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      <title>University of Scranton - Pattie Vongsoasup</title>
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      <copyright>Copyright 2009</copyright>
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         <title>EXAMS EXAMS EXAMS! oh and a couple projects too!</title>
         <description>AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! This is by far my most busiest semester EVER! I would never think that I would be so so so so busy but since Thanksgiving break is coming right around the corner it would be a bit busy, but not this busy! I have 2 projects, 2 exams, and had 3 writing papers due all within this week. I still have my 2 exams today and tomorrow and one last paper due Friday but I feel like I have no time in the day to do all of this. On top of that I have the Health Administration Society annual Christmas decorating party on Friday to organize so I have all these things to do within the next few days! AHHHH!!!!

I&apos;m really excited for Friday because that&apos;s when a lot of my chaos is dwindling down. I&apos;m really excited for the Christmas Party just because its a tradition that the students do for the Health Administration department. However, this year we are inviting more people and different clubs to come join. We invited the SHRM - Student Chapter Human Resources club and also ACHE which is the Graduate Health Administration club. We should have a huge turnout which is great because I think it would be a good opportunity to meet new students also we are all in the same wing of the building so it would be nice to have it all Christmas decorated. Also its good because being a HR minor helps so I can introduce all the HR students I know to the HADM students. Lets hope this will be a success!

I can&apos;t wait to go home for Thanksgiving break to see my family and friends. Since my parents are finally back from Thailand we can hang out and also spend some time together. Also I got some presents as well so that is always a plus right? I can&apos;t wait to also go shopping for Black Friday. There are some things that I actually want but I don&apos;t have to worry about getting too hassled because I am looking for some new Snowboard gear and a lot of people don&apos;t really snowboard...well at least to my knowledge. That&apos;s another thing I am excited for is snowboarding this season since I missed out all of last year from being abroad. I have a few friends at Scranton who snowboard so it is going to be a good time when we all come back from Winter Break. My cousins are also going to be here for the Winter holidays so that makes me even more excited because I get to see them again this year! On top of that I may be working at Quest Diagnostics during the winter to help out a little bit with some of the workload which is going to be great for experience! 

WOW I can&apos;t believe how much is going to happen in the next few months, I really can&apos;t keep track. All I know is that it is going to be really fun and quite adventurous! Well off to study, I have an exam at 6:30PM! YIKES! Wish me luck!

Take Care &amp; have a good week! :)

- Pattie Vongsoasup  </description>
         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/11/exams_exams_exams_oh_and_a_cou.html</link>
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         <pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:36:41 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>Musical Fun &amp; Tons of WORK!</title>
         <description>Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a good week. This week isn&apos;t too bad for me, but I have a lot of work to do because of deadlines! A lot of projects, presentations, and exams are next week so I will have to prepare for all of this because it will hit me all at once and the last thing anyone wants is stress. I&apos;ve learned in the past 3 years being at the University to prioritize my work and also work ahead of time. It helps avoid the stress and the pile up of work. So the number one tip of advice I give to prospective students is to make sure they have good time management because it is one of the most important things you need to have (besides the smarts!) to survive in college. In high-school I had to do a lot of time management because of all the sports I played, lessons, music, and everything! As long as you hvae time management you will be able to accomplish all the tasks you need to do :)

So next week is Open-Mic night at the DeNaples Student Center. My friend Kevin is hosting the event and he has asked people if they wanted to do Open-Mic night. Me and my friend Rob (he is the president of the Urban Beats Dance Crew! Such a good group by the way) will be doing a couple of songs. Rob is awesome at the guitar so we are so excited to do a second performance at the University. Freshman year we performed for Apollo Night so we think it would be cool to go out as seniors with one last performance! I am really excited and nervous at the same time because I don&apos;t want to mess up. I don&apos;t think I am the best singer, but I am some what decent so if you are around the area come check out all the performances!

This past Sunday was the 2nd and my last Open House! It was very successful and I was happy to see another student from West Orange High School! I love seeing people from my high school come because not many people from every class come here. I hope you all enjoyed the open house if you came! If you did come to my platform in DeNaples (near Starbucks) that was me! It was great to talk about the University but it was so hard to pick the right things to talk about in 5 minutes. 

I hope everyone has a good week! Next week is THANKSGIVING BREAK!! 

Take care :)

- Pattie Vongsoasup </description>
         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/11/musical_fun_tons_of_work.html</link>
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         <pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:08:54 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>Happy Halloween &amp; November</title>
         <description>Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween and enjoyed the extra hour of sleeping because of day lights savings time. I know I did! I always enjoy my sleep so an extra hour was great. Halloween weekend was great! On Thursday the 29th the Health Administration Society delivered the pumpkins and it was so successful thanks to everyone&apos;s help. I really want to thank the help of the Graduate Health Administration students for taking time out of their night to come help us out. It really does show that the graduate and undergraduate program are dedicated and want to help each other out whether it be with different club events (the graduate students are apart of ACHE - American College of Healthcare Executives and the undergraduates the Health Administration Society). In a record breaking time we delivered all 135 pumpkins in 30 minutes. I remember it taking a couple hours but 30 minutes was just crazy! Thank you for all that helped out and this fundraiser would not have been a success without it!

