Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

My Own Longboard?!

Leah C.

March 7, 2010 - 12:00 AM

I was walking to class on Friday and I saw the UO Outdoor Program promoting their group, as well as raffling off some prizes including a Sector 9 Longboard. The UO Outdoor Program is a place for everyone who is interested in adventurous, outdoor sports. They also rent out all kinds of sports and safety equipment including kayaks, climbing gear, life jackets, tents, and bikes. All UO students have free yearly membership and they charge $15 for the general public. Renting equipment is also very affordable. The program offers classes and group sporting events as well. In addition, they offer wilderness first aid classes and a free fully equipped bike maintenance shop open to everyone.

 

Well, I had heard about the program here many times and had considered renting a bike from them (unfortunately they were out). The UO outdoor program is such a unique place to visit for all students. It is a program that encourages students to engage in activities that bring awareness of the surrounding beauty of the Northwest.

 

Going back to my story, I thought I'd take a chance to see if I could get that longboard. I've seen many students ride longboards to and from class and they look really fun. I am not sure why, but I'd never seen a longboard until I was a freshmen in college. They are similar to skateboards, although the biggest differences is in the length. They are also mostly used for riding down hills and "carving." They told me to stop by for a film they were showing where the raffle would take place.
At 4pm I stopped by the outdoor center and was blown away by the beauty of the longboard video presented. They were not just skate videos of stunts or tricks. It was a very interesting video that looked very relaxing and calm which reflected the nature of those who ride them. All we heard in the movie was the sound of wheels on the gravel and the sound of the wind at 70mph. When the video was over they talked a little more about their upcoming workshops and future events. After they started drawing out names and those who were present got to claim their prize. There were about 20 people present and interestingly enough, everyone seemed to be present when they were raffling out prizes. I though my odds were not bad within this number and I was right. After raffling out a helmet, frames, and a set of wheels my name was picked and I was the proud owner of $200 longboard. Wow!!! I never expected to win. I just wanted to see if my name would ever be picked out. I never have good luck in anything that involves random acts of chance, so Friday was a very lucky day for me.

 

I have been playing around with my longboard inside. Practice includes balancing and riding distances of several feet and jumping off awkwardly when I need to stop. I will be needing a helmet, just in case, if I want to really ride outside. I have never skateboarding or surfed or anything requiring standing and keeping my balance on a board, so this is all very new to me. Hopefully I'll learn fast and by next term I'll be longboarding to class.

 

 

 

 

 

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Arrr Collegiate!

Leah C.

March 6, 2010 - 6:00 PM

Yesterday was the 14th Annual Collegiate Wushu Championships. This was the forth time that the UO Wushu Team hosted the event in Oregon. The competition consisted of forms, weapons, tai chi and team group sets. There were many participants from schools all around the United States. We had students from UC Davis, UCLA, Stanford, Georgia Tech and many more. It was a very spectacular event and this was the first time I've ever participated in the competition. Everyone was busy and stressed, so I tried to help out as much as I can. I volunteered to make name tags for the 100+ competitors, and was Oregon's main photographer for the night, taking over 8GB worth of photos. I will definetly make sure to post the link of the wushu site once they're sorted and uploaded.

 

Regarding how I did in the competition: all I have to say is that I did my best. I was the last female competitor in the beginners long fist event and once I saluted to the judges, I lost all confidence and awareness of what I was doing. Looking back I wished I had focused more, making sure that my extensions and forms were perfect. My knee that I had previously twisted, gave out in the end when I did a drop stance. I touched the floor with my hand, which was an automatic .3 deduction. I also wobbled a bit during a stance.... I was really disappointed in myself after hearing my score, cause I knew I could've done better. All I can say is that it was a great experience for me, and it definitely motivated me to train harder for the next competition. I walked a way from the ring knowing what I need to do next time, because really, this is just the beginning.

 

Well, after the long fist event, it was really just the beginning. The championship started at 9am, and lasted till 10:30PM following an after party at around midnight. It was a really long day, everyone from the UO team was exhausted from all the prepping and clean up. We had to put the carpet out the night before along with the chairs. I got 3 hours of sleep before I had to go back and help with prep work before the event. I just hope we made a good impression on everyone and all the other competitors. The team brought back a gold in the advance males long fist, and silvers in both male and female long fist. Go Oregon Wushu!

