Around the World 2022 Recap!

Hey everyone - it's Rei! Surprisingly, it is already late November! It has been cold everyday, and there is only about a month left in the fall semester. In the meantime, last week was International Education Week (IEW) 2022, and various events related to international affaires were held at PLU! In fact, IEW is the official national education week, celebrating the benefits of international education and exchange around the world! 

PLU's International Student Office hosted an annual event called Around the World, which allowed students to travel around the world without having to leave campus. This year, students from a total of six different countries: Denmark, Vietnam, Chili, Taiwan, U.K., and Japan (relatively fewer than past years, sad...) hosted tables and displays to present their unique histories, characters, and cultures to other students. Here is a recap of that event and my hosting of Japan, and a blog version Around the World for those of you who were unable to come to the event. I hope this will be helpful to those who would like to host a table next year! 

Japan's Onsen Culture

Onsen, is the Japanese word for "hot springs," or "bath" which is warmed by the heat of the earth. In other words, Onsens are natural hot springs, fueled by volcanic activity, as well as the resort atmosphere that has emerged around many such springs. In Japan, there are also public bathhouses where tap water is boiled. However, there are significant differences between them in terms of the texture and aroma of the hot water, and the warmth of the water after bathing. The minerals in Onsen water make the experience completely different. Once you try it, you will surely understand the charm id Japanese hot springs. 

History of Onsen

In Japan, there have long been myths about hot springs in various parts of the country, such as the healing of injured animals, and the Japanese people's belief in hot spring was born out of their "gratitude and reverence for gifts of nature." The benefits of hot springs were initially known only to the residents living near the hot springs, but when Prince Shotoku (picture below) took medical treatment at a hot spring called Dogo Onsen, a memorial monument (picture in left side) was built to celebrate his recovery, and the Dogo Onsen and Onsen itself became famous. After that, other emperors and members of the royal family in Japan began to visit hot springs in various regions, and people began to believe more and more in the efficiency of hot springs. 

Later, in the Edo period, more and more people began to develop hot springs as a business opportunity. Hot springs inns began to built in places such as Hakone and Atami, where the springs were located nearby. The hot springs in Onsen inns were marketed as a way to "become one with nature" when bathing in the hot springs, without any particular modifications from the source of Onsen. Hot springs used to be located in the middle of nowhere or in the countryside where the springs are located nearby, but due to urbanization, public bathhouses began to appear in the city, and now some super public bathhouses carry hot spring water. They are well equipped and are often used by businessmen after work or college students after their classes as a place to relax. 

Place to visit for Onsen

Ginzan Onsen in winter time

The retro scenery of Ginzan Onsen is like stepping back in time. In the hot spring resort area where wooden inns line both banks of the Ginzan River, gas lamps are lit at night, creating a nostalgic Japanese atmosphere. It is just like the setting of the movie "Spirit Away." The most photogenic time to visit is on a snowy night. The snow-covered streets look great against the outside lights. Soaking in hot spring resort can offer. There are many cafes, eating spots, and souvenir shops within walking distance, making it an enjoyable hot spring resort to stroll around. It is one of the hot spring resorts I would definitely recommend!

To sum it up, Onsen is one of the healthiest cultures that Japan has to offer, and one that you should definitely experience when you visit Japan! I hope this information has been helpful to you, and below are photos of everyone who hosted a table at Around the World 2022! I am looking forward to next year's IEW events and hope that more tables and visitors will be added. Have fun during the Thanksgiving break while getting a good rest, and start preparing for Finals week well in advance!

-Rei

Japanese Drum Lessons

Study Away at UK! 

Taiwan!

Denmark!

Vietnam!

Chile!

　                                    

3 Quick Tips to Take Care of Your Mental Health

 Hi everyone! 

October is filled with lots of fun, including fall weather, pumpkin patches, and Halloween. But, October also has Mental Health Awareness week, which is more important than anything mentioned above. Up to 44% of college students experience depression and anxiety, which is why I wanted to write about mental health care in this week's post. 