Then it was Halloween weekend. It was such a fun Halloween as me and roommates dressed up as the Seasons (I was summer) and also we did a Boxing Theme another night. I also got to see other people dressed up as well and let me just say that there are were many creative costumes. A lot of people were Jon &amp; Kate Plus 8 (which was so cute may I add) and also my other roommate was Gonzo the Muppet which was also really awesome. My house was also decorated very Halloween-ish thanks to my roommate who loves Halloween. He really knows how to create a Halloween theme house and he made it so creepy it was scary and awesome at the same time. I have to say that this Halloween has been the best out of all of the 4 here at the University. It was fun &amp; I am sad to say it is my last Halloween in college. 

Now November is here and that means it is a month and a half away from winter break! I can&apos;t believe it at all because around this time last year I was getting all my paper work finished for Study Abroad and preparing all my necessary documents and arrangements for my semester in Singapore. I can&apos;t believe how fast time flies and it makes me remember the amazing times abroad! Now that I am working in the Study Abroad office this year I am going to help the students who are going abroad next semester with any questions they have and also prepare them for what is yet to come while they are abroad. If I could, I would so go with them, but its my senior year so I do not want to miss out on it! It&apos;s crazy how fast time flies when you are in college. All I can say to the freshman and sophomores in college is to make the best of it because when junior and senior year comes it just flies right before your eyes. Now its time for job hunting or going to graduate school and I don&apos;t know what to do. I am waiting for my acceptance/non acceptance letter for the graduate school here and that will help me determine what I am going to do once I graduate. 

I hope you all have a great week! I highly suggest that you come to the 2nd Open House on campus this Sunday (I will be standing on my podium in DeNaples talking about the University!) I was suppose to go to Penn State to watch the Ohio State game but all the tickets were sold out! So I am going to the Indiana game the week after! Stay warm it is getting cold out now. Take care!

- Pattie Vongsoasup </description>
         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/11/happy_halloween_november.html</link>
         <guid>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/11/happy_halloween_november.html</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:31:57 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>20th Blog!</title>
         <description><![CDATA[Hello everyone! So, this blog is my 20th blog ever since I started! Exciting right? Hopefully I can make this blog interesting to read, but the past week has been fun and was very very busy because of Mid Terms and homework assignments. Other than that, I had the Safe Trick or Treat on Sunday and also Judo again this week as well.

On Sunday the Safe Trick or Treat occurred in the DeNaples Ball Room and that was so much fun! Clubs at the University can volunteer to have a table with games and activities for the local Scranton kids that they can play and before they come and play games they go trick or treating in the dorms. Last year our table had games that were a little bit too easy for the kids (they told us themselves) and to improve from last year we decided to go a different way and do some fun games. We decided to do a Candy Corn Toss and also Pumpkin Bowling. It was very successful because the kids loved it (of all ages) and some kids even came back more than once. We made a poster for our booth and also decorated our table to make it more festive for the occasion. I was very happy with all the help that we got from the club members because this week a lot of people had Mid Terms and assignments due. In the next week we have our Pumpkin Fundraiser delivery and so far we have 120 pumpkin orders! That is more than double than what we had last year and we still have one more week until we go pick up the pumpkins! I am so excited that we have raised this much money so far and I hope we can reach a goal of 150 pumpkins! One problem, how are we going to pick up 150 pumpkins?! Haha, me and the officers have been trying to figure this out but we are going to talk to our adviser to see if what we can do because 150 pumpkins is a lot and my car definitely won't fit all of those! 

<img alt="Safe%20trick%20or%20treat%201.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/Safe%20trick%20or%20treat%201.jpg" width="447" height="334" />

<img alt="trick%20or%20treat%202.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/trick%20or%20treat%202.jpg" width="446" height="334" />

Besides the Pumpkin Fundraiser, I've been training twice a week in Judo to get ready for my promotional in November. I need to learn a few more throws and I need to compete and earn 3 points to get my green belt but hopefully I can do that. I don't have much confidence in myself with competing because I feel like I am not ready enough but Sensei thinks I am ready for it. I will just have to gain some confidence and try as hard as I can. I really like Judo and I hope to improve in it in the next few weeks so I can get my next belt. I never thought I could, but we will see in promotional! 

The weather AGAIN keeps changing!! This week it is a lot warmer and it is driving me crazy with all the change! Either stay warm or stay cold or somewhere in the middle. I rather somewhere in the middle where its not too warm or too cold but I am sure most people would prefer the warm weather. Have a good week everyone!

Take Care!

- Pattie Vongsoasup ]]></description>
         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/10/20th_blog.html</link>
         <guid>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/10/20th_blog.html</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:22:29 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>Fall Break! Now Snow?!</title>
         <description>Hi everyone! Sorry I haven&apos;t written a blog in a couple weeks. Since break last week, I have lost track of time and my dates are off! Last week, I left for fall break on Thursday and I had a lot of papers due before I left as well. What I didn&apos;t realize was that fall break also marks the half way point through the semester so I am halfway done to one more semester of my college career! How crazy is that? I always say &quot;how crazy is that?&quot; but I can&apos;t help it. It honestly does feel like I just entered college 3 years ago, and now I am going to graduate. I also found out graduation is May 30th! 

