Noah by Noah

The FINAL Post

2010-05-03T10:39:00.000-04:00

“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “To talk of many things: of shoes—and ships—and sealing wax—of cabbages—and kings—and why the sea is boiling hot—and whether pigs have wings.”

My friends, the time has come for this blog to come to a close. I’ve been at this for almost two years, TWO YEARS. Can you believe it? Looking back over the history of the blog, it’s been 82 glorious (and some not so glorious) posts. You’ve been with me while I survived the crazy Sackville winters, sweated out my mind in Mysore, and everything else in between. It’s been four semesters of ridiculous work, economic models, political theories, and too many cultures to count. Countless midterms and what seems like an infinite amount of word counts have come and gone and luckily, you’ve stayed with me throughout it all.

So now we reach the end of my two year foray into blogging. It’s been a real treat and I’ll be sad to finish up this blog. What’s next? I’m headed back to India in a couple of weeks for Mysore Take Two (bonus for all prospective Mount A students: if you are lucky enough, Mount A might hook you up with a trip to a foreign locale…for free!) After that, it’s back to Sackville to prep the Argosy for the new students and new academic year.

Thank you to all of you who have stuck with me through the bad writing and terrible YouTube videos (a special thanks to Mom and Dad who always called to tell me they had read the blog and who also decided to share it with everyone they know.) Who knows, maybe one day these blogs will become part of the cultural history of the twenty-first century…however, I doubt it.

I’ve been trying to find the perfect songs to share with you for this final post. I solicited my Facebook community for some suggestions and I’ve incorporated a few here.

First off, this song made an appearance in the first ever blog post and my friend Lucy suggested it for this blog. It definitely deserves a repost.

Second, because Glee has a special place in my heart, and since this song has already been in here once…here is an awesome Glee cover:

And finally, this song has been on repeat on my iPod for the last two days. I can’t think of a more perfect song to finish off this blog.

When I look back on the first blog, I warned all of you that we would be bouncing throughout this entire blog. Hopefully, I’ve delivered on my promise. And hey…keep on bouncing!

One Week

2010-04-13T20:44:00.001-04:00

And so we again near the end. One week. That’s all the time that’s left in this school year. How ridiculous. We seem to have nearly put another one in the history books, another year of great classes, eccentric profs, and completely random discussions. It’s been another year of those random run-ins on campus that put a smile on your face, another year of late nights with good friends and greasy food, and another year of everything else in between.
So much has happened this year that I don’t think I can sum it all up in a single blog post. It’s also incredibly difficult to think that it will be over so soon. When I informed my roommates that we only had one week left, there were varied responses. Nathan looked like he wanted to cry, Cate was away studying and thus unavailable for comment, Ashra squeaked out of excitement, and Rhiana shot Silly String into my mouth. What can I say? We’re a weird, weird house.
So now what? Well, there’s always that tired cliché that as soon as one door closes another one opens. And hey, in this instance, that’s pretty damn true. As one school year closes up, another one opens with another year of potential. We’ve got another year to put down in the record books, another year to discover new things, or maybe revisit some old ones…simply put, we’ve got another year for whatever the heck we want it to be.
What am I going to do in one week? For at least one day, I’m going to do…nothing. The funny thing is, as soon as the school year is over, I’ve got to hit the ground running with the newspaper as I start another exciting chapter. Summer vacation, it seems, has gone out of style. I’m fairly certain that as soon as exams are finished, most of my roommates are headed off on research trips or prepping for another round of classes. There simply is no rest for the wicked.
OK, so let’s see, what videos to put on here. First off, I have to post this video:

And since that video wasn’t music, here’s some music for you. It’s this awesome mash-up group, Super Mash Bros. Pretty much the best study music ever. Enjoy!

Sackville Celebrities

2010-03-20T19:50:00.001-04:00

A funny phenomenon emerges when you live in a small city. Back home in Burlington, a city of 40,000, we have our little local celebrities. Everyone knows our US Senators (Pat and Bernie) by sight. Obviously. I mean, come on, Patrick Leahy, the third most powerful Senator in the US was in the newest Batman movie. That’s just…cool. And Bernie Sanders…I love him. Everyone loves him. He’s amazing. But aside from these political celebrities, we also have those well-known characters like Birdman, the Logger, or many of the other characters you often see walking around downtown. I’ve even had people tell me that my parents are local celebrities, something that definitely was annoying when I was growing up and trying to go on discreet dates. “Oh Noah, so-and-so called, she said she saw you out walking with a pretty young lady. What’s the story there?” Awkward to say the least.
Now that I’ve been living in Sackville for a couple of years, I’ve been trying to think of who is a Sackville celebrity. It’s a term that’s thrown around a lot here in Bagtown. I always feel like I have a bit of a skewed idea; since I read and write so much about our sports teams, I can obviously recognize the star players from the volleyball team or the football team, but I don’t know if that’s a Sackville-wide thing or if that’s just me. I mean, it SHOULD be a Sackville-wide thing, but…people stink.
Anyways, who should be a Sackville celebrity? I would shy away from the typical answers such as administration all-stars like Ron Byrne because he HAS to be a bit of a celebrity in order to do his job. So sorry Ron, but you don’t count. That probably also goes for SAC President Trevey Davis. While I feel lucky to say that I knew Trevey before he gained the presidency, being seen around the town is also part of his job. He’s out. What about local music sensation Corey Isenor? I would say so, but I’m a sucker for a dude with a beard and a down vest. OK, who else? Residence Presidents are probably celebrities for the on-campus community, but I don’t know if that translates into campus-wide fame.
This is the tough thing about deciding who is a Sackville celebrity. I know I have my idea of who is a star for me, but others could have radically different lists. How’s this for a cop-out answer? Everyone is a celebrity! You’re all stars!
Alright, so music for this week! It’s off the soundtrack for Invictus, a fantastic film about the South African rugby team’s win in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Check it out!

Scrumptious evening

2010-03-14T10:52:00.000-04:00

Last night was one of my favorite events of the entire year. It was a night filled with delicious food, incredible performances, and just an all-around great time. Yes. I am talking about the SAN banquet.
The SAN banquet is put on annually by the Society of All Nations group on campus. This year, my lovely and incredibly roommates Ashra (she’s an Indian wonder) was in charge of SAN which meant she has been slowly going crazy for the past two weeks. However, this also meant that Nathan and I got roped into MCing for the event (not quite sure how the other two roommates avoided doing anything…).
The MCing was actually A LOT of fun, even with my incredible fear of public speaking. We tried to go with the “so awkward its funny” approach, so hopefully that worked. I felt bad because I brought my friend Kat with us, but barely got to spend any time with her. However, I think she was placated by the large amounts of sushi. Plus, she also found some other friends so she didn’t really need us anyways.
The food was all amazing and the performances as always were incredible.
Events like this always blow me away. For the most part, its student leadership and planning that gets these events rolling and ultimately pulls them off. Ashra did an amazing job organizing her exec group and volunteers to plan and pull off an amazing event. From all the comments afterwards, people had an amazing time. I know I did!
Anyways, that’s all from me for today. A nice quick blog all about our Indian princess and the fantastic event from last night. I also have an incredible song to share with you; it’s the theme song for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa this summer. Definitely one of my new favorites. Enjoy!

Sun Bloggin'

2010-03-07T07:51:00.001-05:00

Sun. Beautiful, glorious sun. I woke up this morning at the ungodly hour of 7:45 am; unheard of normally on Sunday mornings. The rest of my apartment is still asleep, grabbing their last few hours of glorious weekend sleep. My bedroom window faces East, so every morning, I can see the sun rising if I’m up in time. However, this morning, the wonderful sunlight started flooding into my room, warming up my cozy bed and nudging me awake.
I can’t believe that we have less than a month left until the term is over. Time continues to rush by at a frenzied pace as the end of semester comes closer and closer. There was an Open House last Friday and a bunch of prospective new students were on campus, talking to professors and admissions people, grabbing food in meal hall, and just trying to get a feel for the campus. I remember my tour of Mount A. It was Easter Weekend and the campus was deserted. It was a typical, gray spring day in Sackville so while there was no snow, the ground was an unappealing brown, muddy color and all the buildings looked like prison blocks. I don’t know what it was about Mount A that struck me, but in between seeing all the bathrooms on campus (one of the girls on my tour had a weird obsession) and talking to an admissions counselor, I knew Mount A was the place for me.
Some of the best advice I ever received while choosing a university was that there was no such thing as a wrong decision. At the end of the day, what was most important was where I wanted to go; where I figured was the best choice. And I’m glad that for some reason, that gray Sackville day won me over. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to go sit on my couch in the sun and read a book. Because honestly, what else should you be doing on a Sunday morning?
Song? I was watching an old episode of Scrubs the other day and this song came on so here you go!

Cliche? Probably.

2010-02-25T19:33:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the cliché small town stories actually happen. You know, the ones I’m talking about, those cheesy feel-good anecdotes people always spout off when talking about why they hate big cities and why they moved to a small place like Sackville.
Let’s put this story in context first. I’m currently at Bridge Street Café, the one coffee shop in town. It’s about 8:00 PM on Thursday evening which means its Open Mic Night. I came down to hang out with Od, my music-loving Syrian mentee. We were matched up through the mentorship program with the International Centre and he invited me down to listen to him play some music. (Side note: no big deal, but he’s a bit of a rock star back in Syria. We’re going to go sand skiing. Again, no big deal.)
Anyways, he normally plays with these two middle-aged guys and while he was hustling to cart his equipment over, they started up with a few tunes. I was reading a book at first so the music was pretty much just in the background at the beginning. When Od got back, I put the book away and just focused on the music.
That’s when it happened. Something about the combination of the lyrics and the interplay of the guitar and bass, sitting in Bridge Street with the funky décor and the smell of coffee and baked treats, and the scene playing out around me just hit me. People had slowly trickled in and were sitting around like me, just taking in the music while sipping on their drinks. Outside, the Vogue Cinema’s lights were flashing as the movie theater attendant used a long pole to pull down the letters advertising the night’s feature and putting up the Friday night feature. Individually, these all would have just been tiny, probably insignificant details, but the combo was a big wallop of small town living.
Why do I love Sackville? Moments like this.
(To increase the coolness and/or coriness of this post, yes, I did write it out on napkins. Whatever. I’m awesome.)

Sometimes you just gotta gibbon

2010-02-21T09:42:00.001-05:00

It’s 10:30 AM on the first Sunday of the February break and I’m awake. Not only am I awake at this hour (don’t judge people who aren’t in university, 10:30 is a remarkably early time to rise when you have no school), I am currently sitting in the Argosy office, sipping on a coffee from Bridge Street Café and pouring over Argosy archives. Yes, my life has come to this. This has become my idea of a fun way to spend my break.
Good Lord.
Am I jealous of those people who are currently away from tiny Sackville, building houses in Louisiana or touring small tropical islands? Of course not. Why would I be? Just because it’s snowing here and should continue to snow until tomorrow doesn’t make me sad. Not in one bit. Nor does the fact that I came so very very close to heading down to St. John in the US Virgin Islands for a few days of rest and relaxation on the beach with my family, only to have tickets and other facts rule out of the trip, leave a bitter taste in my mouth. In fact, the bitter taste is more likely from this organic Mexican Fair Trade coffee. Pretty sure I didn’t put enough sugar in this sucker because every sip is like tasting a smoker’s cough. Ew.
Actually, to be perfectly honest, I love being in Sackville over the breaks. The town is absolutely deserted. On my walk to campus this morning, I saw a grand total of two people. Now granted, that is only slightly less than the four I normally see, but still, that’s a 50% decrease! The town is a lot more quiet and it means that if you go to Ducky’s on a Saturday night, you can still grab a table at midnight. Also, another aside, if you were at Ducky’s last night, I apologize for my table and our raucous gibbon noises. Sometimes, you just gotta throw out some monkey mating noises. You know how it is.
So anyways, this break shall be filled with school work, the Olympics, and roommates (Yes, that’s right, three of my roommates are JUST as cool as I am and are sticking around here as well. Be jealous. We’re awesome.) A day trip to the big city of Moncton may even be in order. Who knows. Things sure do get crazy around here during the break.
OK, I need to preface the music I’m about to post. For those of you who don’t know, I am American. I go to school in Canada. I shall admit here for the first and only time, that I love Canada. No, I don’t think that loving Canada and loving the US are mutually exclusive things. But if you ask me about this later, I will deny ever writing this. Anyways, I saw this video about a week ago and oddly love the music wayyyy more than my Canadian roommates do, SO I am posting it here for you wonderful blog readers. Enjoy!

Why 8:30 Why?

2010-02-10T07:15:00.001-05:00

Mornings are a rough time in our apartment. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Nathan, Ashra, and I all have classes at 8:30, the kryptonite of any university student. It’s always funny when you talk to someone about how they choose their classes. For Ashra, she never lets the time determine if she takes a class or not. For one of our other roommates Rhiana, she’s often left scrambling just trying to fill her schedule. For some others, they try to get as many early classes as possible because they claim it gets them out of bed and working.
For myself, I managed to avoid 8:30 classes all of last year. Imagine sleeping until 10:00 every day. It was glorious. This academic year, I haven’t been as lucky. While I always have said that these 8:30 classes would motivate me to get out of bed, to have a healthy breakfast, and to head to campus early, they’ve turned in to a torturous affair, a constant fight between me and inertia. Who wants to leave their bed at 7:45 when you’ve just found the right position for your pillows and the air is just a bit too chilly out? Not that many people.
However, this morning I got a little surprise. My alarm went off as normal at 7:30 and I groaned when I rolled over to shut it off. I slowly opened my eyes and wondered if we were having a snow day (we weren’t. We never are. Ever.) I had forgotten to shut my blinds the night before and while my room is poorly situated since it’s right next to Main Street, I also get some added benefits. Like this morning, when I slowly propped myself up and got to wake up to a pretty amazing sunrise over the train tracks. The blood red sun mixed in with the orange sky as the light began to hit the town, slowly waking up a sleepy town and getting it ready for the day.
Sometimes it’s just the little things that help you get your day going. For Nathan, it’s that mandatory pre-classes shower. For Rhiana, it’s the ritual sacrifice to the God of the Underworld. For me, I suppose it’s the sunrise. Have a great day!
For this morning, this mashup song from Glee seemed like a fitting and chipper way to kick off the day. Yes, it’s not that new, but hey, it’s good so enjoy it!

Pickles pickles pickles

2010-02-03T12:35:00.001-05:00

My friends and I used to have an incredibly nerdy joke. Whenever someone left their computer unattended, say when they went on a bathroom break, we would always find some essay they were working on and quietly add in the word ‘pickles’ at random points in the essay. “While the defection of Benedict Arnold to the British side pickles was a shocking loss for the colonists…”, you get the point. I suppose it forced all of us to pay extra attention to our essays before we handed them in to our teachers, but overall, these ‘pickle bombs’ as they became known were harmless dorky pranks.
So in my mind, pickles has always been a word that has made me chuckle. When a new deli opened up in town, fittingly named Pickles, I had to chuckle when I first walked by. The first day they were open for business, my roommate Nathan and I were walking home together and decided to pop in to check the place out.
Pickles prides itself on serving European-style sandwiches, which, as far as I can tell, means that they give you two pieces of delicious bread and pile toppings a mile high on each slice. The first time we were there, I asked them if they had any vegetarian options. The owner looked down at the glass display case, stuffed full with various meats and sausages, chuckled, and replied “Not in here!” They offered to make me a cheese sandwich; usually an unappetizing option. However, the cheese sandwich they presented me with was like no other that my mouth had ever experienced. Mountains of gouda and cheddar piled on my bread and the interplay of cheese, fruit, and special pickles sauce exploded all over my taste buds. It was glorious and I had to have more. Since that day, I’ve been back many times, always sticking with my faithful cheese sandwich (partially out of lack of other options, but also because it’s just so damn good.)
I went kind of out of my way today to grab a sandwich at Pickles. I was having kind of a bummer of a morning and needed a break from being pickles on campus. Immediately when I walked in, the owner greeted me by first name and chatted with me about my day, asking me what I was currently studying, and more of the general small talk you often here at neighborhood establishments like this one. He even noted that there were several new options for cheese that they had just gotten in and I happily chose two more options for my sandwich. (Both were delicious. I can barely finish the second slice of bread, but have you ever had that conflict where you are so full, but the food you’re eating is so good that you can’t stop eating? No? Just me? Moving on…)
When I left Pickles, I couldn’t help, but break out with a big ol’ grin my face. My not-so-good day had been turned on its head and my mood was exponentially lifted. So thank you Pickles.
(Did you catch the pickle bomb? Bet you didn’t!)
As for a song...here you go!

Tragic

2010-01-26T19:06:00.000-05:00

Today, one of the most tragic things ever happened to me. My roommate Nathan died.
Just kidding. Wow. Was that even funny? Probably not. Anyways, today something slightly tragic did actually happen to me. Every Tuesday is the production day/night/eternity for the Argosy, the student newspaper at Mount A. I got lucky this semester because I don’t have any classes on Tuesdays so unlike some poor editors who are stuck in the office until god knows when, I can meander in at my leisure, casually throw my section together (literally, before the prod manager and EIC get to it, my section looks like a blind clown put it together), and then leave at a very reasonable hour.
Except for today. I first went in to the office around noon, put stuff together for a couple of hours and actually managed to get most of it done. I decided to take a break and to grab a coffee and study for an hour or so, you know, taking a break from the rigors of student journalism. I ran back to the office (because I forgot about a meeting…) in the rain (it was dramatic…like Baywatch only I was wearing a fleece and I’m Asian), ready to put the final touches on the section.
EXCEPT IT WAS GONE. DISAPPEARED. WHAT KIND OF CRUEL JOKE WAS THIS!? WHO DELETES A SECTION?! It turned out, the tech upgrade we’re doing at the office was just screwing with our servers and computers and freakishly wrote over all my hard work. I figured I had a couple of options at this point:
1/ Cry.
2/ Blame the EIC, threaten to torch the office and then, cry.
3/ Cry harder.
4/ Laugh it off.
What option did I choose? Obviously the first one. And then I realized how I would be mocked incessantly until the cows came home so I decided to go with option four.
At the end of the day, we should all be able to laugh off things that are out of our control. Sure getting angry and frustrated would have been nice, but would it have accomplished anything? Not really. Besides, it’s not like I had anywhere to go anyways. Yeah, that’s right. I would rather hang out at the Argosy office than do homework. There. I said it.
I think that’s one of the reasons I love my apartment. We all tease each other mercilessly and often times, people will come in and be shocked. “How can you be so mean to each other? Don’t you like each other?” But I think the reason we can is because we all have developed the ability to laugh at ourselves. The little insecurities have managed to melt away and the hurtful barbs that used to make me cry myself to sleep at night can now be laughed at.
I’m not sure if this blog post was happy or depressing. There were A LOT of references to crying…but I swear, it was meant to be happy!
OK, anyways…here’s a song that’s appropriate for Sackville since it’s ridiculously warm for some reason.

Glitter Face

2010-01-21T12:23:00.002-05:00

I’ve been writing and rewriting this blog post for the past two days. I really wanted to find a way to sum up everything that happened in Edmonton, to synthesize all the new experiences that I had while out West (OK, hold on, let’s pump the brakes here for a second. That last sentence makes it sound like something scandalous happened out in Alberta. No, we did not kill anyone. No, I did not fall in love. No, we did not capture a unicorn from the wild pastures of Edmonton). Anyways, continuing onwards…it was just an amazing conference, even if it was in Edmonton which was not the prettiest of cities. Even the ginormous mall was just overwhelming, although I was impressed with the replica of the Santa Maria and the sea lion show. However, I did not pay a ticket to sit in the group of school kids to watch the show unlike some people I know…
I think the best part of the conference was just the variety of people we got to meet. Aside from the rest of the Argosy staff, I’d never met any other so-called student journalist. It was fun (and incredibly dorky) to swap newspaper stories with them, share tips that we’d picked up, and generally just have a fun time. Let me say this: Maritimers, no matter where they are, always throw down and party. And boy, do they party hard. It’s ridiculous, I don’t know how an entire region got together and decided to develop an insane party gene, but they’ve managed to do it somehow.
One other great part of the conference were the amazing keynote speakers. Admittedly, I had never heard of Adrienne Arsenault or Jan Wong before arriving at the Radisson Edmonton South, but they spoke candidly about their profession, managed to keep a group of university students engaged and attentive for over an hour on Friday and Saturday night, and more importantly, were just damn cool. I actually got to eat breakfast with Jan Wong (She called me a breakfast keener because I got down to the meal early. Amazing.) and she was just so funny and real; it was just hilarious eating with her. She kept talking about how all the fat people always sit next to her on the subway because she’s skinny and they like to spill over onto her. She reminded me so much of my grandmother who would frequently point out people on the street whom she thought should lose weight. Oh Grandma…
Anyways, so this hasn’t really been much of a recap of my time in Alberta…in fact, it hasn’t really been anything at all. What life lesson am I trying to impart on you today? Uhhh, what have you taken away from this? Good. That’s what I meant to teach you.
Oh yeah, I met a cougar. It was weird.
Emma, faithful reader that she is, sent me this webcomic which apparently reminded her of my blog. I thought I would share it with you: http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/internet-cant-ignoere-grammar/
And for music…this is a really weird video I found a while ago that is made up entirely of sounds from the movie Up. Thoughts?

