USA: SC (mini tour of Tech)

[nataluna]

IWBB (do you guys think Mo would be a good name?) tried to dress like a southern girl today... but with her own style, of course... because she was going to Tech with me.
it's not the most thrilling tour, but hopefully we will be able to visit more places later.

it was a nice grey day (not very hot out, and no glaring light).

first off she had to sit in my bag for a 2 hour meeting that lasted actually 2.5 hrs but at least it was about Web2.0 so at least it was fun (although i didn't really need to learn those topics, as i live in web2.0 already).

then we headed to my Very Messy office...



she had more fun than i did, as i can't LITERALLY climb the walls in my office. although...


after a bit of paperwork, it was time to go home, so here is the back of our new building... the others are way uglier. this one is at least decent-looking.


at one side of the new parking lot, they have put an area where guys learn to work with the electric poles and telephone poles. i think this is a new major at Tech.
Mo had fun exploring the (what are those? resistors?)

(see, still a tomboy at heart!)

then we walked home past an area with a lot of trees (this is part of the 15-minute walk home). as we have finally had a lot of rain, it's even greener around here than usual.


and under some of my favorite(?) color of crape myrtle, that is in my neighborhood.

[Mikan]

Oh neat! What "Tech" is this? Every state has its own "Tech" ....

I wonder what those large objects on the ground are, too. I don't know anything about large civic electrical devices!

I especially like seeing the trees.
Everywhere you go, you can learn a lot about the climate by the trees.

<digression>
For example, in southern Florida, there is a total lack of large leafy trees (as I recall), definitely a total lack of maple trees, but palm trees were plentiful.

In CA I think you find trees with smaller leaves in general - they are more adapted for a dry climate (I think... just guessing).

In the Midwest and Northeast you find larger leafed trees (e.g. large-leafed maples and oaks) as those are "classic" deciduous forest areas (I think).
</digression>

So... anyway, I really like seeing local flora! It says so much!

[nataluna]

(i kinda didn't want to name the technical college that i teach at... partly, because my doll hobby is not affiliated with or approved by my employer. BUT a clever person can find my name tag in one of the photos, with the school name. )

Oh and for the European viewers, and possibly other areas as well, a Tech school is a Polytechnic. we have mostly tech colleges (2-year university) but there also exist tech high schools (secondary). i think the SC tech system is pretty big (medium cities and major cities have their own colleges... towns or small cities might have a branch of the closest school, like maybe a teleclassroom), but i don't know how it compares to other states.

PS: the "electrical things" (what i called them in flickr) are on the ground because they are spares. i think they go on the electric poles.

[ConnieGigi]

wow, thanks for sharing!

[bo_anders]

Nice!

Did Mo try to get out of the bag during the meeting? *imagines seeing the bag move and hears angry squeaks from inside*

[yoof san]

she had more fun than i did, as i can't LITERALLY climb the walls in my office. although...

I just had to when I read this!

Mo isn't a typical girl name, but then again, she doesn't seem to be your typical average girl. I've been to South Carolina, Myrtle Beach in particular, although I've also passed Charleston and, hmmn, I forgot the name of the other city (we only went there for the neat oriental/Filipino store they had-- hours away from Myrtle Beach! )... I love that state. The people are very warm and friendly. Thanks for posting these photos. They bring back lovely memories, just knowing that they're of South Carolina...

P.S.
I love the colorful "mess" in your office. If I'm going to have any mess, it might as well look fun.

P.P.S.

Did Mo try to get out of the bag during the meeting? *imagines seeing the bag move and hears angry squeaks from inside*

I wanna know too!

[nataluna]

i think she was catching up on sleep in the meeting -
poor thing, as i don't have a proper doll carrier, i wrapped her in a cloth napkin for travel... (another doll was using the Kurhn sleeping bag i usually use.)
Mo the mummy...

a lot of times Mo could be short for Maureen, and i feel it's a nice tomboy name for IWBB because it sounds like a guy name but it's short for a girl name. plus i stink at making names and she's my first MOmoko.

glad you have some nice memories of SC. i'm not used to it here, yet, and i've been here like 12 years. but i like it, even though i still don't understand the culture entirely.
myrtle beach is nice... i've only been 3 times and i want to go back there again, but in the off-season, not when it's full of loud youths...

i don't remember ever hearing of the store that you mentioned... of course i mainly go to Charlotte, NC for Asian stuff. Charlotte is only 1/2 hour from our part of SC. most of the asian stores in Charlotte are run by Vietnamese people (cos they are the main asian immigrants around here) but sell a lot of Chinese and Korean (etc.) stuff as well. my city has, i think, a Hmong-run asian store, and lately there have been a lot of Hmong students at Tech. in fact, 2 are in my classes. so there is some variety of asian culture here... BUT we are missing Japanese stores in this area i don't get why we don't have filipino stores yet, because a lot of Filipinos are here, lately, too. especially filipinos nurses are being hired a lot at the hospitals and mental wards.

[dolldivatude]

I love the pic of her with the electrical things. Looks so industrial. Mo pretties it up. And the fuschia flowers at the end are so nice. Looks like a very nice "gray" day.

Thanks so much for sharing. I've never been to SC, but it is on my list of places to go.

[nataluna]

it's kind of boring here (in a medium/small sized city) but that means not too much happens. (usually) quiet life. and if you want less quiet, a big city is near.

[yoof san]

That explains how she can last for over 2 hours just sitting and waiting!

Now that you've explained the logic behind the name, I'd say Mo is a great name!

You should go to Myrtle Beach during Bike Week, it's fun! (Plus malls go on sale there during Bike Week. ) I've been trying to recall the name of the city(?), but I ended up just searching on Filipino stores. The one we used to go to was in Conway. I remember it had a lot of Filipino movies and food, even Philippine dried mangoes! (... must remember to get some. XD )

Yeah, it's kinda sad that a lot of students here choose to take up nursing just so they can work abroad. That means the ones who top the board often don't get to serve the country, but, you know. Hard times. Their lives. I just hope we don't run out of nurses at the hospitals here.

[nataluna]

soon USA economy/etc. will crash and burn and all the brain-drain that we have drained out of the "3rd world" will go running home. and the economies will even out all over the planet and no more will the same job pay $10/hr one place and $10/week in another place.
i just don't know if "soon" is 5yrs, 20yrs, or 100yrs.

this is my gut feeling that it has to happen, though. not just "has to" like justice, but also like gravity.

[yoof san]

I was thinking about the same thing (gravity, that is), BUT, I don't think it'll happen any time soon. I just don't. Oh well, back to escapism.

[nataluna]

The one we used to go to was in Conway.

oh yeah i think they have a good fleamarket, too (^_^)

... speaking of escapism!!

[teddybear4me2]

Mo got the style of her own. Great TECH explorer!!

Ps. crape myrtle are so high up on the tree top, I wonder how Connie took the photo of the girl so close up to the flowers. She must be a good climber.

[nataluna]

can they also be grown as bushes?
here they aren't usually, though...