? 2. What should I do if my wife is mad at me? 3. Where should a man have hair? 4. Dose size really matter? After interviewing 10 the man of the hour had to give a presentation of the inquires. A variety of answers were given, which led to many jokes during the presentation. After the presentation I found myself trying to learn Russian from a brother who I told I would help with his English. At 23.00 I left only to meet the editor of The Baltic Times at the trolleybus stop. We talked about how to improve the paper. We always talk about how to improve the paper, but rarely come up with any solutions. I guess my days of partying aren't completely over.

Talent Factory

Last night, Lena and I watched, what we always watch on Saturday and Monday nights (actually almost everynight), Talantu Fabrika. Which is a reality show thats a mix of American idol, and Big Brother. A group of people live together in a place that has cammeras everywhere and every week they sing a song in a concert. Every song that wins will be included in a musical that will be preformed by the winners of the show, this summer. The concerts are Saturday nights and one person get voted out every Monday. Its been going on for the last four months and last night was the final vote to kick someone out. I don't exactly know how Lena and I started watching this show, but its turned in to a tradition. There is a whole TV channel devoted to it. It should be interesting to see how the musical turns out. Its still being written. Saturday is the last concert. The singer with the most votes wins a car, but the whole group makes it into the musical. Latvia's continuing fasination with reality shows is amazing. In general Latvian society moves from one trend to another. Bars don't close they usually fade away due to unpopularity.

This Weekend

Well, this past weekend was rather uninteresting, but it was great, because Lena and I finally got to relax. We didn't really do anything. Altough we did watch two movies on TV that I thought were still in the theaters. The first one was "Bruce Almightly" which I thought was good, but I don't think I got all the jokes, because it was dubbed in Russian and had Latvian sub-titles. Unlike most films on TV It was dubbed so that you couldn't here the English. Its a trend that German TV has had for years and that Scandinavian TV has never used. I hope its not something that will catch on here. The other film we saw was "Lost in Translation", which also was a good film. In this film I could hear the English which made it more enjoyable. Anyway, Its cold and rainy again. It feels like Fall. I want to go to the beach, but not if this weather keeps up.

Time to blog

Well I guess if I'm going to start telling people to read my blog then I should write something worth reading, so how about I do a reality check and a rundown of whats going on in my life right now. Right now I'm living in a one room apartment in Riga with my wonderful girlfriend Lena. I work at The Baltic Times selling advertising and writting a sports article that I mentioned in a previous post. Out side of work I have joined a fraternity called Lettonia. Its the same fraternity that my father and uncle belong too. Its going well, I'm still a pledge, but I hope to recieve my colors next semester. (Since its not a Greek fraternity we have colors instead of letters) It takes up alot of time, but I like it and during the summer and after I get my colors I will be able to spend more time with Lena. I hope to do alot of traveling this summer, so that should lead to afew interesting stories on the blog for people to read. Other then that I don't party as much as I used to, but thats a good thing, because I can't remember the last time I was hungover. Anyway, Lena and I have a cat named Pepper (actually his full name is Piparkuks Lauvas Forma). This weather is getting better in Riga. It was warm for a week then it got cold again, but now its starting to warm up. I can't really think of anything else to write. Let me know if there is anything you guys want to hear.

I Fixed it

I found the place in the settings where I could change the comments problem. So now, anyone can comment on my posts. I'm still working on the phone thing.

Next Blog

I guess you have to be a member in order to respond to any of my posts, so I think I might just make my hotmail email address available in my profile so that if anyone has any comments they can just email me. I would also really like to be able to post from my phone so that I can do it anywhere, but I don't know how yet.

My First Blog

Well I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon and create my own blog so that friends and family can find out whats going on in my life. I used to keep a journal, and I've wanted to start writing again. I figured this would be a great way to get people involved in what I write. Although this isn't the only place I write. I also write a sport article for the weekly newspaper The Baltic Times. You can check out my articles at www.baltictimes.com.