Set aside time for self-care 

I know college can be stressful, and sometimes time feels scarce. But, you should always prioritize your self-care over other things. Self-care comes in a lot of different forms and is different for everyone; for some, it might be taking a long shower, and for others, it might be going to the gym. Whatever it is, you should try and set aside at least 30 minutes a day for anything that helps your mind settle. 

Don't take on too much 

Continuing on the same note as the last point - Balancing a lot of extracurricular activities like clubs and sports might be possible, but sometimes it's not the best alternative. As students, we typically have 3-4 classes, homework, a part-time job and multiple activities going on in our life to the point where we do not have enough time for ourselves, or even sleep. Try your best to find a balance, and if you can't, then you are definitely taking on too much. 

Use your resources

College campuses know that their students are prone to depression and anxiety, and they are also aware that college students are the ones who probably take the least care of their mental health. There are always campus resources to get help. PLU has multiple resources for us, including counseling sessions, a crisis hotline, and Lute Telehealth, where you can speak to professionals. Lute telehealth offers both on-demand counseling and scheduled therapy sessions - on-demand has unlimited sessions, and scheduled therapy offers 12 free sessions per semester which equal out to about one session per week. Find your resources from PLU's counseling, health & wellness services here. 

The PLU health center also offers happy lamps for students who feel signs of seasonal depression. A happy lamp mimics outdoor light, which is especially helpful here in Washington where it gets dark and gloomy around this time. For information on how to get a hold of a happy lamp, reach out to the PLU Health Center. 

That's all for today folks - take care of yourself! 

- Silje

See ya in Seattle!

Hey everyone - it's Rei! It is officially October and mid-term season! When you take a break from studying for upcoming tough tests, think of all the things you can look forward to when you're done. A small post-exam weekend trip to Seattle is one easy and accessible option for us as we are right in Parkland! Since I just went to Seattle last weekend, I would like to share what I did in Seattle and my own ways to explore Seattle for those of you who are planning to visit or may visit in the future. There are some previous blog posts about Seattle too, so please check them out! 

On the way to our first stop :)

Walking around the neighborhood

Unlike the area around PLU and Parkland, the streets in central Seattle are paved and many areas are very walkable. Especially on weekends, the streets are full of pedestrians, some walking with a cup of coffee in hand, others walking with their pets/children. Although some farmer's markets and event areas are pedestrian zones, most streets have cars passing quite close to the sidewalks. Also, there are many cars driving at crazy speeds in the city, so extra caution is required at crosswalks and other crossings. As long as you keep those things in mind, strolling in Seattle is relaxing, and easy on the wallet. The picture on the left is just a random area that we passed through on our way to the first destination, but the surrounding trees were so pleasant that I even felt like I could walk to anywhere. Some well-known nice neighborhoods, such as Ballard, Capitol Hill, Belltown, and so on, blend seamlessly together, while others have their own special vibe. It is definitely worth trying to get around one at a time! 

Exterior of the Starbucks Reserve

1st destination: Starbucks Reserve Roastery Seattle

After we walked around the neighborhood, we decided to have some fresh coffee and pastries at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery! Although the line was super long, it was worth it as we got a Hazelnut Bianco, Dark Mocha, and a Sandwich! As a side note, Starbucks Reserve is Starbuck's rarest and most exclusive selection of coffees. They develop a unique and special roast for each lot and artistically brew, age, extract, and blend their coffees to offer imaginative drinks. The roastery also had a bar area inside, where bartenders were making delicious-looking drinks, both coffee-like and cocktail-like. There are coffee shops with different vibes all over the United States, but this place is perfect for both: Starbucks lovers and those who just want to enjoy a cup of coffee. This store is also a place of art filled with features such as the interior, a huge coffee roasting machine, and limited-edition store goods. It is a multipurpose tourist destination to visit that can be transformed into both a cafe and a museum. 

