STATESIDE



I have arrived safely in the US, and am getting settled at my "headquarters" in Cincinnati. This quarter seems to hold much in store, including a studio project sponsored by Proctor & Gamble. The topic is disaster relief; it's very motivating to design for such a poignant area. In more lighthearted news, the scooter has been awakened from her slumber, cleaned up, fuel lines cleared, gassed up (all time high: $3.96 to fill er up!) and will be taken out for her first autumn ride tomorrow morning...it's good to be home.

χαιρετισμοί από την Ελλάδα!



Well, with a few days left before classes start in Cincinnati, I thought I would take the opportunity to visit my mother at her new flat in Athens, Greece. Of course, flying directly from Hong Kong to Athens would be too easy (and too expen$ive!) and so I opted for a more circuitous route from Hong Kong, to Seoul, to San Francisco, to Cincinnati, to New York, to Athens. See how much fun flying 3/4 of the circumference of the Earth can be?

Greece is amazing, simply stated. What a culture shock from Hong Kong! Athens, a large city of 4 million people, has almost no buildings over 5 storeys tall, and the landscape is composed of dusty hills speckled with shrubbery and olive trees - a far cry from the urban and natural jungles of HK! It has been fantastic to see my mom (and my brother flew out, as well), and the architectural historian inside is just bursting with joy to see and touch the ruins I studied so long ago. Tomorrow we head out to Mykonos for an island vacation, and I'll be returning to Cinci on Sept 19th just in time for school.

See Cinci soon! Missing HK!

NATE WREAKS HAVOC (or nearly so)



In honor of my illustrious birth, the US National Hurricane Center has named this year's 15th Hurricane after yours, truly. In light of the recent disaster caused by my predecessor, Katrina, I have spared the happy inhabitants of Bermuda my wrath. Let this be a warning!

(thanks for tracking my activity, Tex!)

PHOTO UPDATE

Success! Photos from my crazy double birthday weekend have been uploaded to my online photo album. Click below and enjoy!

http://ngiraitis.myphotoalbum.com