Believe it or not, Tropical Storms can be fun. All is takes is some good planning and a little preparation.

Other universities have snow days and snow storms, some have other weird and wonderful weather phenomenon, but quite honestly, I quite enjoy a good tropical storm every once and again. It gives me the opportunity to catch up on some reading, eat some ‘non-perishable’ candy, and enjoy life without electricity. I think it’s quite a soul-searching experience, and also an easy way to catch up on your sleep deficit.

It’s that time of year again, the time when you make that fateful trip to Walmart in an attempt to purchase everything you may need to ride out a storm in style. Of course, when I read the news about Tropical Storm Fay, and my dad called me from South Africa, ensuring I had batteries and all the necessities, I thought it was a good time to check out my ‘hurricane supply cupboard’. Needless to say all that I found was a medical aid kit from my freshman year in college, two batteries, and a very old can of baked beans. Although I did assure my father that I had everything I could possibly need to ride out the storm in style, I have every intention of making my way to Target and doing a stock up.

I am not too concerned about Tropical Storm Fay. Although these storms are unpredictable and can turn on you in a moment, the predictions merely put our area at a tropical storm watch level. The west coast seems as though it is going to take the brunt of the storm.

So, being a hurricane survivor, and quite an expert on riding out the storm in style, I thought now would be a good time to impart some well learned knowledge to the newbies at this hurricane thing.

Rule #1: Never let your hurricane supply cupboard look like my current cupboard.

Rule #2: Never leave your hurricane supply shopping to the last minute.

The queues are horrific! And if you have left it to the last minute, do not… I repeat, DO NOT go to Walmart on Military and Linton Roads! You are going to leave 5 hours later with no supplies and in a frustrated mood. Walmart (that one in particular) gets sold out instantaneously, everyone is running around panicking, and you will in no doubt get stuck in a gridlock of trolleys. Rather go to Target, where the shoppers there are generally families, rather than the elderly, and they seem to be more efficient shoppers. Additionally, Target has the stylish hurricane supplies (and how else do you expect to ride out the storm in style?).

Rule #3: Write down a list before shopping.

This is important. I find if I don’t have a list (and stick to it) I end up arriving home with bags and bags of essentials, but nothing I truly need. When you sit down and write a list, you are more likely to stick to it, than if you are in Target, when the panic takes over and you start throwing things into the cart that you’ll never use and never need. Think simple – but bare in mind, these are some of the things you may forget…

• batteries
• can opener
• lifelong milk
• water
• hurricane-safe candle and matches
• foods that do not perish
• candy and chocolate (I have been through a storm without chocolate, I had a craving… couldn’t go out and get it and it wasn’t a pleasant experience by any means)
• paper plates (may not be running water)
• medicines/first aid
• wet wipes/toiletries
• flashlight
• radio (battery operated)
• an extra cellphone battery (charged) or a car charger
• Cash!!! (ATMs will not work and neither will your credit/debit cards if the electricity is still down after the storm)
• Games and Books (try and entertain yourself without electricity!)
• A fully charged Ipod!
• Tools
• A full tank of gas
• Important documents in a ziplock bag
• Food for two weeks

Rule #4: Keep up to date on storm developments.

 http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Rule #5: Suggest that a friend and yourself stay together during the storm (you’re going to want someone to talk to).

Rule #6: Speak to your family and parents.

Inform them about developments. Make sure they realize that you will probably lose communication during the storm, and make a plan of action. Inform them about the information found on Lynn’s website. If you have never been through a hurricane before, and your parents are concerned, direct them to the following page on Lynn’s website, which explains what a hurricane is.

Rule #7: Don’t panic – stay calm.

Lynn University monitors the storm’s developments to ensure the safety of all the students. Check for updates on the storm and Lynn’s plan of action at http://www.lynn.edu.

Well, Lynn University is just a 5 minute drive from the beach. If you head South along the A1A (beach road) you will come to Deerfield Beach. There are plenty of beach front bars and restaurants. One of my favorites is JB’s on the Beach because you can literally step from the beach into a vibey cocktail bar. Needless to say, the view is exquisite. Across the street is Kahunas, which generally has a live reggae band and an array of frozen drinks.