Besides thinking about graduating in May, I had a great Fall Break! I got to spend time with my parents and my sister because I haven&apos;t seen them since I have been at school. My parents are leaving to go back to Thailand and Singapore for vacation and since I won&apos;t see them while I am at school, it was good to spend time with them. Also,I got to do some shopping, see some of my friends from high school and also people from work. It was good to catch up with friends from home because we don&apos;t get to see each other very often since we all go to different Universities and Colleges. The next break is actually Thanksgiving so I hope to see everyone when I go back! I may go back home a couple times, but I do plan on visiting Rutgers and Penn State this semester to see my friends! So excited! This month is going to be so hectic, so lets hope I can handle it!

The Health Administration Society Pumpkin Fundraiser is going so well! We have been receiving so many letters that I was so shocked to see how much we got. So far we have about 70 letters and there are still 2 more weeks before we start delivering the pumpkins to the freshman! I am so excited that we are doing so well and this fundraiser will definitely benefit for club events and our trips to different health care facilities! Thank you so much for all the support for the club and all of the officers and members who are making the fundraiser so successful. 

The weather this week has been so crazy! Cold rain and the Weather Channel said that Scranton has a winter advisory and that it will snow from Thursday - Saturday. Oh crazy weather please don&apos;t make us sick and more cold! It is way too early don&apos;t you think? Stay warm everyone have a good weekend!

Take Care!

- Pattie Vongsoasup  </description>
         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/10/fall_break_now_snow.html</link>
         <guid>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/10/fall_break_now_snow.html</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:51:35 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>OCTOBER 1st! = FALL &amp; PUMPKINS!</title>
         <description>It is October 1st everyone! That means fall is officially here and so are pumpkins! This week the weather has been changing from warm to cold, so that means I have to bring out my warm UGG boots, scarfs, and north face jacket! For all the freshman, I hope you know that it will get colder than this in the next few weeks so bundle up! October is one of my favorite months of the year because my dad&apos;s birthday is this month, the pumpkin fundraiser, the leaves start to fall and change color, and of course Halloween! Well, I am not the biggest Halloween fan, but I love to decorate pumpkins and make jack-o-laterns. One of my housemates LOVES Halloween. He is such a fanatic that he&apos;s actually going to Universal Studios for a weekend to go through all the haunted houses and everything. Those type of things I&apos;m not so fond of. Not really a haunted house type of girl, but hey we plan on going on a haunted hay ride so I don&apos;t know what to expect, nor do I really want to know what I am going to get myself into! I&apos;m sure it will be fun, but knowing me I will probably get scared.

This month is going to be really crazy because of all the activities I am going to do and also exams and midterms! I didn&apos;t really have any exams yet, but next week I have a quiz, 2 papers and a case study due. Hmm.. seems like now all the work is piling up but I&apos;m used to it and that&apos;s what you learn in college is time management. On top of those, I have to prepare the Pumpkin Fundraiser for the Health Administration Society because I am the President and I have to make sure everything is organized. The other officers in the club are awesome and we work so well together. Today we finally sent out the letters to the families of the freshman class so I am hoping we will have a successful fundraiser and raise some money for our trips next semester! Also, I am planning a candy cane fundraiser for the Christmas time so we can have more funds in our account.

Besides all the class work and everything, I am doing a lot of fun activities on the side. I was able to audition to sing the National Anthem at some of the Home Games for the Varsity Sports and they liked me to enough that I can sing at the games! This Saturday at the Boy&apos;s Soccer game against Susquehanna will be the first game I sing the National Anthem at! Come and watch me sing! Haha, you don&apos;t have to but hey it would be cool right? Otherwise I am training for Judo and working in Study Abroad and as Tour Guide for Admissions. For all of the students interested in The University of Scranton sign up for tours! I give them out on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in the afternoon! 

Bundle up and I will have some pics up in my next post! Have a good week everyone!

Take care! 

- Pattie Vongsoasup </description>
         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/10/october_1st_fall_pumpkins.html</link>
         <guid>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/10/october_1st_fall_pumpkins.html</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:35:56 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>Has it really been a month?!</title>
         <description>As I am writing this blog, I notice that today is September 23rd. It is practically a month since school started! I can&apos;t believe it because it only feels like a couple weeks since we started. Soon it is almost October and then it will be November, soon enough May will come along and I will graduate. Time flies when you are in college!

