end of Student Exchange

I am now sitting at my desk, in front of my laptop, and in the dark with only one desk light, with my luggage and bags beside me, forgoing much needed sleep to type this, as my friends and I prepare to embark on our after-semester-travels.

四个月，说长不长，说短不短。Participating in a student exchange trip to the US was something unimaginable even a year ago, but now I am going to complete it. Up till the day I flew for Korea, there was still a great sense of uncertainty lingering in my mind, and I wondered whether I was able to finish strong. Fortunately I made many friends here who had helped me a great deal along the way.

I set out on my SEP thinking I would be making many foreign friends, but somehow it did not end up that way. Nevertheless I have seen alot more, heard alot more, and now I know alot more. It had been a great experience, and I dedicate my blog's 800th entry to marking the end of it.

More afterthoughts to come later; I have to go and tie up loose ends. Goodbye UNC, goodbye Chapel Hill!

President Obama's visit to UNC

The last week of school was supposed to be quiet as lessons wound down and students prepared for examinations. Just as we thought that was all there was to UNC, the White House made a rather surprising announcement that President Obama was coming to visit UNC.

It was a classic case of 风水轮流转. After hearing how students queued up for hours in the rain to get tickets to watch him speak on Sunday, a few of us got up early on Monday morning to queue up, and we got them after an hour of waiting. Thinking the tickets were rare gems, we excitedly took photos of our tickets and splashed them all over Facebook.

Well I thought it was rare too.

And then some of my friends went to queue up for tickets later in the day, and they got them after queuing for just five mins.

The following day, on Tuesday, thinking that tickets meant guaranteed entrance into the arena, we went to the venue an hour before the President was scheduled to speak, and we were denied entry. So in the end, whether we queued two hours in the rain, or we queued five minutes under the sun, we could only watch him on TV. I found all these twists and turns amusing haha.

President Obama in one of the two limousines.

And this marked the end to my student exchange to UNC!

President Obama's visit to UNC

Outer Banks

The lighthouses of North Carolina are its landmarks; one cannot really say that he has been to North Carolina if he has not been to the coastal areas, known as the Outer Banks, where there are at least five lighthouses guiding ships away from danger. Even though I was struggling to complete my Compiler assignment, I thought I must make a trip down no matter what.

We reached the Outer Banks late Friday night and parked ourselves in one of several public campgrounds scattered around the area. Our attempt to rent tents failed because the shop closed way before we could reach, and so it was a night of sleeping either in the car, or under the stars.

The things we do when in almost total darkness.

ISO1600, f3.3, 60s. I don't think I can squeeze any better photos out of my LZ-10. Anyone wants to buy me a DSLR? :D

I chose to sleep under the stars. It was actually damn cold and I didn't get much sleep in the end, but its not often I get to lie in the open under such gorgeous night skies.

The following morning. We were supposed to wake up early to catch the sunrise, but we were too late for it.

We ended up spending half an hour just taking photos on this boardwalk.  Unbelievable if you ask me.

Beautiful beach, beautiful morning.

First stop of our day trip there: Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

The lighthouse had been shifted inland three times due to the erosion of the coast. It was a pity we could not climb up, because the staff heard thunder. 

Along the way to our next destination, we crossed this breathtaking bridge.

Our next destination: Bodie Island lighthouse.

This lighthouse was not open for climbing; what we could do was to walk along this path to this pavilion where we could spot wildlife.

After visiting the Bodie Island lighthouse, we dropped by a nearby beach where everyone suntanned for an hour, and I realised now that I did not take a single photo there. Probably because I was happily snapping away on my friend's DSLR.

Besides lighthouses, North Carolina is also known for being the place the Wright Brothers first flew their plane. Many North Carolina license plates would proudly display the words: "First in Flight".

Replica of the plane the Wright Brothers built. We walked in just as a talk by the centre staff was about to start, but having only slept an hour the previous night, I promptly fell asleep.

Walking towards the Memorial Tower.

Rather majestic.

The path we walked marked the actual routes the first flights took.

Last stop for the day: Jockey's Ridge State Park.

Basically it was a huge sand dune, where all the sand were carried by sea winds and hurricanes inland and deposited there.

We could take our shoes off and walk barefoot all the way.

Felt like a desert.

Ended our day there with dinner at a seafood restaurant.

On Sunday some of them went down to Tangers Outlet to shop, while I stayed back to do my work. At night I joined them for Korean BBQ at Raleigh.

And so this trip to the Outer Banks officially marked the end of all our weekend road trips out of North Carolina as the semester drew to a close. I loved the Outer Banks, for it offered what the other places could not: The Milky Way, the lighthouses, and the sand dunes. Would have enjoyed the trip much more if my headache wasn't killing me then.

Now that I have been to the Outer Banks, I can proudly say I have been to North Carolina! Actually NC offered much more than just the coast; the mountain ranges to the west are known to be very spectacular as well, which I will not have any chance of visiting anytime soon, but otherwise my trip to North Carolina is now complete :)

Outer Banks