Who Knew?

2010-01-15T09:03:00.003-05:00

It’s currently 7:00 AM Alberta time, making it 10:00 AM Sackville time. Hold on, I should probably back track…I’m in Edmonton for the annual Canadian University Press national conference. Along with Julie, the Argosy Editor-in-Chief and Stuart the Sci/Tech Editor, I left Sackville around 4:30 AM Sackville time, so 1:30 AM Alberta time to grab a cab to the airport. Two flights later, we landed in Edmonton around 10:30 local time (I’m not converting this on for you; I think you got the idea). After arriving at the hotel and completing our mandatory visit to the pub. (Yes, I was in Edmonton for less than two hours before I went and got a beer. Don’t judge me, it was a hard morning.), we registered for the conference and checked into our room. Except they had kind of forgotten about us, so Stu, myself and our third roommate Ben got stuck in a smoking room. Can I just say that I had no idea that smoking rooms still existed? I was pretty certain they got outlawed along with things like child labor, but I guess not.

It’s been a whirlwind of activity since we arrived. Mainly because we were trying to avoid getting jet lag, we explored the surrounding area (so far, we’ve discovered a liquor store and a strip club. No judging, Alberta, I’m just laying out the facts here.). We also found this restaurant Koutouki which is a Greek restaurant that I guess was featured on Food Network Canada (a fact that really got Julie jazzed up). We tried to name drop and mention that we were from Mount A to get some free drinks or food…and failed miserably. It was an amazing meal anyways and gave us enough energy to make it through the keynote speaker before crashing into bed at the completely reasonable hour of 10:00 PM.

OK, so highlights so far:

I had a flight attendant wink at me on our Toronto – Edmonton flight. It was flattering…except he was like a 30-something male with a shaved head. It got weird when I got coffee and he said “Is that enough cream and sugar for you?”

Ew. I’ve managed to run into TWO former classmates from high school which is just a weird coincidence. Well, I guess I’ve only creepily stared at one from afar, but in my defense, she was like ten feet away and it was unreasonable to expect me to walk that far after staying awake for twenty-plus hours.

>Hanging out with an old Indian gentleman outside the fitness center while we waited for it to open this morning. I’m also fairly certain on the treadmill he didn’t really walk or run, he more…boogied for fifteen minutes. I don’t know any other way to describe it.

Spending enough time at the Pub on the premise that the waitress bought our coffee for us. Yes. In one day, we are on a friendly, conversational with the bar staff.

OK, that’s all from me for now! I got made fun of by my friends in Vermont for my constant YouTube music posting, but whatever, I think it’s fun. But hey, if you all hate it, just leave me some comments and I’ll stop. And cry. But hey, who doesn’t want to crush my illusions?

Anyways, this song was featured on the first episode the new season of Chuck. Enjoy!

2015: Goatee

2010-01-05T08:58:00.000-05:00

Phew! After a delayed bus ride and a twenty hour train ride, I’m finally back in Sackville. Who would have thought it would have been such a hassle to do such a routine trip. Apparently right after I left Burlington, it got hit by the single biggest snowstorm in history which dumped something like 33 inches of snow in one day. Pretty crazy. Luckily, the buses and trains were still running, even if they were a little delayed, so I made it back and even had the luxury of having my luggage too!

One of the first ways I knew I was back in Canada. Probably thirty seconds after I went through customs, I was standing in a little waiting room with the other bus passengers when I watched a woman walk straight into an automatic door…and apologize to it. I’ve witnessed countless Canadians walk into various inanimate objects and apologize to them. Desks, chairs, tables, now doors, apparently even these things need to know that we’re truly sorry for nudging them.

I was talking to my friend Kara yesterday on the phone and we started talking about how we both felt like 2010 was such a big change from the past year. Personally, my mind still thinks it’s 2006, but 2010 really cemented itself as a new year. One possibility is because it’s the end of the “oh-something” decade. Instead of “oh-six” or “oh-nine” we now have to say “…ten”. And that’s kind of weird.

It’s pretty crazy to look back over the past ten years, the past decade, to think about everything that’s happened in that time. Ten years ago I was eleven? I distinctly remember 2001. I was in 7^th grade, on the Kiva Team at Hunt Middle School. I had only been to Canada for random day trips with my family, had never driven a car, had a checking account at a bank, and definitely had no idea what an iPod was. And now look, ten years later, everything has been flipped on its head.

What’s going to happen over the next ten years? By 2020, I’ll be 31, so what big things will have changed, not only in my life, but in the world?

Should we be making new decade resolutions along with our new year’s resolutions? “By 2031…I will have a job!” It seems to me like those would be way to forward looking and plus, who wants to be constantly thinking about the future? Sometimes you have to live in the present. I did make one prediction for the future…by 2015, I plan on being able to grow a goatee. That’s right. While I can only manage very patchy and essentially invisible facial hair, I think the next five years will be enough time to conquer this goal.

OK, that’s all from me! I hope you all are on your way to having a great 2010! And hey, maybe you too can grow a goatee by 2015. There’s always hope…

Oh right, music! This song is Looking at the Sun by Gramercy Arms. I listened to a Genius playlist with it for pretty much my whole trip so I figured it deserved a mention. Enjoy!

2010-01-01T22:43:00.003-05:00

Wow. 2010. It's hard to believe we've already made it here. In fact, it's a little terrifying that we're here. Anyways, I'm working on a more substantial post, but that will probably have to wait for my train ride tomorrow evening. For now, I thought I would share this neat picture with you. It's a little small, but if you click on it, you'll see that it's the data of all the visits the blog has had since around May. (I managed to delete my tracker data from the beginning of the year. But hey, look at that! Over 2000 visits from over 450 cities! That's pretty cool. I always joke that the only people who read this blog are my parents, but unless they are jetting all around the world, I guess there are a few more fans out there.
A friend sent me this video a while ago and I think it's pretty fitting for the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. Enjoy!

Division III Swimmer

2009-12-28T19:11:00.000-05:00

Today was a very weird weather day. When I left my house this morning to run some errands it was warm out yet snowing. As I drove home, it was raining. I went out an hour later to grab a bite to eat with my friend Jared and it was snowing again. By the time we were walking around downtown, big white flakes were falling down, coating the sidewalk and road with a new layer of snow. Definitely weird.
For the first time this break, I ran into some people who we went to high school with and whom I hadn’t seen in years. I love having these random run-ins because even though it’s been a couple of years, everyone still looks relatively the same. Sure, we all look a little order, no one is drastically different. It’s great to catch up, find out what everyone has been up to since we graduated from the hallowed halls of Burlington High School, and generally just share any gossip we all might have.
Speaking of people looking similar, Jared and I went to grab a cup of coffee at Muddy Waters, the BEST people watching location in Burlington, we saw not one but TWO doppelgangers. The first one looked kind of like a sad, down-trodden version of our friend Keith and the second was a more jovial form of our friend Robbie. Pretty strange.
I can’t believe I’m already heading back to Sackville on Saturday. This break has really flown by. I feel like I just unpacked my bags and I’m already packing them back up (albeit with some awesome Christmas presents) to head back to sunny New Brunswick. Breaks are still good, even if they are short. It gives everyone a chance to get out of the town, unwind, and generally get a change of scenery for a bit. It’s also amazing to wake up in my own bed, hang out with old friends, hit up the old hot spots, and just be away from Sackville.
Don’t get me wrong, I love being at Mount A, but too much of a good thing can be bad. I feel like being at home means that I can slow down, escape from school life, and take a deep breath that’s probably a couple of months overdue. I’m dying to get back to see everyone and I’m actually pretty stoked for my upcoming semester (but don’t tell any of my profs…), but wow, it is nice to wake up at 11 and not feel guilty at all.
All I’ve been listening to since I got home is the top 25 hits station on the radio so right now my favorite song is Replay by Iyaz. Somehow, it’s on every single time I get in the car. Luckily, Emma sent me that song that I mentioned in the last blog so here is Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros:

Headin' Back Home

2009-12-19T17:17:00.002-05:00

I love travelling back home to Vermont. Almost every single time I’ve gone from Sackville to Burlington, it’s been on VIA Rail’s The Ocean, a seventeen hour “scenic” ride from Sackville’s station up through Northern New Brunswick and right into downtown Montreal. After that, I either beg my parents to come pick me up or I grab the bus down to Burlington which is a bearable three hour add-on. While I complain about the long trip to my friends, in a way, it’s nice to have such a long ride to myself. It’s nice to have time to just chill out, watch movies and just have time to myself to transition between life in Sackville and life back home in Vermont. Plus, the ride doesn’t hurt at all. As I write this, we are currently passing through some small Quebec hamlet with the run rising over the frozen plains. It’s pretty amazing.
I always seem to run into people while I’m travelling. I remember once when I was little, we went on a family vacation to a rather remote island in Florida and it turned out that half the campsite was actually members of my dad’s church. Another time I was in Paris at the end of a two-week trip in high school and I ran into one of my friends from a camp on the top of the Eiffel Tower. I suppose it shouldn’t be unexpected that I run into someone from Mount A on the train, but after I got settled in towards the back of the car with my laptop out, who should happen to snag the seat in front of me, but Emma.
Some background: the first time I remember meeting Emma was the beginning of winter semester last year. We were at the Pub and I think we ended up playing a game of pool. There was a band playing that night and she enthusiastically offered to interview the lead singer (although I don’t think I did ever get the results of that interview…). Anyways, ever since then, we’ve always chatted in passing and I know for a fact, she’s one of the five people other than my mother who reads this blog. (See, read the blog, tell Noah you read the blog, and eventually, you’ll get a shoutout of sorts.)
I think Mount A is made up a lot of these relationships. People you don’t necessarily hang out with on a regular basis, but when you do see them, it always brings a smile to your face. I always love running into Emma when I’m out because she seems to be someone who might actually be on the same level of craziness and awkwardness as me (which is hard to do, just ask my roommates). Last night when I was trying to fall asleep on the god-awful VIA Rail seats, she offered me her scarf because she thought I looked cold which was just sweet. These relationships are one of the reasons Mount A is so great and they aren’t something that are recorded when MacLean’s is calculating rankings for the best schools in the country. How could you? Survey students and ask them “How many people have you met during your time there who would offer you a piece of clothing when you were trying to sleep?” I’m no statistician, but I’m fairly certain that wouldn’t work out too well.
Since I have had such a long time to just listen to music and chill out, I have a couple of new songs to share with you all. First off, Emma suggested a song for the blog...but since she hasn't actually told me what the song was, it will have to wait until next time!
Second song: See the World by Gomez. It came on while the sun was rising in Quebec and it seemed fitting.

Third song: About two hours before I left, while Rhiana and Ashra were cooking lunch, Nathan and I had an impromptu dance party by ourselves. Now first, I need to put a disclaimer on the song: it has super creepy lyrics so just don't listen to those, just imagine the happy dance party we had to it.

Finally, I figure I need at least one holiday-themed song on here before it’s too late so here’s Christmas TV by Slow Club.

Signs You’ve Finished Exams

2009-12-18T10:06:00.001-05:00

1/ Colors seem brighter, foods taste better
2/ Birds seem to be chirping, not incessantly mocking you with their joyful songs
3/ You realize your room smell is not “Dorm Room Chique” but instead “Seven Day Old Laundry and KD”
4/ Your life feels somewhat empty after having school consume the past few months of your life
5/ You can now gleefully tell all your friends about the various ecological factors showcased in Planet Earth…even when they beg you to stop
6/ It’s odd…it seems like there a lot of people giving you really evil looks
7/ You find ways to justify a celebratory drink at 11 AM
8/ You feel a twinge of pain when you put all of your notes away
9/ You have time to read…for fun
10/ You’re home
I just found this song from one of my favorite shows Chuck and it’s already made it onto my playlist for my 17 hour train ride back home. Enjoy!

Signs You’re Starting to Crack Under Exam Pressure

2009-12-14T12:55:00.001-05:00

1/ Every time a friend declares they have finished, you contemplate how to kill them and make it look like an accident.
2/ Your meals consist of eggs, bread, and sometimes more eggs.
3/ An interesting time-paradox occurs where the days seem to be endless, yet there are not enough hours in the day to do all the studying you need to get done.
4/ You spout random quotes from even more random YouTube videos to your friends.
5/ When you can’t get on to Moodle or your WebMail, weeping seems like a valid response.
6/ You invite a fun new game called “Jelly Bones”, but no one else wants to play along.
7/ You rationalize that three hours of sleep is “oversleeping”
8/ If there was an open flame on your desk, it would probably start an inferno due to the piles of scrap paper on your desk.
9/ You find ways to stretch your thirty second bathroom breaks into fifteen minute long contemplations on life.
10/ You find this video hilarious:

My Life is...Bourne?

2009-12-11T09:39:00.002-05:00

Have you ever wished that your life was a movie? My roommate and I recently watched all three of the Bourne movies and after every single one, I kept thinking “Why isn’t my life as awesome as Jason Bourne’s?” I don’t even know that it’s that his life that great, I mean, who wants to not know who they are. Plus, he seems to punch every person he meets in the face. Can you imagine walking into your first day of classes and sucker punching your TA? Probably not a great way to get an A.
What I think really makes it epic is that accompanying soundtrack. The music from the Bourne movies always gets me pumped up. Not in like an I’m-ready-to-rock-this-exam-way, but more like a I’m-ready-to-get-into-a series-of-car-crashes-emerge-with-a-slight-limp-and-kill-a-guy-with-a-magazine way. You know, the normal type of pumped up you should get at midnight on a Tuesday. Sadly, the only magazines we seem to have in our apartment are Cosmos and I’m fairly certain that as badass as it is to kill someone with a magazine, you probably get major points taken off if the cover proclaims to hold the secrets to the “Best Beach Butt” or the “Hottest Winter Fashion Trends”.
With all the new snow and subsequent melting, the walk to school has become much more treacherous. The driveway leading up to our apartment is a deathtrap covered with black ice. I’ve nearly smoked my head on the pavement a half a dozen times and by the end of the year, I’m sure there will be some nice Noah-head sized dents in the ground. I have a thick noggin though so I’m sure I’ll be just fine. I’m sure Bourne would never slip on black ice. How anti-climatic would that be? He outruns dozens of cops, kills a mercenary with a power cord, and then slips and cracks his head open on black ice.
Anyways, for everyone to get their epic fill for the day, I present you with the following movie. The makers have essentially mashed together a bunch of different movies to make the most mind-blowing three and a half minutes of your life. Enjoy! (PS: Watch this sucker on full screen.)

Apple Juice

2009-12-06T12:33:00.001-05:00

This morning, I woke up to a window full of white. The flakes started falling last night, but I never expected the blanket of snowy goodness to be left in the morning. My day = 1000000x better. Instantly. Thank you, snow.
Now that exams are practically upon us, I’ve found that my new coping technique has been to stress cook. I look up a new recipe in a cookbook or food blog and try it out. My roommates are more than willing to be my guinea pigs and help me eat all of the food. I know, they’re saints, aren’t they?
While I’m waiting for my latest concoction to cool down (lentil-walnut veggie burgers, say whaaaaat?), I’ve been sitting in the living room with my roommate Nathan. He’s working on some essay (he read me a couple of sentences and I got confused) and I’m avoiding studying for a final I have this week. What’s our musical selection du jour? None other than our main man Vivaldi. That’s right. We’re rocking out to a little Four Seasons action. And it is glorious.
I think it’s funny how our lives can contrast so greatly from hour to hour here. One minute, we’re laughing at a ridiculous YouTube video, the next we’re teasing each other about silly things we’ve done that day, and then we cap it off by working on these ridiculous essays and assignment while listening to classical music. It’s pretty crazy when you think about it. My roommate Ashra told me a couple of weeks ago that I’m one of the most random people she’s ever met. I think our apartment, and in general, Mount Allison has one of the most random groups of people I’ve ever met. Who knew that girl in your Poli Sci seminar also recorded a solo record over the summer? Or that that guy you just met also happens to be a star on the soccer team?
Everyone here wears so many different hats. I’ve been referred to as myself, a bartender at the Pub, the Argosy Sports Editor, the past President of Thornton, that random Asian dude…and I don’t really do that much! (Sadly no one has EVER referred to me as “that awesome blogger”…but that day will come!) But getting back to the hats, I think it’s one of the great things that Mount A offers. We’re so small and there is so much to do that you really can get involved with six thousand different things at once and excel at them all.
Song of the Day: This song came up on a TV show I was watching the other day and I loved it. Enjoy!

Everything is Never as it Seems

2009-11-25T08:40:00.001-05:00

Can you see it? It’s there…barely. A flickering light at the end of the long dark tunnel that is first semester. That’s right my friends, we’ve nearly made it. In less than one month, it will be time for family, friends, and a return back home for a sense of normalcy after nearly four months of a crazed sleep-depraved existence. No midterms, papers, or required readings. For these two weeks, we’ll be free.
OK, so that’s a little melodramatic. But still, I am stoked to get back home to Vermont for break. This week is one when I get a little sad that I’m not going to a US school. Most of my friends head back to Vermont for Thanksgiving break, a nice little retreat before the madness of exams set in. It’s all good though, I’ll be home in…24 days which is ridiculously soon.
I spent the other day working on an essay all day at Bridge Street Café, the only coffee shop in Sackville. My roommates always work there, but it was my first time this year heading down there. I plunked my stuff down around 10:30 and didn’t leave the building until around 5:00. It was productive with an essay on India and Africa getting churned out during my time there, but one thing that I really enjoyed was all the people watching I could do. Friends and acquaintances kept popping in to grab a cup of coffee and we’d chat for a bit, catching up for a few minutes until we both acknowledged the amount of work we had and mutually agreed to part ways. It was great.
I think one of the bad things about having such a comfortable apartment is that, aside from school and work, I rarely want to leave this place. It definitely hurts the other relationships in my life, but part of growing up is pushing boundaries, right? So that’s my challenge to myself, a pre-New Year’s resolution (Besides, I think I said last New Year’s that resolutions could be made at any time in the year, so here’s one…eleven months later). I challenge myself, and you dear reader, to push yourself to get out of your comfort zone at least once this week. Maybe this means something small like smiling at that random girl who always walks by you, but you always avoid eye contact with Maybe this means running a marathon. Who knows. I plan on pushing myself out of this apartment and into…somewhere. I’ll keep you posted.
New Music: one of my best friends from Vermont, Jared, recently sent me this song, saying “I’ve been listening to this and I keep thinking, Noah would enjoy this a lot more than me.” He’s right, I love it. I hope you do too:

Snow, Hey Oh

2009-11-06T08:48:00.001-05:00

This morning was pretty miserable. Waking up on a Friday when it’s gray and raining outside gives me little motivation to get out of bed for an 8:30 math class. It’s even more difficult when I know I can hide behind the guise of swine flu or other illness to get out of class. Usually in the morning, Nathan is also up, getting ready for class, but ever since he got taken out by a bug, he’s been sleeping in and my mornings have been a lonely twenty minutes of preparing breakfast and shaking the sleep off before heading out into early morning Sackville to get to class.
When I stepped out of the apartment today, not only was it gray and cold, it was also raining. There is nothing more depressing than walking to class in the rain early in the morning. After sitting through class in which it seemed like half the class was missing, I slowly walked back up the stairs of Barclay to what I figured would be an equally depressing walk home.
Until I got to the doors and saw it. Snow. Big white flakes. Sure, they were interspersed with the disgusting rain, but it was finally here. I had heard that we had gotten snowfall last month, but I still hadn’t seen any snow myself. My mood instantly changed. With a good song in my headphones, it was hard to keep the smile off my face as I bounced home in the snow, relishing in the thick white flakes that fell to the ground.
I love snow. The first snowfall brings me immeasurable happiness. I’m really not sure why. After growing up in Vermont and living in Sackville for two years, I’ve been known to curse snow at the end of winter, just wishing for it to melt so that we could get on to spring. It’s like a bad relationship that won’t end. But every year, me and snow make up and try our relationship again. The first snow, this is like our first kiss. We’ve been on the chase for weeks now, it’s faked me out with that “snow” smell, you know, the one that bites your nostrils and you think “Oh, it smells like snow.” That tease of a hope of something to come, but doesn’t. And finally, this morning, it happened. It snowed. And it was perfect.
What’s the song to go with this? Red Hot Chili Peppers – Snow (Hey Oh)

And so it begins

2009-11-04T13:14:00.003-05:00

It’s officially that time of year when class sizes seem to magically drop down to a third of their capacity. People get scared to interact with their friends, avoid communal spaces, and sometimes, you can spot people wiping down doorknobs with alcohol disinfecting wipes. Yes, my friends, it’s the time of year when everyone starts getting sick.
Now I’m sure no one is ever aware that they are Patient Zero for the colds and flus going around campus. And I’m sure that there isn’t just one person who brings a cold to campus, it’s probably a large collection of people who travel home or go to a restaurant and bam! We’ve got the sniffles in Crabtree.
So far, not many of my friends have gotten sick, but the number seems to be getting larger by the day. One friend who was fine yesterday is starting to feel sick today. It's kind of like a zombie attack. "Oh man, Brit was fine yesterday, but I think someone bit her last night 'cause I went to go say hi this morning and she totally tried to eat my flesh." As of right now, I feel pretty OK and knock on wood, it’ll stay that way. Being realistic, I know I’ll get sick at somepoint. It’s pretty much impossible to avoid in such a small community. Through classes, living with roommates, and going out to public places, the chance to get sick is just too great and thanks to 8:30 statistics, I’m learning all about probability and it’s wonderful applications to the real world.
To avoid getting sick, I always try to follow my dad's advice. Well that and eat lots of soup. Like a lot of soup. I'm pretty sure it's all I've eaten in the past few days. Anyways, my dad’s advice has always been: positive thinking. If you keep thinking that you’re sick, eventually you’ll start to trick yourself into believing that you’re sick. Every time I start to feel sick, I pretty much tell my body “No, I can’t get sick. I have too much stuff to do to get sick.” It’s working so far, so who knows…the new H1N1 prevention method: stubbornness.
Hmm, so a song for the moment…Here’s one that came up when I made a Genius playlist the other day.

