Hello Hotlanta

Nine days. 6,500 fencers. 100 events. I saw more fencing at the USA Fencing Summer National Championships in Atlanta than I will probably ever see for the rest of my life combined. It was a great experience. I was able to see a new city, hang out with some old friends and yeah, watch a lot of fencing. The beeping of the electronic scoreboards still rings in my ears. I was able to leave the competition venue to visit the CNN headquarters (see Sanjay Gupta above), taste Coke products from around the globe at the World of Coca-Cola and experience Atlanta nightlife with a fellow Central Catholic alum.

Since returning from Atlanta, I spent one productive day in Fort Worth, where I walked around my future campus (TCU), met one of my future professors (Advertising and PR) and signed the lease on my future residence (an efficiency!). The day has got me excited to start a new chapter of my life in Cow Town. Last weekend, I was in Pittsburgh, spending time with my girlfriend and very large and very Italian family. We went to the small town of Crabtree, PA to watch fireworks and gamble by night and to witness dynamite explode and process with the statue of Mary by day. I'll explain later.

I leave for the Youth Olympic Games in less than three weeks. Until then, I have to pack for both Singapore and Fort Worth. I probably ought to do some research on the Southeast Asian country I'm about to live in for three weeks.

Singapore tidbit: Singapore is a city-state (it's own country) with a population of 5 million.