Katie's art!

Hyun Soo's Paper Roller coaster!

Minami's Art!

Kanae's Art

Jin did a whole series of awesome dogs!

Kanae's Art (from Art and Idea Class)

Jin's 3-D art!

Jin's Art--look closely...it's two people kissing in the shadows!

Mewda's Squirrel

Alright, Mewda isn't in our dorm but how could I not share this pine cone squirrel with you! I knew you wouldn't want to miss it!

Minami's portrait

Minami's Art

Julia's Photography

Da Won's Card!

Sorry this picture is sideways! But hopefully you can still see that Da Won's beautiful artwork was chosen for the CSW holiday card this year--a big honor! On the inside, recipients will find the word "peace" in the 6 languages of CSW students: English, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Russian.

Consider this a virtual card, sent to all of you, all over the globe, from the dorm parents at CSW: May the holiday season bring peace and joy to your heart and family!

Weston Winter Wonderland

We awoke yesterday to find the campus covered in a blanket of snow--for the first time this year. Maintenance was ready for it and had the walks cleared before our alarm clocks went off. Sadly, it was not deemed delay-worthy, and we all had to be up at our regularly scheduled time. Tomorrow weathermen are calling for 6-10 inches of snow, so we might get to start our winter break a day early!

Secret Snowflake Reveal & Holiday Party

Tonight was so much fun. We ended our week of secret snowflake surprises with a party where we all tried to guess who our secret snowflake was. One of the highlights was Juliana, who was the secret snowflake for Michael and I. The thing was, all week she delivered things to us saying they were from our snowflake. It was very sneaky...we didn't guess her at all! She even went to the trouble of getting other people to write the notes so we wouldn't recognize her handwriting. She even wrapped our presents right in front of us at our wrapping party last night! With OUR wrapping paper!! haha. Good one, Juliana.

Another highlight (if I do say so myself) was Cheyenne finding out that Michael and I were HER secret snowflake. Yesterday, I told Cheyenne her snowflake person had asked me to give her a present, and then I stayed while she opened it and acted all surprised and interested and said how cool it was. I think that was pretty funny of me in the end. We were actually the only people that hadn't been revealed, so it had to be us, but Cheyenne still didn't guess us. She said "Um....doesn't it have to be Melisa and Michael?" But she clearly didn't think it WAS us. I kept a totally straight face while the kids tried to figure out who else it could be. But Michael started laughing and gave it away. (You're no fun, Michael)

Oooh...and then there was Jane, who had Hyun Soo and made Hyun Soo buy her own present. Jane didn't have time to go out, and asked Hyun Soo to pick up a present that she herself liked that Jane could give to her secret snowflake person. hahahaha, very clever, Jane!

One last highlight was Jofia and Helen. Last year, Helen had Jofia and Jofia never guessed and Helen was so excited to have kept it a secret all week. This year, Jofia got Helen somehow and not only did Helen never guess, but even when Jofia fessed up, Helen wouldn't even believe her!!!

There were lots of laughs all night, and we opened the party to visitors after we finished our gift exchange. It was a great night, filled with comfort, joy, laughter, and all that is the spirit of the holiday season--whatever holiday we each celebrate. Here's to you and yours this season--enjoy!!

Cheers,
Melisa

PS: I'll post a slideshow of pictures tomorrow!

International Theater Company

Sorry it took so long to post these pictures. They are from last Thursday and Friday, from the International Theater Company Performances, which were really clever and funny! Hyeon Jin, Hyun Soo, Jane, and Julia were all on stage and we were so proud of them!

You Heard it Here First!

Our Girls JV team (which is mostly made up of Barnies, if we're honest) won 25-8 against Dana Hall today in an awesome game. Here are some pics:








and some video!

Happy Birthday x2!

Tonight there was singing and apples and FRENCH FRIES to celebrate Da Won and Minami's birthdays. And not just any fries, but sweet potato fries and rosemary fries. mmmm mmmmmm goodness.

