Summer is here!

Yes, the spring semester is over, and for students like me, its an indication that summer is here. The sun is out and smiling again, the birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming and the deers are out and about running in the wild. As the nature surroundings becomes alive, the Kent State University oddly becomes dead. People are on their summer break, parking lots are empty and there is nobody left in the department except for foreign graduate students like myself who dreading the research work that we have to do and administrative staff who just can't wait for the day to be over.

Because of the summer break, some facilities in the Kent State University are close.  They are temporarily close or their hours of operations are shorter. This includes the gym, which is currently closed for maintenance and will reopen on the 26th of May with shorter hours of operation. But that did not stop me from my daily routine. So rather than going swimming, Paul (my exercise buddy) and myself started the habit of running. At about 6.30, I would park my car at the department, and we would run to a reserve park own by the biology department for ecological research here in Kent. I believe the park is used by the ecology and biology researchers, but it has  a nice trail for the public to use and run and enjoy the outdoors. The trail brings us all the way to the Kent State DIX football stadium. 

Along the trail, there are blooming flowers, and sometimes, we are lucky enough to see a deer enjoying the green during the summer. We tried to get closer to the deer, however, it got scared and ran away disappearing in the midst of the forest. I guess, deers are not very social beings. Along the trail, there are also a few rabbits, ducks and gooses running around. We are not the only ones running though, some people cycle, some veterans walk romantically together, and there are also young couples walking their dogs. Most of the time you see single jocks running with their Ipod.

We usually head back before 8 since it would be almost dark by then. Anyways, can't wait for the gym to be open again. While it is nice to run outdoors, i do suffer from allergies, and outdoor running just make my eyes puff up and my nose clog up. :) So that's it, a short update from me. I know I haven't written anything in my blog for  a while, I have been busy with research work and all. So buh-bye for now...and see you later on my next blog entry.