Apparently it’s already mid-term week here at Duke…and I just thought I randomly had a lot of tests and papers. So, I decided to take a break from this “busy” schedule to speak about something that happened to me last night. Before a Thursday Improv performance, one of the sophomore (not sophomoric) guys in the group said that he couldn’t wait for Friday’s step show. He’s an Asian hip-hop dancer and said that the annual step show is amazing and a must-see. Now my fellow DUI members have become my “brothers” and I look to them for “advice.” So, I decided I’d check out the step show on Friday night at 8. Little did I know what I was getting myself into.
I arrived at 8 to the show, which was being held in the largest auditorium on campus. Tickets were $10 but I figured it would be worth it. As I took my seat in the theater I began to realize that I was a bit out of place. I hadn’t noticed until I opened the program that the step show was put on by all the black fraternities on campus. I looked around a saw I was 1 of only 3 white guys in attendance. I sat next to a guy from my dorm floor that said he was only there because he was expected to “represent.” Oy!
A DJ at the front played loud, hip-hop music and the crowd was dancing in their seats (like at Mama Mia!), oblivious to the fact that the show was already starting. The “hosts” came out and said some stuff that was incomprehensible to me but the audience seemed to understand because they laughed and shouted back more incomprehensible noise. Not to be racist, but it was like the Vibe Awards crossed with Showtime at the Apollo. I thought that I might just sneak out but I did pay a “hefty” $10.
The show began and I was glad I stayed. “Stepping,” for all of you white-Jews reading this, is like Stomp but without the household objects. It’s basically rhythmic dancing mixed with fraternity/sorority cheers. They danced to Jay-Z, Outkast, Beyonce and James Blunt…just kidding, they didn’t play Jay-Z. It was fun, enlightening and ultimately very entertaining. So, the moral of the story is if there is a step show at your campus, go…but be sure to go with a big group of Caucasian friends. And finally, as the audience at the step show might say, “UNC wack balls, beeotch. Slap mah fro!”
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
This Title is Funny, Trust Me
The University of Chicago from above.
Pierce Tower should be circled in red if you click on the picture.
Pierce Tower should be circled in red if you click on the picture.
So I've survived my first week of college classes, which is reassuring. And yet, it still doesn't feel like I'm a college student. I have the little laptop bag across my shoulder, I've discussed how we know whether a given object is real, I've spent 80 minutes in Media Aesthetics talking about a single painting (Las Meninas). But I don't feel any different.
I don't know what I was expecting, but it hasn't happened yet. I still am spending half of my brain power thinking about whether sentences I hear contain puns and/or double entendres. I am still wearing different colored socks. Perhaps next week my life will dramatically change. But I doubt it.
Maybe I should talk a bit more about my classes. I am in four - the aforementioned Media Aesthetics, which is for my Humanities Core requirement; Calculus, which I was really hoping to avoid but the humor of my teacher (Professor Smuckler) getting chalk all over his shirt on a regular basis makes up for it; Democracy and the Social Sciences for my Social Science core; and Music Theory which is an elective and so far is the best of the four.
We also had our RSO (Registered Student Organizations) fair today, and now I'm on about 10 more mailing lists than I was this morning from juggling to music to politics to mock trial. I spent about an hour and a half juggling with the juggling people. I also got enough free candy to make an entire meal. Dinner. I ate candy for dinner. Anyway, We'll see how many of those RSOs I can cram into my schedule, in between writing papers about Las Meninas and calculus homework.
Also, Chicago is the only place I have been to where there is a restaurant that serves you from behind bulletproof glass. It's Harold's Chicken, and it's really good, but you order from a person who's behind bulletproof glass and they give you your order in a rotating bulletproof glass thing. See the picture. Also, they have a sign saying they won't take your order if you are on a cell phone.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Birthday festivities
So today I am legal. No, I haven't bought any porn, cigarettes, lottery tickets, or infomercial stuff yet. I spent most of today studying for my 2 tests (Women's Studies and Calculus) and writing journal assignments for Jazz class (it's amazing how many paragraphs one can pull out of one's buttocks about 10 seconds of music). However, I did party today. The college brought in a DJ, moonbounce, giant inflatable slide and free food just for my birthday, and a lot of people skipped classes (I even got off work) to party with me.
Ok, maybe not.
Today was Lake Day, the annual day of Blue spirit celebration (no, we don't have a mascot. It's just "Go Blue!"). There was merriment and rejoicing all around. And fried dough (oh the goodness!). However, thanks to Ronnie, my First Year Mentor [FYM], half the campus knew it was my birthday. She posted it on a couple of boards, and I guess it spread. Either that or the frisbee team started with the stalking and they were just everywhere I went.
Also, in keeping with Matthew's revelation about his true academic passions, I had an epiphany 2 days ago. As I was sitting in Women's Studies class, discussing heterosexuality and hegemonic masculinity, I realized something. I want to be a Women's Studies major. I came in thinking I'll do Media Arts & Sciences, because it looks pretty cool and it's quite practical. But then I started thinking, and am I really going to love it and be passionate about it? I like art and I can do computer graphics/layouts well, but intensely for 4 years? Women's Studies is continuously blowing my mind, I want more. And I can go abroad with it, and it's just as great for business school (MBA in marketing, anyone?).
Basically, it has made me re-examine the past 4 years and almost every single friendship I have. It's wonderful, and I've had several revelations already.
Ok, maybe not.
Today was Lake Day, the annual day of Blue spirit celebration (no, we don't have a mascot. It's just "Go Blue!"). There was merriment and rejoicing all around. And fried dough (oh the goodness!). However, thanks to Ronnie, my First Year Mentor [FYM], half the campus knew it was my birthday. She posted it on a couple of boards, and I guess it spread. Either that or the frisbee team started with the stalking and they were just everywhere I went.
Also, in keeping with Matthew's revelation about his true academic passions, I had an epiphany 2 days ago. As I was sitting in Women's Studies class, discussing heterosexuality and hegemonic masculinity, I realized something. I want to be a Women's Studies major. I came in thinking I'll do Media Arts & Sciences, because it looks pretty cool and it's quite practical. But then I started thinking, and am I really going to love it and be passionate about it? I like art and I can do computer graphics/layouts well, but intensely for 4 years? Women's Studies is continuously blowing my mind, I want more. And I can go abroad with it, and it's just as great for business school (MBA in marketing, anyone?).
Basically, it has made me re-examine the past 4 years and almost every single friendship I have. It's wonderful, and I've had several revelations already.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Relationships, Neuroscience and Phemerones
Most people think of me as a math/science guy, and I've chosen to post this to basically dispel that notion, which I previously thought was correct.
The first part of my post will dispel the science part of that statement. While I always thought I was one, college leads to discoveries, the first which was made last night. As I sat through a mandatory lecture entitled, "Venomous Fish and Vicious Snails," essentially on neuroscience, my mind started to wander. It was at that point that I realized: I'm bored out of my mind. In fact, I've felt the same way in my chemistry and physics class, and that I'm always zoning out constantly. Since I've been here, the only homework I've done has been my calculus and computer programming homework, while my Physics and Chemistry has sat idly by untouched. It was at this point that I asked myself: if I couldn't pay attention, I didn't want to do the work, and I wondered why I took the class, then do I really like science? And when I realized the answer was no, I laughed to myself. As some of you know, the name of program is the Integrated Science Program, which means that, as long as I stay in, I'll probably be bored in 50% of my classes in college. Well, that's what college is about: finding your true interests.
The second part of the post is a part of my personality that often stays hidden. As some of you may know, my mother is a therapist, and I this made me think, during the same lecture, as to how my relationships and friendships have begun at college. The first interesting one is a girl named Lina, whom I manage to see all the time and I thoroughly enjoy talking to. How we met is an interesting story. My first night on campus, I was talking to a girl whom I liked talking to a lot, but I stopped talking to her to go play ultimate Frisbee. While I was going to talk to her when I came back, I couldn't find her, so instead I started up a conversation with two people who happened to live in my building. A week later, I ran into one of those two kids, Brian, at a president's convocation, and I met one of his friends, Neena, who happened to leave on my floor. We had lunch, along with some more new friends, including Tapasia, and later exchanged numbers with all of them. Later, I became friends with Neena, and I invited her to a Jewish party with me. She invited Tapasia, and we went down to the lobby to wait for her. As we were waiting, we saw one girl doing her Physics homework in the lounge. Her name was Lina, and I believe we are in the process of becoming close friends. Which basically means, that through five people I met one person.
The one other brief thing about relationships I want to say is to talk about phemerones, or something like it. There are three people I met at college: Neena, Aanad, and Jess--that with fifteen minutes of meeting them, I could tell that I wanted to be friends with them. Now, they didn't say that much, but I believe the reason is phemerones. When I met them, I could just tell that there was some part of their personality that I wanted to get to know better, and since that moment in time, I've gotten to know them better. Now, theoretically, it would seem impossible to know such a thing after such a small interaction: however, I believe they felt the same way, and I'm pretty sure that they will become some of my closest friends here.
Anyways, hope the rest of your college experience is going well. Remember to post, and as my good friend Evan always says: its curtains for you!
The first part of my post will dispel the science part of that statement. While I always thought I was one, college leads to discoveries, the first which was made last night. As I sat through a mandatory lecture entitled, "Venomous Fish and Vicious Snails," essentially on neuroscience, my mind started to wander. It was at that point that I realized: I'm bored out of my mind. In fact, I've felt the same way in my chemistry and physics class, and that I'm always zoning out constantly. Since I've been here, the only homework I've done has been my calculus and computer programming homework, while my Physics and Chemistry has sat idly by untouched. It was at this point that I asked myself: if I couldn't pay attention, I didn't want to do the work, and I wondered why I took the class, then do I really like science? And when I realized the answer was no, I laughed to myself. As some of you know, the name of program is the Integrated Science Program, which means that, as long as I stay in, I'll probably be bored in 50% of my classes in college. Well, that's what college is about: finding your true interests.
The second part of the post is a part of my personality that often stays hidden. As some of you may know, my mother is a therapist, and I this made me think, during the same lecture, as to how my relationships and friendships have begun at college. The first interesting one is a girl named Lina, whom I manage to see all the time and I thoroughly enjoy talking to. How we met is an interesting story. My first night on campus, I was talking to a girl whom I liked talking to a lot, but I stopped talking to her to go play ultimate Frisbee. While I was going to talk to her when I came back, I couldn't find her, so instead I started up a conversation with two people who happened to live in my building. A week later, I ran into one of those two kids, Brian, at a president's convocation, and I met one of his friends, Neena, who happened to leave on my floor. We had lunch, along with some more new friends, including Tapasia, and later exchanged numbers with all of them. Later, I became friends with Neena, and I invited her to a Jewish party with me. She invited Tapasia, and we went down to the lobby to wait for her. As we were waiting, we saw one girl doing her Physics homework in the lounge. Her name was Lina, and I believe we are in the process of becoming close friends. Which basically means, that through five people I met one person.
The one other brief thing about relationships I want to say is to talk about phemerones, or something like it. There are three people I met at college: Neena, Aanad, and Jess--that with fifteen minutes of meeting them, I could tell that I wanted to be friends with them. Now, they didn't say that much, but I believe the reason is phemerones. When I met them, I could just tell that there was some part of their personality that I wanted to get to know better, and since that moment in time, I've gotten to know them better. Now, theoretically, it would seem impossible to know such a thing after such a small interaction: however, I believe they felt the same way, and I'm pretty sure that they will become some of my closest friends here.
Anyways, hope the rest of your college experience is going well. Remember to post, and as my good friend Evan always says: its curtains for you!
Why You Shouldn't Order Things Off the Internet
I know, I know. I haven't posted anything, so this is my inaugural post. It's a story, which I think is kind of funny. All the pictures are big enough to see what the text says.
So, my friends around the dorm have taken to calling me George Michael, not after the singer-songwriter, but after the character in Arrested Development. I got the feeling that this nickname was not going anywhere any time soon, to I decided to embrace it by buying a signed photo of Michael Cera, the actor who plays George Michael, off eBay. Well, I had been waiting anxiously for it, and it finally came today. Or at least I thought it did. The package did say "Daniel Koblenz" on it, and the receipt did say "Quantity 1: MICHAEL CERA hand signed 8x10 photograph," however, when I looked at the next page, I saw a letter, on which the first line read:
Hello Daniel. Here is the Katherine Hepburn strand of hair you have recently purchased from me through eBay.