Or if that’s not good enough for you, here’s a techno remix of Party in the USA:

Stay healthy! Stay safe! Positive Thinking!

Sun Drenched Apartment

2009-10-25T16:23:00.001-04:00

Before you start reading this, you need to first put on this YouTube video. You don’t need to watch it, but just listen to the music. The song is called Bang Bang by K’Naan, a Somali rapper who is pretty popular in Canada.

OK. Got the song on? Good.
So today has been a weird day. Not a bad weird at all, but an interesting weird. First off, it is RIDICULOUSLY warm here. Somewhere around 60 degrees Fahrenheit which is just unheard of for this time of year in wonderful Sackville. All the windows are open in our apartment and fresh air is getting in after a week of being cooped up with the heaters on because of the snow/rain slush that’s been falling.
We’ve had a broken deep freeze in our living room since the summer. We got it, thinking it would be great extra storage space, but it turned out to be broken so it just kind of lived in our living room. That is until my roommates got the initiative to move it outside finally. I swear I would have helped if I hadn’t been making soup. Soup’s very important. Especially when its carrot soup. If I ran into the Tawny-Scrawny Lion, I would need some otherwise he would probably eat me.
Anyways…after that, they started looking at the furniture and trying to figure out how to rearrange everything to make the Feng Shui better, or something like that. Anyways, we spent probably thirty minutes moving stuff around until now. Now we have this amazing new setup of couches, chairs, and our TV that just feels…right. It’s pretty weird how this all came about, a culmination of procrastination, months of laziness and apathy, and the essential ingredient: carrot soup.
I think afternoons like this are what makes me love my apartment so much. Even moving around furniture and cleaning was fun; we laughed, gossiped, and generally just hung out while doing essentially household chores. Oh yeah, we’re just that cool.
Last Friday, I spent some time talking to prospective students at the Open House. It got me thinking about this video I saw around this time last year. I might have posted it on here then, but if not…here it is again!

Crunchy Leaves

2009-10-18T18:26:00.001-04:00

I love this time of year. Autumn’s probably my favorite season. The crisp air, the explosion of colors with all of the trees changing, I just love walking around on a sunny day like the one we had today. The smell of autumn is fantastic. You get the scent of crunchy leaves falling to the ground, the sharp tingle of the air in your nostrils, it’s just incredible. It’s cold enough that you need a light jacket or a hoodie and when you get home, your nose is a little chilly, but that blast of heat warms you right up.
I just finished probably my busiest week of the semester. I live with three science majors and I always used to tease them about the amount of midterms they had, but I got a taste of what they experience every semester. Two midterms and a term paper are not fun things to have to juggle in one week. Luckily, it was the week that the Argosy wasn’t printing so I got to focus solely on school work.
I find that with most of my friends, they’re always juggling term papers, midterms, and labs with a million other things. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve tried to schedule some time to see a friend for a movie or coffee only to have us realize that there just wasn’t an afternoon or evening where we were both free of any obligations or meetings. On weekdays, our apartment normally has everyone here for dinner, but other than that, everyone is running around for the rest of the time, either to run meetings, play intramurals, or just hit up the library or Bridge Street Café for study session.
Even though I don’t get to see them as much as I would like, I suppose I can take solace in the fact that they all get to walk around on sunny days, enjoying the sights and smells of a Sackville fall. Of course, we seem to be getting a disturbing number of rainy gray days which is just depressing, but on those days, I would recommend throwing this song on while you walk.

I love love.

2009-10-05T08:51:00.001-04:00

7:45 Monday morning. Like everyone else in Sackville, I wake up to a gray drizzle outside. Some might be depressed by this completely bleak and dreary outside setting. Others might use it as an excuse to go back to sleep. While I went through both those stages this morning, after getting up and going through an hour of class, I realized that maybe this isn’t such a bad thing. There’s a silver lining to every cloud right?
One thing I remember that made me really happy over the summer was that the smell of rain is the smell all around the world. When I was out in Victoria where it rained pretty much every single day, the rain smelled the same as it did in Mysore and the same as it smells back home in Vermont and even here in Sackville. I love the smell of new rain. It’s just so clean and fresh and happy.
Walking around campus on a rainy day, you always see an explosion of color. In the entryway of our apartment, we have a bunch of different pairs of rain boots, all different sizes and colors. Ashra’s little tiny kid’s sized rainboots are next to Cate and Rhiana’s ridiculous boots that are all different colors and patterns. When you’re on campus, you can see all different colors of boots, coats, umbrellas, etc. You name it, I’m sure there will be thirty different colors and variations on campus. I love it. Most of the time, people are just wearing a standard hoodie/sweater and pants combo, but whenever rain starts falling, I think everyone’s personalities start to emerge. Crazy umbrellas and rainboots are a way to let out part of you that is normally reserved and held back. I mean, people don’t normally wear fuchsia coats around, but once its wet and gray out, it’s totally acceptable to rock out that fuchsia coat with polka dot boots.
Now, I normally just wear my red LL Bean rain coat around with a dorky hood, so I’m not quite sure what that says about my personality, but I guess that’s up to whoever sees me to make that judgment. Preppy New Englander? Asian who loves math? Someone who likes to be dry? Who knows.
What’s the best way to get over the rainy day blues? First off, I would recommend a bag of Starbursts and a good movie. Maybe through in a cup of hot chocolate and whipped cream. Add in a nice warm shower, sheets fresh from the dryer and you have yourself a recipe for success.
One of my favorite rainy day songs is from a band called The Format. Sometimes you need a happy go lucky song to remind you that everything is pretty fantastic. Enjoy!

Indyyyyyyyya

2009-09-27T22:00:00.001-04:00

Over the past two weeks, I’ve probably watched the movie I Love You, Man at least three or four times. We got a big flatscreen TV for our apartment so most nights, we’re normally chilling out, watching a movie or a TV show. We all are fans of the same shows like How I Met Your Mother and Chuck. It’s pretty nice to be able to come home and just relax and have a laugh or two while hanging out with the roommates. Paired with a nice cup of tea, it’s pretty perfect.
I’m really excited for the next couple of weeks. There is an International Exchange fair coming up on the the 5th. I’m going to be there to talk about the India Exchange Program, but I feel like I need to write more about it here on the blog. I know that there was a fair number of people reading over the summer, but in case you missed out, here’s a recap:
Those two months I spent in Mysore were, without a doubt, one of the most influential and life changing experiences of my life. There’s so much to talk about, from the classes to the trips to just living in Mysore and the daily interactions we had with people there. I miss riding around in Ravi’s rickshaw, heading to the Green Hotel for a snack with a nice cold Kingfisher. I think that was one of the best things about being there. Even simple things like walking to school were exciting. There are these two small children who live on the tract of land just across from the hostel and they would always come out to say hi to us. “Hello! Picture? Candy?” They were so cute, it was incredible. Sometimes I would go running in the afternoon after classes and everyone would give me really funny looks. It’s so common to see people in shorts and a t-shirt jogging down the street, but in Mysore it was pretty out of place. Add in the curious kids who would bike alongside you, the packs of wild dogs that you would run by and of course the various Indians who would stare until you waved at them. To which they always responded with HUGE smiles and a wave.
I’m lucky enough to be living with Ashra who is from Southern India so sometimes she cooks for us and we have an Indian feast. I miss the food so much. Having it delivered every day by Manu on his motorbike just made is so much better. Also, all of the amazing fresh fruit…I get depressed now when I go to the SaveEasy and look at the mangoes there.
So what’s the conclusion? It’s a really tough decision to give up a summer of working and making money. It’s also really tough because it isn’t exactly cheap to go on the trip. But is it worth it? Absolutely. If you can, go on this trip. The program is really great for any Mount A student, whether they are in Arts, Social Sciences or even the Sciences. The diversity of the courses and experiences that you have while you’re over there…just unparalleled. Everyone I’ve talked to told me that one thing to do while at university is to go on exchange and I couldn’t agree more. I couldn’t imagine being away from Sackville for a semester or two so the summer program was my only option.
OK! That’s all I’ve got for now, hopefully you’re all convinced and will go on the trip! Or at least come check us out at the fair on the 5th. Maybe we’ll bring some candy or something. Everyone loves candy.
I just downloaded the soundtrack for (500) Days of Summer and this is probably my favorite song off of it. It’s just so bouncy and happy, it’s definitely my new “waking up and walking to class” song. Enjoyyyy!

Sorry!

2009-09-17T10:49:00.002-04:00

My parents called me last night and my mom mentioned that she had been checking this blog and wondered if I had died. Which is probably fair, considering I haven’t updated in a year and a half. Jeesh. Where has all the time gone?
Well, first on my list of excuses (albeit bad ones) is that it feels like I haven’t had a free minute since classes started. Between classes (which are amazing), Argosy (first issue out today!), and working at the Pub (every other Friday, come on out!), I swear my free time has just evaporated. It’s hard, trying to find a good routine for things, working out my schedule so that I know when to eat, sleep, relax, etc.
One great thing has been my apartment. I’m living with four of my friends and it’s been just amazing so far. I love that I can come home at 8:00 PM after classes and dealing with other things and they’ll all be home, ask me how my day was, offer to feed me, and just be there to relax with. There have been so many low key nights. On Saturday, Nathan (one of the roommates) and I realized it was midnight and we were both relaxing in our PJs and drinking tea. Sure, SACVegas was going on and the everyone was out on the town, but not us! Sure, it felt like we were senior citizens, but hey, why not?
This year is certainly different from last year. There are so many new faces on campus, eager to get involved and get going with their own Sackville lives. I loved working at the SACtivities Fair where the new students could scout out different clubs and groups on campus. The biggest advice I tried to give people was to get OVER-involved with things. Sign up for too many clubs, try them all out, and then drop the ones you don’t like. I have loved working on the Argosy, but it’s not for everyone. However, that’s the great thing about Mount A. Even though it’s a small school, it sure seems like there is a club or group for everyone.
I’m also pretty sad because after asking people who read the blog to stop me to tell me that they read it, a whopping one person talked to me about it. Not that I’m discounting that person, but come on, I thought more people read this thing than my parents and my creepy friends. Oh well.
PS: If you're in Sackville, check out the new Argosy and the Missed@MTA section. I love it.

Hummus and Barbeque Rice Crackers

2009-08-27T10:38:00.001-04:00

Has it really only been 5 days? We rolled into Sackville at around 3 am on Sunday morning, succeeding in our efforts to avoid Hurricane Bill. Of course Hurricane Bill turned out to be more like Eeyore’s Rain Cloud than a hurricane, but at the time, we really felt like we had accomplished something. The drive back was an absolute riot. Kevin and Sara-Beth got to Vermont on Saturday evening around 8 pm. We went out for a quick bite to eat downtown and then hit the hay to get lots of sleep for the big day of driving. We had breakfast at my house, loaded up Pierre, Kevin’s Prius to the brim, said goodbye to my parents and then headed back downtown for some shopping and lunch.
The drive back to Sackville from Vermont basically consists of two parts. The first leg is driving across Vermont and New Hampshire, a scenic but slow two-lane interstate. Fun things along Route 2, for those of you who may be driving it in the near future include a yard sale, run by a gentleman with a salt and pepper mustache who tried to sell SB a wedding dress. “Getting married this weekend? Need a dress?” Apparently her and Kevin gave off that fiancée vibe. Also located along 2 is Santa’s Village, a funland of rides and other Christmas themed attractions, complete with a robotic Rudolph in a barn that talks to you. If that doesn’t satisfy you, then you can go down the street to the Wild West themed park which I hear is much classier.
I like being back early because I can get myself settled in before any school craziness gets started up. We’ve got a few things we have to sort out with our apartment which are slowly but surely taking care of themselves. It’s pretty crazy how soon the new students are going to be arriving. In just a short week or so, Sackville’s going to be the buzzing metropolis again. Or something like that.
I want to try something here. I’ve always been curious how many new students are actually reading this blog so if you are a new student, pay close attention. If you see me out on the town, stop me and introduce yourself, let me know who you are! I know this might sound intimidating or whatever, but I’ll make it worth your while. Free candy? A round of Wii Sports Resort? More free candy? The possibilities are endless. And no, I won’t give you things if you already know me. Nice try though.

There's a storm coming...

2009-08-21T13:13:00.000-04:00

T-minus 48 hours and counting. The summer is officially coming to a close. All my bags are packed up, everything is in order here and in just two short days, I will be back in the land of Sacks. Ew. That sounds gross. But you know what I mean.
Kevin is driving up today with Sara-Beth from New York City. They’re going to stay the night here and then we are going to hit the town hard tomorrow. Apparently it’s a tax-free holiday which means that the 7% sales tax is waived for the day, making shopping even more appealing than it normally is. They were going to spend two nights here, but apparently there is a Hurricane (who is named Bill which just doesn’t sound like a Hurricane name to me, but anyways…) heading towards the East Coast so we’re going to leave here Saturday afternoon for the 11 hour drive and hopefully get into Sackville before the storm hits. Hopefully.
I can’t believe it’s already time to head back up to the great Frozen North. Just one month ago, I was probably sitting at the Bangalore Club, getting kicked out of their garden-side restaurant because I was wearing unacceptable footwear. Oh, the good old days, how I miss them.
There are some definite positives about going back though. It means I can get my textbooks for my courses which sounds really dorky and weird, but I think it’s a lot of fun when you get the new books for your courses. I mean, paying for them really sucks and after I see how much my books cost, I usually start crying in hopes that the bookstore ladies will give me some sort of discount. It hasn’t worked…yet. I have a new tactic for this year that I’m pretty sure is going to make them through me a 30% pity discount coupon. I’ll keep you posted.
Also, I love seeing Sackville before everyone gets back. The town is still pretty deserted or in other words, instead of seeing 7 people when you walk between Jean Coutu and the SaveEasy, you only see 3. Woo, small town living!
But in seriousness, I know that a few friends are going to be back early to get settled in their places before the year starts so it’ll be great to catch up with everybody and get everything in order before the craziness of another school year starts. I’m pretty certain we’re going to have some adventures as well, so I’ll try to get some pictures and throw some stories up here so that way you can read along with the fun! That sounded like a series of children’s books.
Anyways, I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t share another YouTube video with you. When I’m home, I probably watch at least two hours of ESPN a day and my favorite parts are always the “This is SportsCenter” commercials. Simply hilarious. This one is a little more relevant to heading back to the tundra so here you go. Enjoy!

Tennis for a day? Yes, please

2009-08-11T22:52:00.003-04:00

The transition back to normal life was made a little easier yesterday. My Dad and I took the 2.5 hour trip up to Montreal to watch the opening round of the Rogers Cup. We’ve been up a couple times before and since the tournament correlates nicely with my birthday, it’s a nice present to go up for the day to watch some of the top players for a day. I’ve been playing tennis for probably about 10 years now and we make a point to hit the ball around a few times while I’m home for winter vacation or during the summer.
We left Burlington around 8 AM, about two hours before I’m normally awake now that I’m back to a normal summer sleep schedule. The drive was fairly uneventful…until we got to the border and realized that instead of grabbing the tickets for the tennis session, we had instead managed to bring the free tickets for the Montreal bus and metro system. Which would have been helpful in getting us to the tournament, but not getting us in to the actual matches. One frantic wake up call to my sister and several minutes of rough translation of the French on the ticket jackets, we figured out that we could get replacement tickets at the gate. Problem solved. We made it up to the stadium with plenty of time and the nice French-Canadian ticket ladies didn’t even charge us for our replacement tickets.
We found our way to our seats and luckily, they were far superior to the seats we’ve had in past years. The last time, we were way up in the corner of the stadium and pretty close to the back, but this time, we had prime location in the middle of the stadium with seats close to the rail. Perfect.
The first match was between Marin Cilic and Mikhail Youzhny. I had never really seen either of them play either live or on TV. In fact, the only thing I knew about Youzhny was from watching this YouTube video:

In case you didn’t take the time to watch the video, he handles losing a point…poorly. While most people would overreact by breaking their racket, he takes a different approach and tries to break his face. Unconventional, but effective? Anyways, Youzhny and Cilic were pretty evenly matched, and the first two sets were split between the two. There were a few amazing points in both sets, but the third set was the most fun to watch. The second set had come down to a tiebreak with Youzhny winning to set up the third. Cilic then proceeded to implode and lost the third set pretty quickly. Nothing like a good self-destruction, especially when you can watch it from the sidelines.
After that, we got up to walk around for a bit. We got to see some of the players practicing on side courts. Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal were practicing side by side, both wearing backwards hats and looking super cool. We then caught the tail end of a doubles match between David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo versus Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Since this match was on a side court, we were probably ten to twenty feet away from the action, really up close and personal with the tennis. It was pretty incredible to see top flight tennis being played that close!
After that, we went and parked ourselves at the second main court. There were no assigned seats on this court and the match we wanted to see wasn’t scheduled until later but in order to maintain our good seats, we had to tough it out through two matches of good, but not spectacular tennis. We probably should have been warned off when both matches featured Canadian players, but who were we to judge?
After an hour and a half match and a 30 minute rain delay, the match we had been waiting for. You could hear the crowd begin to roar before the players even got to the court. Then the garish yellow headband and matching yellow Nike’s stepped onto the court: Nadal and Djokovic had arrived. Djokovic was looking equally stylish, wearing a matching outfit with his doubles partner who out-styled him by throwing on a pair of red framed shades to go along with his white shirt and gold shorts (I can’t believe professionals actually wear golds…but it’s true!)
Watching Djokovic and Nadal play was just incredible. There was one point where it looked like the point was lost, except then Nadal scampered across the court with superhuman speed and got the ball back at some impossible angle that no one could return. The crowd was clearly pro-Nadal, but most of the points were filled with lots of ooh’s and ahh’s as both doubles teams played incredible games.
So all in all, it was a pretty great day in Montreal. It looked like it was going to pour rain for most of the day, but we only got one tiny rain delay the entire time. So we got there at 11:00 and ended up leaving around 6:30, meaning excluding the 30 minute rain delay, we got to see around seven hours of live tennis. Not too bad. Not too bad at all.