My week has been going well so far. Last week I started Judo again! One of the many new things I picked up since freshman year. I recommend anyone interested trying a new sport or something new in general to try it. I didn&apos;t know what Judo was freshman year and I decided to take it as a gym class. Ever since, I have gone every semester since spring of freshman year to Judo because it was something that was so much fun! I didn&apos;t think I would get too serious about it, but I did get my yellow belt and I am thinking about going for my green belt (if I have the time to train!). Even in Singapore I learned some great Judo moves from very good Judo athletes. I miss the Judo club over there because they were really good athletes and they were more than open to letting me train with them! If you are interested in trying a new sport I totally recommend it. For the past 3 years I did Women&apos;s Crew &amp; Judo! Two sports that weren&apos;t really popular as I grew up, but when I came here to the University of Scranton I got exposed to it, I tried it, and I LOVED it! Unfortunately, since my schedule is so hectic this semester I am unable to do Crew as I need to concentrate on my academics. I miss rowing! 

Otherwise, being back is wonderful! I am working also at the Study Abroad office and I have met some of the International Students who are here which is so great! I love meeting new people and its always great to learn about other cultures as well! Well I am off to my International Business class (funny I&apos;m talking about international right?). Have a good weekend everyone! 

Take Care!

- Pattie Vongsoasup </description>
         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/09/has_it_really_been_a_month.html</link>
         <guid>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/09/has_it_really_been_a_month.html</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:12:29 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>AND WE ARE BACK! SENIOR YEAR!</title>
         <description><![CDATA[Hello everyone!! We are finally back at the University of Scranton, going into our 4th week at school! How crazy is that? I am finally settling back in my house and the environment, since I was abroad last semester. Now that things are finally starting to settle down, I can finally start to talk about whats been going on since I've been back to the United States! 

This summer went by so quickly, I couldn't believe it! I worked a lot of jobs this summer because I wanted to make up for all of the money I spent abroad. I was asked to come back to my internship at Quest Diagnostics for a second summer and it was a great experience. I met so many great people, made so many friends, and worked on a volunteer project that focused on fund raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The interns challenged the full-time employees to a softball match and the Quest Diagnostics softball team decided to have a game day to play against the interns and also use it as a community service event to raise money. It was so awesome because we raised just about $3000 and so many employees came out to support and have fun. Many of the Vice Presidents (VPs) and upper management employees who came out to enjoy the barbecue and also watch the interns beat the employees! Unfortunately, that didn't happen because it turns out that we lost 11-4. Yikes, looks like we the interns need to step up their game for next year, but to say the least it was a lot of fun and very successful. The employees said it was probably one of the best things they ever had because they got to interact with the interns and get to have some fun! Below is a picture of the team, not everyone is in the picture, but I sure miss these guys! We became pretty close during the summer and I know we will stay in touch! 

<img alt="summer%20interns.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/summer%20interns.jpg" width="465" height="349" />

Besides work, I also got to spend time with my family, hang out down the shore with my house mates and also see some of my friends that I met in Singapore! One weekend we had a big Singapore reunion in New York City and our friends from Norway, Finland, England, Canada, Connecticut, Boston, North Carolina, Virginia, and New Jersey met up to do site seeing and spend the weekend together. It was so great to see all of my friends that I met abroad again because we all missed Singapore so much. A lot of my friends that I met abroad that are from the United States are from around NJ, NY, and CT so it is easy to meet up with people as well! It was a great reunion in the middle of the summer and it was so weird at the same time that we were all hanging out in a different country! Like I said in previous blog entries, if you are considering going abroad, do it because you meet so many incredible people from around the world that you will be friends with forever. I still stay in touch with my international friends and I would never trade this experience for any other. 

<img alt="singapore%20reunion.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/singapore%20reunion.jpg" width="465" height="348" />

Otherwise, I had a great summer and now I am back for my senior year! My last and final year...it seems like only yesterday that I was a freshman at the University of Scranton. I am very glad to be back on campus seeing familiar faces and friends and meeting new people at the same time! The semester is going well so far and its going by so quickly as well! I have a new responsibilities which include being the President of the Health Administration Society! I have so many things planned for that, I will tell you more about once we start doing our fundraisers and everything. 

It is getting pretty cold pretty early this time of year, usually it doesn't start til beginning of October. Stay warm everyone and I hope everyone is having a good start to their semester! 

Take Care!

-Pattie Vongsoasup ]]></description>
         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/09/and_we_are_back_senior_year.html</link>
         <guid>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/09/and_we_are_back_senior_year.html</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:06:58 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>Batam, Thai Songkran, Macau, Hong Kong, Disneyland, and FINALS!</title>
         <description><![CDATA[Hello everyone!!! I am very sorry for not blogging in awhile. I have been very busy with midterms, finals are coming up, and I went on a small vacation before finals began. I have so much to update you on its crazy! And I also have pictures too which is always exciting too! So much to talk about, where should I begin?

About 3 weeks ago I went to Batam, Indonesia to wakeboard for the first time. It was so much fun! However, I didn't get very far since I could barely stand for 2 seconds. It was really funny watching my friends bust too, but it was a good laugh. After wakeboarding for the day I could barely move the next day, especially my arms haha. Everyone told me that wakeboarding was just like snowboarding, well THEY WERE WRONG! haha. Being a snowboarder for 7 years, wakeboarding is definitely different, but I recommend it if you ever get the chance.

