Yooopieee!!!

It all began with the Bower house trip, 10 kids, adventurous and sporty, and as i soon discovered friendly and lovable, set out on a trip to the upper peninsula. It was supposed to be a 5 day trip, in which we explored the northern and colder part of the state, we would camp, make music, participate in winter sport, enjoy snow. For me the trip meant, getting to know my house mates better, strike some new friendships (that i was unable to at Bower thanks to my amazingly busy grad-schedule), experiencing their family life and knowing their culture, challenge nature (i was going to a cold place in the coldest part of the year) and yeah, conquer my fears, try to find some meaning in my life in the woods... to sum up - Explore.
It was a good enough goal to start with, but i think i got more than i expected.
Warm welcome in the freezing winter, 'Sangriya' and a fire, lengthy talks ranging from topics like ecological imbalance to god and religion and robotics, parents participating in their son's musical composition, a hunter sharing stories of how he killed a deer who's head hung on the wall in the dining room, caring friends skiing slowly beside me as I slid or rather kept falling up and down the slopes of Tawas city, pure laughter filling the warm dining table at Marquette, or people huddled in their sleeping bags in the living room of a good hearted hostess. I experienced the music that came out of so many various instruments from all over the world and transcended all boundaries, a river so frozen that even the thought of falling into it made me tremble, the beauty and harshness of nature and the will of man to defy it, the love of a young girl for her hometown, the camaraderie between old school friends, a dad making sandwiches for his son's friends and guys and gals reading poetry to each other. Skiing, sledding, trekking, falling(for me), people cheering for things while high on booze and bonhomie...
We all shared the love and the bliss of the peninsula, and I remember feeling like a family by the end of the glorious 5 days. Thank you UP and UPers of making the whole experience so so special.