If you head North along the A1A, you will come to Atlantic Avenue. This charming street is lined by shops, restaurants, and my favorite, Dada’s (which is just off Atlantic). There is a club on Atlantic, called Delux, which is popular.

Mizner Park is just a few minutes drive from campus. I really like Mizner, it is a great place for students, and even a place to take mom and dad when they’re visiting. Students are always sitting outside Pranzo’s or Gigi’s, where every night is college night. I love Pranzo’s, I go there at least once or twice a week. The Dubliner is another great location in Mizner. It is a great Irish Pub (and it’s sister company is in Cape Town, South Africa!!!). Below is a feature I did on Mizner Park:

Just around the corner from Mizner there are plenty of great restaurants. I found this great little sushi restaurant in walking distance from Mizner that is half price before 7PM. There is another great Thai/Japanese restaurant, Ziree, on Atlantic Ave. Or there is Kyojin, which is eat all you can sushi!

If sushi isn’t your thing, thats not a problem. There are plenty of other options. I found this great, fun-filled Mexican Restaurant, Baja Cafe. This is a great student hang out, and really inexpensive. Boca Raton has an array of Hookah Bars, such as Funky Buddha. The typical college hang out is O Connells and The Wishing Well on a Thursday night. It’s been like that since my freshman year, and still today as a grad student, it’s a Thursday night and St. Patty’s day haven (although, I have to confess, I haven’t been there since my junior year).

But, there is always something happening on campus. Student Activities arranges events, such as movie on the wall, great band visits to campus (we recently had Fabolous perform on campus), trips to Universal Studios. You name it, Lynn has it! The campus has a fantastic sense of community. Me best years of my college career were spent on campus!

You’ll have friends who live off campus, so you’ll probably end up spending a lot of time with them. If you are more the ‘out doorsy’ type, you can pick up some meat and drinks from the store and head to the Spanish River Park or Red Reef Park, where they have grills and picnic areas. I often just enjoy taking a walk on the beach, and then taking a picnic along and watch the sunset.

Now that I live off campus, I spend a lot of time within my community. I enjoy barbecuing by the pool, and most of my neighbors are from Lynn University.

I have really just touched on the 15 minutes from Boca Area. There are plenty more places if you’re willing to drive further. There’s South Beach Miami, and Downtown Fort Lauderdale, as well as, Clematis Avenue in West Palm Beach.

I believe that first impressions really do count. I loved giving the tours, as it was an opportunity for me to play a part in prospective students decisions. I still remember my tour and my tour guide at Lynn. Very often, I will walk past someone on campus, or meet someone, and they’ll say: “hey, you were my tour guide when I first came to Lynn”. I feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that I obviously aided in helping them chose Lynn as their university.

The tours are generally 45 minutes (but depending on the family it can take up to an hour). I liked to personalize the tours, asking the students what they would be interested in seeing.

The walk is quite long, so I recommend wearing comfortable shoes. If you need assistance, call ahead and the guide can organize a golf cart for transport.

The guides are generally honest, they’ll tell you about their experiences, what they would have done differently etc. At the end of my tour, I would always tell the families my best and worst things about Lynn. I was frank, and truthful. The university you choose, has to be the right fit.

After the tour, you return to the Admissions Office, where you are offered cold beverages and you meet with an admissions counselor. This is NOT an interview. This is your opportunity to ask questions about courses, financial aid, academic assistance etc.

If you would like to arrange to meet with a specific person on campus or sit in on a class, do phone at least a week ahead.

I recommend arranging to eat lunch on campus. The cafeteria is open roughly between 11 and 1, so after your counselor meeting, head back to the cafeteria. You can pay for a lunch which is roughly $5-$6. Or you can sit in our Christine Room and have coffee and cake. I recommend the cafeteria, as you’ll get a feel for what life on campus is like. You’ll be dining with other students, so perhaps this would be a good time to make some friends, or ask some questions.

When you come for the tour, ensure that you give yourself time to get to know the area. You can walk around campus by yourself on a self guided tour. Admissions has campus maps available.

I recommend visiting the following Boca ‘landmarks’:

- Mizner Park after 5pm
This is where students and work professionals head for happy hour.
There is half price sushi and various other student offers available.