 

A lot of the beginners got a lot out of this and it just motivated everyone to train harder. The atmosphere during the competition was amazing and just the support that everyone got was great. People screamed the Chinese phrase "Jai Yao" (add oil) in support of each other, even to rival competitors. Wushu is all about bonding, about learning from each other. Everyone wants to see the best from all the competitors and there was great deal of admiration from everyone. I hope to be a part of this as long as possible and cherish all the memories I have with all my wushu friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tornado part 2

Leah C.

March 2, 2010 - 3:00 PM

My weekend was a blur. The Tornado that I previously told you about was sucking more of my time than I had initially planned. We had originally rented a video recorder from the Yamada Learning Center on campus, but there was something wrong with the camera. Instead, we had to use my digital camera. Yes I finally got my Digital SLR camera and filmed the rest of the video with it. I really like my camera because it can record HD videos, so with all the recording we relied on my camera and I was the one who recorded everything. With my tripod and spare batteries, filming on campus in various areas took two and a half days. I woke up at 9am during the weekend and headed to the HKSA office where I met with my 2nd vice president Cindy. Cindy was the director and writer of the skit and I was the producer and camera man.

 

There were 16 members to film in their individual intro scenes as well as their group shoots together. It was really fun working with everyone and we definitely captured a lot of blooper moments that I hope to present during our Hong Kong Night. That reminds me, I should stress to the committee that we should all hold on to these memories together. I know that there are some frustrations during the planning process of our night, but events like the photo and filming sessions are the memories that are filled with much laughter and fun. Looking through all the videos together, Cindy and I actually started piecing together some of the scenes. Details and the actual video will not be reveled until spring break. We both agreed that everything should be under wraps until closer (2 weeks before) to the culture show.

 

Now I mentioned frustration. There was a little dilemma that I was not supposed to worry about, since I was not in charge of the performances and dance. We had a GTF volunteer to help us put together our dance that the members and committee were to perform for the night. Instead, the practices and her teaching style got us nowhere. It was frustrating because we originally thought she would help choreograph a piece for us, but after attending 2 practices, and seeing that the dancers were lost, I really needed to take some action. The GTF was kind to help volunteer, and I appreciate all her help, but she only taught moves, that she made up on the spot. I would also like to note that she didn't follow the music or beat, and funny enough she kept saying I probably won't remember these moves next time. To solve that we recorded everything she did. Another problem was that her dance style did not really fit the song. The song was a hip hop song, and she started to add very jazzy and modern contemporary moves. She herself is a hip hop GTF and I understand if she is trying to mix some moves up, but she really didn't choreograph or keep to the beats of the song. She also mostly worked with the girls on their part, where she relied on the boys to choreograph their own part. This resulted in nothing from the guys since they were not dance majors. I really didn't want people to waste their time, especially members who were volunteering their time to dance.

 

I talked to the committee, and decided to pull some strings. My cousin, Alexis is a first year at the University of Oregon, and is part of the UO Jam squad. I asked her if she would be willing to help us choreograph a piece and she said yes! Hopefully this problem will all work out. I know that she is very busy as well and to teach 15 dancers to dance, whom I would like to mention have had little experience in dancing on stage, may take more time and practice when compared to someone like her who has dance all her life. I asked her Sunday and she agreed to meet us tonight. We requested that she choreograph the beginning for us so that the dancers can start practicing, I hope this no longer becomes a stressful event and that everything will start to come together. HKSA has one month to get everything together and we have only just begun.

 

 

 

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Tornado part 1

Leah C.

March 1, 2010 - 12:00 PM

A tornado starts out very small, gradually picking up speed and pulling everything towards it. I felt like I was spinning in a tornado since last Tuesday. Meetings after meetings after meetings. With Hong Kong Night looming in the distance, the pressure and stress started to sink in. I seriously had a panic attack when I was talking with Ashley, one of our vice presidents. There was just so much going on that week as well as some frustration with the exec members. I also skimped out on my training sessions for the entire week with the UO wushu team due to an slight knee injury. So last week was all about recuperation and HKSA.

 

Tuesday we held a meeting with the committee and began seriously planning for Hong Kong Night. General Meetings were to be postponed until next term and filled up instead with prop making days. This year we are planning to do a skit, so there's a lot of preparation before hand. We planned out dance schedules, photo shoots and filming days for our promotional video. We also scheduled a prop making session for Friday from 12pm-5pm. During the meeting we also discussed what we were going to do during our senate meeting. I asked those who were interested in going to the meeting to stay and help prepare a small presentation.