Djokovic. Notice the shorts

Rain Crew (with Sham-Wows!)

Youzhny sans bloody face

Oh hey, Nadal

That Time I Went to India...

2009-08-03T14:05:00.001-04:00

10 days ago, I was on a plane, headed home from our two month Indian adventure. Now? I’m sitting outside in a hammock, dutifully blogging away. Who can believe it; August is already upon us. It feels like my memories of Mysore are from months or even years back, not just a couple of weeks. It’s been nice being home though. You can’t beat a Vermont summer, especially now that the torrential rain that has plagued Burlington for most of the summer seems to have passed. Since it’s impossible to find someone to hire you for just three weeks in August, my days have been filled with sailing, tennis, and general laziness. It’s really a tough life.
I’m working on trying to write down all of my favorite memories from India; little anecdotes and stories that I can whip out whenever someone asks “So how was India?!” I’m getting better; at the start I would usually just stammer out “It was…India-ish” and then quickly change the subject to something else. I think one of the biggest things that I miss, and also one of the hardest things to describe, is the relationships that we built up with the people in Mysore. I mean, I loved the classes we took, all of the amazing sites that we saw, the incredible food we got to eat, everything, but the people are what made the trip truly spectacular. For example…
Ravi: Our exceptional auto rickshaw driver. He was always reliable and since he spoke English, there was never too much of a communication issue. How can I sum up our relationship? This one time, he was late in coming to pick me up to bring me downtown. He immediately began apologizing “Sorry Noah! Sorry! Sorry!” and he jumped out of the auto and began looking around on the ground for something. He picked something up and got back in and began to drive. I told him where I wanted to go and he turned around and handed me a small twig.
“What’s this for Ravi?”
“I was late. You can beat me for being late.”
*moment of stunned silence*
Ravi’s mischievous smile began to creep on his face.
It was always wicked confusing whenever he joked around with me. I would always take things completely seriously, until I realized he was kidding around. One time he had me convinced that I was an hour late for a pretty serious meeting. The problem was that he would always have a smile on his face so it was impossible to tell when he was kidding or not.
That’s just one example, but I could write pages and pages about all the people in Mysore like Sindhu, Dr. Rao, Somu, Manju, and everyone else.
Ah! Before I forget, I have uploaded every single picture I took on the trip to my Picasa Web album so if you have lots of time to kill, you can go through and check out all of the pictures from the whole trip. There are also a few videos in there, like one of an elephant being washed or another of this weird magic show we saw while at Hampi. Take a look!
http://picasaweb.google.com/NokoVT

2009-07-28T22:11:00.003-04:00

Currently, I am riding in the plush AC2 sleeper class riding from Hospet to Bangalore. And by plush, I mean that the eight of us are all grouped together in an air conditioned car which is nicer than the unreserved class that sped by us when we were waiting on the platform, filled with people in a standing room only type situation. We get clean sheets, a nice mat to sleep on, and the essential: air conditioning. Our train gets into Bangalore at 6:00 AM so it’s just a quick overnight trip, nothing crazy like the 17 hour trip that it takes to get from Sackville to Montreal.
It’s so unreal that we are going to be headed home on Friday. Two full days. That’s all that’s left in this Indian adventure. The past two days have been, like all the others on this northern tour, just amazing. Hampi was split into two parts, the northern part had more of the temples scattered along the river bed. I really enjoyed these temples because they had a lot of depictions of Hanuman, the monkey king from the Ramayana. He always manages to look slightly cheeky and mischievous, like he’s probably up to no good. After touring around all the temples, we took a lunch break at the Mango Tree, a quiet and tranquil restaurant overlooking the river where we sat on the ground and ate off banana leaves.
The next day we spent visiting all of the royal complexes. There was a mixture of Hindu and Islamic architecture with some structures like the Lotus Mahal and the elephant staples incorporating the soaring arches of Muslim design with other Hindu features. All of the pictures from Dr. Rao’s lectures came back to me and I remember him talking about the various sites and how he and his team discovered and excavated many of the sites, unearthing these places for the first time in hundreds of years.
So wow, two months has just flown by. Eight solid weeks of Indian travels and studies down to just two full days. Our flight takes off from Bangalore in the middle of the night and we get into Montreal around noon on the same day. Pretty ridiculous time change adjustment. I’m trying to think of a way to sum everything up, maybe a Best of list or something like that. But for now, it’s time to get some sleep on the train.
“Whoa, I’m in India moment”: This morning, we woke up at 4:30 to climb up to a hillside temple and watch the sunrise. The climb itself was ridiculous in the early dawn light with lots of sheer cliff faces and tiny steps cut into the rocks themselves. But once at the top, we all sat down and just soaked in the moment. I got my iPod out and put on “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles. Corny? For sure. Amazing? You bet.

View from the temple at sunrise

Hanuman

Aihole and Bijapur

2009-07-25T06:32:00.003-04:00

Friday morning we set off from Badami and the beautiful Hotel Badami Court. Our first stop was Aihole where there were lots of different Hindu and Jain temples. Unfortunately, my camera died at the first hillside Jain temple so I didn’t get very many good pictures of the temples. The neat thing about Aihole is that the current city has been built up around the temples, so you transition from temples to current cities much more rapidly than at the other sites we have visited so far.
After that, we took off for the long drive up to Bijapur. Bijapur was unique because, unlike the other places we’d visited so far, Bijapur had Islamic architecture and sites. The first place we went, Ibrahim Rouza, looked like a miniature Taj Mahal. It was absolutely stunning with the brown and black stone of the majestic monument contrasted directly with the rich blue sky and the deep green of the surrounding fields. We could also see the influence of Dr. Rao, our program director and also the former Director of the Archeological Survey of India. When Anna, our guide for the week, told the men working at the site that we were studying with Dr. Rao, the man in charge nearly tripped over the stairs in his enthusiasm to run up to the bus where he thought Dr. Rao was waiting. Even when Anna explained that Dr. Rao was not with us, he still took us around all of the monument and then took us to our next stop at Golgumbaz.
I thought that Ibrahim Rouza was amazing, but Golgumbaz was even more spectacular. It had a huge central dome, apparently the second largest in the world only after St. Peter’s in Rome. It was gigantic and while we gazed up at the spiraling towers and the wide dome, the Archeological Survey team brought us tea and cookies. It’s going to be hard to transition back to life in North America without people bringing me snacks all the time. We even got to see the Golgumbaz lit up when the sun went down. With all the flood lights focused on it, it started to look like it was glowing against the night sky. It made it even better when Haruka started singing “A Whole New World” from Aladdin and remarked “Aladdin was a Muslim, right?”
After an interesting night at the hotel (Lonely Planet claimed it was the nicest in Bijapur…I don’t think I wanted to see any of the other ones…) we woke up at 6 AM to go back to Golgumbaz. We walked up these incredibly narrow staircases and reached the top of the structure where there were incredible views of the surrounding city, as well as the “Whispering Dome”. The dome inside the structure has this incredible acoustic property so anything whispered against one edge of the dome can be heard clear across the other side of the 38 meter diameter. Also, a clap, shout, anything will echo 10 times. As Sophie put it, it was like having voices in your head. We sat on opposite sides of the dome and had a conversation; definitely creepy and eerie. After another snack of coffee and cookies, we quickly went to a mosque across the town. Again, there was some amazing architecture on display with incredible stone work and huge vaulted ceilings.
Following a quick breakfast and a happy goodbye to the Bijapur hotel, we hit the road for our four hour bus ride down to Hampi. We arrived at our hotel around 1:00 PM (my favorite so far. Perks include: kittens by the glass elevator, internet café on site, two restaurants/bars, and my room makes me feel like a businessman) and had a quick bite to eat before heading over to the Archeological Museum to look at the sites we are going to be touring for the next two days. It was really fun to see all of the pictures and representations of the sites that we had seen pictures of in class with Dr. Rao when he nonchalantly remarked “I helped to excavate and find these sites.” He spoke so modestly, like it was no big deal, but looking at the models and the various pictures in the museum, let me assure you, it’s a HUGE deal.
I realized that these blogs from India have deviated from my normal blog formats. In an attempt to return back to normalcy or at least prepare you for the return to my monotonous and boring life since there are only FIVE DAYS left in this trip…I’ve been working on some playlists since I got here. The first one is accurately called “Sleep Mix” and it’s the seven songs that I’ve listened to before bed every night we’ve been here. If you’re having problems falling asleep at night, I highly recommend it.
Sleep Mix
Snow Patrol – Crack the Shutters
Peter Gabriel – The Book of Love
Ben Gibbard – Recycled Air (acoustic)
Ben Gibbard – Farmer Chords (acoustic)
Joshua Radin – Winter
Obadiah Parker – Hey Ya (Outkast acoustic cover)
Alexis Murdoch – Orange Sky

The second one are the songs I’ve been listening to while we zoom around Karnataka in our buses. Some of the best memories I have from Mysore are when Ravi, our reliable rickshaw driver, threw on his Kannada music and it blared while we roared through Hebbal in his rickshaw. It was like a scene out of a movie.
Driving Mix
Explosions in the Sky – Welcome, Ghosts
A.R. Rahama featuring Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun – Ringa Ringa
Ben Kweller – Penny on a Train Track
MGMT – Kids Oracular Spectacular
Elvis Presley – A Little Less Conversation (JXL Remix)
The Format – She Doesn’t Get It
Indian Music – Track 08 (I got this song from Manju so I have no idea what it’s called. However, it is a sweet Kannada dance track, so just be jealous that I get to listen to it.)
KT Tunstall – Suddenly I See
Dropkick Murphys – I’m Shipping Up to Boston
The Beatles – Eight Days a Week
Fountains of Wayne – Hey Julie

Anyways, KEEP READING THE BLOG!

Jain Temple on top of hill in Aihole

Ibrahim Rouza

Golgumbaz

Northern Karnataka: Badami

2009-07-22T03:12:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday evening, we departed from Mysore. The hostel rooms that were our home for seven weeks were all packed up, the desks cleared of work that had cluttered them, the fans finally shut off. Saying goodbye to everyone in Mysore was surprisingly not as difficult as I thought it might have been. As Dr. Rao put it, we leave only to return again. Mysore was such a great place to get my crash course in India. From the courses to the morning yoga to the interactions with all the people at the hostel, the time flew by. It felt like it was just yesterday when we were stumbling up the stairs at 4 AM after getting in from Bangalore. It was so easy to get comfortable there, but it’s time to get moving again.
We got on the train at Mysore and took the overnight trip to Hubli. Fun train fact #1: I’m not ridiculously tall, but my 5’9” frame barely fit in the train bed. Fun train fact #2: You know how when someone doesn’t come back from the bathroom for along time and you joke that they’ve fallen in? You legitimately could have gotten your foot stuck in the squat toilet on the train. And no I didn’t get stuck, I know you were thinking it. Fun train fact #3: I tried to speak to the train conductor in Hindi. After trying to say “We’re going to Hubli!” several times and getting blank stares I went back to the reliable “I am eating a mango!” which they immediately got and laughed at.
We arrived at Hubli in the morning where our bus driver met us with all of our luggage and drove us another two hours to Badami. First off, Badami looks like the Soutwestern United States if it suddenly burst out in green vegetation. The red sandstone hills were all a rich dark red color which contrasted greatly with the red earth. Our first visit was to the Badami caves. Constructed by the Chalukya E mpire there are four (or are there five?) caves that have been cut and chiseled into beautiful shrines and temples. The first one is dedicated to Shiva and has an absolutely phenomenal carving of Nataraja, the Lord of Dance. The second and third caves were dedicated to Vishnu and had some incredible carvings of his carious incarnations. The fourth cave was a Jain cave and so was simpler than the others, but no less amazing. We had seen some pictures of the caves before in a lecture from Dr. Rao, but they really didn’t do them justice. These caves were HUGE and all of the carvings were so intricate. The attention to detail was just mind-blowing, especially when you think about how they were carved in the 1st to 10th centuries AD.
On the second day in Badami, most of us rose early and set off at 6:00 AM for a 6 kilometer hike. We got to see the sun rise over the sandstone hills which itself was worth the hike. We then came to this huge natural stone bridge formed in the hills. Pradeep, our helpful attaché from the Archeological Survey of India, took me up to the top of the bridge and we saw a monkey perched on top of one of the surrounding hills who looked like he was meditating. We then proceeded on to a group of a group of temples dedicated to Shiva. While there, we got to swim in a natural spring water-fed sacred pool which was very cool and also quite freshing after the long hike.
We then continued on to Pattadakal, a huge collection of temples built by the Chalukyas. It was really neat because the temples incorporated both Southern and Northern styles of architecture. Also, the temple grounds were filled out with lush green fields so the massive stone temples contrasted greatly with the bright green blades of grass. The temples were all fantastic with lots of carvings of various deities and scenes from the great Indian epics.
Phew! So tha’s just the first two days on our Northern Karnataka trip. Today we’re off to Aihole (which some of us in the group have affectionately referred to as “A-Hole”[actual pronunciation: ay-ho-leh]) and then we continue on to Bijapur where there is a huge collection of Islamic architecture. Oh yeah, we’re definitely still in India.

Lord of the Dance at Badami

The Wobble

2009-07-13T11:42:00.001-04:00

“How’s India?” That’s a question I get a lot from my friends and family back home. Most of the time I respond with “IT’S INDYYYYYYYA!” which of course, isn’t really a response at all, but the majority of the time, it distracts people and we move on with the conversations.
I think the best way to answer the question “How’s India?” would be to use a new body language movement that I’ve been trying to pick up since I got here. Every Indian here does it and honestly, it’s still one of the most confusing things ever. How to describe it…ok, sit straight up. Now, keeping your neck straight, try to wobble the top of your head back and forth from left to right and back to the left again. That, in essence, is the Indian head wobble.
What does it mean? Well….everything. Yes, no, maybe, ok, the head wobble is seemingly done as a response to any question regardless of the answer. “Do you know how to get to the Green Hotel?” *Head Wobble* “Can you drive me there?” *Head Wobble* Now this is great when they know where they are going…not so great when they go on an hour long detour on what should have been a 10 minute drive.
I love the head wobble. Sure it’s wicked confusing and half the time I just want to get a solid up and down yes nod or a side to side no nod from them. But after a while, I started to do it without realizing it. Now I do it so frequently that everyone else on the trip starts to call me out or just simply start wobbling their heads when I start doing it. I always pick up on weird head movements though. Whenever I go to the Sackville Farmer’s Market to buy sushi, I always end up nodding excessively because the saleslady starts nodding and then I start nodding and it’s just a bad never ending circle of nodding. I’m sure it’s pretty comical to see from afar but most of the time, I just get dizzy.
When my friend Ashra was here visiting, I asked her why she didn’t do the head wobble when she was at school and she said that if she did, people would just confused. I guess it’s just like one of those things that we do that we don’t realize until we are out of our normal community. I never thought I had an accent until my friend started pointing out every single word that I said differently than her.
We’ve only got another two days here in Mysore and then we’re off for our Northern Karnataka Tour. Hopefully we have steady internet access so I can keep updating this blog, but more likely, it’ll be a dry spell until I get home on the 24th. I’ll try to post our travel schedule before we leave so you’ll know what we’re up to and I’ll also try to think of some funny new way to blog since I think these posts are getting kind of boring…
Until we meet again!

The Post That Mom Won't Like

2009-07-11T02:15:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the last day of classes. After we had finished up, Dr. Rao sat down with us to do a kind of debriefing since our formal academic sessions had come to a close. One of the questions he asked was “How has your India experience been?” I thought about that question and while I don’t think it’s possible to quantify and to put the experience of the past weeks into words, the best way to describe the trip is this:
Every day, I have an experience, a moment that makes me stop and think “Wow, I’m in India.” These aren’t always necessarily big events like trips to religious temples or things like that. It always just depends on my mood, how the moments strikes me, etc.
My most recent example came on Thursday. We had been invited for dinner at one of our professor’s homes, Dr. Indira, the lead professor for Gender in India. She had sent her car over to get us, but it could only take four people at a time. The first batch had left, so I was waiting with Michelle and Hillary for the car to come back. As we were standing by the gate, Somu, the program assistant rode up on his motorbike. “Get on!” he said “I know where professor’s house is, I can give you a ride.” I’ve gotten rides back from the school from him before, a distance of maybe 150 yards so I figured that this trip would be no problem. I hopped on the back of the bike and away we sped.
Have you ever started to do something and realized 30 seconds after you started that you hadn’t really thought things through? First sign that I had possibly bitten off more than I could chew:
Me: “How far is it to the house?”
Somu: “Oh not far, maybe 4…5 kilometers?”
Right. OK, no big deal, I could handle this. I mean, I see old people riding on the back of these bikes all the time, talking on their cell phones, reading newspapers, doing yoga (OK, maybe not that extreme). I’m a young guy, I can handle this.
I wish I could have gotten a picture from the first five minutes of the ride. I know that my mouth was wide open in a half grin half terrified look. While we were driving, I thought people were just staring at me because I was an Asian riding on the back of a motorbike. In hindsight, I’m fairly certain they were staring because I looked absolutely ridiculous on the back of the bike.
Second sign: We drove up through Hebbal and the streets were packed with people and traffic. At one point, we sped past a rickshaw that was taking way too long to go up the hill. Except we also got without a foot of a bus that was speeding past us going the opposite direction. I can admit, I definitely closed my eyes and prayed that we were going to be OK. Which of course we were because Somu definitely knew what he was doing.
Gradually, I got more comfortable with the motorbike. At the beginning, my hands were firmly clutching his hips, making sure that I did not go flying off the bike. Then another bike pulled past us with an old lady sitting on the back, sidesaddle, just chilling and looking completely nonchalant. I relaxed a little after I saw that and loosened my grip on Somu’s hips. Then after another what I consider to be near-death experience with another very large bus, my hands graduated to resting on my knees.
I think the most terrifying part was that I just don’t trust myself to balance on the seat of a motorbike. People who know me and interact with me know that my balance is awful. I’ve fallen over before while walking with my telephone in my room. It’s sometimes pretty comical how bad my balance is. Anyways, I was convinced that we were going to slow down or speed up and I would just topple off the bike.
Luckily for me, no falling occurred and we got to the house with no problems. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Will I still have the ridiculous look plastered on my face? Probably. Am I in India? Without a doubt.