So, my friends around the dorm have taken to calling me George Michael, not after the singer-songwriter, but after the character in Arrested Development. I got the feeling that this nickname was not going anywhere any time soon, to I decided to embrace it by buying a signed photo of Michael Cera, the actor who plays George Michael, off eBay. Well, I had been waiting anxiously for it, and it finally came today. Or at least I thought it did. The package did say "Daniel Koblenz" on it, and the receipt did say "Quantity 1: MICHAEL CERA hand signed 8x10 photograph," however, when I looked at the next page, I saw a letter, on which the first line read:
Hello Daniel. Here is the Katherine Hepburn strand of hair you have recently purchased from me through eBay.
I looked at the next page, and saw a piece of paper with a few pictures of Katherine on it, and in the corner, what looked liked a pubic hair under a transparent sticker.
As soon as I realized what I was holding, I burst out laughing so loudly, the kid in the room next to me (who by the way slept through a class this morning he is supposed to be in with me) woke up.It only got better from there.
I took the hair out of the bag and found the certificate of authenticity, signed by John Reznikoff, who holds the Guinness world record for the largest celebrity hair collection.
Plus, to prove it is real, there is a xerox copy of a letter in which somebody named Bob Alles describes how he used to rummage through the dumpster outside her house (244 East 49 street, NYC) to find memorabilia such as hair, fan mail, and clothing. 
He mentions how he is sure the hair belonged to 'Kate' because over his four year career of garbage digging (1988-1992), he never once found any other type of hair in the dumpster.So now, I think i am going to keep the hair, not only because Katherine is now dead and the hair will be worth thousands in a few years, but because I think it is much funnier than the George Michael autograph, and maybe I'll start a celebrity hair collection to try and dethrone John Reznikoff.
Friday, September 22, 2006
30.4368499 Days (That’s The Average Length Of A Month or A Possible Title For A New “Rent” Song)
Long title—I know. It’s all I could think of. But I digress. I’m sitting in the Raleigh/Durham airport waiting for my flight home for the (high) holidays and normally I’d just be listening to some music pre-flight. However, my 5pm flight has been delayed 2 ½ hours…it would have been faster to drive. Naturally, I bought some Internet time and figured this would be a good time to write a “reflective” blog entry.
Being that I was the first person to depart for college, I am also the first person to spend exactly one month in college (I left on the 22nd and I am going home on the 22nd). It’s probably been one of the craziest months of my life (as documented in my many posts), but really when I think about the first month, it has just been the “prologue” for the rest of my college career. Trust me I hate “novel” analogies, or anything having to do with books…but hear me out:
Everything up until this point has been a set up for the next four years. I have established a good group of friends, joined a major co-curricular club (apparently we have 3 shows next week, plus practices…Oy!) and have gotten back into the swing of classes and work. In fact, today was my very first test of college and on Tuesday my first short term paper is due. In other words, I actually have some semblance of a routine.
Sorry, I’ve gotten all mushy. Of course, not everything is perfect. Duke couldn’t win a football game against our former high school even if “that school” forfeited. I speak less to my roommate than Helen Keller spoke to Anne Sullivan. I can’t stand drunken people trying to give me hugs…actually I can’t stand hugs in general (especially 10-foot ones…Ben knows what I’m talking about). I use my food points way too often, rather than just eating in the marketplace off my meal plan. I’ve become dependent on my iPod to fall asleep at night and have created a playlist for everyday of the week (a little obsessive, right?). But really, none of the above “complaints” are all that important. I’m just trying to kill time in the airport. Maybe I should stop typing so fast.
Hopefully, there’ll be more “interesting” things to talk about during my second month at Duke but so far so good. I’m actually feeling so good that I won’t make a degrading remark about UNC…just kidding, they will eternally suck!
Being that I was the first person to depart for college, I am also the first person to spend exactly one month in college (I left on the 22nd and I am going home on the 22nd). It’s probably been one of the craziest months of my life (as documented in my many posts), but really when I think about the first month, it has just been the “prologue” for the rest of my college career. Trust me I hate “novel” analogies, or anything having to do with books…but hear me out:
Everything up until this point has been a set up for the next four years. I have established a good group of friends, joined a major co-curricular club (apparently we have 3 shows next week, plus practices…Oy!) and have gotten back into the swing of classes and work. In fact, today was my very first test of college and on Tuesday my first short term paper is due. In other words, I actually have some semblance of a routine.
Sorry, I’ve gotten all mushy. Of course, not everything is perfect. Duke couldn’t win a football game against our former high school even if “that school” forfeited. I speak less to my roommate than Helen Keller spoke to Anne Sullivan. I can’t stand drunken people trying to give me hugs…actually I can’t stand hugs in general (especially 10-foot ones…Ben knows what I’m talking about). I use my food points way too often, rather than just eating in the marketplace off my meal plan. I’ve become dependent on my iPod to fall asleep at night and have created a playlist for everyday of the week (a little obsessive, right?). But really, none of the above “complaints” are all that important. I’m just trying to kill time in the airport. Maybe I should stop typing so fast.
Hopefully, there’ll be more “interesting” things to talk about during my second month at Duke but so far so good. I’m actually feeling so good that I won’t make a degrading remark about UNC…just kidding, they will eternally suck!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Onto Thin Air
The UMD activities fair finally took place, yesterday and today, and I went to it twice hoping to get a more in depth glance at what I could participate in at Maryland. Often, when I asked college kids on my prospective college visits what they would have done differently if they could do it over, they'd say: "I just wish I had gotten involved earlier." I didn't want that to be me. I also had read about the exploits of David (down at the unmentionable school that starts with a D), and wanted something similar. Improv is a great activity for him, but what could be the counterpart for me?On Wednesday I went the "First Look Fair" and was quite overwhelmed. There were a lot of tables with everyone hawking free stuff, or trying to get your attention. Problem was, there wasn't too much I was interested in. There was some cool stuff, but nothing that really made me say: "Oh! I want to sign up for that!"
I came back to the dorm, and Jonathan the roomy pulled out a flyer and said: "Did you see this? An open house tomorrow night. We should go to it." I nodded. "Sounds cool."
"Oooh, but there's also this free comedy show the same night," he said.
"Good point."
"Whatever, let's go to the open house. That might actually lead to something."
"Yeah, you're definitely right," I said, and it was decided.
Today I went back to the fair, but there wasn't that much new to see. I got some free stuff (2 frisbees and a keychain, not to mention roomy got a flag and a bunch of posters), signed up for some more stuff that I was lukewarm about, and then took off for a class. As the time was approaching for the open house we were getting a little more excited. This could be cool.
Well, that went out of our mind when we saw the meeting room. It was attached to the side of the diner, but had plaster all over the walls, and was quite bare. There wasn't much too it, and it seemed a little run down. But we found the room we needed to go to by following the bubbling sound of voices, and were ushered into a very crowded room. "I'm sorry we don't have more applications," said someone who was quite obviously in charge. "We'll try and run some more off quickly."
Roomy and I were looking around with wide eyes, trying to figure out what was going on, when someone came into the room and asked: "Anyone here for sports radio? Raise your hands." Roomy and I raised our hands, and looked around the room. We were the only ones with our hands up. "No competition," we shrugged to one another.
Off we went, following someone named Adam. "MAN of the HOUSE" read his nametag. "We're in the middle of a Q and A session with Bob Carpenter, actually," he explained to us. "We'll slip you in, and afterwards, let you know the deal about radio." He led us to a room, but before we went in, we ran into a couple people standing outside of it. "Umm, we need this room," they said to Adam. "We have to move again? Damn..." They shrugged an apology and we walked in. "We're gonna have to go out into the hall, sorry," Adam announced.
"You know, there'd be a lot of announcers in the business I know who wouldn't be happy about this, but I'm not one of them," he joked. Bob Carpenter, if you don't know, is the play by play guy for the Washington Nationals on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). For the next hour we got to stand in the hallway and ask questions of a guy who's worked for ESPN, and has done baseball play by play games for over 20 years. And if that wasn't enough, here's the kicker:"By the way, if you guys want to come down to a Nats' game next week, and watch how we call it from inside the press box, or inside the producer truck, we'd love to have you. Not too many kids, but maybe the 10 to 15 of you that are here now could come down, and we'd get you press passes."
An incredible experience, and when it was over, we learned more about possibly getting a show, or broadcasting games. "You can start out almost immediately with your own sports talk show, that'll go out over the internet. We just need you to pick some time slots. And if you want to work some games, that'll be tough, but if you put in the time producing games, help us out when we need help, and prove yourself a good announcer, you'll definitely move up the ranks quickly."
"When I was a freshman," the sports director continued, "this place was a dump. Sports radio was very low on the radar. And now, here we are with Bob Carpenter coming in here, we're broadcasting every major sport and even starting to do softball next semester...this place is on the rise. It's an exciting time to join WMUC - I wish I was a freshman now. So feel lucky."
If this night was anything like what my further experience will be, I sure as hell will.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Tradition
This past sunday I experienced my first Wellesley tradition. Actually it was my second (the first was jumping into the lake on our first night here, but that was more of an unofficial one). It was Flower Sunday, where I met my big sister, who gave me flowers, and then all big and little sisters went to the chapel for a mutlifaith service. Theme: stars. It was long and random. They had a dramatic reading of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Oh, traditions. I haven't really met or seen my big sister since then, even though she lives downstairs. I'm just too damn busy (and people keep telling me "oh, it'll get worse." Thanks!). But I now have flowers.
Our first frisbee tournament is on the 30th, at Yale. It's getting harder, especially after pilates/yoga in the morning when my abs and back hurt a lot. I thought that was supposed to be all relaxing and meditative... But anyway, since everyone is posting about their college's football victories and we don't have a football team, I'll post about our frisbee victories. Like how we kicked Brandeis and MIT ass.
Right now the work doesn't seem to be that much more than jds. Then again most people around me have to write papers every week and none of my classes require that so I sort of lucked out. Of course this means that I'll have 10 papers due next week since I wrote about it, but this is for the sake of the internet. Tubes! The only intense part is having math and women's studies tests on the same day.
This past weekend we had our first big on-campus party, Remix. There used to be something called Tower Court, which was a huge yearly party that everyone went to and anyone you talk to will know what it is. However, due to some problems that were completely blown out of proportion, it was cancelled. They had Remix this year, aka the party formerly known as Tower Court. There were boys!!! Actually, I stayed in the dorm, watched movies, talked, made origami and smores, and just hung out. At first I felt like a hermit, but then as people returned (within an hour of going to the party) I realized I spent my time well. It was nothing but very loud music and very drunk guys rubbing against very uncomfortable girls. Plus I got to meet many cool new people from my dorm. For future reference: if you are a man on the Wellesley campus, saying "you go to Wellesley, you know you want me!" will not get you very far. In fact, it will send to backwards toward the wall. Also getting drunk is stupid.
French verbs await.
Our first frisbee tournament is on the 30th, at Yale. It's getting harder, especially after pilates/yoga in the morning when my abs and back hurt a lot. I thought that was supposed to be all relaxing and meditative... But anyway, since everyone is posting about their college's football victories and we don't have a football team, I'll post about our frisbee victories. Like how we kicked Brandeis and MIT ass.
Right now the work doesn't seem to be that much more than jds. Then again most people around me have to write papers every week and none of my classes require that so I sort of lucked out. Of course this means that I'll have 10 papers due next week since I wrote about it, but this is for the sake of the internet. Tubes! The only intense part is having math and women's studies tests on the same day.
This past weekend we had our first big on-campus party, Remix. There used to be something called Tower Court, which was a huge yearly party that everyone went to and anyone you talk to will know what it is. However, due to some problems that were completely blown out of proportion, it was cancelled. They had Remix this year, aka the party formerly known as Tower Court. There were boys!!! Actually, I stayed in the dorm, watched movies, talked, made origami and smores, and just hung out. At first I felt like a hermit, but then as people returned (within an hour of going to the party) I realized I spent my time well. It was nothing but very loud music and very drunk guys rubbing against very uncomfortable girls. Plus I got to meet many cool new people from my dorm. For future reference: if you are a man on the Wellesley campus, saying "you go to Wellesley, you know you want me!" will not get you very far. In fact, it will send to backwards toward the wall. Also getting drunk is stupid.
French verbs await.