 

Alex, HKSA's flagship outreach was our key source of knowledge in preparing our request to the ASUO senate for extra funding for the night. He had previously stood before the senate to request money for a UO Chinese literary magazine and knew what questions would arise. The main goal is to create an argument, without raising any questions from the senate. The less questions raised, the more solid our reasoning will be. On Wednesday, Melissa the fundraising chairmen, as well as Alex presented our case. After watching the UO Forensic team request an larger sum then us, with failure to prove where each dollar would be spent, I felt confident in our case. We had given the senate our budget list for Hong Kong Night, with detailed quotes. We also calculated the amount we had to support the night and the amount needed. The ASUO senate accepted our request. HKSA now has a solid budget for the night and I'm so relieved we have that. This makes it a lot easier for us to provide enough food for the night as well as initiating some of our decoration ideas.

 

After the senate hearing on Wednesday, Thursday was the day for our HKSA photo shoot. Tanya, one of our new members this year helped us in photographing for our HKSA Night poster. There were 3 shoots we were planning to do. The first was in our character. The second was in our "agent" form, and the last was classy or formal. It was really fun to get together and to enjoy ourselves without stressing on planning. I still need to sort through all the photos and edit them. I will be replacing the background with a Hong Kong scene to create an illusion that we are really in Hong Kong!

 

On Friday, we started on making our props. From 12-5, volunteers stopped in to help make a double decker bus, red taxi, and a car, all out of cardboard, construction paper and paint. We are still not yet done, and will need more time to paint 2 large backdrops. We also started video recording some of our promo footage for the night. Soon to be released after spring break. I will end my blog here and continue with the weekend in the next submission.

 

 

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Speechless in OSU

Leah C.

February 22, 2010 - 2:00 AM

A few of the HKSA members and I headed up to Corvallis to see our past HKSA member, Warren and his culture show. He is now the vice president of the Vietnamese Student Association at Oregon State. Originally a student at Oregon State University, he was a temporary Oregon duck for his junior year. He decided to go back to finish his major for his senior year and we at the University of Oregon miss him dearly. He was just the kinda guy that everyone liked and was involved in many clubs. Once he came down to participate in our Karaoke Night last fall. I thought that it would be nice to return the kind gesture by visiting him. Driving up to Corvallis, with my two vice presidents in the front seats and our multimedia guy in the back, our conversations were filled with what to expect in Warren's culture show, as well as plans for our own.

 

We reached Oregon State's Campus, and immediately a couple of us began talking smack about our rival school. The spirit banners, their library, even the name of their memorial union, (it was called the M.U. instead of the E.M.U). Of course we were only half joking. Oregon State has its own charms, depending on the individual point of view. The campus was actually nice with red brick buildings everywhere. Although it did not feel as homey and welcoming as the University of Oregon....

 

Anyway we reached the M.U. where the ballroom is and got tickets for the show. We met Warren in his black suit and he led us to a table right next to the stage personally reserved for "Warren's UO friends." It was a great honor to be there. The spot was an excellent place to take photos of the performances without standing or peeking between the heads of the audience. I couldn't have asked for more. Warren definitely showered his friends with great hospitality by putting us near the stage. I noticed the table next to us had some familiar faces as well. It turned out that it was the UO's Vietnamese Student Association, there to support their sister school in their biggest event of the year.

 

The night altogether was very impressive. Everything, from the food, performance, and the skit was outstanding. Their theme was a masquerade dance, that they had incorporated into their skit. Which explained the feathers and masks as the center pieces of each table. The name of their culture show was called "Lost Back East." The story involved an engaged couple going back to Vietnam in order to gain the fiancee's grandparents agreement on the wedding. The performances consisted of traditional and modern dances, as well as several song performances.

 

Driving back to Eugene, we definitely had a lot of new ideas to talk about. During the last half of the car ride home, there was a point where we all became silent. Either from exhaustion or thinking. I stared out into the clear sky and admired the stars. We were driving through small towns and open fields so they were extremely bright! While I looked on, I thought about Warrens last words as he said good bye to us in Corvallis. How he felt so relaxed, and how happy he was that all the weight was off his shoulders. I can't wait until our night is over. Actually, now that I think of it, looking back on all the time committee spent together for last years HKSA culture show, was really fun. Despite all the difficulties and frustration with planning and practicing, there were things that made me want to be a part of it all again. Now that I am one of the directors of the show, I shouldn't stress too much. Instead I should enjoy every minute of it, because before I know it, April 11th will have already passed. I hope that our culture show will leave a good impression on everyone. Including Warren when he visits. He still owes me a dessert for designing his posters for his night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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