<a href="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/wakeboarding.jpg"><img alt="wakeboarding.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/wakeboarding-thumb.jpg" width="319" height="426" /></a>

Next was Thai Songkran aka Thai New Year. That was great because I got to perform for my class for NUS Thai Songkran Day. I sang a few Thai classical and pop songs and dance on stage. Afterwords we had amazing Thai food (which I miss so much!) and a water fight. Thai Songkran always ends with a water fight as it is a tradition where you splash water on each other. 

<a href="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/thai%20songkran.jpg"><img alt="thai%20songkran.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/thai%20songkran-thumb.jpg" width="424" height="318" /></a>

My short vacation before finals week I went to Macau and Hong Kong with my boyfriend Phil. We went for 5 days and it was so much fun! For the first 2 days we stayed in Macau to do some sight seeing and to gamble. If you don't know about Macau, they have the world's highest bungee jump which is 233 meters or about 1,200 ft = 61 stories!  So, if you don't know me, I am very very very scared of heights but looking at the bungee jump I couldn't resist. I felt that I had to do something crazy while I am out here in Asia, and why not the world's highest bungee? I did it and it was such an amazing feeling. Its not like you are going down a rollercoaster, it feels like you flying! If your ever in Macau DO THE BUNGEE!! Me and Phil played some blackjack and slots, of course I lost, but he won a bit which was nice. We went to the Venetian which was absolutely gorgeous! 

<a href="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/bungee.jpg"><img alt="bungee.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/bungee-thumb.jpg" width="285" height="429" /></a>

After Macau, we went to stay in Hong Kong for 3 days because we heard a lot of great sight seeing places to go to. One of which was Hong Kong Disney Land!!!!  I am such a kid, I just had to go to Disney Land. It wasn't as big as the one in Florida, but that doesn't matter because it made me feel like a big kid again. We also went to see the Big Buddha statue in Ngong Ping which was so beautiful. The Buddha was really big and we also got to see a temple which was very nice. Also during our stay we went shopping in the area, which is always a plus for me and I did some bargaining and got some pretty cool stuff! 

<a href="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/me%20mickey%20and%20minnie.jpg"><img alt="me%20mickey%20and%20minnie.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/me%20mickey%20and%20minnie-thumb.jpg" width="421" height="280" /></a>

After the 3 days we went back to Macau to fly back to Singapore. Since our flight wasn't til very late we explored the Venetian again and we went on the gondola ride which was indoors. It was so romantic and so much fun it made me giggle. Then we headed back to Singapore since we had finals coming up.

<a href="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/venetian.jpg"><img alt="venetian.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/venetian-thumb.jpg" width="426" height="319" /></a>

Again I apologize for not writing for a month. Its been very hectic and I am getting ready for my last final (I already had 2!) and coming back to the United States. Its crazy how fast this experience went and I wish it could last longer. I made some amazing friends and met so many people from different parts of the world. If you are considering studying abroad, DO IT! Consider Singapore, its in a great location and traveling is cheap and easy. You really get a wonderful cultural experience. 

Stay safe and good luck on finals! For you high school seniors hope you chose The University of Scranton. I am looking forward to coming back for my final year! 

- Pattie Vongsoasup 
]]></description>
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         <pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:43:00 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>A Month and a Half Left</title>
         <description><![CDATA[Hey everyone!! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, its been a very crazy few weeks since I have been trying to adjust back to my daily routine since Scott's passing (post before this one). Not to worry though I am doing well and still having a great time here! You know what is really crazy? My experience here is almost over as I am coming back so soon! Weird right? I felt like I just got here and I hate to say it but I am not ready to leave just yet! 

In the past couple of weeks I have been really busy because now it is past mid-terms (I didn't have any! yay!!) and now tons of assignments are due and things are getting a bit more hectic. 2 weekends ago I went back to Thailand for my cousins wedding! It was absolutely beautiful and I had an amazing 4 day weekend again with my family. I got to see my grandma again which is always the best but I was so sad when I had to go back to Singapore. I actually plan on going back AGAIN to Thailand after my final on May 5th for a week with my friend Cathy to explore more of Bangkok and also go down south to Phuket! Sounds exciting eh?

Also in the next month or so I plan on going on a few trips for Good Friday as well as Reading Week (aka Scranton's Dead Week) except I think it is for 2 weeks rather than one. So me and Cathy were thinking about heading to Perth, Australia on the weekend of Good Friday for 5 days if not possibly going to Malaysia for some sky-diving!  For Reading Week I may go to Hong Kong and Macau to do some site seeing with my friend Phil from Manchester, UK since we haven't been yet (and he is a 2nd semester exchange student!) so it should be fun. If not I am thinking Vietnam and/or Cambodia. It is still all up in the air as I am still trying to plan how much time I have! Time flies so much when you are having fun and studying! 

I hope everyone is having a good time this semester. For you seniors in high school considering U of S as a choice of school, PICK IT! If not at least come by one more time to campus to help make a final decision haha! I miss Scranton and I can't wait to come back, but in reality I am going to be coming back for my final year and it makes me so sad because I felt like I just graduated high school and was on my way to Scranton for my freshman year. 