Making It Up As I Go Along
When it’s raining, it can mean only one thing…possible flooding. Actually, two things…possible flooding and a new blog entry from David (DUKE). The past 7 days have been intense. Since the activities fair I have been going to different groups to check them out, but some of them require that you audition. The one group that most appealed to me was DUI (Duke University Improv—the only improv group on campus). It’s seven guys who perform on average one show a week including during orientation, parents weekend and a huge show at the end of the year. I saw them perform during Orientation and thought they were really funny, so I signed up to audition last Tuesday afternoon.
Well, there were 70 people total who auditioned and in my timeslot there were 3 others. For half and hour, we played some games like “Change,” “Emotions” and “Freeze”—the type of stuff you see on whose line is it anyway. I thought it went pretty well. At one point we had to randomly pick an adjective and noun from some cards. I got “Salty” and “Nun” and played it like I was a nun literally covered in salt. They seemed to like that.
Well, the next day I got an e-mail inviting me to a callback. 10 people were chosen to come to a 2-hour call back on Sunday, but first DUI had a 3-hour workshop on Thursday to teach us some improv techniques. See, very intense. We learned to always agree, say “Yes And…” and always justify your actions. It was exhausting but really fun and there was lots of laughing.
Well, Sunday rolled around and after lots of driving around North Carolina the previous night (see: “The Last Exit”) I was very tired but ready. DUI said we had to prepare a monologue for our call back to show our range, but I decided to try something different and write a song parody about the group members to the tune of…Do You Hear The People Sing? (…naturally) They seemed to like it but I was still very nervous. I thought the callback went well, but I just wasn’t sure about whether I’d make it. It was all a blur. I remember at one point playing a gay detective living in Paris who takes a road trip to Praha, but that’s about it.
Well, Monday all I could do was refresh my e-mail to see if I got anything from DUI. By 8 PM still nothing. I was sitting in my room after dinner just surfing the web when the seven guys from DUI come walking into my room. They asked my roommate to leave and closed the door. One of them, Matt, began, “Umm, we like to talk to all of the callbacks to tell them about some positives and negatives from their audition. We really liked you and thought you were funny, but unfortunately there’s just not enough room to take you this year…
“…Just kidding, you made it man. Congratulations!” I was shocked to say the least and staring rattling off some expletives. The group took only 2 other guys and we all went to tell them about the “bad, but really good” news. After getting the 9th and 10th members, the guys drive us off-campus to a sports bar where they told us all about the group and we discussed our auditions. It was fun, hilarious…my best moment so far at Duke. Tonight is our first practice from 10-12 PM and, at this point, there is nowhere else I’d rather be…of course, that includes UNC!
check out DUI at www.dukeuniversityimprov.com
Well, there were 70 people total who auditioned and in my timeslot there were 3 others. For half and hour, we played some games like “Change,” “Emotions” and “Freeze”—the type of stuff you see on whose line is it anyway. I thought it went pretty well. At one point we had to randomly pick an adjective and noun from some cards. I got “Salty” and “Nun” and played it like I was a nun literally covered in salt. They seemed to like that.
Well, the next day I got an e-mail inviting me to a callback. 10 people were chosen to come to a 2-hour call back on Sunday, but first DUI had a 3-hour workshop on Thursday to teach us some improv techniques. See, very intense. We learned to always agree, say “Yes And…” and always justify your actions. It was exhausting but really fun and there was lots of laughing.
Well, Sunday rolled around and after lots of driving around North Carolina the previous night (see: “The Last Exit”) I was very tired but ready. DUI said we had to prepare a monologue for our call back to show our range, but I decided to try something different and write a song parody about the group members to the tune of…Do You Hear The People Sing? (…naturally) They seemed to like it but I was still very nervous. I thought the callback went well, but I just wasn’t sure about whether I’d make it. It was all a blur. I remember at one point playing a gay detective living in Paris who takes a road trip to Praha, but that’s about it.
Well, Monday all I could do was refresh my e-mail to see if I got anything from DUI. By 8 PM still nothing. I was sitting in my room after dinner just surfing the web when the seven guys from DUI come walking into my room. They asked my roommate to leave and closed the door. One of them, Matt, began, “Umm, we like to talk to all of the callbacks to tell them about some positives and negatives from their audition. We really liked you and thought you were funny, but unfortunately there’s just not enough room to take you this year…
“…Just kidding, you made it man. Congratulations!” I was shocked to say the least and staring rattling off some expletives. The group took only 2 other guys and we all went to tell them about the “bad, but really good” news. After getting the 9th and 10th members, the guys drive us off-campus to a sports bar where they told us all about the group and we discussed our auditions. It was fun, hilarious…my best moment so far at Duke. Tonight is our first practice from 10-12 PM and, at this point, there is nowhere else I’d rather be…of course, that includes UNC!
check out DUI at www.dukeuniversityimprov.com
Gameday with the claw, and other fairy tales
Alright.
Everyone else has told stories of their school that sort of represents who they are, while my last blog entry was me moping about in a depressed state of confusion at the start of classes. But after Ezra's crack about Northwestern (I hate to say it, but US News and World Report has got to be wrong), I figured I'd make a crack in return, and share a few other stories from Northwestern.
First off, on Saturday was Northwestern's third football game of the year, another one at home. Of course, the party started 3 hours before the game, at 10 a.m., when someone was banging on my door. While I was perturbed by the disturbance, I was curious as to its source. Low and behold, in the hallway are 2 seniors.
Their title: the travelling bar.
Their job: to give Freshman a shot of vodka at 10 in the morning.
The lesson: on an empty stomach, at 10 a.m., vodka is not the best way to wake up.
The second story comes from Northwestern's football game. Now, I know Daniel goes to Michigan, which played like a professional football team when they slaughtered Notre Dame. Northwestern, on the other hand, played like a high school football team and eaked out a victory against the awful Eastern Michigan. Of course, cheers at the game included sticking our hand up as a claw and yelling before every play, as well as shaking our keys before every kickoff. The reason: apparently, one day they'll be driving our cars, though according to Ezra, they will now be driving Ezra's cars.
Now a quick bash at Chicago: when a traveling group came to talk to us about sex, they had a joke as follows:
Aw man, I can talk to girls. I go to Northwestern, not Chicago.
The third story occured at 2 a.m. this morning. After watching a hypnotist and partying, everyone came back to the dorm of Elder, and talked in our hall. And talked. And talked. At about 3 a.m., we all moved into mine and my roommates room. Now, the dimensions of Northwestern's rooms in my hall are 12 by 15, but without the closet, drawer space, and big box next to the window (purpose: unknown), its about 12 by 12. Now, this meant, that for 23 people, each person had about 6 square feet of space. Now, including desks and the beds, this meant that we were all sitting on top of each other. Now, that's a party and a bonding experience, and that's why Northwestern beats out UChicago any day.
And finally, as I wind down and prepare for my first day of classes tomorrow, I want to leave you with some valuable advice that a wise man, named Evan, gave me before leaving for college.
"Be good to your teeth, or their be false to you"
Everyone else has told stories of their school that sort of represents who they are, while my last blog entry was me moping about in a depressed state of confusion at the start of classes. But after Ezra's crack about Northwestern (I hate to say it, but US News and World Report has got to be wrong), I figured I'd make a crack in return, and share a few other stories from Northwestern.
First off, on Saturday was Northwestern's third football game of the year, another one at home. Of course, the party started 3 hours before the game, at 10 a.m., when someone was banging on my door. While I was perturbed by the disturbance, I was curious as to its source. Low and behold, in the hallway are 2 seniors.
Their title: the travelling bar.
Their job: to give Freshman a shot of vodka at 10 in the morning.
The lesson: on an empty stomach, at 10 a.m., vodka is not the best way to wake up.
The second story comes from Northwestern's football game. Now, I know Daniel goes to Michigan, which played like a professional football team when they slaughtered Notre Dame. Northwestern, on the other hand, played like a high school football team and eaked out a victory against the awful Eastern Michigan. Of course, cheers at the game included sticking our hand up as a claw and yelling before every play, as well as shaking our keys before every kickoff. The reason: apparently, one day they'll be driving our cars, though according to Ezra, they will now be driving Ezra's cars.
Now a quick bash at Chicago: when a traveling group came to talk to us about sex, they had a joke as follows:
Aw man, I can talk to girls. I go to Northwestern, not Chicago.
The third story occured at 2 a.m. this morning. After watching a hypnotist and partying, everyone came back to the dorm of Elder, and talked in our hall. And talked. And talked. At about 3 a.m., we all moved into mine and my roommates room. Now, the dimensions of Northwestern's rooms in my hall are 12 by 15, but without the closet, drawer space, and big box next to the window (purpose: unknown), its about 12 by 12. Now, this meant, that for 23 people, each person had about 6 square feet of space. Now, including desks and the beds, this meant that we were all sitting on top of each other. Now, that's a party and a bonding experience, and that's why Northwestern beats out UChicago any day.
And finally, as I wind down and prepare for my first day of classes tomorrow, I want to leave you with some valuable advice that a wise man, named Evan, gave me before leaving for college.
"Be good to your teeth, or their be false to you"
Monday, September 18, 2006
O Say Can UC (Ezra UChicago)
Saturday was a whirlwind of running around campus to get our IDs, a bunch of free stuff (shirts, frisbees, bagels) and of course, moving in and meeting our roommates, housemates and dormmates.
We had Convocation, where among other speeches, Dean of Admissions Ted O'Neil said something to the effect of:
As you may know, U of C is now ranked number 9 by US News. This is a 36% increase from 14th place, where we were only a few short weeks ago. What does this mean? Well, it means that we are now 36% better, and accordingly, will raise tuition by 36%. It also means that 36% of you are no longer qualified to be here. Don't worry, there's another college out in the suburbs that I hear has some new openings.
(I just had to continue the tradition of making jokes for Matthew alone.)
There was the Official Separation from our Parents where we officially crossed under a gate and became Chicago students.
Since then we have had a scavenger hunt around downtown Chicago that lead us to the Cheesecake Factory in the basement of the John Hancock building, lots of meetings about classes and the Core requirements, a game of midnight Clue to fit with our house theme (according to the sign on my door, I killed someone with a wrench. Also I am Professor Plum). We had a flood on the west side of the 8th floor of somehow avoided my room:
We've had calculus placement tests and Spanish placement tests. I take the infamous swim test at 8:40 tomorrow morning. In less than an hour we are going to the Kingston Mines blues club which I am very excited about. To reiterate, it's been and intense few days.
So far I really like it here. In between a Chicago Life meeting and our calculus test yesterday a few of us were just sitting on the grass, reviewing concepts like the Chain Rule that we had all forgotten about, surrounded by amazing ivy-covered neogothic buildings. The weather was perfect, and it felt so college-y.
I'm so tired.
Hail to the Victors
So I am writing to tell you of my weekend. This weekend has been the best so far for numerous reasons. The first of course is that we beat the bloody hell out the the so called "no. 2" team in the country. This was a very big win for Michigan because we moved up to no. 6 and the fighting Irish fell to a measley no. 12. Also, we beat them when we were away...they were expected to beat us by over 40 points (We tought Duke Lacrosse should take a lesson on what it means to be rape someone)...thats not funny. Anyway this weekend was also excellent because I am finally unpacked...yes it took me two weeks to unpack. The reason is I just moved rooms into a double out of the triple I was in (I am sorry, there will be no more Harold and Kumar jokes). Anyway, I felt that I had to talk about how Notre Dame sucks and they are all hype - GO BLUE!!
The Last Exit
It’s late. I’ve finished all my work. I have an 8:30 class tomorrow, but…no! I feel possessed to write another blog entry. Why, you ask (or maybe you don’t). Well, I guess it’s been a while since I last posted and it’s depressing to open the blog and see an entry about not being in college. So, here I go:
Friday was an important day for me…it was the opening of “The Last Kiss” starring Zach Braff and Rachel Bilson (both Jewish), a movie I had been anxiously anticipating. Luckily, one of my new friends, Samantha, was also anxiously anticipating this movie. So, we decided that, no matter where it was playing, we would go see the movie together on Saturday. I say “no matter where” because Sam brought a car. Some background: She’s from El Paso, Texas and is big on George Bush (but I forgive).
I found a “nearby” theater in Durham, NC (same city as Duke) that was 20 minutes away and playing the movie at 7:55. I printed off directions from Map Quest and decided I’d navigate. Now anyone who knows me, who I assume are people reading this, knows I have a terrible sense of direction. Fun ensues! We headed out at 7:25 leaving “ample” time in case we got lost…and of course we got lost. It was already 7:55 when we got back on the right highway and I was freaking out because I can’t miss the beginning of a movie…never ever! By some miracle we got to the theater at 8:05 just as the previews were ending.