I got a lipstick and a serum hehe

2nd destination: Glossier Seattle

After filling our bellies with coffee and a sandwich, we walked about 10 minutes to one of my favorite makeup and skincare stores! Glossier is a clean beauty brand that is popular among a wide range of generations. They used to sell their products as an online-only beauty brand, but in 2019 they opened a physical store in Seattle, Capitol Hill! As you can tell from the picture, the interior of the store features pale pink furniture which is a resemblance of the Glossier logo, which surrounds an object growing artificial mushrooms. Almost all of the store has a pale pink ambience, making it a fun place to just walk around and there are spots scattered throughout to take some cute pictures. The display of products was also very well arranged with all products easy to see, it made me buy a serum and lip color. The way you receive your products is also different from other makeup stores, as the staff hands them to you from a post box-like area in the corner of the store, along with a cute pink bag with your name written on it. It is a nice place to visit if you are looking for a cute space or clean, skin-friendly product!

After that, we went shopping at University Village (people also call this mall U-Village). This is another favorite place of mine where you can find a wide variety of apparel stores and delicious restaurants, but it would be quite long to explain, so I will come back to it next time! Instead, here are some photos below for your quick reference. I am only on my third-year in Washington and am not a Seattle trip professional, but Seattle is one of the cities I visit often. I hope this information has been of some help to you in your future trip to Seattle. Midterm week can be as hard as finals week, but it's time to grind and think about your post-exam plans! Go Lutes!!

Yum burger @Shake Shack

    

-Rei 

My trip to Hawaii!

 Hi guys, it's Silje - long time no write! 

In the spirit of school starting back up again, I figured it was the perfect time to talk about what I did this summer, just to hold on to summer for a little while longer. 

For most of the summer, I worked as a commercial Mortgage Loan Intern for a financial company in Bellevue - it was exciting to enter into the corporate world and build connections with business leaders to expand my network! If you can get an internship during your time here at PLU, I totally recommend you do so, no matter what you're studying. But, moving on to the fun part - my vacation. During the COVID pandemic, I wasn't really able to travel anywhere except for back and forth between Norway and the US for holidays like Christmas. So, I was really ecstatic to find out that my boyfriend and I were going to Hawaii! I had never been before, and our trip was booked to go to Kona, Big Island for 8 days! 

Horseback riding in Hilo, Big Island (The brown one in the
back was Kiwi, and she's the one who kicked me off. She
freaked out when a group of motorcycles rode by us.)

Our trip was full of adventure, and we were out and about almost every single day. We went to the farmers market and tried some fruit I never even knew existed (ice cream banana and strawberry papaya to mention a couple), went horseback riding on the other side of the island (and got kicked off the back of the horse), snorkeling (saw hundreds of Dory's), hiked up an active volcano (really hot over there), hiked to a waterfall (really hot over there too) and saw lots of beautiful sunsets by the pool. 

Hike (more like just walking up stairs actually) to the waterfall

  

One thing I noticed about Big Island was that there are a lot of lava rocks there - like, a lot. Big Island has 4  active volcanoes, and we visited Kīlauea which is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. On average, it erupts every two to three years, most recently a year ago (September 2021). What's even more interesting is that the different eruptions have caused the island to grow - just during the last eruption, it added one square mile of coastland - and this volcano alone has erupted more than 30 times in the last 60 years. That's a lot of extra coastlands. 

We definitely had a great time in Hawaii, and hope that sometime next year we'll be able to go explore another Hawaiian Island; Maui is on my bucket list. In the meantime, enjoy some photos of our trip! 

Until next time,

- Silje

Steam coming from the volcano 

The hiking trail up to the volcano 

Sunset view by the pool

No vacation without margaritas

Our view from the balcony (random lava rocks in the middle)

Beach day

My Okinawa Trip in Japan!

Hi everyone! It's Rei :) I hope you all had a great summer! During this summer 2022, I was back home in Japan! Since it's still hard to travel to some Asian countries, I would like to share some of my experience in Okinawa, which is southern-most prefecture in Japan. 

A little bit of Okinawa

Okinawa is a prefecture in Japan consisting of more than 150 islands in the East China Sea between Taiwan and mainland Japan. It is known for its tropical climate, wide beaches and coral reefs, and World War Ⅱ battlefields. The largest island (Okinawa Prefecture) is home to the Allied invasion of 1945, and the Churaumi Aquarium, home to whale sharks and manta rays! 

And here is where I went and what I did!

Scuba diving in Okinawa is one of my most memorable experiences! Many Japanese beaches are dark-colored and not very beautiful (in my opinion), but the ocean in Okinawa is clear and nice! 