Basically Indian

2009-07-08T02:07:00.000-04:00

I never know how to start these blogs off. I wish that I always had a funny anecdote to share, something that is light and airy that would be a good introduction to whatever adventures I might be sharing with you today. Sadly, the only one I can think of is from yesterday. I was walking through Hebbal, a little commercial area near the residence, with Louisa, Diana, and my friend Ashra who had come to visit Mysore for a bit. We were walking on the side of the road and a little boy was riding his bike in front of us. He kept looking back at us, speeding away and then slowing down enough so we would gain on him and he could take another glance at us. After three or four times of sort of avoiding his eye contact, I decided to make a funny face at him and make some noise like “blaaaaah!” with my tongue hanging out and shaking my head back and forth. Needless to say, he rode away in a hurry, but I’m hoping that I gave him a really good story to tell his family or friends later. Hopefully I didn’t scar him for life, but I guess that is also a possibility…
Well ok, there’s a story that reveals that Ashra had been visiting Mysore for the past week or so. Ashra is one of my best friends from Mount A and we’re actually going to be living in the same apartment next year. (She’s also a blogger and I can admit she was a blogger before me and was my inspiration for becoming a blogger: http://ashrakolhatkar.blogspot.com) Anyways, she came on the train from Kodaikanal, an overnight trip away. It was great having her here, mainly because it meant we could talk about all of our friends from Sackville, our plans for next year, and pretty much everything else that we wanted to. Also, it was really useful having an Indian with us who could explain subtle nuances that maybe we weren’t able to pick up on as Westerners.
On Friday, we went to a place called Shakthi Darma, a rehabilitation center for women located on the other side of Mysore. It serves both as a shelter for women who had been abused and also as a rehabilitation center, giving them vocational training and skills necessary to become independent economically. It was a pretty amazing place. The women had some powerful stories, different paths that had led them all to the shelter. There was also some comic relief when the lady giving us a tour looked at Ashra and said “Oh so you’re basically Indian.” I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Ashra speechless before, but it happened. I think it was easier for the girls in the group to connect and talk with the ladies at the center. For myself, I had an intense staring contest with this one young baby who would not smile at all, no matter how many times I tried to play Peek-a-Boo or make a funny face to get a reaction. When we asked the mother why the baby looked so sad, she replied “It is because her father didn’t give her a reason to smile.”
Saturday was a very full day. We spent the morning touring an organic farm outside of Mysore. I was expecting a typical farm with ploughed fields and whatnot, but this farm was pretty much the jungle incorporated into the farmland with different fruits and spices growing as they naturally would. It was interesting to see the plants whose names I normally associate with pudding flavors: vanilla, tapioca, nutmeg, coconut, etc. Definitely one of those times when I looked around and thought “Yep, definitely not in Vermont anymore!” In the evening, we attended a dance performance put on specifically for us. It was a traditional Indian dance so there was one woman depicting scenes from the Ramayana, one of the epics of India, while accompanied by a singer, two percussionists and a violin. The music was fantastic, but the dancer was out of this world. She was able to move her eyes, head, and body all in completely different directions. She also portrayed all of the characters in the story, but could manipulate her body language in such a way that it was so obvious when she was switching between the monkey king and Rama, or any of the different characters.
Sunday was a “free day” on our schedule so I figured I had to take Ashra out to do some touristy things. We got an SUV taxi for the afternoon and went to see the palace. It was raining, but the highlight was definitely getting an ELEPHANT RIDE! Louisa has wanted to get one since we got to Mysore and since Ashra was here, it meant that we had the numbers to get one. Unfortunately for Ashra, she got another funny reaction from an Indian. I had gotten the ticket stub for our ride and it was myself, Louisa, Michelle (Louisa’s Mom) and Ashra and since ticket prices are different for Indian citizens, it was 3 foreigners and 1 Indian. The guy asked me “OK, so three people?” and I replied “No, three foreigners, one Indian!” He went “1 Indian?” looked at Ashra, LAUGHED, and said “Ok ok.” It was great. We also got stared at by all the Indian tourists around the palace, probably because we all had these huge dorky smiles on our faces because I mean, come on, WE WERE RIDING AN ELEPHANT! It was great, they let us sit on the elephant’s shoulders so it looked like we were “driving” it and we got some good pictures out of it. After that, we went souvenir shopping where I picked up some sweet presents for some of my friends. We were basically just killing time until the palace’s exterior lights came on at 7. All in all, it was a pretty touristy day, but definitely one of the best times I’ve had in Mysore.
Well anyways, that’s all for now! It’s the last week of classes here so it’s a whirlwind of classes, finishing papers, and starting to study for exams. I can’t believe that our time in Mysore is coming to a close and that I’ll be home in…17 days? That’s just crazy.

Rain? Yes, please.

2009-06-30T00:41:00.001-04:00

Before we left for our trip to Mysore, we were warned that power outages were not going to be frequent, but at the same time, they were not unexpected or unusual. For our first few weeks here, I think we only had one or two power outages in total. But in the past week or so, we’ve had a power outage pretty much every day. We can usually get through most of Hindi class, so 8:00-9:00, but then it’s usually goes down. Now the school has had a battery reserve so the outlets and plugs still work, but the fans and cooling devices are down for the count. So what are normally three easy hours of classes turn into three hours of sauna temperature sweat baths where you fight against the heat to stay awake and continue focusing. Today was a very easy day, the classes were all relatively short, but because it was so hot out, it was just physically draining to sit in class.
The reason why there are these frequent power outages is pretty interesting. We’re in Mysore for what is supposed to be the monsoon season. At the beginning of our stay, they told us that it would be something like 30 minutes of rain, then sunlight, then 45 minutes of rain, then sunlight. However, it’s rained probably less than 10 days and we’ve been here for a month already. Because the rains haven’t been falling, the hydroelectric dams don’t have enough water running through them to generate enough power, creating a power shortage. One of the guys who works at our residence was telling me that the power shortage is getting to the point where power prices are nearly doubling. Today during one of our breaks, Sindhu told us that there is only enough water left in the reservoirs for 10 days. I can’t even comprehend that. Coming from a country where clean water and access to water isn’t an issue, at least for my family and friends, this is such an unreal situation for me.
I can think about things from a purely selfish point of view and say “Wow, the weather’s been so great. I love the sun and no rain? Fantastic!” But being here has made me try to think about things from other perspectives. What if I was a farmer in Mysore who waited every day for the rains to come so that my fields will be invigorated. The monsoon rains are what power the agriculture for the rest of the year and without them, what do you do? I know that there are some people that would say that these are cyclical things that happen from time to time, but I believe that this is one of my first real life experiences with global warming. Sure, I can joke and say that those mild winters in Vermont and New Brunswick have been thanks to global warming, but this is a serious situation that is potentially endangering hundreds if not thousands of livelihoods across the country. The people who are being squeezed and hurt the most by climate change aren’t going to be the average American, it’s going to be the poor, rural farmers whose lifestyles will be drastically altered by changing weather patterns.
Also, is it bad that whenever I think about water security I think about the new Bond movie?
Anyways…to change topics to something a lot more happy and cheerful, my friend Ashra is coming to visit on Wednesday! She’s coming from Kodaikanal which is a long haul from here, but she’s staying for nearly a week so I’m pretty stoked to have her coming. We have a pretty busy week and weekend scheduled, but I’m hoping that we can get some time to catch up and just hang out as well. I know I’m pretty lucky to have a friend who lives so close by (relatively speaking) and I plan on making the most of her visit. Late night chick flick marathons? Gossiping about all the cuties that we saw? I think it goes without saying that we’ll be doing both of those pretty much non-stop.

Don't Worry...

2009-06-24T23:24:00.000-04:00

I know I know, I haven’t written in a long time. I have a good explanation, I swear! Actually I have a few of them. Well, for starters, our internet at the hostel has been down for the past few days so I haven’t been able to get on to post any blogs. And yes, there was internet at the school, but most of my time there was spent working on papers. Which is conveniently my second excuse, I realized I should probably be doing some school work here instead of just writing down blogs all the time. And my final reason? Well, I mean, eight seasons of Scrubs aren’t going to rewatch themselves now are they?
Anyways…it’s been a busy week here in Mysore. Last weekend was a whirlwind of temple tours. On Friday, we started off the day by travelling down to Sravanabelagola. Well, I guess we actually started the day by realizing our bus had an ant infestation. But after we got past that in a very un-Jain way, we went down to Sravanabelagola, a major Jain temple. To get up to the actual temple, you have to leave your shoes at the base of the hill and hike up the 600+ stairs to the top. Now it wouldn’t have been so bad if the stairs were evenly spaced, but these stairs are carved out of the stone so they would vary from a few inches apart to close to a foot. If you couldn’t make it up walking, there were some kind Indian gentlemen who would carry you up in a wicker-chair for a couple hundred rupees. Although I have no idea why you would do that because they literally run up and down the stairs and if they dropped you…it would be a long way down.
After reaching the top and taking a very long break to catch our breaths and avoid losing Dr. Strain to a massive heart attack, we continued into the temple. The architecture was very simple on the outside. However, when we got deeper into the temple, more intricate styles came out similar to the Hindu temples we had visited. The most impressive part of the temple was the huge naked statue of Gomateshvara which was over 50 feet tall and is supposedly the tallest monolithic statue. It was carved over 2,000 years ago out of a single piece of granite, but it looks like it was carved yesterday. It’s ridiculous to think that people that long ago were able to carve such a masterpiece with their hammers and chisels.
In the afternoon, we went to two Hindu temples in Belur and Halebid. Both were decorated in extremely ornate styles with lots of statues of animals, Hindu deities, and scenes of life of the people who carved the temples. My favorite statues are always the bull-vehicle of Shiva which always look so peaceful and contemplative whenever we see them.
On Sunday, we travelled to a Tibetan colony in Southern Karnataka. After the Chinese invasion of Tibet, the Karnatakan government granted a large plot of land to Tibetan refugees. It was like we had left India and were driving through a completely different country. There were Buddhist monks in their mustard and red robes walking down the streets, Tibetan script along with Kannada on all the signs. We visited the Golden Temple, a gigantic Buddhist temple with three golden statues and an ornate gold roof. In the temple, there were rows and rows of monks meditating. Surrounding the Golden Temple there were lots of smaller temples with more monks. Some were playing instruments, others were meditating, it was a really amazing thing to see. After we visited the temples, there was some time to hit up the shops in the surrounding shopping area where there were lots of cool Tibetan scarves, jewelry, prayer flags. I definitely got a few people crossed off my gift list with that stop!
It’s hard to believe that we’ve already been here for nearly a month. One month down and just one more to go. On the bus ride, I was going through my Lonely Planet: South India guide and I realized that we’ve been to pretty much every single place in Southern Karnataka that is mentioned as a touristy place to visit. We’ve also made good headway on the restaurants of Mysore section. The best one? The Parklane Hotel with its hanging gardens and helpful menu that informs you that you can request vomit bags and also has 10 steps to avoiding a hangover. I guess you never know when you’ll find something ridiculous in India…

2009-06-15T04:52:00.001-04:00

Wow. For the past three days and two nights, we were out on the end of Bandipur National Park in Southern Karnataka and in Mudumalai National Park in Northern Tamil Nadu. By this morning, none of us were ready to leave the Jungle Retreat where we were staying. From the scenic infinity pool to the crazy mountain trek a few of us went on Saturday morning, it was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life.
The drive down to the Parks took about 3 hours from Mysore. We left early in the morning, so we got to the Retreat at around 11 in the morning, enough time to unload our stuff in our roofs and get some quality lounging time poolside. The location of the pool was absolutely stunning. Not only was there amble space for tanning and hanging out beside the pool, the view was absolutely spectacular. You could look out on a spectacular mountain range and with the sun rising to its peak position; the light was hitting the mountains perfectly and illuminating them. In the evening, we all loaded into a safari jeep and were off for a 2.5 hour safari through the national parks. Our first stop was at a river that runs by one of the local villages where the handlers at the local elephant reserve bring their elephants every morning and evening for two hour baths. It was amazing watching the handlers hopping around the huge elephants, rubbing them down, splashing them with water, etc. At first, there were just two elephants across the stream from us, sure enough, another elephant walked down the path where we were all standing, coming within probably three feet of us. Incredible. We also had a male peacock fly over our heads and land across the river from us. Again, simply incredible. After that, we went to the actual elephant reserve and watched the handlers feeding the elephants their dinner. Oh yeah, and that included the 2 and ½ year old elephant that they had rescued from the wild after it’s mother was killed in an accident. And we got to pet the elephant. Let’s repeat that, we got to pet a baby elephant. Yeah. Go on this trip.
The actual safari was pretty great as well. We saw lots of Guar or Indian buffalos, some wild Indian deer, and even a wild elephant and its baby. One moment that stuck out was when we were by a large herd of Guar and the guide tried to start the car. It engine backfired and made a very loud bang, scattering the guar. The guide turned back to us, chuckled, and said “if that was an elephant, it would have charged us.” At the time, I found this comment amusing. Keep reading and you’ll see why it has lost its humor.
The next morning, four of us woke up at 6:00 AM for the morning mountain hike. We were told by Dr. Craig, the Mount A professor who had come on this trip last year, that we could not miss this hike. The previous night, the activities coordinator had told us that children as young as eight were allowed to go on this hike and that the most strenuous part was the 3.7 kilometer hike up the mountain. We met our guides and fellow hikers at the dining area, packed up our breakfasts and bottles of water and started out on the hike.
We exited the electric fence surrounding the Retreat and began to head up through a bamboo forest towards the mountain. We hit a grassy field and the guides turned around and told all of us to stay quiet because of possible buffalo and elephant herds. The other four hikers were in front of us with the guides, maybe 6 feet ahead. I was looking up at the mountain and considering getting out my camera when I looked up and everyone was running back towards me. “RUN! GO GO GO!” We all frantically ran back through the brush getting a good distance between us and whatever the guides had seen. When we stopped, we found out that they had come within 5 feet of an elephant that is prone to charging when it encounters humans. We all looked at each other and one girl, Diana asked outloud “They would turn back if it was too dangerous…right?” Another hiker commented on the lack of guns being carried by the guides.
We continued onwards, stopping every 30-45 minutes to catch our breaths and to drink some water. Every time we reached a new view from a higher elevation, I thought that the view could not get more amazing. By the time we were close to the summit, we were at the cloud level, staring out on the entire valley between the twin mountain ranges. Unbelievable and indescribable.
The final push up to what we thought was the lost plateau was the most painful part of the day. The guides would keep telling us “only 30 more minutes” every time we asked them how close we were to the top. The last section, Diana and I had gone ahead with the lead guide who was essentially speed walking up the path while talking on his cell phone. Meanwhile we were both considering flinging ourselves over the edge to stop the agony of walking.
After a miscommunication between the guides and ourselves, we realized that we were still short of our final destination at the top of the mountain. We endeavored onwards and as we rounded a bend, the tea plantation and farmlands in a plateau at the top of the mountain emerged in the distance. It was absolutely breathtaking. The clouds were slowly starting to roll into, blanketing the ground with white, puffy mist. The colors were equally stunning, with purples, pinks, and blues of the buildings and clothing of the farmers blending in with the greens and browns of the landscape.
We started down the mountain, all of us eager to get off the mountain. The downward trek was less strenuous than I thought it was going to be with the lead guide going very quickly down the path. We got about two-thirds of the way down the mountain when the guide put up his hand, stopping us all. We all froze in place and probably 20 feet in front of us, two elephants were crossing the path. We watched for maybe ½ a second and then, we all turned around and booked it back up the mountain. Words cannot accurately describe how scary that 15 second run up the mountain was. I’m pretty sure we were all convinced that that could very well have been our final resting place.
We were stuck on the path for probably 20 minutes as the elephants chilled out down the path from us, stripping the trees and just hanging out. No one really talked and the guides even told us not to put on sunscreen or anything like that because we were upwind of the elephants and they were worried they would smell us and charge.
Finally, the guides decided to try and scare the elephants off by throwing rocks in their general direction. We heard the pack begin to head off and we cautiously continued to make our way down the path. One of the guides was in front of me and pointed down at the path. There was a rock, probably 3 feet in diameter that one of the elephants had stepped on and crushed. The elephants were continuing along the path we were taking so we had to walk down in silence, pausing every couple hundred feet for the guides to scout ahead and make sure the elephants hadn’t stopped.
When we got back to the boundary of the Retreat and through the electric fence, I’m certain I’ve never been more relieved in my life. The hike was one of the most exhausting hikes I’ve ever done and to throw running away from wild elephants TWICE on top of that…I was physically and emotionally spent. The only thing that was left to do was to have a nice shower and to get a cold drink from the bar.

One of the elephants getting a bath.

View from the mountain top

Less Corn, More Spice

2009-06-09T11:45:00.000-04:00

I talked to my sister the other morning via Skype and she informed me that she thought that my blogs had become a lot less corny since I got to India. Maybe it’s because I actually have something to write about whereas most of the time during the school year I’m at my computer thinking “Now how do I make my life sound interesting? No one wants to read about what kind of sandwich I had for lunch.” Here, it feels like even a typical school day is exciting with lots of new adventures and experiences happening throughout the day.
I realized that I haven’t really talked about the classes that we’ve been taking here in Mysore. I always forget what I’ve written in the blog, what I’ve sent in emails or messages to friends and family, what I’ve just talked about with people here, etc. Apparently confusion is one of the side effects of the anti-malarial pills I’m taking so for now, I’ll just blame it on that and not on a lack of intellectual prowess on my part.
We start off every school day with yoga at 6:30 AM. For people who know me, waking up before 9:00 is usually a chore so 6:00 AM wake-ups were pretty painful for the first couple of days. We sleepily trudge over to the institute where our yoga instructor leads us through about 45 minutes of yoga. We start off slowly with simple stretches and breathing exercises and each day, we build onto our routines with new positions. At the beginning, my body was questioning why I was putting it into these knots and configurations that it wasn’t used to, but I think it’s starting to get used to being stretched out a bit every morning. There are some times when the instructor comes around and pulls up on my arms or pushes my legs a little further than I would like. Those are the times when I just close my eyes and imagine that I’m on a beach somewhere instead of having my muscles screaming at me.
After a quick breakfast and, if I’m lucky, a quick shower, it’s off to Hindi class at 8:00 AM. It was tough going at the beginning, learning new pronunciations (like aspirations. Never heard of them? Good, me either.) and a whole new alphabet system. I’m still pretty happy with the ability to say “red mango” and it’s now evolved into “I am eating a red mango” and “she is a red mango”. Who knows, maybe by the end of this, I’ll be able to write a whole paragraph about red mangoes and how they seem to dominate my discussions in Hindi.
Following Hindi is Gender in India, a class unlike any other class I’ve ever really taken. I don’t think I’ve ever had a gender course at Mount A or in high school and while it’s been a component in some of my courses, it’s never been the focal point. The primary instructor is Dr. Indira, but, as with most of our classes, there are going to be/have been several guest lecturers depending on the topic of the class and the specialization of the lecturer. It’s been really interesting to look at Indian history through the lens of Gender Issues and it’s definitely made me think about things in new ways and raise interesting questions in my mind about development and evolution of power relations in India and around the world.
We get a 30 minute break after our Gender class for a tea and coffee break that is usually accompanied by cookies and cake. I wish we had that at Mount A. 8:30 classes would be so much more bearable if you knew there would be a nice cup of coffee and two butter cookies waiting for you when you left class. My roommates better be taking notes for next year…
Our last two classes are Culture and Civilization, and Science, Technology and Sustainable Development. Culture and Civilization is incredibly interesting because, like Gender, it is taught by a group of different professors, each lecturing on their own specialties. We had an amazing lecturer on the Ramayana and Mahabarta texts who didn’t lecture so much as he told the stories, blending in passages in the original Sanskrit with a melodious voice that sometimes lulled me to almost-sleep. (I would never fall asleep in class!) Sci/Tech and Sustainable Development is also incredibly interesting, presenting information that I’ve gotten in other courses at Mount A, but putting a definite Indian twist on all of it. It’s always interesting to see how certain theoretical perspectives that I’ve learned in a classroom in Sackville have played out on the ground in rural Mysore, India.
As I’ve said before, the afternoons are mostly free for whatever we want to do. On Mondays, we are lucky enough to have the chance to take cooking classes. Last Monday, we made masala roti, an Indian flat bread with onions, chilies, carrots, and lots of other fresh herbs and spices. We also made a coconut chutney that I’m pretty sure burned off a good chunk of my taste buds for the better part of a day. Our teacher Sindhu has promised to teach us South Indian dishes that are easy to make so that we can make the food ourselves when we go back home. I’m pretty excited to try to make these recipes when I’m back in Vermont or Sackville. I mean, I’m sure I’ll be unable to do them justice with North American ingredients and spices, but if I can make masala roti that is 1/100th as tasty as the one’s Sindhu helped us make on Monday…I’ll be content.
Anyways…wow, another long post! I’m going to try to make them shorter, I swear! We’re off to the jungle this weekend so I’ll be sure to put up lots of pictures from that! Maybe we’ll see a tiger!