The movie was great, by the way—Funny, but also very dark and realistic. However, the fun only continued once we got back on the road to head home. We were about 10 minutes away from Duke when we went to the wrong exit on a freeway split. We figured that we’d be able to get back onto the freeway if we just kept driving and driving and driving.
Sam asked if there were trees near me back home. I answered, “Of course.” She then proceeded to tell me that she’s nervous driving here because everything looks the same because of all the trees. Where she lives you can see for miles—no trees, just tumble weeds. This obviously made me very comfortable driving in a car with her.
After driving and getting nowhere, we pulled into a bar as it was closing. I asked politely how do I get back to Duke. The waitress laughed at me and said, “You’re in Cary, NC—30 minutes away.” I felt like I was on Lost and she was an Other (Matthew will get that reference). I got directions back and after 30 minutes we actually arrived back to Duke. However, it was already 11:30. That’s right, a 20-minute drive turned into a 1 ½ hour drive. It was some nice, if not very tense, bonding and we learned our way around North Carolina. So, anything for a good movie, right? Thankfully, we never ended up in Chapel Hill (Home of UNC)—that really would have sucked!
Friday was an important day for me…it was the opening of “The Last Kiss” starring Zach Braff and Rachel Bilson (both Jewish), a movie I had been anxiously anticipating. Luckily, one of my new friends, Samantha, was also anxiously anticipating this movie. So, we decided that, no matter where it was playing, we would go see the movie together on Saturday. I say “no matter where” because Sam brought a car. Some background: She’s from El Paso, Texas and is big on George Bush (but I forgive).
I found a “nearby” theater in Durham, NC (same city as Duke) that was 20 minutes away and playing the movie at 7:55. I printed off directions from Map Quest and decided I’d navigate. Now anyone who knows me, who I assume are people reading this, knows I have a terrible sense of direction. Fun ensues! We headed out at 7:25 leaving “ample” time in case we got lost…and of course we got lost. It was already 7:55 when we got back on the right highway and I was freaking out because I can’t miss the beginning of a movie…never ever! By some miracle we got to the theater at 8:05 just as the previews were ending.
The movie was great, by the way—Funny, but also very dark and realistic. However, the fun only continued once we got back on the road to head home. We were about 10 minutes away from Duke when we went to the wrong exit on a freeway split. We figured that we’d be able to get back onto the freeway if we just kept driving and driving and driving.
Sam asked if there were trees near me back home. I answered, “Of course.” She then proceeded to tell me that she’s nervous driving here because everything looks the same because of all the trees. Where she lives you can see for miles—no trees, just tumble weeds. This obviously made me very comfortable driving in a car with her.
After driving and getting nowhere, we pulled into a bar as it was closing. I asked politely how do I get back to Duke. The waitress laughed at me and said, “You’re in Cary, NC—30 minutes away.” I felt like I was on Lost and she was an Other (Matthew will get that reference). I got directions back and after 30 minutes we actually arrived back to Duke. However, it was already 11:30. That’s right, a 20-minute drive turned into a 1 ½ hour drive. It was some nice, if not very tense, bonding and we learned our way around North Carolina. So, anything for a good movie, right? Thankfully, we never ended up in Chapel Hill (Home of UNC)—that really would have sucked!
Friday, September 15, 2006
Why am I not in college yet?
I am sitting in a hotel room in Sturgis, Michigan, a small town just north of the Indiana border off of Route 80. We had dinner in Shipshewana, an Amish town in Indiana, and drove back alongside horses and buggies.
We spent the day driving through Pennsylvania and Ohio, with lots of time spent looking out the window and taking pictures like this one. Luckily we were prepared; we brought a good supply of folk music to carry us through the heartland of America.
We were going to try to make it work out so that Daniel (UChicago) and his family would stay in the same place as us tonight, but apparently his dad is obsessed with getting to Chicago as soon as possible and refused to ever let them stop the car so they could get to Chicago by tonight (or so claims Daniel). Tomorrow we will each show up at the University of Chicago and finally, finally be in college. It took long enough.
I doubt I have anything new I can add about how it feels to be going away, I imagine I'm feeling what you all felt when you were on the road to your school. The only difference, I suppose, is that I'm doing it so much later than everyone else, so I have the benefit of learning from everyone else's experiences. It's scary to think about how much responsibility I am going to have to take. I've been making jokes about how I'm scared the RAs (or whichever acronym it is) will be coming around at 10:00 telling us to go bed. But the truth is that I don't know how I'm going to get myself to go to bed at all, let alone early enough to not be totally dead the next morning. I don't know how I'll get myself up in the morning, something I have always been bad at. I don't know if I will do all my homework if it never gets checked. I suppose everyone else has been able to manage it so I probably will be fine, but I still feel nervous.
I'm nervous about everything. How is the food? Am I going to get addicted to coffee? What am I going to do if everyone is smarter than me? Will all my classes be full of pretentious kids who keep saying things like "I think what Plato meant was that we are all subject to the ephemeral injustice of the human condition as it applies in a thoroughly neolithic media-based community-centered society. Paradigm."? How will I watch "The Office", aside from on the DVDs I bought myself as a going away present? What if it's true that Pierce Tower rooms are actually smaller than a prison cell?
Of course, I do have Chicago's legendary 9 day orientation (can you imagine how late in the year I'm going to start next year?) to get used to things. Hopefully I will not spend the entire time curled up in a ball under my bed making incomprehensible noises.
I am very glad that Daniel is going to be going through this with me.
And now, I am going to eat my chocolate and peanut butter pie from the Blue Gate Restaurant ("Where if it ain't fried, we don't got it!").
Ezra supports cholesterol research!It's Raining
Yeah. It's raining outside. But inside Wolman 6th floor, the sun always shines!!!!!
Okay, so, I've been here for what, almost 2 weeks? 2 weeks! And classes have started, you know, I'm having a lot of fun (what? hopkins? fun!? yes my friends, lots and lots of fun...) I'm getting emails from these random groups I signed up for, etc etc. I think Ben (UMD) mentioned this regarding sept. 11, but I am going to expand. In college, you really are responsible for your own learning. The professors don't tell you the homework--you are expected to read the syllabus! And you don't get an assignment book. So right now I am copying all my hws from the syllabi (sp?) into my little freshman planner. And here's another big difference from high school. Professors generally don't care what you have to say, especially in intro classes. I mean, its totally understandable. I'm just not used to the teacher NOT going over something a few times, the confused and pained looks of my classmates and I, waving arms, you know. You just kind of sit there, mark if you have a question, and go over it at your TA session, if you have one. But if you don't, I guess you just make an appt with a professor.
Which brings me back to my point about taking initiative--you have to seek out everything for yourself here, because no one is doing it for you. But I am lucky enough to be in two small classes, and one 30 person class. One is a freshmen seminar and one is just a section for majors (writing seminars) even though I'm undecided about my major. The first question everyone here asks is" what's your major?" I am seriously in the minority here, not knowing. Nope, chief, I am truly undecided. Another thing: so far, the people here are just really fascinating. On our floor, there is someone from basically every part of the country, and everyone has a really unique story. An example: there are people who've lived in another country for 8 years. Most people are just really engaged and interested and curious about everything.
Okay folks, time to get back to work before shabbat, hillel, you know, the good stuff...
peace, love, biomedical engineering,
Lauren
Okay, so, I've been here for what, almost 2 weeks? 2 weeks! And classes have started, you know, I'm having a lot of fun (what? hopkins? fun!? yes my friends, lots and lots of fun...) I'm getting emails from these random groups I signed up for, etc etc. I think Ben (UMD) mentioned this regarding sept. 11, but I am going to expand. In college, you really are responsible for your own learning. The professors don't tell you the homework--you are expected to read the syllabus! And you don't get an assignment book. So right now I am copying all my hws from the syllabi (sp?) into my little freshman planner. And here's another big difference from high school. Professors generally don't care what you have to say, especially in intro classes. I mean, its totally understandable. I'm just not used to the teacher NOT going over something a few times, the confused and pained looks of my classmates and I, waving arms, you know. You just kind of sit there, mark if you have a question, and go over it at your TA session, if you have one. But if you don't, I guess you just make an appt with a professor.
Which brings me back to my point about taking initiative--you have to seek out everything for yourself here, because no one is doing it for you. But I am lucky enough to be in two small classes, and one 30 person class. One is a freshmen seminar and one is just a section for majors (writing seminars) even though I'm undecided about my major. The first question everyone here asks is" what's your major?" I am seriously in the minority here, not knowing. Nope, chief, I am truly undecided. Another thing: so far, the people here are just really fascinating. On our floor, there is someone from basically every part of the country, and everyone has a really unique story. An example: there are people who've lived in another country for 8 years. Most people are just really engaged and interested and curious about everything.
Okay folks, time to get back to work before shabbat, hillel, you know, the good stuff...
peace, love, biomedical engineering,
Lauren
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Ultimate
Today was the first actual frisbee practice (there was one on tuesday, but it was more like "woo, flying discs!"). This is like... an actual sport. First of all, year-round training (outdoors then indoors then outdoors). And actual running and conditioning. 2-hour practices 3 times a week. It's quite awesome, if hard. I think we get some sort of PE credit for it, too.
School, on the other hand, is becoming crazy. It's only the end of the 2nd week, dammit. I have 2 tests on one day on the 28th (math and women's studies), and I'm basically teaching myself music theory for Jazz. I don't get calc II, I just hope I pass. And WOST, well, it's all theoretical so it's what you make of it. Plus work. I'm pretty much out of the room from 9-6 every day. But it's cool cause we just had practice so I'm all endorphin-happy.
Other things I've done lately include: joining the WRITE project, which matches us up with pen pals from a local elementary school (one hour a month to make a little kid happy? woot.) Last night we had our first Munger Tea, which was actually a lot of fun. The House President (HP) is pretty cool. There were cookies, and we were ladylike by playing Would You Rather. Hint: go straight to chapter 2.
Now I have laundry waiting to be dried. 2 loads!
ps: The pipes here are so loud. Last night (2am) we thought our upstairs neighbors were dropping desks. It's supposed to improve... Or at least out sleeping skills will.
School, on the other hand, is becoming crazy. It's only the end of the 2nd week, dammit. I have 2 tests on one day on the 28th (math and women's studies), and I'm basically teaching myself music theory for Jazz. I don't get calc II, I just hope I pass. And WOST, well, it's all theoretical so it's what you make of it. Plus work. I'm pretty much out of the room from 9-6 every day. But it's cool cause we just had practice so I'm all endorphin-happy.
Other things I've done lately include: joining the WRITE project, which matches us up with pen pals from a local elementary school (one hour a month to make a little kid happy? woot.) Last night we had our first Munger Tea, which was actually a lot of fun. The House President (HP) is pretty cool. There were cookies, and we were ladylike by playing Would You Rather. Hint: go straight to chapter 2.
Now I have laundry waiting to be dried. 2 loads!
ps: The pipes here are so loud. Last night (2am) we thought our upstairs neighbors were dropping desks. It's supposed to improve... Or at least out sleeping skills will.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
A NU Life
First, I'd like to say I'm trying to satisfy David with an interesting post title (play on words, NU is like new and northwestern university), but I'm not that original.
I officialy began my stay at Northwestern University at 3:00 p.m. on September 11. The place: Northwestern University's own Hillel building, at an overnight program known as Freshman Fest. Basically, me and 100 other clueless freshman spent the night in the Hillel building, meeting people, making friends to last a lifetime, and having tons of fun.
Well, thats the goal at least.
In truth, I spent the first half feeling awkward, not being able to make conversation with a single soul, and feeling generally miserable.
But, things got better. I played Ultimate Frisbee, and met a few kids that I became friends with. None of them were the greatest people I've ever known, but I talked with one girl for over an hour (new Facebook friend), and I played Frisbee and got to know a couple of other kids for about an hour and a half. However, by moving in day, I haven't spoken to any of them, I forget half their names, and I don't know where they live. Ah, the difficulties of college.
Anyways, the plan was to meet even more new people today, after moving in. Instead, I still know...no one, I'm in a cramped room, and I brought way too much stuff. However, from the positive side-everyone is hopefully in the same situation, and I'm sure I'll meet a bunch of people.
I hope.
I officialy began my stay at Northwestern University at 3:00 p.m. on September 11. The place: Northwestern University's own Hillel building, at an overnight program known as Freshman Fest. Basically, me and 100 other clueless freshman spent the night in the Hillel building, meeting people, making friends to last a lifetime, and having tons of fun.