Clownfish!!

It was bigger and cuter than I had imagined. We got close to the fishes while feeding them, so we were surrounded by them too. It was very exciting to see the fishes up close.

After exercising by scuba diving, we went to eat shaved ice recommended by locals. The tropical shaved ice with mango and pineapple was a perfect combination of sour fruit, condensed milk, and fluffy ice!

What I wanted to do but couldn't😭

Visiting Shurijo (Shuri Castle)! Shuri Castle was the political, diplomatic, and cultural center of Ryukyu Kingdom, which was established in 1429, It flourished for about 450 years until 1879, when the last king, Shoutai, handed it over to the Meiji government. The castle was built it in the middle to late 14th century. The main hall and other buildings were designed national treasures before the war, but were destroyed by fire during the Battle of Okinawa. The castle is often restored, and right now it is in the middle of a long-term restoration project that will continue until 2026, so I was unable to visit this summer :(

It would take a long time to tell you everything I did in Okinawa, so I will end it here. I hope I have been able to share some information Okinawa! If you would like to know more about this area, come into our Office and ask me about it! Good luck on the new school year!! 

-- Rei 

                                                   

Take a breath, to relieve your stress

Hey everyone, it's Rei!

We are nearing the end of school! I hope the semester has been going well so far with all of you! This is the time of the year where we are all feeling dead or are looking forward to finals. As a student who has experienced three final weeks here, I would like to share a bit of advice with you all that has worked for me in the past.

1. Don't Procrastinate

Without a doubt, my first advice should be about Procrastination. Procrastinating on studying is quite natural and common in college life. Some students (often upper-class students) brag about staying up all night, others go into "panic mode," etc. Some people get it right, others don't. But the harsh reality is that procrastination leads to not as satisfying scores. Rushing to work on a procrastinated assignment or study guide right before the due date is one of the most stressful activities in the world. Keep in mind that time is limited, so start everything as early as possible! Nothing is too early to start.

2. Write stuff down

An ideal aspect for a successful college student has a list of tasks to complete. By writing everything down, you transfer what has been weighing on your mind onto paper. Seeing what needs to be done physically helps you keep track of it; creating a to-do list allows you to actively cross off each item as you complete it. I personally feel so good when I finished my task and draw a check mark every time ✅.

3. Get some fresh air

As a college student, there are so many things you have to do that it is easy to get jaded quickly. Time seems to flow like sand. At such times, just getting up and taking a walk or feeling the warmth of the sun can help you clear your mind of what is in front of you. A breath of fresh air can help you resolve to take another breath and return to what you are working on or studying with a clear mind and fresh eyes. I like to go for a walk on campus with my friends! 

4. Study outside!

Staying indoors increases the stress and frustration of final exams. Especially during these busy final exam times, it's time to change up where you study! I like to study at a cafe, therefore here are some recommendations of some of my favorite places to study where it's not too loud and has some good food and beverages!

• ONIT cafe @Federal way
• Coffee Kitchen @Lakewood
• Garfield 208 @Parkland 

These are just a few considerations to keep in mind during the last week of school! Finish strong!

Until next time,

--Rei

5 Things to do in the Summer in Tacoma!

Hi everyone! 

With summer only being a few weeks away, I figured it was time for some tips on what to do in our area during your summer break! Washington is really a versatile state with lots to offer, and here are just some of them: 

Mt. Rainier National Park - 50 miles away from Campus 

We can see Mt. Rainier all the way from Campus, even though she's 50 miles away! Summer is a great time to take an hour's drive over to the national park and see her close-up. The Nisqually entrance is the closest entrance to campus! There are numerous trails to pick from - if you're wanting a shorter hike, there's the Nisqually Vista trail of 1.2 miles, or if you want the most scenic hike, the Skyline Trail to Panorama Point is rated one of the best hikes in Mt. Rainier National Park. It is 6.2 miles, and if you want some more detailed information on this route, take a look here. There are also different waterfalls you can go to, including Myrtle Falls and Narada Falls. Lastly, if you want some scenic views while eating, visit Summit House Restaurant - Washington's highest elevation restaurant where you eat with a view of Mt. Rainier's peak. Remember: never go on a hike unprepared! Pack plenty of water and snacks, and dress according to the weather. It's better to bring layers that you can take off rather than being cold. 