Just your typical Friday in India

2009-06-06T07:48:00.001-04:00

This is a really sad thing to be complaining about, but I think we need to stop doing such interesting things here in India. I’m getting worried that if I keep writing this posts, talking about these once in a lifetime experiences, people are going to start discrediting my statements. “He can’t be blown away all the time, can he? He’s such a drama queen.” So I apologize for yet another post. Please forgive me.
On Friday morning, we left our residence at around 8:00 AM for the 1.5 hour trip out to Saragur where SVYM runs a hospital and a school. When we arrived, the hospital was in the midst of having a ceremony to celebrate the donation of a laparoscopy machine from local and French Rotary Clubs. It included talks by the President, the founder, the Director, pretty much all the important people in the movement. Along with the machines, the dedication also involved the planting of medicinal plants around the hospital to be used in treating the patients. I even got to help plant one!
After a lecture from Dr. Balasubramaniam, the founder of the SVYM, on Appropriate Technology, NGOs, and People’s Participation, we got a tour of the hospital and its facilities. One of the biggest cultural shocks was the real human skeleton and the baby fetuses in jars in the classroom. Definitely not something I expected I would ever see. The facilities themselves were pretty incredible for being a rural hospital. Dr. Balasubramaniam explained in his lecture that they charge a small fee for the services, not because they want to make a profit, but because it gives the local people ownership and a sense of entitlement to the services.
Following the tour of the hospital, we went across the road to the school that is run for the local kids and the children of the doctors and the rest of the staff of the hospital. The first thing we saw was a huge tree that all of the kids were playing under. The school itself was very wide open with lots of windows. The children there were indescribably fantastic. We were standing in the hallway when a bell rang, signaling lunch time. Streams of kids poured out of classrooms and immediately surrounded us. “Hi! What is your name? Where are you from?” I heard that repeated over and over again. Young faces peered up at us, swarming around our group. Whenever a camera came out, they would go crazy. We had Dr. Strain’s video camera with us and we flipped the screen around so that the kids could see themselves. I’ve never seen such a ridiculously energetic reaction. Jumping up and down, waving, acting silly; one kid even took to jumping off his desk multiple times. I felt like a movie star with kids following us around wherever we went.
After the first hospital and school, we also visited a school and hospital for native tribal Indians. Here, the students were in class so the reaction was more subdued, but still, the inquisitive looks followed us around as we toured the school grounds. The most impressive moment of the day for me was when we were looking around the library in the school for indigenous students. Here, the teacher asked the students what they wanted to be when they grew up. These kids who were in 1st and 2nd grade had inspiring answers. “I want to be a teacher.” “A doctor” All of the students who spoke up aspired to do a job that would help their community. Coming from a country where kids are more likely to say they want to grow up to be a movie or rock star, these little kids spoke to a powerful, but simple message.
The school itself was located in the middle of the jungle where elephants are so common, they have had to dig deep trenches on the side of the road to prevent the elephants from coming out on the road. The hospital was deserted, but the doctor who gave us a tour explained that the patients had been discharged a day earlier. It was interesting that this hospital, as well as the last one, had a dedicated staff to Aryuveda techniques of healing, with rooms for traditional remedies to be carried out.
I’ve been doing my best to keep my mouth closed, but touring these places, it was again hard to not have my jaw hanging wide open. It’s incredible the kind of work that SVYM has been able to do in these areas. The neat thing for me has been the ability to travel around and to visit these rural villages. My dad always told me that if I really wanted to see India, that’s where I would have to go; away from the lights of the palace and the ornate temples and into the heart of the Indian countryside. As we drove out, our bus driver stopped suddenly and pointed out the left side of the bus. By the side of the road, there was a male peacock, circling his nest and protecting it from outsiders. Back home, I’m used to seeing squirrels by the side of the road, so a peacock? Wow. We really are in India.

Yep, that's a baby in a jar. Signs you're not in North America anymore...

Me with kids at the first school. I tried to get them to say cheese, but it didn't work.

Kids at the school for indigenous students.

Don't worry, we have permission from the bride.

2009-06-04T13:05:00.000-04:00

The other night, I was watching a movie with a friend and she commented about how sweet it would be if we could have the opportunity to be invited to an Indian wedding. We have seen several wedding parties as we travelled around the city and our guide told us that a typical wedding can have around 4,000 people attending it. 4,000. Not only do you invite your friends and family, you also invite your entire village if you are from a rural area. 4,000. I know.
Today, as we all sat down to lunch after a day of classes, Dr. Strain casually brought up the fact that we had just been invited to an Indian wedding that evening. No big deal. We all had no idea what to expect. I was going to go into town anyways with my friend, so we stopped by a clothing store, Badshur, and I picked up an Indian kurta, a long shirt with pants that tapered at the bottom and bunched up. I was told by Mohammed, our incredibly friendly and English-fluent salesperson that it was what every male wore to an Indian wedding.
We all got ready and got into the bus that took us to the wedding. The outside wasn’t too unusual, a large, lit-up building that didn’t appear to be exceptionally large. Until we got inside. At the doorway, there was a stand where the girls could apply a bindi dot with kumkum, a bright powder of either red or yellow at this wedding. Then, we proceeded into the hall that was cavernous. You couldn’t tell from outside, but you could probably have played indoor soccer with room to spare. There were rows of seats set up, where women and men were sitting. Also, snaking along the left side of the room was a long line of people. Sindhu, the women who had invited us to the wedding, informed us that these people were waiting to greet the couple that was getting married. The couple was standing on stage with lots of bright lights shining on them. We watched as streams of people came up on stage, spoke to the couple and posed for a portrait with them.
One problem I’ve had since I got to India was with my mouth. Whenever I’m out doing anything, walking down the street, seeing new food, for some reason, my mouth seems to always be hanging wide open. When I’m on the street, vendors take that as a sign that I’ll be easy prey. Every day has managed to surprise/amaze/stupefy me in some way. This wedding had moments like that one after another.
For starters, the different colored saris worn by all the women there were absolutely beautiful. Literally every single color of the rainbow was present and one woman’s sari, I swear changed colors in the light as she moved. Just when I thought I had seen the most intricate or most colorful sari, another woman would walk by with a more incredible one.
After sitting for a while, Sindhu introduced us to her family. After meeting her sisters and parents, she informed us that we were getting our chance to go up to the stage to have our picture taken with the couple. I assumed that we were going to just wait in line with everyone else. I was wrong. While everyone else was lining up on the left, we were promptly whisked up to the right side of the room and onto stage. Because I’m guessing we all looked shocked and worried we were offending people who had been waiting in line, Sindhu’s sister told us, “Don’t worry, we had permission from the bride.” The whole time we were walking on stage, I’m sure that my jaw was dragging on the floor. The stage was decorated with orchids and other flowers, the bride and groom somehow looked amazing and cheery. I’m sure if I had been greeting people for as long as they did, I would at least be a little shiny from perspiring, but they were both immaculate.
After the picture, Sindhu’s father turned to us and proclaimed “We eat!” Since it was after 9:15, past most of our bedtimes in India, we were all pretty hungry. We walked to the end of the hall and went down a flight of stairs. Oh yeah, into another gigantic room with rows and rows of tables and stools. On each table, there were long sheets of paper and in front of every person there was a banana leaf with loads of food on it. Workers traveled up and down the lines with buckets of food, piling food onto every person’s leaf. We got seated and quickly, leafs were brought in front of us. I wish I knew what the names of each dish was that we tried, but I guess you’ll have to believe me when I say that the food was absolutely delicious and also, unlike most Indian food I have ever had. As a vegetarian, I’m always worried when I go to foreign countries about eating, but here in Mysore, everything has been vegetarian so it’s been a food paradise for me.
After the meal, (also my first meal that I’ve eaten with my hands. Sophie, who sat next to me, informed me that I looked like someone who had just been given a free lunch and was trying to eat as much as possible before people figured out what he was doing. I maintain that I was racing the Indian gentlemen across from me. Little did he know, but I definitely ate faster than him), and receiving a coconut as a gift, it was time for us to get going back to residence. Full of Indian food and managing to keep my mouth closed, I unsteadily posed for a couple of pictures with the rest of the group in front of the hall before getting in the bus to head back home. Amazing, simply amazing.
As soon as I get pictures off my camera, I will put some up of the wedding. I also took a video, but sadly, you’ll have to wait until July for me to be able to upload that to YouTube. Patience is good!

The dining hall

Sindhu and her family

Yellow Pineapple

2009-06-03T05:11:00.000-04:00

Have you ever felt that you are completely busy but at the same time, you have loads of free time? That’s what this first week of classes have felt like. The schedule for the day looks something like this:
6:00 AM – Wake up
6:30 – 7:30 – Morning yoga session where we have to bend in ways my body does not like bending
7:30 – Breakfast
8:00 – 9:00 – Hindi lessons with sounds that I just can’t figure out how to make
9:00 – 10:00 – Feminism in India
10:00 – 10:30 – Tea/Coffee Break with butter cookies
10:30 – 11:30 – Indian Culture and Civilization
11:30 – 12:00 – Break
12:00 – 1:00 – Science, Technology, and Sustainable Development
1:00 – Lunch
After that, we have the afternoons and evenings pretty much free for whatever we want to do. For example, yesterday we all went into Mysore for a craft expo and then went and got dinner at the Green Hotel, a non-profit eco-friendly hotel with very reasonable prices. Today, a few people went into town to visit a candy store and do some shopping and others are just laying around or doing some homework. On the weekends, we have different trips to the surrounding area. This weekend, we are visiting the development projects that the group we are studying with is running for tribal people like a rural hospital and school project. Next week, we get to go on a jungle safari!
We had an interesting discussion last night at dinner about haggling over prices. I have a friend back home who I’m pretty sure haggles about anything. If we ever need someone to call the pizza place and get them to give us a deal on our food, we get him to call. In India, you are supposed to haggle over the price of everything; a skill that I still need to develop. It’s a big change from being in Canada or the US and accepting the price that is written. For example, I bought a toy ball yesterday at the bazaar. Originally, the vendor told me I had to pay 80 rupees (around $2), but I told him I wasn’t paying over 50. He told me the price was fixed, so I just played with it for a bit longer and then started to walk away. As I started to leave, he went “OK, OK, 50, OK.” So I guess I got a $.75 discount! I hadn’t meant to haggle with the guy; I just didn’t want to pay over 50. Some people have more of a talent for haggle and like my friend back home, probably love doing it. But I always just end up feeling awkward.
Anyways, I think I’m off to go learn my colors and fruits in Hindi. I’m really happy that I can finally say “red mango” in Hindi. Also, since we can now count to 10, we’ve reached the proficiency of a…two year old? Success.

Holy Wow: Day 2

2009-05-31T11:10:00.001-04:00

This is easily the most I have ever blogged, but let’s get real here, my life was never this interesting. I mean, I know everyone loved those corny posts about life in university with inspirational YouTube videos at the end, but come on…INDIA! I love my older posts, but they just don’t compare anymore.
Yesterday, we got a crash course orientation to the program here in Mysore. We are studying at an institution called the “Vivekananda Institute of Indian Studies” which is a part of the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement. SVYM is a movement that is focused around the teachings of Swami Vivekananda who preached that in order to do service to God, people should provide help to the less fortunate members of society. There are four key values, Satya (Truthfulness), Ahimsa (Non-violence), Seva (service) and Tyaga (Sacrifice). They do some amazing work in Mysore and the surrounding area with schools, hospitals, etc.
Anyways, we got a lecture in the afternoon from a professor about the background of Swami Vivekananda and we also got a tour of a high school that the movement runs in Mysore for boys. After our tour, we got invited to have tea and a quick snack with some of the professors. We then got to tour a teacher’s school that is also run by the movement and were taken on a tour by a nice monk…who happened to have a sweet cell phone. They had an amazing prayer hall where there were pictures of all the symbols of the major religions, Christianity, Judaism, etc. on the walls, along with the Hindu symbols. While the power did cut out for a bit while we were there, we were treated to another tea break with cookies. It was a lot of chai tea in a short period of time. Too much even.
Today we got to spend the day “being tourists” as Dr. Rao, the Indian director of our program put it. We started out at Chamundi Hill, which overlooks the city of Mysore and also has a temple to the goddess Parvati, the wife of Shiva. After that, we went on to the Keshava Temple which was a gigantic star-shaped temple made out of tiny intricate pieces of soapstone.
In the afternoon, we went into Mysore City and toured the Mysore Palace, the residence of the maharajas of Mysore. We were really lucky because Dr. Rao used to be the head of archeology for the state, so we got to go in an entrance that is normally blocked off and get pushed to the head of the line for a tour. After the tour, we went around the city, stopping at silk and sandalwood stores, two of the city’s specialties. I also got some sweet pants and a shirt, all for $32! No more wearing my jeans around in the hot Indian sun!
After all the shopping, we made it back to the palace just in time to see the entire thing illuminated by 80,000 lightbulbs. It was amazing and the perfect ending to a slightly less than hectic day.
Tomorrow…classes!

Keshava Temple...pretty amazing, right?

Mysore Palace at night!

Demon statue at the top of Chamundi Hill.

It might rain

2009-05-30T08:26:00.000-04:00

The first day in India was a blur. It felt like three or four days rolled into one and by dinner time, I was so tired that chewing the fresh pineapple was a chore for my fatigued jaw. We got to our residence at around 5:30 local time in the morning which meant it was 8:30 in the evening in Vermont. I didn’t want to go to sleep until the evening in order to combat jet lag so the first thing I did was shower. Or so I thought.
In my room, there is a shower, two faucets, and an assortment of buckets. The shower head only puts out cold water and also seems to spray pretty much everything in the room, soaking the toilet, sink, and my nice clean towel. The faucets put out both hot and cold water so I got a nice mix of water in the large bucket and dumped water all over myself for my first Indian bucket shower.
Breakfast was at 7:30 and we sat down to a meal of eggs, toast, and an Indian dish called idlyi, a steamed rice dumpling served with a coconut chili sauce that tasted oddly of peanut butter. The food was amazing, but the savior for the day was the Mysore coffee. Words cannot describe the experience my mouth and body had when I took my first sip of coffee. First off, it’s served in small metal cups with a scoop of coffee and a generous spoonful of sugar made with hot milk. I was shown later by some of the residence staff that the best way to cool the coffee down is to pour it between two cups, a process that also makes the coffee more frothy. I swear the coffee tasted exactly like a Coffee Crisp candy bar; the perfect mix of coffee and sweet.
In the afternoon, we travelled into town to do a little exploration and to hunt for some clothing. Driving into Mysore was an experience in and of itself. Stopping at a stoplight was like an intricate game of Tetris with cars. There was no such thing as two lanes or single file traffic. No, in Mysore, everyone piles up as close to the stop line as possible, with motor bikes, buses, and rickshaws each lining up inches within each other. By the time the traffic crosses through the intersection, it merges into two lanes of traffic as before. Passing another vehicle is just as crazy with vehicles signaling their intent by leaning on the horn. This makes driving a very noisy, constant shifting and changing experience. I think the best way to describe it would be as organized chaos. Everyone seems to describe what to do and how to do it and I’m fairly certain if you weren’t from here, driving would most likely end up in injury.
Walking around Mysore was just as crazy. I’m pretty sure I saw the population of Burlington in a matter of the two hours we spent in town. The stores are medium sized compared to American malls stores, but they contain shelves and shelves of products on display with sales people constantly milling around and helping customers. We went into several silk stores and there were reams and reams of gorgeous silks on the walls in every color of the rainbow as well as intricately designed and sewn saris, scarves, and bags. While the girls ooh’d and ahh’d over piles of silk products, Dr. Strain and I sat in chairs and tried to stay cool. Even in India, shopping is the same.
How can I describe my first day? India is Indian. Life moves at a different pace here, but I don’t know if I can say that it’s necessarily faster (like when driving) or slower (like when hanging around in my room waiting for a meal). Life is moving at a constantly changing pace, accelerating and decelerating within seconds. It’s chaotic and peaceful at the same time with new experiences emerging at the rate of a million a minute…and it’s only been one day!

Travel Blog 1

2009-05-29T01:22:00.001-04:00

I mentioned this before, but in case you aren’t following my blog religiously, I’m spending two months in India this summer through Mount A’s summer study abroad program with the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute. I’m going to hopefully be posting periodical blogs as I can, but I figured I would write one detailing the travel that we’re doing to get to Mysore, India.
1:45 PM EST: My dad and I leave Burlington to drive up to Trudeau Airport in Montreal.
2:35 PM EST: Border crossing into Canada. No problems so far!
3:15 PM EST: We hit the outskirts of Montreal, signs of construction, significant increase in traffic.
3:30 PM EST: We begin to debate if Montreal is the most beautiful city in the world. Determine it is not.
3:32 PM EST: Nearly killed by crazy Montreal driver. Curse the French people and their bad driving.
4:00 PM EST: Dad gets out a sandwich.
4:21 PM EST: Arrive at Trudeau International Airport, quick goodbye at curb before car is hit by insane taxi driver.
4:22 PM EST: Get lost in Trudeau International Airport
4:25 PM EST: Find Air France desk, check in. Attendant informs me that I will have an Asian Vegetarian meal for all my flights. Consider calling her racist, but refrain.
5:35 PM EST: Run into other people from Mount A going on the trip, walk to gate.
5:40 PM EST: Spill half of water bottle down side of pants. Not a good start.
6:30 PM EST: We’re boarding!
7:15 PM EST: Take off is delayed because they have to “de-load” baggage
7:30 PM EST: Discover Toy Story 2 on plane’s entertainment system. Satisfied.
7:35 PM EST: Realize dinner comes with free wine. Life is great.
7:40 PM EST: “Asian Vegetarian” means green beans, carrots, and tofu with rice. Disappointed but cheered by free wine.
2:05 AM EST: Arrive in Paris. Have slept roughly 40 minutes, feel like death.
2:15 AM EST: Unaware we had to go through security again, forced to chug full water bottle.
2:20 AM EST: Much needed bathroom break in creepy French stall. Realize the toothpaste I’ve packed is kid’s bubblegum flavor. Mouth feels like a carnival.
3:55 AM EST: Board plane for Bangalore!
5:55 AM EST: Lunch time! Indian food and a baguette, how worldly
6:30 AM EST: Eyes are screaming, take out contacts. Body rewards newfound eye freedom with three hours of beautiful sleep.
2:10 PM EST: Arrive in Bangalore!
2:12 PM EST: Pass through customs and swine flu scanners
2:45 PM EST: Checked baggage made it to Bangalore!
5:00 PM EST: Get on bus for Mysore
Highlights of the bus trip:
Sign on side of building that reads: “Fast and Strong, will last long!” I think it was for concrete…
Two stops at road side rest stops, the first time I thought our bus driver was going to try to sell us.
My seat had a fan directly at my head level that I managed to whack no fewer than 6 times during the 3 hour trip.
8:30 PM EST: Arrive at residence! Go directly to room to shower…with a bucket. Meet new roommate Larry who also happens to be a lizard.
Phew! So we’re here in Mysore, where there is a palm tree outside my window and the internet access is dodgy at best. I am glad I don’t have to do the trip from North America to India frequently; it’s a killer. Anyways, I’m off to keep trying to stay awake!

Scrubbin' with Glee

2009-05-26T12:00:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite TV shows, Scrubs, recently aired its 8^th and possibly final season. The final scene, for me, was the perfect ending to the show. If you haven’t seen it yet and are a huge Scrubs fan, I would stop reading here. But if you have continued to read, the ending has JD walking down the hallway to the exit of Sacred Heart and he sees everyone that has had an impact on his time there. While basking in the glow of all of the memories from the past, he remarks “Even though it was warm and safe, I knew it had to end. It’s never good to live in the past too long. As for the future…it didn’t seem so scary anymore. It could be whatever I want it to be.”

I think that’s a really interesting way to look at the transition from high school to university or even from year to year at university. Recently, I went to visit some friends at Middlebury College who I went to high school with and we were all sitting around talking about our two years out on Vancouver Island. While it was great and nostalgic to talk about those times and to laugh at how silly we were back then, we got into a discussion about how it was a great time in our lives, but how important it was to move on and to transition into the next phase in life. For me, my second year at Mount A was completely different than my first and both of those years were completely different from my experiences in high school. I expect that this upcoming year will also be different, but different isn’t a bad thing; it’s exciting and ripe with possibility and opportunity.

Like JD said, the past is warm and safe and sometimes, we wish that we could live in it forever. Letting go of the past doesn’t mean forgetting the lessons or great memories that you have of it, but it means moving forward with your life and embracing change and new experiences. One of the cutest Disney movies I saw in the past year was Meet the Robinsons, an animated film where the central message was through it all, to keep moving forward. I think that’s a great way to try to live your life. Always try to keep moving forward, keeping your eyes and mind wide open for whatever the future might bring.

Here is the clip from the finale of Scrubs. If you can, find a way to watch the whole episode. I’ve also included a clip from a new show, Glee. It’s a story of a high school teacher who takes over his school’s Glee Club in hopes of reviving it back to its heydays. I’ve always been a sucker for a capella music and come on, how can you not like Journey?

The Book of Love has music in it

2009-05-20T15:34:00.000-04:00

Happy Wednesday! It’s been almost a month since exams were finishing up in beautiful Sackville, but I still feel like I haven’t really started my summer yet. I’ve still got a week left of waiting until I'm off for India! Don’t worry, I got my new camera in the mail so that means that I’ll do my best to put up lots of blog posts filled with pictures for the three people that check this thing regularly.