Spring is coming yes!!! Below are a few pictures from the wedding! 

Take care! 

- Pattie Vongsoasup 

<img alt="100_0783%20%282%29.JPG" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/100_0783%20%282%29.JPG" width="311" height="389" />

<img alt="100_0782%20%282%29.JPG" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/100_0782%20%282%29.JPG" width="426" height="320" />

<img alt="cake.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/cake.jpg" width="328" height="492" />]]></description>
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         <pubDate>Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:44:26 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>Scott Jared Monat</title>
         <description><![CDATA[This week's post is going to be dedicated to someone who was very close to me, so I apologize in advance that this post is sad. On March 4th, 2009 (Wednesday), my best friend here at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Scott Jared Monat, passed away early in the morning at the hospital. Scott was my best friend here in Singapore and knowing that he passed away was one of the most heartbreaking things I ever had to experience. I never lost someone so close to me before and hearing that Scott passed away felt like someone was shredding my heart into pieces. 

Scott Jared Monat was a sophmore at the University of Miami studying Neurobiology/Pre-Medicine and Spanish. He is a National Merit Scholar recipient and received the Isaac Bashevis Singer scholarship, the highest scholarship awarded at the UMiami. Scott was such a bright kid and had plans of going to Medical School (he actually wanted to go to Stanford) to become a Neurologist and help people in Asia. He was so smart and had so much going for him in his future. 

Losing someone so close to you is one of the most painful experiences I ever had to go through. There was not a time in the day where I wouldn't see Scott, hang out with him, grab lunch and/or dinner, and study Thai with him. We were always together and sometimes I wondered if we were brother and sister (since I treated him as if he was my little brother). Ever since he passed, it has been such a hard adjustment for me because we always called each other regardless and always saw each other as well. Knowing that I won't get to talk to him or ever see him again is so heartbreaking. Scott was always there for me, helping through any problems I was going through, and always believed in me. He was always happy and loved being in Asia. Trying new things and foods was one of his favorite things to do and that's what he always did (every time in dinner there is always something new that he tried). 

The hardest thing now is actually saying goodbye to Scott. Yesterday I met up with his cousin and packed up Scott's belongings for his family. Packing up Scott's room the other day for his family was so difficult because it was my goodbye to him. Knowing that I won't be hanging out in his room anymore and being in his room without him there was so hard to handle. Being in his room and saying goodbye for the last time was so hard, but I know that Scott is now in peace and safe from harms way. I am going to miss hanging out with him, singing to him, playing with his hair, and talking to him about everything. Scott, we had some amazing memories and I am going to miss waking you up by yelling through your window to come out. We had amazing memories that I will never forget. There will never be a day that goes by that I won't think about you or miss you. Right now, I just wish you were here to tell me that everything will be alright. I know that it will eventually, but right now there is still some pain. 

This post is also for his family and close friends back in Georgia and at the UMiami. I know this has been the hardest for you, being that Scott was here in Singapore. Scott was so happy to be here in Singapore and there was never a time that he didn't mention home, family, and friends. Scott loved you all. His smile and warm presence always lit up everyone's day and he will be truly missed. Stay strong, I know Scott would want everyone to be. 

Thank you everyone for being there for his family for support and also I personally want to thank his friends and my friends here at NUS, the University of Scranton, and my friends back home for helping me through this difficult time.

Scott, you will always be my Scotty Baby (little brother) and I will miss you so much. I love you and always will. RIP Scott Jared Monat

<img alt="scotty.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/scotty.jpg" width="403" height="468" />

<img alt="me%20and%20scotty%202.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/me%20and%20scotty%202.jpg" width="418" height="336" />

<img alt="me%20scotty%20cathy.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/me%20scotty%20cathy.jpg" width="413" height="275" />

- Pattie Vongsoasup ]]></description>
         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/03/scott_jared_monat.html</link>
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         <pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:32:28 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>Sanook Maak!!</title>
         <description><![CDATA[Sawatdii Kha!!! That means hello in Thai (for female!). I hope everyone is doing well! I am back from a great 6 day trip to Thailand seeing my family! It was def. too short, but I will be going back to Thailand for 4 days in 3 weeks for my cousin's wedding! I am so excited! So this post is great because I have pictures from Thailand to show you guys! Don't laugh at the pictures too much haha. I had such a wonderful trip and here is what I did:

I arrived in Bangkok on Friday night and my uncle and aunt who lives near the airport picked me up. I ate dinner at my uncle's house and saw my cousin for a little bit. Unfortunately she had to study for her final exam. I actually went to Thailand at a really bad time because this is when their semester is ending and she had a huge engineering final exam so she couldn't talk too long. Next day I went to see my grandma and the rest of my family on my father's side. It was so great to see my grandma again. As always, she loves to feed me food so that's what she did. She always says, your young! Eat! Oh I do love my grandmother so much. I also got to see some of my other cousins and that was absolutely wonderful!

