FYI Student Blog

Good morning, Terriers!

Talk about excitement. Last night was easily one of the coolest moments of my life… Why? Red Carpets and Zombies, of course.

Ready for the Zombie Apocalypse?

FOX’s new thriller series, The Walking Dead, is TV’s latest buzz and with so much hype the cast has been making rounds for international press. Last night, the heart of Madrid welcomed names like Andrew Lincoln (you probably know him for his role in Love Actually with the famous line, “To me, you are perfect”) and Laurie Holden (The Shield and The Fantastic Four) for a red carpet premiere as star-studded and exhilarating as you could have asked for.

So why do I care about all this? Because I got FULL ACCESS as the evening’s representative for InMadrid Magazine.

The stars. They were happy to hear at least one reporter speaking English.

I arrived at Cinesa Capitol with very little knowledge about what was going to happen. All I knew was that the show was an adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s famous comic series and would be airing on FOX television. Within moments I was being swept through a roped-off opening marked “Entrada Prensa” (press entrance) and being ushered onto a platform decked out with lights, cameras and bustling journalists. I looked to my left and there, maybe two feet away, was the red carpet and photo shoot area for the actors and actresses. What an incredible turn of events.

There I stood, the only English-speaking reporter, with my digital camera and a flipcam… Sort of ghetto, but I was too pumped to care. The best moment had to be when Laurie Holden heard me say “Smile for Boston!” and responded “You speak English!? And you’re from Boston!?” and later asked the body guards to move so she could take a photo with me. I was starstruck of course, but she was awesome, asking me about Madrid and exclaiming “Isn’t this whole thing cool?”

She was unbelievably nice. Hopefully I can interview her one day.

Now, I’ve never been a huge zombie fan, but after last night I feel obligated to be an avid supporter of The Walking Dead. At the very least, I’ve had my first taste of real life in the fast-paced media world… and let me tell you, I’m craving more.

Couldn’t be happier, Terriers. Let me know what’s going on with you sometime (let’s be honest, I’m the only Kedzie on facebook) and keep checking in for more posts. Until then, keep being you, BU.

-Kedzie

Hey there, Terriers!

Lot's to talk about these days. This morning's headline for you...

Psychic octopus dies: did he see it coming?

For those of you who lived under a rock during the world cup, there was an octopus by the name of Paul living in a German aquarium who accurately predicted the results of every single one of Germany's matches, including their crazy upset against Serbia and the team's exiting loss to Spain...

How did he do it? Caretakers at the Sea Life Center lowered two boxes into Paul's tank, each marked with one of the competing teams' flags and a mussel inside. On every occasion, Paul selected the mussel of the team who would then win the match. Psychic? Lucky? Sushi? Regardless, to the disgust of Dutch fans worldwide, Paul "predicted" Spain to win... and they did... Spain vowed to stop eating pulpo (octopus) for months.

SO. Today, Twitter has been clogged with Spanish tweets lamenting the death of the miraculous, oracle octopus. Simultaneously, a muffled cheer could be heard reverberating across the web- perhaps from the Netherlands?

Really? 1000s of tweets about this guy. He really was cool... in theory.

Me? I'm heading out to the nearest Tapería to get my share of pulpo as a mini celebration. Normally, I'd feel bad that something like this happened, but today I just feel... hungry. My only regret is that Paul couldn't have been part of my paella.

So, I wonder, if Paul had been given the chance to pick between a box with a smiley face and a box with crossbones this morning, which would  he have picked? ... We'll never know.

Keep being you, BU!

-Kedz

Buenas tardes, Terriers!

So just because I'm across the pond doesn't mean I don't keep regularly updated on life back in Beantown, so today's tidbit is something that you guys can look for on campus (and man am I jealous...). I'm talking about BU Quidditch, people, quaffle and all.

For those of you unaware, BU has an epic quidditch team. For a little information about how it's played, I suggest you check out the article "Not Varsity Sports" published in BU's alumni magazine, Bostonia. Last year's team, which included me (yeah, I'm a chaser) finished 3rd at the annual world cup hosting more than 20-some teams, some from as far as Texas and Canada.

3rd place. Coming for 1st, Middlebury. Look out.

Anyways, I'm not here to tell you the specifics of what quidditch is and what it's not, because that's something you can do on your own. I am, however, here to tell you about the season's kickoff.

This weekend, BU Quidditch stepped on the pitch to face off against the newly formed MIT squad and the well-seasoned team from Tufts. With a few members missing abroad, BUQ was excited and nervous to see how the new members would handle their first competition... And with much excitement I am happy to say that BU defeated both MIT (110 - 10 ) and Tufts (0-50, 50-30, 50-20 ) in impressive fashion.

After wiping MIT off the map, BU took on Tufts, a team known for their solid tackling who managed to squeeze out a win in Sunday's first game of a best-of-three battle. But BUQ is well-known for a reason, turning the match around and taking the following two rounds in low-scoring, hard hitting drama.

We hit hard too.

This year's world cup will be in NYC on November 13 and 14. Expect another blog from me or Julia about it as the date draws nearer. Until then, check out the team's Twitter, Facebook page and keep an eye out for a snitch around campus.

Keep being you, BU, and get over to the BU beach to watch some quidditch practice!

-Kedzie

Hey there, Terriers

Oh please, that's shorts weather.

Studying for midterms? Oops. Didn't mean to remind you. I'd rather you read the blog anyways...

By now I figure Boston is getting cold- I wouldn't know, I'm guilty of being spoiled by relentless Spanish sun. I know I complain that it's 50 when I wake up, but by the afternoon I'm sweating bullets, though my señora assures me it's freezing outside. These people have clearly never experienced a New England winter.

But enough about Spain- here's a little insight into my first European adventure outside of my host country... Where did I go? HOLLAND OF COURSE.

For anyone who knows me personally, and even for many who don't, my love for anything Dutch is something that doesn't go unnoticed. (Let's not get me started on the World Cup and the resentment I feel living in the country who ruined my dreams).

Bad memories. Thanks, Boston Herald.

Anyways... Literally with tears in my eyes, I landed in my motherland at 10:03am on September 3rd. We hit the Van Gogh Museum, the Heineken Brewery for the "Heineken Experience" (an amazing tour, drinks included), and of course, my favorite: the Ajax soccer stadium.

For those who have never been, Amsterdam is an amazing city and it's easy to survive there considering almost everyone speaks English (Okay, I'm guilty for not speaking Dutch... yet!).

There are incredible statues, buildings that look like palaces, and if there's one thing worth noting, it's the beautiful canal system that serpentines through the city's heart. I'd go back without question. If you go, be the ultimate tourist and take a photo at the Iamsterdam statue at museumplein.

I want to write about Amsterdam for hours, but I know long blog posts defeat the purpose. If you want to know anything else, please comment and I'd love to answer your questions. After all, I bleed oranje.

Keep being you ,BU, and I'll work on some new blogs now so I can post more frequently.

-Kedzie