Part of the pre-departure that I have to do is to begin taking my anti-malarial medication. The side effects are pretty intimidating including hallucinations, nightmares, and depression. Luckily for me, I don’t think anything like that has happened to me.

Anyways, one thing I have been doing is putting this new camera to the test. Plus, I thought it might be good to show those of you who do not have the pleasure of living in Burlington to see where I grew up. Plus, after seeing this pictures and comparing them to the ones I post from India, you’ll get to see what a shock it is going to be transitioning from Burlington (population: 40,000) to Mysore (population: 800,000).

This barn is literally 2 minutes down the road from where I live. Now, I don't really live out in the country, it's more like the suburbs.

This is the view from one of the lookout points off of the Bikepath that runs by my house. The water is Lake Champlain, the lake that runs the length of Vermont and separates it from New York.

This is a view of the bikepath. Isn't it nice and green?

This is the church at the top of Church Street, a long pedestrian shopping street in downtown Burlington. It's also the church where my dad is the minister and where I went until I left for school.

This is the view looking down on Church Street. I think I took this picture on a Tuesday morning, but on the weekends, it's usually packed with people.

Anyways, I hope that these pictures are interesting and maybe help to provide a little bit more context to my blog. For those of you in Burlington and reading this, I'm sorry that this post wasn't very exciting for you. To make it up to you, here is the movie trailer for the new Sherlock Holmes movie:

Have a great rest of the week! I'm off to find the stupid penguin that is running around in the basement.

PS: 10 points if you can tell me what song the title of this blog is from. No Google Magic allowed.

This really is a great program

2009-05-11T22:48:00.001-04:00

One of the nice things about being home is our dog Smokey. Sure, 80% of the time he’s awake, he spends sleeping, wandering around in a circle on the first floor of the house or eating, but he’s always up for taking a walk down to the park or, if the weather is nice enough, to the beach. I just got back from taking him on his evening walk down to the soccer fields where he can run around and stretch his legs before bed. It’s one of those nights that is way too cold for May. My dad even said it’s supposed to frost tonight.

Even though it was super cold out, the walk was amazing. The sky was completely clear so every single star was shining brightly. I live far enough away from the city that the fields in the park are almost completely black. The only two constellations that I know are the Big and Little Dipper, but I could find those no problem. I spent the whole walk with my neck craned up towards the sky just looking up.

One of the things my family always did when I was younger was to watch Star Trek when it was on TV. We only got like three channels, but Star Trek was on one of them so it became a weekly ritual. Now, I still love Star Trek although contrary to what some of my friends would like to believe, I cannot speak Klingon. Star Wars is also one of my favorite collection of movies and I’ve even been told by my friend that I should use the celebration song at the end of Return of the Jedi as one of the songs at my wedding. As well, one of my favorite books growing up was October Sky. It is a memoir by Homer Hickam who grew up in West Virginia during the Space Race between the US and USSR. He spends his high school years building rockets that are capable of reaching over a mile into the air. It’s a great story and one with a happy ending as well with Hickam eventually going to work for NASA.

I think one of the big reasons I am so drawn towards things like Star Trek and October Sky is because of the sense of adventure and exploration that they both have. One of the big reasons I’m an International Relations major is because I want to be able to travel and explore the world with my job. Whenever I’m home, I’m generally parked in front of the TV for a good portion of my day and one of my favorite channels is the Discovery Channel. This is one of the commercials that began airing last summer that is just…awesome.

Swine Flu Sucks

2009-05-01T17:27:00.000-04:00

Whoa, it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged! Of course, if you are fellow Mount A students, I’m sure you’ve been busy with the end of the year traditions of moving out of university life and transitioning into summer mode. For me, that means coming back home to Vermont for the month of May. After 13 hours in the car, loads of junk food, and a 90s music, I made it safely back to Burlington. It’s always good to get home, back to my familiar room, and seeing family and friends that I don’t see for 8 months out of the year.

For some reason, every time I come home, I manage to get sick. Most of the time, I chalk it up to allergies, but this time, my dad has decided that I have swine flu. My parents really do care. So instead of enjoying the normal luxuries of home, good food, hanging out with friends, etc., I have been spending a lot of time in Bed. Pros: I’ve watched a lot of 30 Rock, Cons: I lose my breath when I walk to the fridge. Overall, I’m sure this will pass in a day or so, but it’s annoying right now.

For April Fools, I thought it would be funny to tell a few friends that I was transferring from Mount A after this semester. Surprisingly, none of them found it funny. The reactions were varied from acts of violence to passive aggressive hatred. One thing that a friend said to me really stuck out. I had told her that I was transferring and she said something like “Wow, you don’t think you have to say goodbye until 4^th year, but I guess it can happen now too.” At the end of this semester, I kept running into friends who were leaving for the summer and they kept trying to say goodbye and I refused to say goodbye. For 99% of them, they’ll be back at Mount A in the fall with tons of stories from the summer, adventures that they had, and new experiences to share. I don’t mind saying a ‘see you later’, but saying goodbye seems so final. And now with Facebook, cell phones, and email, it’s easier than ever to stay in contact.

Anyways, I’ll be keeping us this blog during the summer months. It’s mainly for you, because I know how empty your life is without my weekly quips and anecdotes. It should be a lot more colorful once we head to India (I’m getting a new digital camera specifically for the trip so I can take lots of pictures. I’m excited.)

Also, if you’ve enjoyed any of the YouTube videos I’ve posted here and wish that you could have them on your iPod…you can now! Just go to http://www.listentoyoutube.com/ It’s sweet, enjoy!

Freeing Yourself

2009-04-17T21:25:00.001-04:00

I really like routines. I like structure and knowing what’s going to happen and I always want the things that I’m doing to have a purpose. While this might sound really terrible (I’ve had a vague idea of what I’ve wanted to do with my life since I was around 13), to me it’s great because it provides stability for my life. Sure, there is loads of flexibility within the given structure, but the stability is still there as a fall back.

I have this pre-exam ritual that I’ve been slowly building on since last year. I have to be alone in my room an hour before the exam. I watch the same YouTube videos, listen to the same playlist of songs and essentially get myself in the zone for exams. I always bring 3 blue BiC ballpoint pens and 2 Number 2 Ticonderoga pencils to the exam with me. I had a friend ask me once if he could borrow a pencil from me and I had to say no. I always sit in the front of the examination room, always line up the pens and pencils the same way, everything. I do the same thing after exams too. It sounds really OCD and crazy, but I’ve gotten so used to doing things this way, I would feel unlucky if I broke the trend.

Why do I bring this up? Well, first off, I thought you were all reading this because you wanted to learn ALL about me. Just kidding. I know it’s because you’re bored and don’t want to study. But there is a deeper purpose behind this, I swear! This year at Mount A I’ve been really lucky because I’ve broken pretty much all of the rituals and habits I got into last year (except for the exam one, obviously.) And you know what? Sure it was scary and the unknown wasn’t as comfortable or as safe as the routines and practices of 2007-2008, but I think that I learned a lot more this year than the prior year.

I think if I had to go back and make a new New Year’s Resolution for 2009 it would be to be more spontaneous and to just do things because I can. I remember one weekend night, my friends and I got a bunch of fireworks and shot them off. We didn’t go to the pub or out to any parties, but spent probably an hour searching, finding, and firing off the fireworks. It was amazing and one of the most fun times I had this term. It was simple, easy, and spontaneous.

My friend Sara-Beth just sent me this song saying “this song always feels like something noah would like.” Well, Noah did like it so he’s sharing it with all of you. Enjoy!

Travelling through hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops, boy!

2009-04-12T13:53:00.001-04:00

Who can believe it? Classes finished on Thursday and exams are starting up tomorrow. Feels to me like the year just started and we’ve all just finished getting settled in Sackville and figuring out our classes. One great thing about the exam period is that there are no classes and thus, no reason to wake up early. You get to study at your own pace. Today for example, I have decided to remain in my snowman PJs all day and work on a take home assignment I have.

Anyways, the reason for this post is to share with you lovely people my favorite time wasting techniques. Let’s be honest…I’ve been awake since 9:30 “working” but a lot of that time has been spent wasting time online. OK, here we go:

1) Movie trailers – (www.apple.com/trailers) With trailers that are much better quality than YouTube as well as a bunch of interesting indie films, I probably spend 3-5 hours on this site a week. Some of my highlights: the new Star Trek film, Where the Wild Things Are, Up, and Funny People. I have one friend who texts me everytime she finds a new trailer that she thinks is interesting which usually leads to me finding three more that I want to see. It’s a bad addiction…

2) Blogs – (lifehacker.com, thisiswhyyyourefat.com, fmylife.com, etc.) – In addition to writing this blog (which trust me, is a huge time waster…in a good way!) I also regularly check these blogs. This is why you’re fat is probably the most disgusting and most beautiful blog I have ever seen. Where else can you see pictures of deep fried Cadbury Eggs, Junk Food Pizzas, or other culinary delights like that? Lifehacker always has some crazy technological doo-dads on there and fmylife is just a funny funny site.

3) Online TV (surfthechannel.com, ch131.com, etc.) Exam time is a great time to catch up on all those TV shows you missed out in the year! I am a huge fan of comedies like Scrubs, The Office, How I Met Your Mother, and Chuck, but I just started watching a new show Lie to Me that is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

4) Movies – Just like TV shows, catch up on all those movies you haven’t had time to watch. Or, if you’re like me, go back and rewatch those classics films like Star Wars. Who knew there were so many AMAZING lines in those early movies. Nothing is better than a 2 hour break from Strategic Studies by watching Star Wars and analyzing the Rebellion’s Clausewitzian strategies.

Well I guess that’s all I have to share today! Feel free to post your own procrastination techniques, I’m always looking for new ways to waste time when I should be studying.

Spread it around

2009-04-05T18:00:00.000-04:00

11 hours. That’s how many class hours are left for me this semester. Pretty hard to believe that this year is already drawing to a close. Thursday is the last day for classes and then its quickly off to exam time. 23 hour quiet hours kick in tonight across campus. Basically, as people begin to study and hit the books, the residence becomes eerily quiet unless it is the loud hour between 9 and 10 pm.

Last night was a really fun time. There was a little get together for all the old and incoming House Executives across campus. It started at 7 and there was lots of pizza to go along with the always entertaining House Execs. Imagine taking the people in residences who are in charge of making things fun and interesting for their houses and then put them all together in the same room. Mayhem isn’t quite the right word to describe it…but it’s close. Some of the best parties I’ve been to this year have been with my fellow House Exec members and this one didn’t disappoint. It’s nice to go out, relax, meet some new people, and generally just have a good time.

The nice thing about going to school is the size. Sure, this isn’t Montreal or Boston and it by no means has the resources and activities that those cities can offer. However, Sackville is great because in one night, you can go from one end of town to the other, partying hopping, cruising to different bars or hang outs. Since there aren’t major attractions drawing people away and into the city, you have to kind of make your own entertainment. House parties, hanging out in a friend’s room, watching a bad TV show, those things become the staple of hanging out in Sackville. I prefer it like this. I haven’t had the experience of being at school in large cities so I can’t speak with authority on that, but I feel like the Sackville bubble keeps everyone cooped up and stuck in Bagtown and hey, that’s one thing we can all have in common.

Yesterday, I went to the Dance Society performance. It was actually something like this video:

Strawberries make everything OK

2009-03-31T09:51:00.001-04:00

That last post was absolute fluff; no substance, no important life lessons, just pure fluffy fluff. Not to worry though, I’ve been getting ready to tackle this blog post for the past couple of weeks, so hopefully it will help to…guide/show/inspire/disgust you.The second semester is rapidly coming to a close. How do I know this? I’ve only got 17 meals left to use at the meal hall, all of my term papers are turned in, and there is still loads of snow on the ground. Last year, it snowed the day before I left Sackville in April, so I’m not hoping for an early spring. But, I am going to write about all of the crazy things you can do when you aren’t in school over the summer.

I was fortunate enough last summer to get an amazing internship with Senator Bernie Sanders (sanders.senate.gov). He’s one of two US Senators from my home state of Vermont and also the only self-declared socialist in the Senate. One of the first things you should know is that

EVERYONE calls him Bernie, other Senators, the people who work in his office, random people on the streets, EVERYONE. While I only got to see him once or twice, he always seemed to be moving at the speed of light, doing a million things at once.

What made the internship so great was two things. First off, the staff at the Burlington Office are absolutely incredible. These are the people who help you out with your questions about your passport or field your calls when you have a question about why the Senator voted a certain way on a bill. Not only are they incredibly knowledgeable, they are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. We got to sit in on staff meetings, go along on trips to various events, and pretty much act as junior staff members. In addition to the staff members, the other interns were amazing. I got to work with three great people who I otherwise would never have met. It’s pretty great when you meet someone who is interested in the same things you are, majoring in the same general areas, etc. I was fortunate enough to meet THREE people like that. The internship certainly wasn’t the West Wing or anything like what I was expecting, but it was easily the best job I’ve ever had.

Here is a picture of myself, my fellow intern, Kalee, and Bernie:

And what about this summer? We finally got the confirmation a couple of days ago, but I’m going to India with the Shastri-Mount Allison Summer Program. It’s a two month summer study-abroad program in Mysore, India. We had a meeting on Sunday with some professors who had gone on previous trips and it sounds like it is going to be an incredible experience. We get to take classes with some of the top profs in India and go around on crazy excursions in the area like a weekend safari where we can see herds of wild elephants! I don’t think it’s hit me yet that I’ll be heading off there in less than two months, but I have the shots to prove that I’m on my way soon! Don’t worry faithful blog readers, I’ll do my best to keep this thing updated while I’m over there with loads of pictures!

Hmm, I just realized that this blog seems to be pretty serious, so who those of you who aren’t in Sackville, check out this column in the humor section of the Argosy: (http://www.argosy.ca/view.php?aid=41432) It’s written by my friend Stuart and I in our occupations as Sci/Tech and Sports Editors. I think it’s pretty funny and hey, a little shameless promotion for the Argosy never hurt anyone.

A Completely, Unsubstanial Post

2009-03-26T13:46:00.000-04:00

It is currently sunny and absolutely gorgeous outside so this post is going to be really short. However, I just stumbled upon these two amazing videos that I wanted to share with everyone. The first one is a trailer for the movie 'Where the Wild Things Are'. It's based upon the children's book by the same name and looks like it is going to be amazing.

The second one is a cover of a popular song by Katy Perry. However, the band is a Ukranian quartet and needless to say, it's amazing!

I Am Not An Iron Chef

2009-03-22T14:25:00.000-04:00

I don’t know how many people have ever seen the show Iron Chef or the new incarnation Iron Chef America, but it is by far, one of my favorite TV shows of all time. One of my best memories from high school was going over to a friend’s house and watching Iron Chef while we ate curly fries and pizza. Even now, when I go home for the summer, I spend a lot of time falling asleep on the couch to Iron Chef. It’s one of the most ridiculous and most amazing TV shows out there. A 60 minute cooking challenge where chefs are challenged to make at least five dishes while incorporating a secret ingredient. Pretty sweet, eh? Anyways, this is the intro from the Japanese version of the show which is even better because not only is it a cooking competition, but you also get the joy of a dubbed version of the show.

I really wish I was an Iron Chef. Some of the dishes that they make are just incredibly ridiculous. Like trout ice cream. Or scallop chips. These are things I would never think about. They manage to make completely disgusting things like cow tongue look appetizing. (Which is huge for me because I’m a vegetarian!)

Sometimes when I’m at meal hall or when I’m cooking at home, I try to come up with crazy foods like the Iron Chefs. The problem is that my budget is much more limited and my skill is even more so. My big meal hall invention is probably hash browns with romaine lettuce and ranch dressing. I know, it sounds disgusting, but it’s actually delicious.

When I cook here, my dishes are usually pretty normal. A couple of weeks ago, I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with corn from a can on it. That was surprisingly good. I’m slightly scared to move off campus just because I know that my cooking inventions will probably just get weirder. Sure, today is PB&J&C, but tomorrow it might be something worse like popcorn soup or lettuce burgers. Who even knows!

I just got this new album called “Dark Was the Night.” It’s a fundraiser for AIDS research I think, but it’s got a lot of exclusive tracks on it from bands like Feist, Beirut, Bon Iver, a duet with Feist and Ben Gibbard (the frontman for Death Cab and Postal Service) and a bunch of other really great songs. Anyways, if you get some free time, check it out. I’m listening this song right now, Hey, Snow White by the New Pornographers:

Funk Buster

2009-03-15T14:37:00.000-04:00

I know, you’re probably asking yourself, why is there a High School Musial clip at the beginning of this blog? It is because my sister knows the entire dance? Sadly no, there is a great purpose for this song, one that will hopefully be revealed before the end.

The other day, I got a care package from my mom. It wasn’t anything big, just a new pair of sheets for my bed because my old ones had worn out. However, there is always something comforting about receiving something form home whether it’s a letter, money, cookies, or even new sheets for your bed. When I was younger, my mom would sometimes buy me and my sister a random toy when we were out shopping. Nothing cheered me up more than getting another Ninja Turtle action figure or a new deck of basketball cards. Getting something in the mail is like that; it’s like a little reminder that you’re still a kid and sometimes you still need your parents.

With midterms, finals, and term papers coming up, it seems like more and more people are hermitting in their rooms. Doors are closed more often and there are less smiles around campus. However, I will share with you my big secret on how to bust out of the midterm blues. It’s a secret though, so if you tell anyone, I am required by law to kill you. Or just pout.

One of the best ways to get out of a funk, I find, is to do something that you wouldn’t normally do. Sometimes this means surprising a friend on their birthday with a spectacular light show. Sometimes it means making a batch of cookie dough, but not cooking it, just eating it straight out of the bowl. Sometimes that means having a Disney movie marathon with your friends and watching all those amazing movies from your childhood like the Lion King, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast. And sometimes it means watching all three High School Musicals and singing along with the songs. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that you know all the words.

Food Seduction

2009-03-05T13:21:00.000-05:00

I was watching a YouTube video the other day and this song was playing in the background so I figured, hey, why not put this on the blog and have people listen to it. I don’t think it’s related to this post but you never know! Feel free to draw any conclusions you want to about this.

It’s been a pretty ridiculous week, getting back to classes and into the swing of things. The whole ice storm and subsequent loss of power was pretty weird as well. All of the trees are still covered in ice and it’s still a little precarious walking around campus. Since I have terrible balance (although Wii Fit is making it better) I’m pretty much constantly scared for my life whenever I go outside. You know those cartoons where the character is walking too quickly, slips on the ice and has their feet go out from under them and they fall comically on their back? That happened to me on Saturday night. It was epic. Except no one was around to experience the magic with me so I just kind of laid on the ground and whined to myself because I had dropped my pizza.

Anyways, I always think it’s interesting where all of you blog readers come from. I know that the majority of you are my friends on Facebook who see the blog link on your newsfeed and you click it because you know it will give you another 45 seconds of procrastination. And if not, you’re my mom, checking on me and making sure I’m still eating my veggies (which I am, Mom.) But hopefully, some of you are actually potential Mount A students who are curious about what life at Mount A is really like. And hopefully this blog is helpful…I really have no idea. Sometimes I feel like I’m just writing random stuff here that no one would want to read. But hey, I think I’m funny.

Oh, I had an awesome sandwich the other day. Two toasted pieces of bread, Boursin Garlic and Herb cheese spread, ripe avocado, and a nice tomato. Try it. Love it. Eat it.

Sugar Cookie Hands

2009-02-25T11:02:00.000-05:00

No one is on campus. It’s kind of like a bad horror movie; everyone goes home for break except for a few people…and then the killer shows up. Although I’m not really certain why a killer would come to Sackville, but that’s not the point! At my old school, we were just down the road from an actual prison in the middle of nowhere, so the whole “killer showing up on campus” concept was a semi-plausible.

Anyways, everyone has left for Reading Week for far off places. Me? I heard that Sackville was THE tourist destination at the end of February. What else could you want: abundant sunshine, no lines for anything, and all the food you can eat!

In all seriousness, I stayed here because of the ridiculous amount of papers that I have due in March. One of the major downsides of being an IR major is that your course load is completely interdisciplinary, meaning that due dates for different classes tend to be on the same day. For example, I have one paper due on March 19^th and two due on March 20, as well as one due a week earlier on March 13^th and another due a week after on the 25^th. The total? Over 70 pages of papers.