The next day I left to go to Chiang Mai (which is up north) to see my mother's family for 3 days. That was also a lot of fun because I got to see everyone! Chiang Mai is actually one of my favorite places to go so I was really happy to go even if it was only for 3 days. One thing that I don't like about Chiang Mai are the mosquitos. I get bitten all the time so it was a bit annoying, but nothing too worrisome. I got to hang out with my cousin P'Thuy (Sounds like Pee Thu oey haha) and her friend and I got to drive an ATV and Buggie in the woods in Chiang Mai. It was so much fun! After 3 days of Chiang Mai, I went back to Bangkok to spend one last day with my father's family. 

So the last day before I left, I went to MBK (Mah Boon Khrong) shopping center which is one of the best shopping places to go! I bought so much stuff from there it is great. It is like one big China town except indoors. I had a blast because I love to shop and I got a ton of stuff and I am so surprised I did not go over the weight limit for my baggage =D. Later that night I left to come back to Singapore. I had to come back early because I had a hospital visit today at the Institute Mental Hospital here in Singapore for my class. It was a really cool visit and great experience! 

As I promised I have some pictures below! Enjoy! =) Leave a few comments! Take Care! 

<img alt="thai%20temple.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/thai%20temple.jpg" width="360" height="240" />

<img alt="me%20in%20front%20of%20gong.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/me%20in%20front%20of%20gong.jpg" width="240" height="360" />

<img alt="buddha.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/buddha.jpg" width="361" height="240" />

<img alt="me%20riding%20buggy.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/me%20riding%20buggy.jpg" width="360" height="240" />

- Pattie Vongsoasup 
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         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/02/sanook_maak.html</link>
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         <pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2009 02:49:03 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>Recess Week = 2 days!!!!</title>
         <description>Ah yes, the title says it all. Recess Week is in 2 days! Yay! I am really excited and I can&apos;t wait! I would describe Recess Week kind of like the Spring Break for college. Its so early and I am super excited! It&apos;s so weird because I am so used to having Spring Break in April and I am having it at the end of February. That means the semester is already half way done and soon enough I will be coming back to the states =(. I can&apos;t believe the time is flying by and I wish it would just slow down just a bit! Time flies when you are having fun and studying! Like in my previous blog, I said for break I will be going to Thailand! I am so excited because I get to see my family and I haven&apos;t seen them for about 3 years so it will be a great short family reunion. Though I am not too keen on flying, it is so worth it seeing my family (yes I hate flying! I still am trying to figure out how I got here in one piece)!

Anyways, I have an hour before class, so I decided to write my entry a bit earlier just because you won&apos;t hear from me til next Friday. Next month is going to be really exciting! So I officially signed up for IVP for the Judo club and the first competition is next month and I will be fighting individually and apart as the team. I am so nervous because I don&apos;t have too much fighting experience, but this will help me a lot when I go back and go for my next promotion (green belt). I do need the fighting experience anyways, so I really hope I don&apos;t get my butt kicked too much! Lets hope I will come out alive! haha! I really like the people who are on the Judo club, they are so nice, helpful, and fun to talk to. I&apos;m so glad that I joined Judo. I met some great people and made friends =). 

Sorry that the entry is a bit short... I&apos;ve been pretty busy with a lot of things and being sick still is not helping at all. Who knew that in this nice warm weather I could have a cold =(. Being a bit sick is making me home sick because I am used to having my mom take care of me if not I could go to the Wellness Center for free and get medication. Here you have to pay a hefty price at the Medical Center on campus. Being that I don&apos;t have much money to spare I will try to get better on my own, but if my throat continues to get worse I may just have to haha. I usually don&apos;t get sick around this time, but the weather has been so weird lately I guess it happens! I&apos;m not the only one though, there are some other people who are sick as well. Unlike PA, here it is bright and sunny one minute, the next minute torrential downpour, then bright and sunny a minute later. The weather is so crazy here! And I always tend to forget my umbrella. The one thing at Orientation said was to always keep an umbrella with you since it will be useful for more ways than one. Sigh, I should&apos;ve listened more. I see on the my.scranton that it is suppose to snow again. Stay warm everyone! As crazy as this sounds.. I do miss the snow! Leave some comments! 

- Pattie Vongsoasup  </description>
         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/02/recess_week_2_days.html</link>
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         <pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:00:58 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>Prince George&apos;s Park!</title>
         <description>Your probably thinking, Prince George&apos;s Park.. is that a really cool tourist area? Well if thats what your thinking then your wrong! Haha, sorry I haven&apos;t been able to write because I have been very busy with school work and moving into my on-campus accomodation at Prince George&apos;s Park! Yes, my residence is called Prince George&apos;s Park. Its absolutely beautiful, and about 3,000 plus students live there! It is awesome and I am so glad I was able to move campus because it was a lot more convinient from where I was living before. Before moving on campus I was given an off-campus accomodation which was about a 30 minute travel to school. Now that I am living on campus its only a 5-10 minute shutte to classes which is great! Plus, the shuttle is free and I don&apos;t need to pay for going on two different buses to get to NUS! Its great! 