Visit Seattle - 42 miles away from Campus 

We are really fortunate to live so close to the city of Seattle, where the options are endless! After less than an hour, you'll be in the heart of Seattle where you can explore the Pikes Place Market, visit the first Starbucks cafe, visit the Space Needle observation deck to get a good view of the city, go to a concert, or watch a game! One of my personal favorites is renting electrical scooters that you can find all over the city and ride around - those things can take you pretty far! I once rode on those from the space needle all the way over to pikes place market, parked it, and went exploring in the market! They are faster than walking, more fun than driving (traffic in Seattle is pretty bad), and cheaper than Uber! 

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium -  16 miles away from Campus 

You're never too old to go to a zoo! This is the only place in the Pacific North West that has a zoo and aquarium combined, where you will be able to see sharks, penguins, lions, and peacocks all in the same place. Tickets are only $20 if you buy them online, and spend your day walking around the park, getting up close and personal with wild-life animals. Plus, there is a great view of Mt. Rainier and the puget sound. The park is really close to Ruston Way, where you can walk around and enjoy the ocean breeze after a long day at the zoo. 

Ruston Way Park -  13 miles away from Campus 

Ruston Way Park is one of my personal favorites. It's a quick 20-minute drive from campus, with small business shops located right at the waterfront. In the summer, they have a farmers market where you can buy locally produced items like fruits and veggies, or handmade art. I enjoy walking by the waterfront and sitting down where they have a big art piece on the concrete of Washington State. You'll see street artists play music, painters getting inspiration from the scenery, and people riding around on bikes (that you can also rent and ride along the waterfront, btw). Spending time in Ruston is such a simple pleasure. 

Visit a Museum! 

There is a range of museums available in our area, all for different interests! Listed below are just some of them: 

• Washington State History Museum (9.3 miles away from Campus)
• LeMay - America's Car Museum  (9.6 miles away from Campus)
• Tacoma Art Museum  (9.5 miles away from Campus)
• Museum of Glass  (9.7 miles away from Campus)
• Chihuly Garden and Glass  (41 miles away from Campus)
• Seattle Art Museum (39 miles away from Campus)
• Museum of Pop Culture (42 miles away from Campus)
• National Nordic Museum (45 miles away from Campus)
• Museum of History and Industry (40 miles away from Campus) 
• The museum of Flight (32 miles away from Campus)

A lot of museums offer student discounts, and some even let you in for free - including the Tacoma Museum of Glass. All of these museums have great reviews, so take a look and see what may interest you! 

I hope this inspired you to make some trips this summer and explore what our area has to offer! But, until then - Good luck on your finals everyone! 

~ Silje 

Earth Day 2022!

Hey everyone, it's Rei!

April 22nd was Earth Day! Yay! It is a day to think about the earth and the environment, and to appreciate our beautiful natural environment. Since I am taking the Conservation of the Natural Resources class, I just learned something about our planet, and I would like to share some ideas about Earth Day and how to celebrate the day. The day itself has passed, but it is okay to celebrate at any time, no matter when!

History & Purpose of Earth Day

Earth Day was first proposed by UNESCO in 1969. The following year, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson called for a "rally to discuss environmental issues" and declared April 22, the day the rally was held, to be Earth Day.

There is no set format or rules for Earth Day. Each person is free to act according to his or her own ideas. If you think about the Earth and the environment even a little, and get involved in an activity that you can related to, no matter how big or small, you can call it an Earth Day-like activity.

3 Ideas for the Earth Day

1. Plant something!

Trees have many benefits, including not only keeping you cool (together they can lower city temperatures  up to 10 degrees), but also cleaning the air and producing lots of oxygen. Plant one beside a sunny window in your dorm or in garden in your house. Planting your own fruits and vegetables is also good for your health and saves you a few trips to the grocery stores and reduces fossil fuel emissions. I have fake plants in my room right now because sometimes I am lazy to water them, but I should use this as an opportunity to grow a real plants.