Well, thats the goal at least.
In truth, I spent the first half feeling awkward, not being able to make conversation with a single soul, and feeling generally miserable.
But, things got better. I played Ultimate Frisbee, and met a few kids that I became friends with. None of them were the greatest people I've ever known, but I talked with one girl for over an hour (new Facebook friend), and I played Frisbee and got to know a couple of other kids for about an hour and a half. However, by moving in day, I haven't spoken to any of them, I forget half their names, and I don't know where they live. Ah, the difficulties of college.
Anyways, the plan was to meet even more new people today, after moving in. Instead, I still know...no one, I'm in a cramped room, and I brought way too much stuff. However, from the positive side-everyone is hopefully in the same situation, and I'm sure I'll meet a bunch of people.
I hope.
Monday, September 11, 2006
9 + 11 + 06 = 5 Years Since
September 11th opened my eyes to a big difference between college and high school that I hadn't really thought about before. In high school, things are brought to you. There is virtually no necessity for students to seek out their academic experiences - it is the job of the high school to force you into them. With only the notable exception of extracurricular activities, every student in a given high school will have more or less the same experience regardless of how much time outside of classes they put in. This changes radically in college, and I think there's no better example than on American holidays. In high school, you have assemblies to help remind you about what the nation is celebrating on that day, and to focus your thinking. But in college it doesn't work like that. To make something meaningful, you have to go after it yourself - set aside time to think about what the day means, or find an activity that will remind you. College is a lot about freedom, and freedom is a lot about what you do with it.
That being said, I was lucky enough to get an email about a speech taking place today. I don't think I would have done anything unique for the day if I didn't get the email, but instead I attended a seminar by one John Brady Kiesling. He's the author of a new book, called Diplomacy Lessons, and was a former member of the foreign services. He resigned his post in Greece in 2003 prior to the US invasion of Iraq, saying:
“Until this Administration it had been possible to believe that by upholding the policies of my president I was also upholding the interests of the American people and the world. I believe it no longer.”Apparently the fact that he was speaking on September 11th was simply serendipitous - it just happened to be when he was in the area and free to speak (he's been on his book tour). But because it was 9/11, he said he decided to center his talk around "How 9/11 Changed Diplomacy." Centered is a loose term, however, because he didn't really center his speaking around anything in particular.
I was a tad worried at first, that this was not at all what I was expecting, that it was a waste of my time. He didn't strike me initially as the greatest public speaker, and his rambling style put me off. There was no way to leave without being incredibly rude, however, so I stuck it out - and I was glad I did. What I was left with, after his unfocused talk and answers to various questions was a startling impression of the world that I hadn't encountered before. (By unfocused I don't mean to imply that there was a problem with the content, it just was a series of very interesting anecdotes that I had to put together into a larger picture myself.)
Kiesling downplayed the threat of Iran, saying that the picture we're getting from the media is hyped up. We don't have an embassy in Iran, he said, so the information we get on them is based on the intelligence we've gathered, on their most dangerous political figures. We don't get an accurate view of what their society is like, what it supports and what it doesn't. You could do the same thing with us, Kiesling said. If you selected certain people to monitor, it would look like we're an unstable, warmongering nation.
And example after example, this is what he seemed to be saying: Americans have hugely distorted views about what foreign nations are like - and for the same reasons, foreigners have hugely distorted views of what Americans are like. When you boil society down to its bare bones, it's simply a collection of individuals, who make decisions in much the same way we do. And foreign policy seems to forget this. It treats situations as black and white, it labels countries and peoples, it simplifies things without justification.
To fight a war on terrorism, Kiesling said, means to fight a war you are going to lose. Terrorism will work as long as it is successful, and it succeeds because of the goals of those who employ it. They aren't trying to achieve a political goal, they're trying to create a polarized world where extreme doctrines, such as their own, flourish. And terrorism is the perfect means to accomplish this. So to decide to wage a war on terror is ignorance. You don't put out a fire by pouring gasoline on it. You make sure it doesn't have anything to feed on. You have to create a world where citizens will not tolerate terrorists among them, a world where understanding is promoted among the most diverse of people, a world where extremism cannot and will not live. You don't fight terrorism. You make it irrelevant.
It's been 5 years since terrorism took center stage, and made itself relevant. The United States simply seems to have decided to combat the blaze by throwing logs at it. And predictably, all it has done is feed the fire.
My one wish, for this day, is that 5 years from now we will have learned from our mistakes and grown, as individuals and as a nation. We will have grown towards understanding, and grown towards a world where nothing like what happened 5 years ago today can ever happen again.
(And if you want to read a wonderful and moving novel that will really hammer home the impact of what happened, pick up Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safron Foer, author of Everything is Illuminated.)
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Yea for drinking...just not too much
Hey so this post is dedicated to all those amazing parties that Michigan has...and to highlight some of the brutal sights at these parties. So last night (Saturday) I was walking around with Eitan (Michigan) and some of his friends and we went to a few parties. After about an hour and a half we ended up at Delta Chi...a Frat where people were just chilling and playing some beer pong. When we walked in, this girl was lying on the couch just as you can see in the picture. She was completely passed out. Don't worry she is ok because as we were leaving, she was walking (more like stumbling) around. There were many people taking pictures of her (yea its a bit cruel but what can you do) so I joined in. I've see people who are drunk before but I usually do not see people passed out in garbage cans. I just want to let everyone know (I dont really know what the point of this post was, but mainly to have a reason to put this picture online) that college life is going well and after a week of classes everyone should party hard...just not to hard.
Also, everyone should check out this link. It shows you what U of M people are doing/did. By the way did you guys know that Michigan is the only university to have a flag on the Moon? Yea thats pretty cool. Enjoy
http://www.umich.edu/pres/psa/
Check it out.
ONE two three
Woke up, went to Target, had dinner, went to beginner's ballroom dancing night, came back, made smores over hookah coals, had nachos at the Hoop. That's pretty much my day. Ballroom dancing is amazing, and I'm going to club meetings now every sunday at MIT. They only taught us the basics of Waltz in the little intro session tonight (it was a whole dance with actual professionals), but later there was no such thing as "I don't know how to foxtrot/swing/chacha/salsa/tango/quickstep." These guys will teach you on the spot. It is so much fun, and everyone is so nice.
And this is coming from someone who doesn't usually like to be touched by strangers.
I smell a new hobby.
And this is coming from someone who doesn't usually like to be touched by strangers.
I smell a new hobby.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
An “A Fair” To Remember
So this entry is about the Duke Activities Fair—so, pretty clever title, right. You guys have heard of the movie “An Affair To Remember”? No? Never mind. Yesterday (Friday) was the anxiously anticipated, twice-postponed Activities Fair where all the different clubs and organizations at Duke set up stands and recruit students to join their “posse.”
The fair took place on the plaza, a big open patio, because apparently there is no closed space that can house the number and “diversity” of groups that Duke has to offer. The first few rows of stands were focused on club sports such as water polo, golf, Frisbee and soccer. I’d make a joke about lacrosse now but that would be in poor taste. I did, however, see the club lacrosse team try to recruit an athletic girl, but they couldn’t “hook her.” Get it? Say it fast. OK, (alleged) rape isn’t funny.
The next sets of groups were more up my alley. These organizations included a film production group and the group that runs the Duke TV station. As I looked across the plaza, I realized that I had only just skimmed the activity surface. It was overwhelming how many groups there were: Improv, Acapella (8 groups), Bridge Club (like the card game), Hindi Students Association, Duke University Marching Band (or DUMB), and, I swear, a Settlers of Cattan group. It was like if you gave each and every person of our high school class $10,000 to make a club of their choice (except for the Hindi group).
The groups had many interesting techniques for recruiting new members. Some used free T-shirts, some offered free candy and some offered free hookah (the Hindi club). No, “hookah” is not supposed to be another lacrosse joke. After about an hour I had maneuvered my way through all the groups. I’m not really sure what I ended up signing up for, but I’m sure I’ll get e-mails later.
In other news, Duke football faced a heartbreaking loss against Wake Forest today. There was a blocked “what would have been the winning” field goal on the 5-yard line with 6 seconds left. The final score was 13-14. Thankfully, UNC (“the suck-meister extraordinaires”) was crushed by V-Tech, so all is well!
P.S. Please come up with better blog post titles!
The fair took place on the plaza, a big open patio, because apparently there is no closed space that can house the number and “diversity” of groups that Duke has to offer. The first few rows of stands were focused on club sports such as water polo, golf, Frisbee and soccer. I’d make a joke about lacrosse now but that would be in poor taste. I did, however, see the club lacrosse team try to recruit an athletic girl, but they couldn’t “hook her.” Get it? Say it fast. OK, (alleged) rape isn’t funny.
The next sets of groups were more up my alley. These organizations included a film production group and the group that runs the Duke TV station. As I looked across the plaza, I realized that I had only just skimmed the activity surface. It was overwhelming how many groups there were: Improv, Acapella (8 groups), Bridge Club (like the card game), Hindi Students Association, Duke University Marching Band (or DUMB), and, I swear, a Settlers of Cattan group. It was like if you gave each and every person of our high school class $10,000 to make a club of their choice (except for the Hindi group).
The groups had many interesting techniques for recruiting new members. Some used free T-shirts, some offered free candy and some offered free hookah (the Hindi club). No, “hookah” is not supposed to be another lacrosse joke. After about an hour I had maneuvered my way through all the groups. I’m not really sure what I ended up signing up for, but I’m sure I’ll get e-mails later.
In other news, Duke football faced a heartbreaking loss against Wake Forest today. There was a blocked “what would have been the winning” field goal on the 5-yard line with 6 seconds left. The final score was 13-14. Thankfully, UNC (“the suck-meister extraordinaires”) was crushed by V-Tech, so all is well!
P.S. Please come up with better blog post titles!
Oh yeah (aka PS:)
I forgot the weird randomness of the night. Walking from the campus center to the dorm, I noticed a group of people walking to towards us, and one of the guys was wearing a WAFC shirt. So I think "oh, wow, they're everywhere!" (becuase I saw another one at a rest stop on the way up to boston, 2 weeks ago). As our groups are about to cross, he turns and says "Carmel?" and it is Raphi. And Brick. And Eva. And Raphi's girlfriend. So we talked for a while, sitting-on-the-sidewalk style and exchanged numbers because I was lacking. Then they went to play frisbee and I continued on to KE. But it was refreshing to see some familiar faces.
Ok now it's bedtime for real. Breakfast is until 1pm on weekends!
Ok now it's bedtime for real. Breakfast is until 1pm on weekends!
Woot
So, it's 1:30 am. I'm not really that tired, so what's a cooler thing to do than post on this blog? Nothing, I say! Tonight I was supposed to go to Hillel for candle lighting & dinner and be a good jew. However, I ran into some people in the dining hall after class, one thing led to another and I just got back from a frat party at MIT. When we got there no one was in the house because everyone had gone to dinner, so we went to the campus center and when we came back there was this one guy sitting at the front desk who looked completely shocked. Who wouldn't be when about 25 girls just show up at your door? We sat around the living room for a while, and then the brothers began to arrive. More shock. The first 2 weeks are dry (because of rush and orientation and stuff), so we just chilled and talked and drank.... soda! I don't plan to do much drinking anyway, don't worry. The guys were pretty awkward. I mostly talked to this one guy (who then walked us to the bus and friended me on facebook about 3 seconds later), who wasn't that sketchy but was a senior and kept wanting to "sit down over there" or "go to the other room where the people are dancing in the dark and, um, laugh at them". Luckily I brought the whistle campus po gave us. They gave us "I <3 Kappa Epsilon" shirts. I think I'll go back there, since they're not that weird or sketchy and, well, they're the only place I really know now.
I also made a bunch of new friends, or at least acquaintance, today. These are beginning to be people who are more like me or who I get along with better (as opposed to the people in my mentor group who are quite cool but limited). After walking around MIT, I realized that I like the Wellesley campus a lot. I thought that I would die if I were out of a city or at least out of a town area (the Vil, aka the town of Wellesley, doesn't count- a starbucks and cvs do not a city make), but I like being in the forest here. It's peaceful and nice, and so safe. I'm beginning to feel a lot more comfortable and happy/satisfied here. Hooray. Now, to finish this women's studies reading and get my math homework...