So, what has been going on right now. I don&apos;t really know because I haven&apos;t done anything too exciting for the past week or so. Right now I am coming down with a cold and not feeling too hot. Next Friday starts Spring Break aka Recess/Reading week! So I get the entire week off from February 20th to March 1st! It is great! My plans are to go visit family in Thailand and spend some time with them. I can only go for 6 days because on February 27th, I have to go do a class assignment at a local Mental Hospital called IMH (I think?) and do some observation and interviews. I am really excited about going because I never really been to a mental hospital and this will definately be a good experience for my major! But, I will be spending a couple of days in Bangkok with my father&apos;s family, then fly up north to Chiang Mai to see my mother&apos;s family. I am so excited but I wish I could&apos;ve stayed longer. But hey, I get to see my family at least right? Plus in March I am going back to Bangkok for 3 days because my cousin is getting married so at least I get to see them again! =D

I can&apos;t believe how quickly this experience is flying by. Being on this experience really makes you realize how great some things are and also you appreciate more for what you have. There are many times when I think about U of Scranton because I really miss the strong sense of community and how everywhere I walk there is at least one person that stops to say hello and talk. Theres not too much here in Singapore, but its ok. A lot of the students are so helpful and friendly and as long as you can find those people it makes it so much easier to adapt. Talking to friends and family back home also makes me a bit homesick too, but talking to them helps me destress while I am here and its good to know that everyone is doing well. 

While I&apos;m here in Singapore, it made me realize how lucky I was to be given this opportunity and experience. Even though its not what I am used to and its not a bad thing, I really appreciate that I go to a wonderful University back home. I miss U of S a lot and while being here and after being here I feel so lucky to go to Scranton. So for all you seniors looking at U of S, please go visit! Even if your not interested go visit and you will understand why it is such a wonderful place. Don&apos;t get me wrong, I think NUS is absolutely amazing! But, it just made me appreciate that I also have a great University to go to back home (for my last year!! ahhh!!!!) 

Take care! Comments comments comments please!!! =D

Pictures still soon to come I promise!!! I have to remember to bring my camera on campus! 

- Pattie Vongsoasup </description>
         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/02/prince_georges_park.html</link>
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         <pubDate>Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:21:05 -0500</pubDate>
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         <title>Bintan Bintan Bintan!</title>
         <description><![CDATA[Yes that is right! Bintan, Indonesia for me! It was the first trip that I had outside of Singapore and it was so much fun! I hope everyone had a great Chinese New Years. I certainly did. Even though I wasn't in Singapore to celebrate, I was with friends in Indonesia to celebrate! The weather wasn't the best, but I still managed to get sunburned and I am super dark! haha I love it! Anyways I want to update you more about what I have done.

Before leaving for Bintan, me and a group of friends went to the NUS Geek/Glam event and it was fun! We had to either dress up as a geek or dress glam and of course, I had to dress glam. Its weird because most of the people there dressed geek and I just didn't want to spend the money to purchase geek stuff (glasses, etc). I am on a budget, but I am certainly not on budget right now! If you do plan on studying abroad.. make sure you bring enough money because you will be spending it left and right! 

The next morning, me and my 2 friends (Cathy and Scott) left to go to Bintan til Tuesday and it was such an adventure getting there. We didn't have accomodations, so we planned on just trying to "wing" it and get one when we get there. We took a ferry to get to Bintan and it was a pretty bumpy ride and it was very windy. Otherwise, it was a lot of fun and when we exchanged our currency we felt so rich because we had 200,000 rupiah each. If only it were in US dollars then I would be super happy! Once we got to Bintan we were trying to find the place to get our boarding tickets to return and there was this one taxi driver who insisted on taking us around and take us to the place we wanted to go to. He was trying to rip us off because the normal rate to where we were going was 150,000 rupiah, but he wanted to do 200,000. We managed to get it down to 150,000 and we got to where we wanted to go! 

Once we got to our place Double yy (pronounced yeah) we saw our other friends and we managed to get a room! It was really nice, cheap, and we had air-con which is such a plus! It was really windy outside and it seemed like a storm was going to head our way. Once we had dinner they had fireworks for the New Years and we sang karaoke, walked on the beach, and had tons of fun. The next day it was just us three because our friends were returning back to Singapore, so we went around all the beaches and the weather wasn't so bad again. Though it was cloudy, we still managed to get sunburned and up to right now, I am a burnt potato! But, I am tan so I am very happy about that! Pictures are below! 

<img alt="n1340880073_30255118_9927.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/n1340880073_30255118_9927.jpg" width="604" height="453" />

<img alt="n1340880073_30255127_1832.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/n1340880073_30255127_1832.jpg" width="604" height="453" />

<img alt="n1340880073_30255141_4912.jpg" src="http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/n1340880073_30255141_4912.jpg" width="604" height="403" />

I heard its snowing again.. the one thing I don't miss! Stay warm and drive safely! Any questions about anything leave a comment! I love comments! =) 

- Pattie Vongsoasup ]]></description>
         <link>http://blogs.targetx.com/scranton/PattieVongsoasup/2009/01/bintan_bintan_bintan.html</link>
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         <pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:01:19 -0500</pubDate>
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