CAL Day, April 21, 2007

Map of the University of Berkeley. The yellow highlight was the route we took and the buildings that we visited. This campus is so big that it would take you all day to visit and still not cover everything.



Every year around April, the University of California at Berkeley has its open house. My children and I like to go to this event, especially to the Lawrence Hall of Science, the International House and the Botanical Garden. According to the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce "The campus itself is picturesque and eclectic in its architecture. The campus is home to 465 buildings situated on 1,350 acres, including 20 libraries with some nine million volumes. Over 33,000 students (including 9,800 graduate students) attend the university."



One of the entrances to the University. This one is right at the end of University Avenue.





People are waiting for the Cable Car for a tour around campus.



The Cable Car, but it doesn't run on cables (the real one is in San Francisco.)



I love this eucalyptus grove. It is fragrant, serene and beautiful.









Dinosaurs inside the Life Sciences building.





Berkeley campus is very beautiful with lots of trees, creeks and slopping hills.










The Sather gate tower. There are bells at the very top and the music plays at noon every day.


Tents and tables full of information about programs, classes, majors and general info. about the campus and the surrounding cities.








The beautiful Sather Gate.








Sproul Hall. Students like to demonstrate to voice their political view points in front of this building usually during the noon hour.


CAL's colors are blue and yellow.





The Martin Luther King Student Union.



CAL's mascot is the bear, and of course bears are everywhere.








Ned's bookstore across from campus on Bancroft Avenue.




Bancroft Avenue, UC campus is on the left of the sidewalk.



This place is the students' favorite hangout, especially during a football game between Cal and Stanford University.




Telegraph Avenue is right across from the Student Union. Both sides of the avenue are filled with street vendors and stores that cater to the students' needs like books, music, shoes, coffee houses, restaurants and so on.



The Hass Pavilion is a sports building.



Bancroft Avenue leads straight to downtown Berkeley. The city of Berkeley has more trees than its neighboring cities like Oakland and San Francisco, and that makes it more charming, pretty and pleasant.



The most favorite pets in the States are dogs and cats.




We spotted this pony with a little dog on its back in front of the entrance to the spot building, and I couldn't resist the urge to stop and take a few pictures.

Origami Earrings-The Star & The Bell

These are my first origami earrings. This Sao May Man or Lucky Star fold I picked up from my last trip to Viet Nam last year. My niece, Khue, introduced me to this fold. She said that it was very popular with teenage girls there. They would fold and fold these beautiful little stars until they fill a glass jar with hundreds of them, and then give this jar to a friend or loved one as a gift.



These are strips of paper for the lucky star fold. They are about half an inch wide and ten inches long. The bottom strips were gifts from Khue. The top ones I cut out from gift wrapping and magazine paper.


Instructions for the lucky star fold. After so many tries I finally got it. The trickiest part is pinching the five corners to make it into the star.



Here is a heart-shaped box full of colorful lucky stars.











The display of my lucky star earrings.




This is the bell fold. I learned how to fold this from a book called Festive Folding by Paul Jackson. (This picture was in the book.)







Instruction of how to fold the bell.



And this is the final product. I used giftwrap paper to fold this earring. You can buy hooks, pins and beads at the bead store. I also sprayed it with varnish to make it stiff and shiny.

I hope that you would try these two folds and enjoy creating your own earrings.

Happy folding!