I also made a bunch of new friends, or at least acquaintance, today. These are beginning to be people who are more like me or who I get along with better (as opposed to the people in my mentor group who are quite cool but limited). After walking around MIT, I realized that I like the Wellesley campus a lot. I thought that I would die if I were out of a city or at least out of a town area (the Vil, aka the town of Wellesley, doesn't count- a starbucks and cvs do not a city make), but I like being in the forest here. It's peaceful and nice, and so safe. I'm beginning to feel a lot more comfortable and happy/satisfied here. Hooray. Now, to finish this women's studies reading and get my math homework...
Thursday, September 07, 2006
A Visit to JDS
Well, because we are all alone, Daniel (UChicago) and I visited our old school today. It was fun - we saw all (well, most) of our old teachers and a few students also. We disturbed Mr. Blank's class and made a bunch of young kids wonder what was going on, we corrected Mr. Buckley on trivial matters, (FDR was not the first president to run for a third term, he was just the first to succeed - I learned that in his class in 10th grade) and most importantly, we made a lot of people look at us and say, "wait...shouldn't you be in college or something by now?" No one believed that we quit college already to repeat high school.
My favorite moment was when a new teacher saw us in the halls and said "You guys shouldn't be wandering around, you need to be in class." We told her it was our free period.
And of course we went to JSA's first meeting of the year, where I made a whole bunch of kids think that I'm anti-Israel. I'm sorry, but if no one else will argue on behalf of Hezbollah in a Jewish school than I will have to do it myself.
So it was fun. We're also planning to visit UMD soon, and I'll report on that when it happens.
Until then, I can only imagine what it's like to actually be a student. 9 days....
My favorite moment was when a new teacher saw us in the halls and said "You guys shouldn't be wandering around, you need to be in class." We told her it was our free period.
And of course we went to JSA's first meeting of the year, where I made a whole bunch of kids think that I'm anti-Israel. I'm sorry, but if no one else will argue on behalf of Hezbollah in a Jewish school than I will have to do it myself.
So it was fun. We're also planning to visit UMD soon, and I'll report on that when it happens.
Until then, I can only imagine what it's like to actually be a student. 9 days....
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Probing My Tender Mind
I have just experienced one of the most traumatic activities in my life. Now before I just go willy-nilly (whatever that means) into the events of tonight, let me set up the situation. As you could have figured out from my last post, I’m taking Developmental Psychology. Now one of the requirements when taking an introductory level course in psychology is that you have to undergo 7 hours of psychological experiments and testing. Yes, it’s weird. But I thought it would actually be fun to answer some questions about my personality (again the egocentricity).
I signed up on Monday for a group testing session on Wednesday at 7:30, thinking I’d be in and out relatively fast. So, I decided not to eat dinner before my session. Big mistake. When I arrived at 7:25 the lecture room was already filled with about 60 other kids, mostly freshman. Suddenly, the session turned into the SATs all over again. There were 5 proctors that handed out pre-sharpened #2 pencils and booklets (not a couple of pages…BOOKLETS!). The main proctor told us that if we were under 18 then we had leave the room immediately and if we did not answer every question we would not receive credit for the session. At 7:30 we began:
The initial questions were relatively simple. How important is your family? How well do you remember experiences from your toddler years? Do you exercise often? Not so bad. There was even a section about Duke basketball and fandom. Then the questions started to probe deeper. How often do you act against your morals? Would you mind if no one respected you? How would you feel if your family abandoned you?
I answered quickly and impulsively, but was taken aback by a set of questions about arousal. Are you aroused when you receive gifts? How aroused are you when you fail a test? And finally, what is your arousal level when attending a funeral? What?! A Funeral?! I answered 3 out of 10…I learned many new things about myself tonight.
The questions went on and on for 30 pages. I wrote about my facial features, my self-esteem, my most stressful moments and death. The last page of the booklet was about medicine. One part asked us to list all the prescription medications we could think of. All I could think of was Cialis, Viagra and Claratin. (Maybe I was still thinking about that arousal section.) Then it asked us to list different side effects of those drugs. All I could come up with were “erections that last longer than 4-hours.” (Seriously, that’s what I wrote.)
The questionnaire lasted 1½ hours and by the end I was exhausted, had low self-esteem and was very, very hungry. I walked back to the dining hall just as it was closing. I felt like crap, but at least I don’t go to UNC. So, I guess things could have been worse.
I signed up on Monday for a group testing session on Wednesday at 7:30, thinking I’d be in and out relatively fast. So, I decided not to eat dinner before my session. Big mistake. When I arrived at 7:25 the lecture room was already filled with about 60 other kids, mostly freshman. Suddenly, the session turned into the SATs all over again. There were 5 proctors that handed out pre-sharpened #2 pencils and booklets (not a couple of pages…BOOKLETS!). The main proctor told us that if we were under 18 then we had leave the room immediately and if we did not answer every question we would not receive credit for the session. At 7:30 we began:
The initial questions were relatively simple. How important is your family? How well do you remember experiences from your toddler years? Do you exercise often? Not so bad. There was even a section about Duke basketball and fandom. Then the questions started to probe deeper. How often do you act against your morals? Would you mind if no one respected you? How would you feel if your family abandoned you?
I answered quickly and impulsively, but was taken aback by a set of questions about arousal. Are you aroused when you receive gifts? How aroused are you when you fail a test? And finally, what is your arousal level when attending a funeral? What?! A Funeral?! I answered 3 out of 10…I learned many new things about myself tonight.
The questions went on and on for 30 pages. I wrote about my facial features, my self-esteem, my most stressful moments and death. The last page of the booklet was about medicine. One part asked us to list all the prescription medications we could think of. All I could think of was Cialis, Viagra and Claratin. (Maybe I was still thinking about that arousal section.) Then it asked us to list different side effects of those drugs. All I could come up with were “erections that last longer than 4-hours.” (Seriously, that’s what I wrote.)
The questionnaire lasted 1½ hours and by the end I was exhausted, had low self-esteem and was very, very hungry. I walked back to the dining hall just as it was closing. I felt like crap, but at least I don’t go to UNC. So, I guess things could have been worse.
Yea....
So, I am writing to tell you all about class...yea...not really. My classes are going well and I am glad to hear that other people are doing well. I had my first Chem class today and well lets just say its the largest class at Michigan. There are over 500 people in my class, which is taught by Hashim Al-Hashimi. The only reason I am telling you his name is because he was explaining something about force and well he used this analogy:
"So let's say I am throwing a rock at you, the more force I use...."
Thats about all I heard. The thought of him using a "throwing rock" analogy kinda creeped me out, given his name. Well anyway I thought I wanted to share that story with you so I hope you guys appretiated it (I could care less if you do, I am just writing for writings sake)...hope all is well.
"So let's say I am throwing a rock at you, the more force I use...."
Thats about all I heard. The thought of him using a "throwing rock" analogy kinda creeped me out, given his name. Well anyway I thought I wanted to share that story with you so I hope you guys appretiated it (I could care less if you do, I am just writing for writings sake)...hope all is well.
Boy, That's A Lot of Quarters
I have officially completed round 1 of Laundry in my college career. It was tough, it was bitter, it was dangerous, but I perservered. And at $1.25 a load plus another $1.25 for drying, that's a whole lot of quarters.I used to have a quote in my AIM profile, which I found in my Bartlett's Quotations book, and I never thought I would ever be able to use it. But I think I've found a context now. I just can't remember who to attribute it to.
"Last night I dreamed the dream called Laundry." - ?
Classes galore
So yesterday was the first day of classes. My first was french 205 (this will be discussed later), immediately followed by History of Jazz. I am going to like this class. Homework was some reading, 30-40 minutes of listening, and then a couple of paragraphs about what I listened to. The only challenge I see here is the fact that I've never studies music, so right away I had "synco-what?" moments. The book does a pretty good job of explaining it, but I don't think I can start writing on par with people who, well, know what they're talking about.
Today I was running around all day. French 205 was a mistake, it's way too hard. So I went to a 9:50 201, sat through it, then was told by the professor that it was full and that I can't join. So I went to another section 10 minutes later, sat through that, and I'm in now. Only that was the 2nd day of class so I have to make up homework and stuff. At least it's not the killer that was 205. Bad, bad idea Carmel. Then lunch, then a job interview at the museum (I have 4 more tomorrow, in a whole lot of different places), then Calc II. The professor is nice and not at all intimidating- this is good for those of us who forgot what integrals are. Then a meeting with Mme Masson (my new french professor), and now I'm here. Hopefully the craziness will stop after this week. It better.
Last night we had an all-House meeting. Then an all-hall meeting, where we voted that our hall's bathroom will be co-ed. Bring on the visitors! Right now I actually don't have any guys in my classes (and I doubt I'll see many in women's studies tomorrow). You see them here and there every once in a while...
Anyway, I have homework to do. Finally. Blah.
Today I was running around all day. French 205 was a mistake, it's way too hard. So I went to a 9:50 201, sat through it, then was told by the professor that it was full and that I can't join. So I went to another section 10 minutes later, sat through that, and I'm in now. Only that was the 2nd day of class so I have to make up homework and stuff. At least it's not the killer that was 205. Bad, bad idea Carmel. Then lunch, then a job interview at the museum (I have 4 more tomorrow, in a whole lot of different places), then Calc II. The professor is nice and not at all intimidating- this is good for those of us who forgot what integrals are. Then a meeting with Mme Masson (my new french professor), and now I'm here. Hopefully the craziness will stop after this week. It better.
Last night we had an all-House meeting. Then an all-hall meeting, where we voted that our hall's bathroom will be co-ed. Bring on the visitors! Right now I actually don't have any guys in my classes (and I doubt I'll see many in women's studies tomorrow). You see them here and there every once in a while...
Anyway, I have homework to do. Finally. Blah.
Monday, September 04, 2006
This Post Is Brought To You By The Letter D
Lauren, Matthew and Carmel all in a row…I had to break up all the “female posts.” Of course, I write again because it’s raining. Apparently, Ernesto has a brother named either Javier or Hector. All I can say is if this isn’t reason enough to crack down on illegal immigration from our south, then I don’t know what is. OK, enough with my (phony) sexist and racist comments.
I thought I’d write a completely fluff entry (kinda like Ben’s last one…JK…but seriously, no) about a phenomenon I haven’t realized until very recently. Here it goes—Everything in my college life is somehow related to my name “David” and, more specifically, the letter “D.” Now I know this seems a little egocentric, but what did you expect from a post written by me after drinking 3 cans of Nestea (mixed with Red Bull). Now before you exit this screen and check your facebook again, hear me out.
Number 1: I go to a school called Duke, which is in a city called Durham, whose mascot is a Devil.
Number 2: The most common first name among freshman guys is…David.
Number 3: I’m taking a class called Developmental Psychology (starts with D).
Number 4: All freshmen got special $50 Dining cards that can be used in the city of Durham (wait I already did Durham).
Number 5: Umm, there is no number five…but still that’s a lot of coincidences with “D,” right? Of course, this trend does not bode well for my semester grades.
OK, this was a pretty pointless entry but I promise I’ll be back in full force later this week with real information and maybe even a story that will bring a tear to your eye…but probably not. Until then, may the Crocodile Hunter rest in peace and apparently he didn’t go to UNC, so there is some good news too.
I thought I’d write a completely fluff entry (kinda like Ben’s last one…JK…but seriously, no) about a phenomenon I haven’t realized until very recently. Here it goes—Everything in my college life is somehow related to my name “David” and, more specifically, the letter “D.” Now I know this seems a little egocentric, but what did you expect from a post written by me after drinking 3 cans of Nestea (mixed with Red Bull). Now before you exit this screen and check your facebook again, hear me out.
Number 1: I go to a school called Duke, which is in a city called Durham, whose mascot is a Devil.
Number 2: The most common first name among freshman guys is…David.
Number 3: I’m taking a class called Developmental Psychology (starts with D).
Number 4: All freshmen got special $50 Dining cards that can be used in the city of Durham (wait I already did Durham).
Number 5: Umm, there is no number five…but still that’s a lot of coincidences with “D,” right? Of course, this trend does not bode well for my semester grades.
OK, this was a pretty pointless entry but I promise I’ll be back in full force later this week with real information and maybe even a story that will bring a tear to your eye…but probably not. Until then, may the Crocodile Hunter rest in peace and apparently he didn’t go to UNC, so there is some good news too.
