An Update! Finally!

So this time it really has been AGES since I last wrote on my blog! Gosh. I seriously need to take a leaf out of my cousin Gail's book - who updates her blog DAILY. And writes the most awesome-radical-cool stuff ever. She is like so funny, and so hot right now. Hi Gail! ;) Ahem...anyway...I'm sitting with some international students in the Bistro (a gorgeous little coffee shop on campus), with a cappuccino and a white-chocolate and cranberry cookie in hand, ready to write!

As I'm sure you can guess, the past few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind of activity! I have been super busy, with barely a minute for myself (or my blog fans). My internship at the Statesman Journal is in full swing and proving to be a wonderful experience. In fact, I think my first 'real' story was published today! Hey, that's pretty historic. Up until this point I have just been doing short briefs for the business section in the paper. I still need to get my hands on a Sunday paper so that I can read it and actually see my own little name in the byline - what a great feeling that will be! :) The story I wrote was a feature on a downtown business that celebrated their 100 year anniversary in June - they have been in Salem for the past 100 years...in the same family. Pretty hardcore. The business is a hardware and plumbing store called Saffron Supply. It was a great story to do because I got to meet the owner - a lovely man who must be in his late 60s/ early 70s, and his son, and also the staff (some of whom have been working there for 23 years!), as well as some quirky customers. I even got a tour of the workshop area and learned that they still carry brass fittings (or some such thing) - which I think are no longer made anymore or something. So all in all it was really fun! (Dane, you would have been in your element. haha). ;)

So yes, loving the internship - although it is the main culprit of my busyness! I am there for about 12 hours a week, making my days long and hectic. I also went to an investigative reporting conference last weekend with one of the reporters from the Statesman. It was AWESOME! Completely inspiring and all that great stuff. Hosted by the Society of Professional Journalists, the conference took place on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene - a town roughly the same size as Salem about an hour South (I think). UVO is a much bigger university than Willamette - around 20 or 30 000 - so it was great to see the campus, and explore Eugene a bit. Eugene is definitely a more, how shall I say, 'culturally developed' town than Salem is - lots of funky little shops and restaurants, and definitely more young people, so it's got a cool vibe.

This weekend has been Parent/Family weekend at Willamette, and so there have been all kinds of things on the go. One of these 'things' was the Jazz Night on Friday evening - at which the Willamette Singers performed. Hooray! It was absolutely fantastic! We were dressed to the nines (all the girls wearing the same dress and shoes! yes, you heard right - talk about a co-ordination nightmare. And the guys wearing the same shirts - probably a lot easier to co-ordinate!) and looked pretty darn gorgeous (if I may say so myself...for the ladies: us girls were wearing LBDs and sizzling hot red heels). We sang a great programme and all in all had a super concert! (grrr...blogspot doesn't like the way I'm spelling programme! Since I've started writing for a newspaper, I've had to adopt American spelling - shock! horror! - please don't disown me family! So I'll take what little victories I can get. Programme! Programme! Programme! Programme!) Ha.

Otherwise there is not all that much activity to report on - I really have been that busy with work (for school), work (at my internship) and work (at my on-campus job in the theatre box-office)...all in all a lot of work! And then of course all the partying and general antics that one gets up to as a student. :) The weather has actually been holding out beautifully the past few weeks (for the most part), with this weekend being particularly gorgeous. Chilly air but stunning sunshine and clear blue skies - I'm savouring it as much as possible before the rains come! Apparently they stick around until March...ouch.

I hope that all YOU wonderful and good-looking people are doing well. I miss you all a lot - really and truly! (Well, not those of you who are in the States and I see on a regular basis...obviously I don't miss you guys. duh).

Here's to another week! Who knows what it might hold?

Lots of Love!

Hanna Beeeeeeeeeeee