Another New Year

My e-bike charger arrived and it’s fabulous. I max out at about 22 mph and get about 25 miles per full battery charge. It may not sound like much but considering it’s about 3.5 miles from my house to work, and that the highest elevation in the entire country is like five feet, it’s pretty ideal. If I were to take a taxi I would inevitably be stuck in stop and go traffic (yeah, there actually is traffic here) anyways. With my e-bike, I can just whiz by on the side of the road and arrive at work at the same time, if not a little bit sooner.

In a somewhat related bit of news, my mom sent me an “action sports video camera” for Christmas. Apparently she saw some Japanese tourists with this thing. Basically it’s a mini digital camera that’s waterproof up to a pretty shallow depth. Her thought was that I could use it to record my snorkeling trips. However, what its true advertised purpose is to capture “action sports” moments, i.e. mountain biking, skiing, etc. Now I don’t mountain bike or ski, much less here, but I do e-bike. Some time in the near future I’m going to strap that thing to my helmet and ride to and from work. I’ll upload the video (hopefully it won’t be too large) to YouTube and you guys can see what Majuro looks like. I’ll also be the oddest looking thing to ever move through Majuro, on an e-bike with a helmet cam. And yeah, next time I do go snorkeling I’ll record that as well.

School is cruising along. The Gates Millenium Scholarship applications are due soon. Each applicant is required to write eight essays, which is a pain because that means I have to edit eight essays for each applicant I have. I have five. Also, the most effective method of applying is to do it online. Of course, none of the five students who are applying have internet access. That means I’m going to input all of their applications myself, including letters of recommendation.

The TOEFL is fast approaching. We’ll have one last full length practice test on January 5th before the real thing on January 12th.

Oh yeah, it’s the New Year. I went to the block party, as I did two years ago (last year it was canceled because New Year’s Eve fell on a Sunday). It was pretty much the same as it was two years ago. Afterwards my neighbor and I sat on my deck and watched the sun rise.

Happy holidays to everyone.