The end of the beginning
Blogger didn't work for me during this whole week, so I was unable to talk about all of orientation. I can't believe it's finally over, and classes start tomorrow morning. I went through one of the biggest emotional rollercoasters of recent memory. I have been so stressed out lately, it's crazy. Mostly because of all the buildup to choosing classes, and then thinking did I make the right choice? And then, am I ready? I finally identified the source of the stress as the fact that I haven't done any schoolwork in more than 7 months. Then I talked to my mom about it, and she made a very good point: people in Israel go to the army for 3 years before going through law school, med school, or any sort of higher education. 3 years > 7 months (at least I remember that!). So now I'm feeling better, especially as I'm making more friends. I'm hoping that tomorrow will be the first day since tuesday when I will sleep well (ie not wake up 3 hours before my alarm clock after going to sleep at 2 the previous night/morning).
On saturday night I went to my first MIT frat party. Party is a very loose term here, since we got there after it ended. The Sigma Nu guys were very nice, though; they had rented vans to drive freshmen around during rush week (their house is sort of far away from campus), so they picked us up from the bus stop and then drove us all the way back to campus. Don't worry kids- it was dry, and we just talked, got a tour of the house, and played pool & ping-pong. The following night, ie last night, my roommate went out again and came back at 3:30am, which was not very good for my sleep.
My classes right now are Calculus II, Women's Studies "Social Construction of Gender", History of Jazz, and French 201. Actually it's 205 right now, but I have to wake up bright & early tomorrow for the beginning of online add/drop to get 201 instead. Never listen to smiling French professors who tell you that you should take a higher level. That was dumb. My earliest class is at 9:50 3 days a week, and on tuesdays & fridays I only have one, at 2:50. Now the trick will be good time management...
I guess I am obligated to talk about the whole Women's College thing I've got going on. It's actually quite nice, even for me. Yes, Ezra- I use the same bathroom as everyone else and no one calls the police if they see me. Everyone is very friendly, really. We don't make out with each other randomly. Girls here are more out than I've seen before, though. They don't mind talking about it, being excited about their dates, etc. I like it, it's a more honest environment in my opinion. Like, live and let live. Some are really boy-crazy though. The hall I live in, Munger, is... different. It's "the only hall without a complex", meaning it's the only one by itself. Look at a map of campus and you'll understand. We're close to the Quad though, which is good since we don't have a dining hall. For people in other colleges that seems like a silly thing, but when most people on campus don't have to go outside for meals, and we have to get fully dressed (especially in winter) to get breakfast, it's an issue. But it's growing on me. There are no huge living rooms like in many of the other dorms, and it's not very gothic-style. There are 3 smaller living rooms on the first floor, which makes it feel more like a house . Our room is not huge (like in the new dorms, but maybe they deserve it because they're so isolated from the rest of campus), but it's not especially tiny. It's just right, and we don't want to bunk our beds. My side is sort of messy right now... I feel bad. Munger is fairly close to the campus center (Wang or Lulu, depends on what you want to call it), the academic quad and the science center, which actually makes it a convenient location. Fun fact: Wellesley was built on hills in order to improve women's figures. It is a bitch to walk around sometimes.
Frisbees appear to be the gift of choice here- I already have 3 or 4 from all different organizations. First open practice is on the 12th, right on Munger Meadow. How convenient! There was a Labor Day BBQ today, which was nice. I'm beginning to eat more (I barely ate the last few days. Stress does no good), and there are a lot of veggie options. Pomeroy (aka Pom), the closest of the Quad halls, is kosher vegetarian, and Cazenove (aka Caz) usually has a lot of veggie options too. Those are mostly the two I've eaten in, except for last night's dinner at Tower Court. Tower is beautiful, but rumor has it that it's not the best place for lowerclasswomen. Neither is Stone-Davis (aka Stone-D). Fun fact: Hillary Clinton lived in Stone-D and was college president. If she runs for president this entire school will be on its feet, for sure.
Alright, I have to go form friendships. Fun, I know. It's not like Israel at all- I don't know anyone. My roommate's best friend goes here, and her roommate's best friend goes here too. Weird. But it gives me the feeling that I'm the only one who doesn't have anyone from highschool here. It will get better, I know.
Toodles!
On saturday night I went to my first MIT frat party. Party is a very loose term here, since we got there after it ended. The Sigma Nu guys were very nice, though; they had rented vans to drive freshmen around during rush week (their house is sort of far away from campus), so they picked us up from the bus stop and then drove us all the way back to campus. Don't worry kids- it was dry, and we just talked, got a tour of the house, and played pool & ping-pong. The following night, ie last night, my roommate went out again and came back at 3:30am, which was not very good for my sleep.
My classes right now are Calculus II, Women's Studies "Social Construction of Gender", History of Jazz, and French 201. Actually it's 205 right now, but I have to wake up bright & early tomorrow for the beginning of online add/drop to get 201 instead. Never listen to smiling French professors who tell you that you should take a higher level. That was dumb. My earliest class is at 9:50 3 days a week, and on tuesdays & fridays I only have one, at 2:50. Now the trick will be good time management...
I guess I am obligated to talk about the whole Women's College thing I've got going on. It's actually quite nice, even for me. Yes, Ezra- I use the same bathroom as everyone else and no one calls the police if they see me. Everyone is very friendly, really. We don't make out with each other randomly. Girls here are more out than I've seen before, though. They don't mind talking about it, being excited about their dates, etc. I like it, it's a more honest environment in my opinion. Like, live and let live. Some are really boy-crazy though. The hall I live in, Munger, is... different. It's "the only hall without a complex", meaning it's the only one by itself. Look at a map of campus and you'll understand. We're close to the Quad though, which is good since we don't have a dining hall. For people in other colleges that seems like a silly thing, but when most people on campus don't have to go outside for meals, and we have to get fully dressed (especially in winter) to get breakfast, it's an issue. But it's growing on me. There are no huge living rooms like in many of the other dorms, and it's not very gothic-style. There are 3 smaller living rooms on the first floor, which makes it feel more like a house . Our room is not huge (like in the new dorms, but maybe they deserve it because they're so isolated from the rest of campus), but it's not especially tiny. It's just right, and we don't want to bunk our beds. My side is sort of messy right now... I feel bad. Munger is fairly close to the campus center (Wang or Lulu, depends on what you want to call it), the academic quad and the science center, which actually makes it a convenient location. Fun fact: Wellesley was built on hills in order to improve women's figures. It is a bitch to walk around sometimes.
Frisbees appear to be the gift of choice here- I already have 3 or 4 from all different organizations. First open practice is on the 12th, right on Munger Meadow. How convenient! There was a Labor Day BBQ today, which was nice. I'm beginning to eat more (I barely ate the last few days. Stress does no good), and there are a lot of veggie options. Pomeroy (aka Pom), the closest of the Quad halls, is kosher vegetarian, and Cazenove (aka Caz) usually has a lot of veggie options too. Those are mostly the two I've eaten in, except for last night's dinner at Tower Court. Tower is beautiful, but rumor has it that it's not the best place for lowerclasswomen. Neither is Stone-Davis (aka Stone-D). Fun fact: Hillary Clinton lived in Stone-D and was college president. If she runs for president this entire school will be on its feet, for sure.
Alright, I have to go form friendships. Fun, I know. It's not like Israel at all- I don't know anyone. My roommate's best friend goes here, and her roommate's best friend goes here too. Weird. But it gives me the feeling that I'm the only one who doesn't have anyone from highschool here. It will get better, I know.
Toodles!
Less than a week left
I've sat in front of my computer for the last few days, watching as more and more of my fellow bloggers arrive at college. After spending the weekend with one at Maryland, it makes me wonder whether, by next Sunday, I will be ready to begin my college life at Northwestern.
Despite being largely packed, I'm still missing my laptop, have no way to get a TV, and will probably be out shopping for the next few days preparing. Yet, as I've sat watching random movie after movie at my dad's home (recommend: Skeleton Key and Pretty Persuasion), I've become slightly fearful that I might not be prepared to go to college and make new friends that will need to last me for four years.
For the last thirteen years, my friends haven't changed that much. Three of my closest friends have remained constant, another I've known for 8 years, and the rest have been minor additions. I am scared of whether I will be able to make the same close friends that will last a lifetime, just like my high school friends.
But, then I visited Ben at Maryland, and at first I wasn't too encouraged. Over the course of Saturday, it was mostly me and him spending time together, and many of the people we met seemed off kilter...until Sunday morning.
As we sat in the cafeteria, eating the worst french toast known to man, a kid walked by, stopped, and said in excitement, "Hey Ben!" We proceeded to talk for a few minutes, and by the time we left, I felt better already about making friends in college. The excitement that the Maryland student showed when seeing Ben was one that wasn't false or fabricated; it came straight from the heart and showed general enthusiasm at seeing him. While I don't know whether or not they will be friends as college proceeded, it made me realize something: while I might not make friends initially, I know that there will be people who I'm excited to see and are excited to see me, and they will become my friends in college, just like my friends in high school. And to be able to see that in a little more than a week at Maryland, some random person already feels that way about Ben, makes me excited to go to college. I will have the opportunity to run into 8,000 students, each of whom could become a close friend of mine. And the prospect of the new friendships I can forge, and the lives I can change, makes it difficult to patiently wait for September 12, and the start of orientation.
Until that point in time, I hope you all continue enjoying college, and I look to begin that enjoyment ASAP.
By the way, my school, Northwestern, opened its football season with a victory, unlike my contemporary at Duke.
Despite being largely packed, I'm still missing my laptop, have no way to get a TV, and will probably be out shopping for the next few days preparing. Yet, as I've sat watching random movie after movie at my dad's home (recommend: Skeleton Key and Pretty Persuasion), I've become slightly fearful that I might not be prepared to go to college and make new friends that will need to last me for four years.
For the last thirteen years, my friends haven't changed that much. Three of my closest friends have remained constant, another I've known for 8 years, and the rest have been minor additions. I am scared of whether I will be able to make the same close friends that will last a lifetime, just like my high school friends.
But, then I visited Ben at Maryland, and at first I wasn't too encouraged. Over the course of Saturday, it was mostly me and him spending time together, and many of the people we met seemed off kilter...until Sunday morning.
As we sat in the cafeteria, eating the worst french toast known to man, a kid walked by, stopped, and said in excitement, "Hey Ben!" We proceeded to talk for a few minutes, and by the time we left, I felt better already about making friends in college. The excitement that the Maryland student showed when seeing Ben was one that wasn't false or fabricated; it came straight from the heart and showed general enthusiasm at seeing him. While I don't know whether or not they will be friends as college proceeded, it made me realize something: while I might not make friends initially, I know that there will be people who I'm excited to see and are excited to see me, and they will become my friends in college, just like my friends in high school. And to be able to see that in a little more than a week at Maryland, some random person already feels that way about Ben, makes me excited to go to college. I will have the opportunity to run into 8,000 students, each of whom could become a close friend of mine. And the prospect of the new friendships I can forge, and the lives I can change, makes it difficult to patiently wait for September 12, and the start of orientation.
Until that point in time, I hope you all continue enjoying college, and I look to begin that enjoyment ASAP.
By the way, my school, Northwestern, opened its football season with a victory, unlike my contemporary at Duke.
Greetings
Hey! It's high time for a female voice... :-)
So this is my second night of Hopkins. I still am not getting wireless and hoping not to pay for ethernet--yet--so I am at the computer lab in the basement of my building.
So...I don't even remember what I did, so I am writing this out of the orientation packet.
Yesterday I moved in, went to a mandatory security meeting where all these police officers gave us a ton of information that I won't remember. I just know not to go 6-8 blocks into the city (versus along the length of the street where there is a sprawl of jhu buildings...does that make sense?) my building and I am good. We got beautiful brightly colored whistles that if we felt so inclined, we could wear as bracelets, to use in case of danger. Ezra (UChicago)--my mom mentioned she had a similar situation at Chicago. Anyway, lots of other fun things happened, then we had a floor meeting, with bonding activities. My RA gave our floor an Alice in Wonderland theme. I have to say, it is actually amazing. There are all these posters and collages everywhere. On the door to our suite, each person's name is on this huge card (as in, a card from what must have been a giant sized card deck) in glittery puffy paint. Every suite's door is like that. I'm kind of in love with it. I am in a suite--my roomate and I share a little hallway, bathroom, and kitchenette with two other roomates. Yesterday it felt like everyone was tucked away behind the suite door,and then in their room. But it is nice because I can go out and have fun in the regular dorms on the freshmen quad and then come back to my own space. Plus there is a lounge so that's good...
This morning was hillel bagel brunch, it didn't dissapoint. JHU is only about 12% jewish, but from what I've observed, there is a core group of active people. There's also an Israeli shlicha for the baltimore area schools.