- Spanish River Beach or Palmetto Park Beach
This is where students head to soak up the sun, sand and waves.

- Town Center Mall
This is where students spend their Sundays

- Muvico
This is where students go to the movies.

- Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach
This is a restaurant and shop location. There are a few clubs and nightlife spots that students frequent here. During the day, it is a great place to have a street side lunch, or head closer to the beach, where you will find ocean facing restaurants.

- Riverfront, Fort Lauderdale
This is a great touristy spot, where something is always happening. At night time, Riverfront extends and becomes a street ‘bar hop’ location.

- A1A Fort Lauderdale
This is the original ‘Spring Break’ area. It is a great location for all ages, at all times of the day and night. You will find a latino restaurant, beside Fat Tuesdays, beside a formal restaurant and so on. It has a little something for everyone.

- Miami
Miami is a must! I love going during the day time and walking down Collins. The Art district is great too.

There is so much to see and do… I haven’t even mentioned Disney!

If you’re looking for a place to stay in the area, I would recommend the Hampton Inn Suites. My parents have always stayed there and they love it. The manager is a Lynn Alumni. The hotel is exclusive, clean and friendly. The location is perfect, a block or two away from campus. They offer Lynn University discounts, as do the Fairfield Inn and the Marriot Hotel.

I think you should give yourself approximately 3 days in and around Boca to get a true feel for the South Floridian lifestyle. I truly recommend searching our events list on our website and finding out when there will be events on campus. These a great times do get a feel for the diversity of people on campus. I may be interesting just to browse through the events list. You’ll soon realize that Lynn is a fun and vibrant university. There is always something to do. We believe that one should work hard and play hard. And the great thing is you don’t even have to leave campus to do so! If you’re an academic and enjoy seminars, work shops and listening to guest speakers, we weekly have people visiting campus and broadening our student’s horizons. If you want to hang with some friends and watch the game – you can head up to our theater area in the night’s court and slip in a game of table tennis or pool, or just grab a bite. The pool always promises to be fun. I often take my books down to the pool and catch up on some homework in the sun. If you’re looking for some peace, head to the library. I recommend the private rooms on the second floor, which you can reserve. I love to escape there, away from the distractions of TV, music, and friends.

Lynn really has something for everyone. The fact that so many international students (from 93 different nations) can come to Lynn and feel ‘at home’ really says something.

I just got back from Spring Break. I had such a wonderful time. A college peer, Laura, convinced me to go to Langerado with her. I had never even heard of anything like Langerado before, however, after much persuasion I bought my ticket and packed my bag! For those of you who are as clueless as me, Langerado is a hippie/music fest. It was held in the Big Cypress Indian Reserve (30 minutes from Fort Lauderdale). It was so relaxing to get away from my computer, facebook, TV, and basically civilization in general! The festival was in the everglades (close to Alligator Alley) and the only things surrounding us were water, alligators, and hippies! We camped for four days… luckily, one of my superiors lent Laura and I a tent (which protected us greatly from a torrential downpour that left many campers blown away!). We grilled our dinner, had to use baby sanitary wipes to bathe (as well as a gallon of water over the head to wash our hair), and had to walk a good 15 minutes to the closest ‘Porti-potty’! I must admit that I had probably only heard of three of the bands playing (REM, The Whalers, Beastie Boys). However, after hearing groups like Citizen Cope, and Spam All Stars, I discovered that I actually really really liked those genres of music. My favorite was REM, I was able to get right up to the front of the crowd… about four people away from the lead singer. I have always loved REM though.

It felt so good to take a warm shower and eat a proper meal though! But I do think that it is important to get away every now and again, get in touch with nature, and remind oneself not to take day to day utilities for granted (i.e. running water!).

From the minute I arrived, I couldn’t help but stare at all the different people. I had never been exposed to this side of America before! There were ‘cowboys’ everywhere, donning their hats and boots! There were all sorts of booths with food ranging from pretzels, burgers, hot dogs, BBQs, and much more. We sat down on the grass amongst the field of camping chairs and blankets. It was actually really fun, but I found the people much more entertaining than the music (although there were a few I actually knew the words to).

