This week the office of Graduate Student Services hosted a wine tasting event. It was free of charge to grad students here, needless to say myself and several of my classmates took part in that.

A professional wine taster came and gave us a lesson on tasting wine. We also learned what types of wines pair well with what types of foods. We were able to taste four different kinds of wine with different types of food.

It was a nice way to ease some of the stress of school. This past week we had a midterm in my Student Affairs functions class. This week we have a paper due and several "reading cards" in another class. It is getting to be that point in the semester where we have a lot of work to do, both academically but also with our assistantships. I don't mind the busyness so much, since it means that the end of the semester is quickly approaching. I need Christmas break!!! With that said it's back to school work for me.

This weekend was the first huge home game of the football season. A&M played in-state rival Texas Tech and from what I read on ESPN it was a pretty decent game. Myself and my fellow cohort members had ambitious plans to tailgate and attend the game. Those of us who participated in at least part of it had a really interesting time.

Tailgating in Texas is different than in KY/TN (or really anywhere else in the country). Here most folks tailgate after the game, but those of us who were from places where you wear sweatshirts and coats to football games wanted a taste of home- therefore, we tailgated before the game. Bad idea. Well, maybe the part where we parked on the top level of a parking garage was the bad idea. Either way, I've got one heck of a bad sunburn on one arm to show for it.

I am not totally sure why people seem to tailgate after the game here. I do think, however, it has to do with one of two things- first, it's so freaking hot that you have to do it after the game otherwise you'll be too exhausted to make it through the entire game; secondly, you get drunk after the game to forget how bad your team is. I'm not sure which it is. My dad tells me it must be the heat, because at KY games they don't tailgate aftewards and the Wildcats are worse than the Aggies. He makes a good point.

The game was ok. My friend Kate and I left with like 10 minutes left in the first half. Here folks who are like us are considered 2%ers, however, I don't think we qualify for 2%. I feel like 2%ers at least watch the band before they leave the game. Maybe we are like 1.5%ers. After watching about 7 girls being carried up from the stands to the EMS units because they had passed out from the heat, we opted to leave before we became a statistic. It was hot! And, standing for three hours is not the most pleasant thing in the world. So, we left, went home and took a nap. That's the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

That evening my friend and fellow grad student, Katie, took me country dancing with some of her friends from Dallas. That's right folks, I learned how to two-step. It was rather fun, but I can't say that I'm any good at it. I had thought that country dancing was the similar to line dancing, but I quickly learned that it is not the same. Although I am not a very good dancer, I really enjoyed myself and had a great time. Hopefully we'll be going again soon.