One down, one to go.

Hiyo all, tis DW again.  It is hard to believe that I have been in Salt Lake City for a month.  Even more shocking to me is that in just over 3 weeks I'll be relocating to Japan.  Once again this will be more of a parade of pictures than a narrative, but hey pictures are pretty so deal with it :).

So, last we chatted I had gone through a little more than half of the first course in the Summer Vocology Institute.  To  keep us from holing up in our rooms rocking back and forth while cursing Bernoulli's name, Dr. Titze had us all over to his swanky abode for a potluck / barbeque, complete with hike and impromptu concert.

The view from the top of Ensign Peak which was a short hike from the house.

Nothing says party like accordion

This was the view from the backyard . . . it's a  hard life

Who knew a game with terms like shuttlecock could look so fierce?

As you can see I shaved off the chops to avoid a mutton tan-line, and feeling thus
emasculated decided to complain about women in Italian.

The whole cohort for the first block.

Two tests and a bajiolliondy flashcards later the first block came to a close, and for the first time since arriving here in Salt Lake City we were actually able to relax for a few days.  In my case this means raising a glass with a few of my new friends and eating too much.

This was a nice Belgian Golden Ale that the brewpub we ate at makes.

You'll notice that the beer in the above pic is bottled.  You might assume that means it was brought in from somewhere other than the establishment I was eating at . . . you'd be wrong.  This is one of several very odd liquor laws here in Utah.  The first liquor law you encounter is that it is illegal at any place which is not strictly a bar for you to buy alcohol without also buying food.  The second is that it is illegal to have any beer on tap which is greater than 3:2.  Yep.  Thankfully industrious brew-pubs such as Squatters bottle some of their beers which allows them to push that limit up to normal beer levels.

The next week marked the start of the second block of the program.  This time it involves two simultaneous courses: Voice Habilitation, and Instrumentation.  The former is putting into practice many of the abstracts discussed in the first block, while the latter feels like a mix of a clinically focused research course and exposure to different tools which can be used for assessment.  One nice change of pace is that the courses for this block are held downtown at the NCVS offices.

The building where class is held, swank no?

The entrance to the suite.

The door is guarded by Pavarobotti, he may be a synthetic tenor, but he is
an unflagging greeter.

I'm growing increasingly adept at writing on my lap.

Apart from escaping the University for a while, the break in between the two courses each day has offered a bit of time to explore downtown, hang out with friends . . . and eat stuffs.

The lightrail the Trax runs right by the building.

Friends!

This is a beautiful new mall called City Creek Center.  The roof can be
completely retracted and there are actually trout in the little stream.

Breaktime relaxation with friends by the waterfall.

FOOOOOOD.

ok, so this wasn't downtown nor during lunch, but I was tremendously
excited to see katsudon on the menu at a local Japanese place so I
wanted to share the pic :).

This was a half of a pastrami on rye . . . it was bigger
than my head.

There is a delightful German deli just down the street from the office, I mean
who doesn't like Wienerschnitzel and Spaetzle?

 Outside of class a good size group of us got together to celebrate the 4th.  In spite of a lack of libations to aid the celebration we had a good time with some food, frisbee, and of course fireworks.

I never remember to take a picture of the spread before
it gets decimated by the hungry masses.

For once it wasn't ridiculously hot so moving around outdoors
was actually a possibility.

We hiked a fair way up the hill behind the dorms for a good vista for firework watching.

waiting for sunset and the start of festivities.

I personally think this view tops the fireworks :)

They look so teensy from this far away!

It wasn't really possible to capture it (at least with my camera skills), but the best part of the fireworks was the fact that we could see the whole city, so every firework that went off was visible to us.  It was nonstop for more than an hour.

Well that is pretty much all for now.  I will be writing my last installment from SLC in two weeks, so let me know if there is something you want pictures of!

Thanks, as always, for reading, and don't forget to feed the fish!

DW