Travel

• drove across the country with my family
• went to 28/50 states (I think that number is correct...)
  • visited several National Parks/Monuments
    • The Grand Canyon (AZ)
    • Yellowstone (MT/WY)
    • Yosemite (CA)
    • Sequoia (CA)
    • Redwood (CA)
    • Arches (UT)
    • Zion (UT)
    • The Badlands (SD)
    • Bryce Canyon (UT)
    • Crazy Horse Memorial (SD)
    • Mt. Rushmore (SD)
    • Devil's Tower (WY)
    • Custer (SD)
    • Four Corners (AZ, NM, UT, CO)
    • The Great Salt Lake (UT)
    • Niagara Falls (NY)
    • Grand Teton (WY)
    • Mesa Verde (CO)
    • Gateway Arch (MO, IL)
  • went to Las Vegas, stayed in a hotel on the strip
  • went to the Mall of America
  • went to Disney World
  • went to New Orleans on Halloween
  • visited Hershey, Pennsylvania (the chocolate factory and the amusement park)
  • New York City
    • went to Central Park
    • saw a Broadway show
    • saw the Statue of Liberty
    • visited Ellis Island
    • went in the Empire State Building
    • visited MoMA (not for long enough though!)
  • Boston
    • went to the ballet (the Nutcracker, Don Quixote)
    • went ice skating on Frog Pond
    • stayed in the Parker House
      • ate at the table where JFK proposed to Jackie
      • saw Charles Dickens' mirror
    • stayed at the Copley Plaza
    • saw several shows
    • went shopping on Newbury Street
    • shopped in Faneuil Hall
    • visited the Museum of Science
  • Chicago
    • went to college (undergrad)
    • saw comedy shows (TMLMTBGB)
    • visited the Museum of Science and Industry
    • biked and ran to Navy Pier
    • visited the Art Institute of Chicago
    • went to the Bean
    • went on the river boat architecture tour
• visited 4 other countries
  • Canada
    • had lunch
  • Mexico (1999)
    • went snorkeling
    • saw a trapeze show
  • China (2009)
    • Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Shengzi
    • hiked the Great Wall (and sled down it)
    • walked through Tiananmen Square
    • visited the Forbidden City
    • visited Tiger Hill
    • walked on the Bund at night
    • visited Sun Yat Sen's house
    • visited two (middle) schools
    • stayed with a Chinese family
    • rode in a rickshaw
    • ate a chicken's foot
    • went to a night market
    • did calligraphy
    • saw an acrobat show
    • ate Peking Duck
  • France
    • rowed on the Marne River in Joinville
    • stayed at a home-stay/apartment in Joinville
    • rowed on the Seine in the Traversee de Paris (34k)
    • visited the Eiffel Tower and rode the carousel near it
    • visited the Louvre
    • visited the National Library
    • visited the lock bridge
    • visited Montmartre and Moulin Rouge
    • visited the Notre Dame
    • ate crepes and quiche and caviar and macarons and drank le cidre and french coffee and lots of wine and champagne

Nature/Outdoor Activities

• been camping
  • done a solo camp-out
• hiked Mt. Cardigan (NH)
• gone on a canoe trip (3 days, 2 nights)
• gone white water and ocean kayaking
• gone ocean waterskiing/tubing
• taken horseback riding lessons
• gone alpine skiing in 3 states (NH, VT, ME)
• nordic skied in 4 states (NH, VT, ME, MA)
• tried to learn how to snowboard
• learned how to ice skate
• gotten my SCUBA certification (60 ft)
• gotten certified as a lifeguard
• done a polar bear swim in the ocean
• gone rock climbing (indoor and outdoor)
• mud wrestled

Athletics

• learned how to play tennis
• did gymnastics (as a kid)
• played a soccer game
• played a softball game
• run a 5k cross-country race
• nordic skied a 5k race
• rowed 2k, 5k, 6k races
• pulled sub-8 minutes on a 2k (erg)
• raced in the Head of the Charles Regatta
• ran a half marathon (Chicago)
• been to a baseball game (Red Sox, Fenway)
• been to a basketball game
• been to a hockey game

Music/Dance

• learned to play the piano (6 years)
• learned to play the clarinet (3 years)
• took ballet lessons for 6 years (made it to pointe)
• acted/sung in 3 musicals
• sung in my high school's regular and select choirs
• auditioned for the All State Choir
• taken voice lessons
• sung by myself in front of a large crowd (350+)
• been to a concert (Rush, 2008)
• learned basic Salsa, Cha-Cha, and Waltz
• been to a square dance

Academics

• learned some Mandarin Chinese
• learning Russian
• learning French
• started to teach myself German
• fairly proficient in Latin and Attic Greek

Miscellaneous

• ridden a camel at the Minnesota Zoo
• been an assistant projectionist and projectionist at my school's film society
• used a pottery wheel
• sculpted a glass flower at the Corning Glass Museum
• started a collection of decks of cards
• donated blood
• ridden a Segway