"When I am sad, I stop being sad and become awesome instead. True Story."

Yes. Yes I am in tears. Who wouldn't be? I loved her. I took her on dates every Saturday. No matter the time. I stalked her online. I studied her every move. And then one weekend I let you go off to Charlottesville, Virginia alone, you betray my love. You took my heart and tossed it on the floor. What is more even humiliating, you did this with someone who isn't even in the top twenty five! And now when BCS ranks you, I hope you get left off their list. Forget you Georgia Tech football, I promise you, you won't be missed!

But I am kidding. I still got love for my Yellow Jackets, but a loss to the Cavaliers this past weekend was a definite blow. We were number 12, now what will we be?! Well, at least we're still the number 24 university in the world (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/top-400.html). But this weekend of football has just been

depressing. As I have said previous in my last post, I went to Raleigh, North Carolina to watch the Yellow Jackets take on the Wolfpack and it was an amazing experience.

We spent a night packing over thirty people into our friend's home before heading to UNC Chapel Hill to check out their popular Franklin Street. We had a great time just roaming the streets and checking out the nightlife that Franklin Street boasts. Away games. So much fun.

So as a Peer Leader (an upperclassmen living with the freshmen in the residence halls that serve to assist them academically and socially), I have been reliving freshmen year. This is how we celebrate birthdays on my hall:

Working as a PL on the hall is a tough job. It is easier when your hall clicks but with all the things going on in everybody's lives, we can't all have the time to "click." So, here is a request to those who plan to come to Tech, HANG OUT WITH YOUR HALL. That is all.

Now, you may be wondering why I haven't spoken about the arduous classes of Georgia Tech. Well, you have to remember that I am still currently carrying out my "school-free plan." I am still a co-op for The Coca-Cola Company. Still having the time of my life. Still be AWESOME. You might be asking, "What is an awesome mechanical engineer like you Lishan do at The Coca-Cola Company?" Well, I work in the Equipment Engineering Department and I have had the chance to work with the new Freestyle dispenser that you may or may not have seen at

restaurants these days. I worked on the commercialization team for this 125-drink bad boy before that team got moved to another department. Now, I currently work with designing an experiment to test certain factors in CO2. Yeah, real nerdy things. Oh, and remember that giant tarp and light show that was on the Coke building back in May? Yeah, my idea.

But you may be wanting an update on my finger. yes, I believe it is still broken and definitely still crooked. Have you guys ever had acupuncture?

Yes, this was a lot of fun.

For next time: How to become awesome like me.

Fall Break is awesome. Unless you are a co-op.

Exploring Abroad

So I guess it's been a while since my first post, but I wanted to take the chance to update you about my life at Georgia Tech Lorraine and tell you some of the things I've learned about myself

while "getting lost" in Europe.

Exploring the Coliseum this weekend in Rome

The greatest thing about being here at Georgia Tech Lorraine is the freedom to explore and go anywhere I want. It means that on a whim I can jump on a train to Berlin and stand at the wall, I can go to Rome and throw coins in the Trevi Fountain and I can order snails in the Latin Quarter in Paris. These are cities older than our entire country and places with a wealth of things to do and see. I love the sights and the sounds of each place, but I also love that they change each weekend. It's as if I am taking an introductory course of Europe. One weekend at a time, I'm going to "fill in" all the dark places on my map.

King Wenceslas Square in Prague, Czech Republic

I like being challenged and I like the breadth of experience that comes with being here. Simple, everyday tasks become less mundane and in some cases, quite a challenge. I don't mean to be the simple American, but unfortunately, I am only gifted in the language of English. That tends to be okay in Germany, Switzerland and France--countries that have heavy amounts of interaction with English speakers, however, in the Czech Republic, it's a little different story. First of all, though the Czech Republic is part of the European Union, they are not on the Euro. Upon our arrival in Prague, I immediately noticed a can of Coke on sale for a whopping 32 CZK. Fortunately for us, that equated to about $2 USD--it's still pretty cool to glance at our dinner bill and see that we spent two-thousand, five hundred dollars on dinner...

This whole experience and atmosphere has also made me appreciate the little things that we have in the United States--free bathrooms and free refills most importantly! How Europeans approach their day is completely different--there is no rush, just efficiency and everyone takes public transit EVERYWHERE. The culture here is unique in every single country and I love being able to immerse myself in a different experience every weekend. When I do graduate, somewhere in the near future, I plan on looking for a country that is internationally focused, that has offices all over the world.

Helping to guard Prague Castle

My experience so far has really just opened my mind to a lot of possibilities that I hadn't really considered. I came in to Tech thinking that I would probably want to work in Atlanta, but after my experiences here, I know that I could be comfortable living and working anywhere. I'm sure by the end of the semester I will have opened my mind even more to other opportunities and I really can't wait to see what those might be.

The sun is slowly coming up and I'm getting ready for my last day of class of the week. I'm off to Cinque Terre this weekend to explore some of Italy's beautiful coast. Let me know if you have any questions (patrickrucker@gatech.edu) and I will be more than happy to answer them!

Ciao for now!