Our Yearbook Photo! (take 2)

Funny thing about the yearbook photo...we made this big fuss and took forever to get arranged, and took several shots (including one with funny faces)...and the photographer left. And then...one of the girls came and asked when the photo was being taken. She had run to the restroom and missed it all!! Oops. (she was here a minute ago, we swear!) So...take two, a week later...and this will be the Barn photo in the yearbook this year. (Well, almost. I obviously photoshopped this one, colorizing it and adding the fun frame). Sadly, our dorm associate, Awa, couldn't be here. We might have to photoshop her in later. =)

*Photo credit goes to Aleph dorm parent, Matt. Thanks for sharing, Matt!

KUDOS

Tonight, Kudos went to:

• Emily for always making me laugh so hard I start crying, especially at dinner. I love you!
• Cheyenne for being nice to me when I was sad
• Julia for talking to Jason on the phone when he was 2 feet away from her!
• Courtney for her re-enactment
• Shari...because I love her!
• Jenny for entertaining me during my loneliness
  

Game Night

While some of our girls went to the Midnight Madness Basketball festivities last night (sorry, no pics!), some opted to stay in and get cozy (and maybe just a tad competitive) with some games. There was some group Uno; Shari and Asha played chess; and then Shari, Asha, Rada (and her friend, Alephian Jay) Juliana, Cheyenne, and myself took turns playing Family Feud. It was great fun--until our free trial ran out! (oops--we might have to invest in Family Feud for the dorm!)

Gotta go get the big white bus to take the students' to the movie/mall trip!
Enjoy your Sunday afternoon...
Melisa K

Boarder's Weekend, Part II

On Saturday, the campus awoke too early to pull together and work on our school together. From cleaning out attics and basements, to raking and collecting leaves...it was amazing what we accomplished together in only a couple of hours. Despite the cold weather, the Barnies had a great attitude and really came together. Above, you'll see some of them hard at work...including Jofia entrusted with the leaf blower! Maddie, Courtney, Blen, Rada, Jin, Kanae, Da Won, and Hyun Soo were also in our group!

And then, there was a giant pile of leaves. If you look closely, you might spot a certain dorm parent in there! ;)

Barnies get Hypnotized

This was our second all-boarder's weekend, where students were required to stay on campus. Programming included both fun bonding opportunities, and service work. Friday night, students were treated to a visiting hypnotist who included about 30 student volunteers into a well-attended show (followed by an ice cream social).

It's hard to see but this first picture shows Juliana and Courtney sniffing their shoes. They've just been hypnotized and told that their shoes are an oxygen mask. =)

The video clip shows Jenny, Courtney, Cheyenne and Juliana being hypnotized to believe that they are in a dance contest. Every time the music changes, they have to adjust their dancing.



The last video shows Jenny exiting the stage at the end of the show. The participants were told to forget everything they'd done...but then the hypnotist told them that when they walked off stage and stepped on the stairs leading back to the audience, they would remember everything. It's so funny to watch Jenny's face as she remembers!!!

Barnies on Stage

Briana, Jenny, and Shari were all in the one-on-one dance project, where an older student choreographs for a younger student. I couldn't make it to the performance, so a special thanks to Cheyenne for being the blog photographer tonight! I heard our girls were amazing (no surprise there!)

Sweatshirts are in!

The sweatshirts are in, the sweatshirts are in!!! The girls are all sporting them today, so it's fun to see flashes of golden wings around campus. =)

And, in other news. Helen's birthday was Monday. Don't think we forgot about her!! We celebrated on Sunday with cheesecake, but I was a little under the weather and missed getting the photo for the blog. =(

End of Mod 2 Art Show

As usual, the Barn was well-represented in the end of mod 2 art show! It was crowded in there, so I hope I was able to capture at least one piece by each Barnie that showed work! Enjoy the art show from home....

Minami's Art

Helen's photography

That first picture is of Maddie!

Cheyenne

Again, the camera phone doesn't do this justice, but this photo by Cheyenne had an awesome ethereal quality in real life.