The week started off at a cracking pace, with LME being the highlight of Monday when we judged pork carcases. The remainder of the afternoon was filled with shopping, dinner, some sand volleyball and margharita's for a friends birthday. Despite the constant rain, I had a great start to the week.
Tuesday was another wet day, but the weather didn't affect my excitement to see Heather Bruning, my mate from Bruning Farms, Nebraska. Heather and I spent most of the day together braving the rain and ticking off errands, all while enjoying each others' company. After being soaked all the way through, we called it a day and Heather hit the road back to Nebraska. I met up with a few girlfriends to make dinner together and watch a movie.
Wednesday was pretty standard, with class throughout the day and spending time with my girlfriends that afternoon. We again cooked dinner together and watched a movie - it was fast becoming a good way to spend the evening.
Thursday in Beef Systems, we two guest speakers for the class. One of the speakers was a rancher from Wisconsin who is one of eight sons. He talked to us about how to make it work in a family operation and how to accomodate for everyone's individual needs - very interesting! Following class, I went to dinner with a few friends for the taco and wings special night before meeting up with some other friends later on. It's a big week for socialising!
Friday began with my usual class timetable of Beef Science and Farm Animal Reproduction, where the professors continued to teach and entertain. Following class, I met with a few friends to go for lunch and a look around the Manhattan sale barn facility. We arrived to a cute wooden diner where we enjoyed a classic American burger and fries lunch. Once we'd eaten, we moved into the grand stand of the sale barn where we had a great view of the ring (all inside the same building). Much like the bull sales, animals are brought into the ring in ones or twos to be auctioned off. The whole ring is on a moving scale and weighs each animal as it enters the ring. It was really interesting to watch and the only cows, bulls and calves I saw go through the ring were Angus - its clearly got a strong hold in this area! After we'd watched a number of lots, we made our way back to campus for afternoon class.
Saturday morning I was up early to meet some friends to walk the Konza Prairie, a biological station where research and conservation occur. We spent the next hour or so exploring the path on the warm but misty morning and saw some great views of the flint hills when the mist began to clear. Following the walk and once the sun had come out, I met with some other friends for a little round of golf. Although I'm no professional, we all had a laugh and a good time. After golf, we spent the afternoon hanging out before going to dinner together for a nice steak and fries.
Sunday was certainly not a rest day, starting off with breakfast at my friends' apartment. Here, I tried biscuits (scones) and gravy, an American staple, which is definitely not my favourite breakfast! Following breakfast, I was picked up by a friend to participate in tractor testing. The Research and Extension Department of K-State was running a testing day with Mahindra tractors to see where improvements could be made. They needed more females to test the tractors so we spent the afternoon driving various different tractors models, implements and brands to compare the differences. It was a beautiful sunny day and we walked away with some free goodies so I wasn't complaining at all! Once we'd finished up with the tractors, we were back to Manhattan to pick up some steaks and salad before heading to our friends' house for dinner. We all helped cook up a big meal and helped it digest by playing some corn throw and roping practice. A very pleasant way to spend the evening!