Convocation was alright. All 38394 deans walked down the aisles in these grand robes and talked, and I kind of nodded off, and then it was over. It was kind of grand, in a way, and nice I guess. Then I had an SA meeting, met even more people, met more people on my floor. It does take effort initially, because everyone is kind of tucked away--but it's a lot of fun, and exciting because we can all cook. Actually let me explain something about my building. It's not on the main part of campus. There's the main part, then North Charles Street, and I am across the street, with some frats, some new sophmore/upperclassmen housing, and the hillel building. It's the part of campus that's actually in the city. But all I have to do is cross the street to get on to the main part, and there are plenty of other jhu buildings around.
Here's the thing--this environment is unlike that of anything I have ever done before in my life. It's really diverse, which makes it interesting. I knew almost no one coming here. At times, it seems really random...I'll find myself thinking 'my life/home is..here? Why?' I have to remind myself that it's not a summer program--I'm not going back to my house in two weeks. (I actually am for Rosh Hashanah) But it's been less than 48 hours, so that just takes time and adjustment. Creepy side note: I see faces I recognize--as in, the 60 jhu people who randomly friended me when I set up facebook a few months back. I see these faces everywhere. Can anyone relate?)
In conclusion, Baltimore is clearly the place to be...
Until next time--later!
So this is my second night of Hopkins. I still am not getting wireless and hoping not to pay for ethernet--yet--so I am at the computer lab in the basement of my building.
So...I don't even remember what I did, so I am writing this out of the orientation packet.
Yesterday I moved in, went to a mandatory security meeting where all these police officers gave us a ton of information that I won't remember. I just know not to go 6-8 blocks into the city (versus along the length of the street where there is a sprawl of jhu buildings...does that make sense?) my building and I am good. We got beautiful brightly colored whistles that if we felt so inclined, we could wear as bracelets, to use in case of danger. Ezra (UChicago)--my mom mentioned she had a similar situation at Chicago. Anyway, lots of other fun things happened, then we had a floor meeting, with bonding activities. My RA gave our floor an Alice in Wonderland theme. I have to say, it is actually amazing. There are all these posters and collages everywhere. On the door to our suite, each person's name is on this huge card (as in, a card from what must have been a giant sized card deck) in glittery puffy paint. Every suite's door is like that. I'm kind of in love with it. I am in a suite--my roomate and I share a little hallway, bathroom, and kitchenette with two other roomates. Yesterday it felt like everyone was tucked away behind the suite door,and then in their room. But it is nice because I can go out and have fun in the regular dorms on the freshmen quad and then come back to my own space. Plus there is a lounge so that's good...
This morning was hillel bagel brunch, it didn't dissapoint. JHU is only about 12% jewish, but from what I've observed, there is a core group of active people. There's also an Israeli shlicha for the baltimore area schools.
Convocation was alright. All 38394 deans walked down the aisles in these grand robes and talked, and I kind of nodded off, and then it was over. It was kind of grand, in a way, and nice I guess. Then I had an SA meeting, met even more people, met more people on my floor. It does take effort initially, because everyone is kind of tucked away--but it's a lot of fun, and exciting because we can all cook. Actually let me explain something about my building. It's not on the main part of campus. There's the main part, then North Charles Street, and I am across the street, with some frats, some new sophmore/upperclassmen housing, and the hillel building. It's the part of campus that's actually in the city. But all I have to do is cross the street to get on to the main part, and there are plenty of other jhu buildings around.
Here's the thing--this environment is unlike that of anything I have ever done before in my life. It's really diverse, which makes it interesting. I knew almost no one coming here. At times, it seems really random...I'll find myself thinking 'my life/home is..here? Why?' I have to remind myself that it's not a summer program--I'm not going back to my house in two weeks. (I actually am for Rosh Hashanah) But it's been less than 48 hours, so that just takes time and adjustment. Creepy side note: I see faces I recognize--as in, the 60 jhu people who randomly friended me when I set up facebook a few months back. I see these faces everywhere. Can anyone relate?)
In conclusion, Baltimore is clearly the place to be...
Until next time--later!
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Down at the Watering Hole
Taking a good idea from Daniel (Michigan), I decided to include a picture in this post - if only for the glorious amounts of colors it adds. DISCLAIMER: This isn't my cafeteria. I think it's from Purdue. I found it using a Google Image Search. It's just there to get the idea across. And to give you a picture (if not an accurate one) of the setting.And that's where I'll start. I bring you two stories, with only one thing in common - they took place at the cafeteria.
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the SETTING: Down at the Watering Hole
the CHARACTERS: Me, The Fourth Musketeer (so nicknamed because he was the last roomy in our apartment to move in), two former HS friends, and two mysterious older students, to our left
the PLOT: As it happened...
I wasn't prepared for this. I couldn't handle it. The fact was, I wasn't anticipating the chicken to be this big. I had filled up on bread and lemonade before the chicken was served, because I had remembered that I had gone home hungry the weekend I had visited UMD as a senior in HS. I was preparing to pack in the pre-meal so that the chicken would just be the topper. But I was already mostly full, and three-quarters of the chicken still sat on my plate, staring me in the eye, daring me to eat it. This was going to be a test of wills. The chicken had it's expansiveness, and I had my only two allies: and both were made of plastic. But no matter - I sawed away with my knife, and pinned the chicken to my paper plate with the fork. Gasping down bite after bite, determined not to give in. And that's when I heard it.
It floated into my ear, from the left. I wasn't sure if it was the Fourth Musketeer, or the people sitting next to him. "Your dad still doing OK?" It couldn't be the Fourth - that question wouldn't make sense from him. And it couldn't be directed at me - that question wouldn't make sense to me. I turned my head slowly, not trying to tip off mysterious students #s 1 and 2 that I was eavesdropping.
"Uh, I guess. Haven't talked to him for awhile."
"He's out of prison though, right?"
I dropped my fork, with a soft plastic clatter to the floor. That's not really the kind of thing you expect to hear while fighting a war with a chicken. (I suppose you don't really ever expect to fight a war with a chicken, either, but hey, we live in trying times.) I leaned down slowly to retrieve my fallen weapon, making sure not to miss anything from what was now the sole focus of my attention (the chicken had flown out of my mind, in the exact opposite way you'd expect a flightless - and cooked - bird to do).
"Ya, been out for a couple weeks now."
"He was in for six months, right?"
"Yeah."
At this point someone they knew (mysterious student #3) came over, and the conversation shifted. Needless to say I neither finished my chicken nor embellished this story in any way.
------------------------
Writing that story was too exhausting to write the second anecdote (which is quite different, but hopefully equally interesting) right now. As always, stay tuned...
(And just some food for thought - where does that story end up? What the hell are the details to it? That's just and odd thing to overhear.)
College is fun, I bet
If Daniel and David's posts are a ying and yang, I feel a little dot kinda far away that's sitting by itself. I will be in college soon enough - less than 2 weeks - but until then, I'm not, and it's pretty boring. There are still people here - a few of us Chicago people saw a movie together earlier today - but as I IM more with people who are now in college I get more and more impatient.
It's strange to think that I'm I talking to people, people I used to go to school with, who are now all over the country. Some people are in California, some in Michigan, Boston, New York....the list goes on. But from where I am, they're all still there in my AIM box, in the same order they always are, with the same mysterious screennames we've all used for years. It's hard to believe that they are living lives totally different than they were a month ago, because I am still in the same place and it seems like they might as well be talking to me from their homes here in Washington. This could be the end of any summer, when all my friends are on vacation but going to come home soon and we'll all go back to school together.
I wonder how it will feel when I'm in college. I'll still e-mail them the way I do now, talk on facebook like I do now, and on AIM I will still see them as their screennames. But I wonder, when I get to Chicago, once I join their world of new college kids, will it feel like we are all in different places, talking about similar experiences? Or will it feel like I've gone away, and they are still here, still at home, talking to me while I'm off in college? I really wonder.
Until then, of course, I'm still here, waiting until September 15th, when everything changes.
It's strange to think that I'm I talking to people, people I used to go to school with, who are now all over the country. Some people are in California, some in Michigan, Boston, New York....the list goes on. But from where I am, they're all still there in my AIM box, in the same order they always are, with the same mysterious screennames we've all used for years. It's hard to believe that they are living lives totally different than they were a month ago, because I am still in the same place and it seems like they might as well be talking to me from their homes here in Washington. This could be the end of any summer, when all my friends are on vacation but going to come home soon and we'll all go back to school together.
I wonder how it will feel when I'm in college. I'll still e-mail them the way I do now, talk on facebook like I do now, and on AIM I will still see them as their screennames. But I wonder, when I get to Chicago, once I join their world of new college kids, will it feel like we are all in different places, talking about similar experiences? Or will it feel like I've gone away, and they are still here, still at home, talking to me while I'm off in college? I really wonder.
Until then, of course, I'm still here, waiting until September 15th, when everything changes.
One Team. One Goal. One Win…well not yet
My latest entry is the “ying” to Daniel’s entry’s “yang.” Yesterday was also the beginning (and subsequent end) of our football season. Although you may only know the Blue Devils as a basketball powerhouse, we actually have a longstanding football tradition. As I entered Wallace Wade Stadium (Does that makes us Wallace Wade Wackos?) I noticed several banners touting our previous pig-skin success: ACC Champions 1956; Orange Bowl 1923; Highest Division 1 Football Graduation Rate 1963,1967, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1988, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2005.
OK, so things weren’t looking too great, but luckily our season opener was against the Division 1 AA Richmond Spiders. According to the school archivist, Duke had not lost against a Division 1 AA team since 1953 and had not lost against Richmond since…1920! So, let’s just say we really made history last night.
I took a seat with a group of friends in the student section where we jingled keys and used spirit fingers (both Duke traditions) to taunt the other team. And it worked…we held the Spiders to just 13 points. Of course, they held us to…wait for it…0! Yes, we were shut out, and it was terrible. There was a missed 25-yard field goal, a blocked field goal, 4 fumbles, and 3 missed opportunities on the 2-yard line!
However, I think my roommate took it the hardest. You see my 5-ft. roommate played high school football and expected that he could just walk on the team. During Orientation he met with the coach who first laughed at him (politely) and then offered him a position as a team manager. He’s very dedicated, going to 7 AM practices and setting up the game field 4 hours before the game. Unfortunately, when I returned to my room after the game I found the little manager lying on his bed eating Cheerios out of the box. All he would say was “Don’t want to talk about it.” There is an upside—at least for me. He gets to travel with the team, which means I have a single for the next 3 Saturdays.
I wasn’t originally going to write this entry (it’s very embarrassing) but then I found out UNC also lost—Woo Hoo!
OK, so things weren’t looking too great, but luckily our season opener was against the Division 1 AA Richmond Spiders. According to the school archivist, Duke had not lost against a Division 1 AA team since 1953 and had not lost against Richmond since…1920! So, let’s just say we really made history last night.
I took a seat with a group of friends in the student section where we jingled keys and used spirit fingers (both Duke traditions) to taunt the other team. And it worked…we held the Spiders to just 13 points. Of course, they held us to…wait for it…0! Yes, we were shut out, and it was terrible. There was a missed 25-yard field goal, a blocked field goal, 4 fumbles, and 3 missed opportunities on the 2-yard line!
However, I think my roommate took it the hardest. You see my 5-ft. roommate played high school football and expected that he could just walk on the team. During Orientation he met with the coach who first laughed at him (politely) and then offered him a position as a team manager. He’s very dedicated, going to 7 AM practices and setting up the game field 4 hours before the game. Unfortunately, when I returned to my room after the game I found the little manager lying on his bed eating Cheerios out of the box. All he would say was “Don’t want to talk about it.” There is an upside—at least for me. He gets to travel with the team, which means I have a single for the next 3 Saturdays.
I wasn’t originally going to write this entry (it’s very embarrassing) but then I found out UNC also lost—Woo Hoo!
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Its Football Time
Hey so I thought that I would post something, after all I did tell Ben I would try. So today (Saturday) was our first Football game and of course the might Victors beat Vanderbilt. The reason I am writing however, besides being bored, is to tell you that when 109,668 people (the most Michigan and the entire country has ever had at one game) are all yelling GO BLUE, its an incredible feeling. To know that you are a part of that huge community, it is a really great way of starting your freshman year. There is a very nice sense of belonging and well family. Also, this week has been welcome week which is essentially a party week. I hope you all get to have that experience because it is a great way to meet people and just have a lot of fun. Hope all is well.
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