2. Join some clubs!

GREAN (Grass Roots Environmental Action Now) is one of the student clubs that organizes environmentally conscious activities. The club held a special event called "Invasive Species Removals" for the Earth Day. In addition, the club is involved in a variety of other environmental initiatives on a regular basis. The group holds meetings for students on Thursday nights at 6:00 pm in Hong 246A!

📍Birrieria Tijuana Lakewood

3. Appreciate the beauty and wonder of our planet              

    Most important!!               

It is a good opportunity to think about and appreciate the planet and all that is in it what we are able to live on now. I went out for Mexican food (pictures below) and had tacos filled with vegetables, and we realized how amazing the earth is for being able to grow such a wide variety of vegetables!

I hope the information above is helpful! The theme for Earth Day 2022 was "Invest in Our Planet." It can seem challenging to work on sustainability as an individual, but all it takes to make an investment is to continually move forward. Let's use this as an opportunity to gradually choose to be sustainable. And when you feel you've made it, move to the next step!      

                                                                                              

-- Rei

Spring Break Recap

 Hi everyone, it's Silje! 

Spring break ended this week, and while it is good to be back in routines and see people on campus again, I would be lying if I said that having a week off school wasn't much needed... And in honor of being back to reality, I figured I should have a little spring break recap! 

I started off spring break at the Seattle airport, headed over to California for a long weekend! My boyfriend's family lives down there so we figured that this would be the best time to go see them for longer than just a couple of days. We landed in Sacramento pretty late in the evening so we just drove an hour over to Vallejo, and went straight to bed. The first morning, we did a little tour around Vallejo (it was my first time there!) where we grabbed some lunch on First St. in Benicia, Mare Island, I had In-n-Out burger for the first time, and we went to see some of his friends and family to catch up. 

On the second day, we woke up bright and early at 5.30 AM to head over to the Mountains in Lake Tahoe! Lake Tahoe has multiple ski resorts (I had no idea you could go skiing in California), so we spent most of our day up in North Star skiing and snowboarding with his friends and family. It was bizarre going skiing in 60-degree weather - we even ended up getting sunburnt! On the way back, we drove around Lake Tahoe to get some pretty views in before the day was up.         

 On our third day, Sunday, we spent the first part of our day on a Good Guys car show! It was really cool - they had a market with random things you could buy, all from small nicknacks, posters, cool traffic signs like a Route 66 sign, and car parts. On the other side of the car show, there were old, authentic cars from as far back as the 60s. Some of them were original and really well kept, and others were completely redone with new paint and custom designs. After the car show, we went to his house for a good-old game night. 

On our last day, Monday, we spent the day going out to lunch and dinner with his friends and family before we had to pack up and leave (sadly). 

For the rest of spring break, nothing too exciting happened - we went out to a couple bars with a few friends, we went shooting at a shooting range, and took a quick trip to IKEA for some small necessities before school went back into session. 

That's all for now, folks! 

Until next time, 

Silje. 

    

My experience playing Lacrosse!

Hi all, Silje here! 

I haven't talked to you guys in a while! A lot has happened since Thanksgiving when I last wrote, including going home to Norway over Christmas, a hectic J-term, preparing at the office for our new international students that arrived in February and Spring semester. But, good news; spring semester also means lacrosse season! For those of you that might not know, I played lacrosse during my high school exchange year in Colorado and fell in love with the sport. The second I decided to go to PLU, I knew that I wanted to pick up my lacrosse stick again and play during my three years here. This is my second season with PLU and I am having such a great time with the team at practice and games. Since lacrosse season is, unfortunately, coming to an end in a couple weeks, I am gonna tell you a little bit about my experience with playing sports in college and I'm gonna include some sports and club sports that you can look into playing here at PLU as well! 