When we left the Chili cook-off, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t actually had any chili. In fact, I hadn’t even seen any chili at the event. So, they took me to my first visit to Chili’s to have my first bowl of Chili. It was delicious! For the past three and a half years I have seriously been missing out!

The photo below if of the Gianni Versace House!

We eventually got home (I fell asleep in the car as it was way past my usual bedtime). We had every intention of waking up around 7am to drive to Orlando to visit Universal… but it didn’t quite happen like that. I could blame it on the alarm clock – but I would just be lying. We eventually got up and decided we’d do Universal on Sunday. We headed down to Fort Lauderdale and took a stroll down Las Olas BLVD. We peaked inside the boutique stores and walked right the way down to the ocean. The Intracoastal was beautiful and the boats were amazing. This is a photo of Thomas and Nadine in front of the Intracoastal backdrop.

We returned home for a Barbecue (which in South Africa we refer to as a braai. This technique is handed from Father to son, and is the basic survival skill that every man has to know and have mastered. It really is an art). The next day we had the same intention of rising early and heading to Orlando… but this time it was the weather. So, we instead went to Fort Lauderdale (again) where we visited The Bodies Exhibit. It was so interesting! They actually use human bodies that they preserve through a process of placing the dissected specimens in acetone, which rids it of body water; then they place the specimen in Silicon or Polymer and store it in a vacuum. During this stage, the acetone leaves the body as a gas and is replaced by the polymer. After which, they coat the specimen in some form of catalyst, which hardens the specimen. I highly recommend seeing this exhibit. They have several all over the world, but the closest one to Lynn is obviously in Riverfront, Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale.

That evening we went home and lazed around the house. In the evening we made sushi, which I now realize whilst writing this, sounds rather disgusting after visiting the exhibit.

After visiting China in August, I have really become more interested in Asian cuisine. For Christmas I was given this exquisite Chinese tea set. So, we had an Chinese/Japanese evening. We rolled our own sushi and made hand rolls. We then sat down to a wonderful meal and fantastic tea… all the way from China!

This morning Nadine flies back. I’m back at work and ready for a busy week. It was great to arrive on campus to the buzz of students returning from their holidays, excited to see their friends and catch up on holiday news. The campus has such a wonderful vibe when the students are here. The only way I can describe it is an array of opportunities making their way to or from classes, the whole day ahead of them.

Well, I dragged my poor boyfriend there, who says going to horse shows is like watching paint dry! Anyhow, he endured it, and luckily we ended up sitting next to another South African Family. The show was amazing. It’s incredible to think of the amount of money that goes into that sport. I think most of it gets consumed by traveling costs, vet costs, and general fees! My dad always used to say you should never invest in something that eats while you sleep.

I went to watch the Finals, which was an international event. It was incredible.

So, keep your eyes open for this new Ipulse feature – it should be coming soon!

Oh yes, uploading videos…
Well, for my TV Prac. class I did quite a lot of filming. These pieces I really enjoyed. I chose to focus on things to do and places to see in our area. It was mainly nightlife and restaurants. My Mizner Park piece came out pretty well (apart from the fact I had to duck and dive from Mizner security in order to get my footage)

Talking about Mizner, I’ll be there tonight. They have the Collective Soul/ Live (yes, they’ll be live, but the band ‘LIVE’ will also be there) playing tonight. I’m not actually going to the concert as I don’t like crowds, but I’ll be listening to the music from a comfy, spacious seat at my favorite outside cocktail bar, Gigi’s. For those of you who haven’t been, it’s well worth a visit and they have happy hour from 5 – 7 (2 for 1 cocktails). It’s a great place for ‘Girl’s Night Out’ and their amaretto sours are fantastic.

Let me get back on track….

If you haven’t noticed yet, I have a terrible habit of waffling or getting off topic. It’s just that when I start writing a post for my blog, I’ll start with one topic and then remember another I wanted to write about… and look at this, I’m doing it again!

Seriously, back on track…

Another place I covered was Ellie’s 50’s Diner. This place was amazing, a true blast from the past and the best milkshakes ever!

If you’re an international student, or would just like to experience another culture, The Blue Anchor, is great fun. They have fish and chips, on tap imports (not that I’ve ever tried it), and a great band – Mad Cow. And a ghost…seriously!