Headed to Idaho for a tournament against University
of Idaho and Portland State! (6+ hour road trip)

As I said earlier, I played lacrosse for the first time ever during my senior year of high school as an exchange student. They don't have lacrosse in Norway, so I think that is why I was so interested in trying it, and I am glad I did. I was terrified for my first practice last year because I hadn't played in so long but it went well! I remembered more than I thought I would and most of my skills came back rather quickly. Lacrosse practices are 4 times a week for 2 hours in the evening, and weekends are off unless we have a game. During our off-weekends, we sometimes do team bondings: before Christmas, we had a Christmas party together where we did Secret Santa, we have gotten together to watch other schools play and we also had a Halloween party! 

Idaho tournament

We have played multiple universities this season, including the University of Idaho and Montana State University. This means that we got to travel! Traveling with the team is really fun and you really get to know each other better on a 6-hour road trip + overnight stays in a hotel. At first, I was worried that participating in a sport would be really expensive because of the trips but we had fundraisers before the season where we worked at the Harry Styles Concert and the Seahawks football game (a lot of fun) so that we could raise money to cover our travel expenses for our games out of state. The season is coming to an end in about two weeks, but we still have three more games coming up that we are really excited for; one game in Portland, and two home games here at PLU - Wish us luck! 

After the game against Montana State University
(Notice the snow...)

At PLU, lacrosse is a club sport, which means that there are no official try-outs and a lot of the players might be brand new to the sport. There are also varsity sports teams at PLU, for example soccer or basketball, where they require you to have experience and where you need to try out before the coaches decide if you will make the team or not. If you aren't too familiar with sports, want to try out a completely new sport, or have something a little lower time commitment then a club sport is the way to go. Currently, the club sports at PLU are: Men's wrestling, women's wrestling, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse (highly recommend), men's rowing (women's rowing is a varsity sports team here), men's ultimate frisbee, and women's ultimate frisbee. 

In addition to club sports, PLU offers a variety of interest clubs for example business clubs, investing clubs, or even a Rubik's cube club. I always tell new students to look into the different sports and clubs and to join any that sounds interesting because it is a great way to meet new people and make friends with similar interests as you. 

Delayed at Bozeman Airport, Montana

I hope this sparked some interest in checking out the different clubs and maybe trying out a new sport or hobby! 

Until next time, 

~ Silje

Guest Blogger: Meet Tina from Norway!

Hi everyone! 

My name is Tina and I'm from Lørenskog, Norway. I study business with a concentration in management and HR here at PLU. Choosing the right school for your major isn't always easy and it definitely wasn’t for me. Some of the reasons why I chose PLU was because it is a small school and has small class sizes, amazing people as well as all the wonderful places that Washington state has to offer. I've always known that I wanted to study in the states, and PLU is ranked one of the best business schools in the Pacific North West. I noticed right away that our professors are very eager for us to succeed and do everything they can for us to learn both in and outside the classroom. They want to prepare us for the market in 10-20 years, not only what is happening in the world right now. The business curriculum is mostly designed around soft skills, meaning how we build insight inquiries, how we're able to connect the dots.

I had never been to Washington state before, so I was surprised to see how much it felt like home. The nature is very similar and there are lots of Scandinavian stores around the state! My school is located in Tacoma, which is only 30-40 minutes from both Seattle and Bellevue and only 3 hours from Canada. We have beautiful mountains here, like Mt. Rainier. Here you can go skiing, walk in gorgeous nature or walk around the national park. A little over 3 hours northeast is a small place called Leavenworth. This place is a Bavarian-styled village built in the Cascade mountains. On the west coast we have a well known beach called La Push, this is where several movies have been made but the most known one would be the Twilight movies. I've been to most of these places already, and they are all places I would love to show my family when they come to visit me! 

For me studying in the states has been amazing! I have gotten so many new friends from both all over the country and the world. I celebrated thanksgiving for the first time and that was so much fun! I went with one of my friends to their hometown in Nebraska and I got to experience a D1 football game for the first time and see a whole new and very different state! D
uring Christmas I got to see a good friend in New York, and during summer break I went home with one of the girls to her home in Hawaii. So the experiences and memories we create here are so much bigger than just the state your school is located in! PLU also has many Scandinavian students, the school is founded by Norwegian immigrants and we have some professors who speak Norwegian. This is always fun and it helps you stay connected to home. Some advice I would give to you who might think of coming to PLU, just do it! I'm so happy I did and so will you!

~ Tina