It’s nice being here though. Seeing Sackville devoid of people is like seeing it for the first time all over again. While the people definitely do make Sackville what it is, without them, there is a peaceful sort of feeling around. We keep getting loads of snow too which probably helps make everything feel new and alive.

Anyways, before I leave I wanted to share this video with you. Like many of you, I grew up watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I even have a couple of seasons on DVD that I got as gifts from friends. Here is the theme song…only slightly different. Let me know what you think!

"The damn duck took my seat!"

2009-02-19T08:38:00.001-05:00

This past weekend, I had the privilege, nay the honor of being the Mountie mascot for the volleyball game on Saturday and the women and men’s basketball games on Sunday. Not only did I manage to sweat out about 20 pounds, I also had one of most fun times I’ve ever had in that gym.

Saturday – Volleyball

I arrived at the gym at 1:30 and waited impatiently for my friends Mike and Brennan to show up to help me get dressed. While waiting in the guy’s bathroom, I realized how warm it was in the gym. I would estimate it was around 30 degrees at least. After they arrived, they suited me up, and I tried to get myself in the moment. How do you mentally prepare yourself to be a mascot? Are there instructional YouTube videos? I headed out to the gym and was instantly swarmed by little kids. One nice thing about little kids, they will high five you and dance like a crazy person with you. They also seem to have a memory of about 20 seconds, meaning that they will continue to get amusement and joy over a gigantic smiling mascot waving at them. (By the way, what are we? Is that thing a duck? Is it a swan? I don’t even know.)

Five minutes in, I realized that the temperature in the suit is at least 10 degrees hotter than the gym. I had so much sweat on my nose that I could partially rehydrate myself by sucking the sweat into my nose. As well, after looking at a picture my friend took of me, the mascot looks ridiculous when the arms are down by its side.

After a set and a half of basically sitting, waving my butt at random people, and trying to dance, I decide to call it quits. Maybe it was all the hallucinations I was having. More likely, it was that my nose sweat was not keeping my properly hydrated and I was fairly certainly that a heat stroke was imminent.

Sunday – Basketball

This time, I came prepared. With my trusty Camelbak water bottle backpack, I was ready to make it through the two basketball games. Again with an assist from Brennan and Mike, I suited up and got ready for another match.

The women’s game was definitely the most fun I had as the mascot. I got to do some warm up leg lifts, stand out and high five the starters and even interact with the refs. (My interactions with the volleyball refs consisted of one of them throwing a ball at my head and telling me he would beat me except he didn’t believe in cruelty towards animals.) While the Lady Mounties lost the game, I feel like I was a little successful in getting people to clap and cheer a little.

After taking a breather in between the women’s and men’s games, I was certain that I was ready for another 40 minutes of intense basketball action. I was wrong. Putting that suit on again was like going from Whitehorse, Yukon to Fallujah, Iraq. I was covered in sweat and the worst part was, I wasn’t sure it was all mine. After the first quarter, I had to call it quits, although I managed to stand in front of some lady for the entire time and block her view.

Three games later and two long hot showers after, I must say that I loved my time as the duck. I don’t know if it was the constant high fives, the silly dancing, or just the awkwardness of people when I sat down next to them, something about that mascot costume was magical. Just remember, next time you are out and you see the duck walking around; there’s a person inside there…and they probably just want to dance.

Originally ran in The Argosy: Mount A's student newspaper

There's No Love Like Apathy

2009-02-10T17:34:00.000-05:00

I love having choices. Whether it’s what music I wake to, what clothes I’m going to wear for the day, what I’m going to have for dinner, choice is an amazing thing. Often times here I find that I am overwhelmed with choice; too many incredible options to choose from. What a lame thing to say. I have TOO many options; oh my life is so difficult. But hear me out, it’s tough when you have a weekend and you can do pretty much anything and there are loads of options available to you both on and off campus.

I started thinking about this topic this weekend. I spent my Sunday in the Mount A gym watching the women’s volleyball game and the women’s and men’s basketball games. All of the matches were great, our teams won their games, but there were very few students there. I thought it was pretty shocking. I suppose that I usually spend my Sundays taking care of the work I’ve neglected throughout the week, catching up with friends about their Saturday night and getting ready for the week. I’m sure that if people had come to the games on Sunday, they would have thoroughly enjoyed themselves, but people just had so many other things they had to do.

I’m always scared to make a big decision, a big commitment in my life. Usually a commitment, like choosing your university or a summer job, means that you can’t do other things. For example, since I’m going to Mount A, I can’t go to McGill. I love Mount A but whenever an option is taken away, it’s scary and intimidating.

What’s the morale of this story? Come to Mount A and have too many options? I’m not too sure, but if you like having options, Sackville might be a good place for you.

PS: I have another YouTube video that I really like. Check it out. Some people say that these compilation videos are all the same, but they always bring a smile to my face.

Everyone Did It

2009-02-06T14:39:00.000-05:00

Recently, my inbox has been filled with friends on Facebook writing these "25 facts" about themselves. It's really awesome, reading over these 25 random things about friends who I have varying degrees of friendship with. Anyways, I posted my "25" on Facebook yesterday and already, I've been thinking of other facts that I wanted to share. So, dear dedicated blog reader, here are my UPDATED 25 facts about myself. Read and learn...

Twenty-five things you probably already knew

1) I’m adopted. Anytime I need proof of that, I just talk to my sister because while we were raised in the same family and we get along great….we are completely different. In a good way of course.

2) My friends are the most important thing in my life.

3) The books I read for fun? Non-fiction IR books and Chuck Palahniuk novels. David Sedaris as well. I’m weird.

4) I grew up in Burlington, Vermont. I’m fairly certain this is reflecting in my utter complete WASP-ness.

5) After working in a restaurant for three years, I am scared about being one of those sad, thirty-something men who go out to eat dinner by themselves.

6) Related to number 5, I do not understand how to be single. It’s a confusing status.

7) If I’m mean to you, it means that I like you. I’m super nice to people I don’t know or who I can’t stand. If I tease you, you’re a friend.

8) I am very sarcastic. I think I got it from my parents. Or my grandmother.

9) I started playing piano when I was five, clarinet when I was 12, and other woodwinds in high school. I feel like this facet of my life qualifies me to be slightly Asian.

10) I spend so much time on Facebook, I’m fairly certain I have a legitimate addiction to it.

11) I recently purchased a Nintendo Wii and a Wii Fit. I am now convinced that Nintendo is going to take over the world.

12) I wish that my life was a TV show because I want a music soundtrack to accompany in my life. I also would like to go back and rewatch some episodes to figure out what the moral was.

13) Over the summer, I developed an unhealthy addiction to the Hannah Montana TV show. I also watch way too much of Deadliest Catch, Everyday Italian, and Man vs. Wild.

14) My best friends have told me that the one adjective that would describe me is awkward. I tend to agree with that.

15) I’m addicted to text messaging, especially after a few drinks. Related to this, I have a blog and I often threaten to blog about certain events while I am out in public.

16) I’ve been in love. Twice. Both times did not end well. I still believe in love. I’m just more bitter about it.

17) I’m a vegetarian and aside from fish and some seafood, I have never eaten meat in my life.

18) I feel like my personality is a mixture of my three best friends from Vermont. I’m not quite sure how it works, but it does in my mind.

19) I overthink things way too much. But sometimes I don’t think before I speak.

20) I am incredibly self-conscious about my dancing. I can admit that I am a very goofy dancer. That doesn’t stop me from dancing in public though.

21) I am legally blind. If I’m not wearing my contacts or glasses, I can’t see a thing.

22) I have a terrible memory, regardless of if I have been drinking or not. I forget things, people, dates, all the time.

23) I consider ‘dork’ to be a compliment.

24) I name everything; my computers, my external hard drive, my body pillow, everything.

25) I have never broken a bone in my body. I have gotten stitches though.

That's What She Said

2009-02-03T21:56:00.000-05:00

It’s a weird time of year. To start off, we are getting HAMMERED by a snow storm right now. I’m fairly certain the snow is going to be halfway up my window before I finish this blog. I had to walk to the Argosy office earlier tonight and I nearly fell over about twenty times. In all fairness, my balance is terrible, but still, it was dangerous out there!

Anyways, enough about the ridiculous snow storm outside. As I was saying, it’s a weird time of year. While we are only one month into the second term, people are already beginning to make plans for next school year. Most people, myself included, have signed leases for their apartments for next year or applied to be an RA or have decided to run for Exec in their residences for next year. After spending a year as the President of Thornton, I really do think that the best thing you can do for yourself here at Mount A is to get involved. For myself, being House President has been an amazing experience. I’ve made friends across the campus, met people I never figured I would ever meet, and had pretty much the most epic weekends of my life. Sometimes in first semester, I would call my friend Robbie and we would talk about my weekend and most of the time, he refused to believe that I did half the things I did.

Not to say that House Exec is the only way to get involved. I’ve also been fortunate enough to work as the Sports Editor for the Argosy this school year. It’s been another amazing experience and I’ve been able to learn about a whole side of the university, athletics, that I knew virtually nothing about before I started.

I know that the university is often known for its academics with all of those high rankings in Macleans and what have you, but honestly, the extra things, the people, the activities, etc. have had just as much, if not more of an impact on my Mount A experience. I mean, only at a small school can you turn on the radio and hear a song dedication to you from a friend. Or be able to go out to the campus Pub and know 98% of the people there.

So what’s the conclusion to all of this? Get out there. Get involved. Maybe you too can get a shout out.

After Eight

2009-01-27T15:39:00.001-05:00

I apologize for the delay between my posts. To make up for it, check out that awesome video above. This group takes a four chord progression (I-V-VI-IV) and show how many pop songs have used it. One of my favorites from that video is Save Tonight by Eagle Eye Cherry. It’s from 1998 and reminds me of middle school and just growing up in general.

Anyways, on to the blog post! It seems like all around me, my friends are dropping like flies. There is a flu-like (or possibly it is the flu) going around and everyone has caught it. My neighbor Stuart had a wicked fever and was raving like crazy one night. I have somehow managed to avoid it, one of the few to stay well. I woke up this morning with a slight cough and felt a little off, so I’ve been drinking gallons of water and tea, hoping to flush out the bug before it catches hold.

Last night we had a South Side Coffee House at the campus Pub. What an amazing night. We had performers from every single house on the South Side (Bigelow, Bennett, Hunton, Edwards, and Thornton) and a few of my friends got up there to play a song or five. I love it when people I know are playing. You get to see another side of people that you don’t see in everyday interactions. Jess, Horace, Matt, Graeme, and Sara-Beth all played amazing sets. The most common reaction I heard after the Coffee House were things like “I had no idea they could do that!” It’s great when you can be blown away by people that you think you already know. The same thing happened to me when I was out on the weekend at the pub. I ended up sitting and talking with a friend for most of the night. We had had some casual conversations before, but this was probably three hours of solid conversation (and glitter). Most nights at the Pub are fun because I go out with my friends, dance like a crazy person, and just have a good time. Last weekend was great for another reason. I still had fun, but I felt like I actually got to know someone a little better.

Whenever I’m sitting in class and I start to drift off, the thing I think about the most is what kind of sandwich I’m going to make for lunch. I know it sounds weird, but it’s what happens. A couple of weeks ago, I was really into pesto so I made some grilled cheese with pesto, a fake chicken burger with pesto and roasted red peppers, man, they were so good. Now I have some garlic topped hummus, so I’ve been doing different variations with that. I don’t think I’ve ever had a sandwich that was truly disappointing. I’m not sure why I felt that it was important to share that, but I did.

That should be a New Year’s Resolution: eat a good sandwich. You don’t even have to make it, you just have to eat it.

The Shout-out Blog

2009-01-19T22:26:00.000-05:00

Who are you, mysterious blog reader? Are you actually a potential Mount A student or are you just a fellow Mountie who is trying to procrastinate and avoid that stupid reading you have to do for tomorrow? Or are you someone else...a spy? Someone who is trying to kill me? My parents? My friend's parents? Who knows.

It's always funny when I go out because invariably someone mentions that they have read my blog. After I write my post, there are four people that I always check with. Sara-Beth is my corny rater. As I'm sure you've seen, many of my posts are fairly corny, so she keeps me in line, making sure that the blogs aren't too chick flicky. It's a good thing to have. Sometimes I get out of control. Aly is my "hip" checker. I try to be cool and edgy here, but I look for validation in her stamp of approval. Finally, Keleigh and Brit always read the blog and tell me that they love it. I feel like I've had some pretty subpar posts, but no matter what they are supportive. It's nice to have cheerleaders like them.

Anyways, on to the actual post: I've been thinking a lot about different stereotypes that we have here. There is one guy here who just moved into Thornton and seems to be spending a lot of time trying to figure out what his "role" should be. We keep encouraging him to just be himself, but I think its crazy how much we all get obsessed with the peoplewe believe we have to be. If I'm an athlete, does that mean I have to be a tough guy? Or if I'm a House President, does that mean I always have to be responsible? Ask anyone in Thornton and I think they'll tell you that I don't fit that mold. That's one of the great things about Mount A. So many people break these preconceived stereotypes that you have about them. I find that I often meet people and am shocked later by some facet of their personality. I think they are always good things, just of varying degrees. For example, a custom-made Link hoodie definitely trumps a hidden love of Backstreet Boys...but they are both pretty awesome.

What am I trying to say? More than many places that I have been, Mount A is full of so many diverse personalities and people. I really do think that it is the place where everyone can fit in, no matter what.

Too corny? Not hip enough? Probably both.

Graham Crackers and Peanut Butter

2009-01-12T16:55:00.000-05:00

For some reason, I thought that I hadn't blogged in a long time. I usually aim for one post a week, but who knows? Maybe my life is just so interesting that I have to have more than one a week. Or maybe my life is just so uninteresting that I have nothing else to do other than blog. It's probably the second. Sadly.

This past weekend felt like one giant party rolled into two nights and three days. Friday night was Campbell's residence party, Campbell Cancun. I always serve with my friend Kevin, who is the President of Hunton House. We always have an amazing to time when we serve together. I make sure to tell people where they can find us, so we get a few visitors. As well, we try to wear ridiculous costumes and to not take things too seriously. Usually the hour just flies by and at the end, we're reluctant to get off the bar. After that, everyone migrated towards the campus Pub with it's new dancefloor. On Saturday, a bunch of people came down to my room which has a few couches and some nice lounge space and we all prepped here and went out to the Pub again. It's nice to hang out in a small group, goofing around. (Highlight of the night? A sing-a-long to Hero by Enrique Iniglesias) I talked to one of my friends on Sunday about the weekend and he commented that he didn't want this weekend to end. Right now, there is very litttle school work or major assignments, so people are more relaxed and have more time to go out and enjoy themselves.

It's only the second week of school, but I already feel like I'm starting to settle into a routine for this semester. I've enjoyed my classes so far and in the evenings, there's nothing better than making a cup of tea and sitting on my couch, reading a book for fun. Last night, a bunch of people just kind of showed up in my room and we sat around just hanging out, chatting, and listening to music. I love when that happens.

Oh, my New Year's resolution? Relax. I always tend to overthink things and at the same time rush things. A constant problem throughout my years in school has been rushing through assignments in order to get to the end and I know I tend to rush things a lot in everyday life. So that's all. (And for those of you who read the Argosy humor section, now you know I'm a big liar too. Ha.)

UPDATE

I just found this YouTube video on Reddit. It goes along the whole theme of "Around the World." Anyways, check it out if you have a hot second.

Not about Packing

2009-01-08T08:42:00.000-05:00

It’s been a while since I’ve posted with a song at the beginning. This is “A-Punk” off of Vampire Weekend’s self-titled album. My friend Jared introduced me to a bunch of new music this break from Girl Talk, a mash-up DJ to Vampire Weekend to Bon Iver. Anyways, I’ve been listening to Vampire Weekend a lot since I’ve been back. It’s great to sometimes throw in a pair of ear buds, crank up your music, and just walk to your class, off in your own musical world. It’s like the life soundtrack I was talking about earlier. Sometimes I really do wish that I could live in a TV show with a soundtrack attached to it. That would be great.

This past week has been pretty much a blur. We have thirteen new students who have moved into Thornton, so it’s been a mini-Orientation week of sorts. So far, it seems like they are all meeting the returning students and hopefully finding our over-eagerness to hang out and spend time with them welcoming and not creepy. I remember when I first arrived at Mount A, I was scared out of my mind and all I wanted was my friends from school to arrive so that I would have a safety net that I could rely on. What a difference a year makes. Now I’m one of the ones who is comfortably established in Thornton, greeting new students and trying to make them feel welcome.

How could I forget? Happy New Year! 2009…wow. I always feel that when we get to December, I’m just getting used to the old year and then we have to move on. And with this New Year comes resolutions, promises of change and stated differences we want to make in our lives. What are my resolutions? I think that’s another post…

Why Mount A?

2008-12-28T13:13:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to figure out how I was going to write this post. I didn't want to do the regular "Here are 99 reasons to become a Mountie!" That seems too...not me? I'm sure I could hammer out 99 reasons to go to Mount A, but by the end they would probably be "Because we're awesome!" "Because I'm here!" "Because you didn't get in anywhere else!" Exactly, not the best reasons (except for me. I'm a great reason to go to Mount A.)

My dad suggested I do a list of reasons not to go to Mount A, a reverse list of sorts. I worked on that for a bit, but again, it just wasn't feeling right. I know, it seems odd, usually these blogs are pretty random. I sit down, start off on a tangent and finish up with a semi-clear post. But this one has actually had some thought go into it. The post itself probably won't reflect that, but hey, I tried!

Why go to Mount A? When I was choosing what university to go to, the most important piece of advice I got from my parents was to go somewhere where I would be most comfortable. I had never heard that. Nowadays everyone is focused on school's reputations, how great their academics are, what kind of athletic programs they offer, etc. I'm not saying those things aren't important, but the comfort factor is, in my opinion, the most important one. You could go to the "best" university in the country, but if you aren't comfortable, if you aren't able to engage in your classes, to branch out and meet new people, are you really in the right place? Choosing a university is so much more than choosing a school. You're choosing your home for the next four years. I spent 8 months out of the year in Sackville at Mount A. I love coming back to Burlington, but more and more, I feel like Sackville is becoming my home.

I have a friend who went to school in the Mid-West, far away from Burlington and his family and friends from here. He was telling me how hard it was to be that far from Vermont. However, one of his friends at school told him that all of his friends at school considered him family and while they weren't technically related, they were there for him, like family. It's corny, I know, but for those people, like myself, who are far away from home, your friends do become your family. At Thanksgiving, most of Thornton stayed in residence, so we had a gigantic potluck on Sunday night. I was amazed not only by the number of people who turned up, but by how homey it felt. Everyone brought what they could, the food was amazing, and we all just sat around eating and hanging out. That was one of things I told all of the new students when they arrived in September. Your residence and your friends there do become like a replacement family for you. Your Dons are your parents, RA's become older brothers and sisters, and House Exec are...your best friend who always wants to have a good time.

In looking back at my choice, I sometimes second guess myself. Did I make the right choice? Should I have picked another school? But I always come back to the same answer. Mount A was the best choice. There are so many things that I've been able to do in my short time in Sackville that I would not have been able to do at other universities. For example, early this school year, I was running in the morning in the Waterfowl Park. It was a grey, gloomy day, and I didn't expect to see anyone else out there. Instead, I ran into (not literally) the President, Dr. Campbell, out for his daily morning run. Not only did he know my name, but he stopped and chatted with me for a bit, teased me for listening to rap music when I ran, and told me to stop by his office to pick up his running music, New Order. Sure enough, when I went by on Monday, he had left two CDs for me, with a note detailing his favorite tracks. That experience has stuck with me. I talk to my friends at other universities and they can't imagine a school that small. But that's the beauty of Mount A. That's why I can't wait to get back. And those are my 99 reasons why you should go to Mount A.

Holiday Cheer: Vermont Style

2008-12-19T10:22:00.001-05:00

Can you believe that Christmas is in less than a week? I got home from Mount A early Tuesday morning. I usually take the train from Sackville to Montreal which is a 17 hour extravaganza, but since the train wasn’t running on Tuesday, I grabbed the hour and a half flight from Moncton to Montreal. I really wish I hadn’t because now I know how quick and simple it is and I’m going to be even more bitter and resentful when I’m on the train.

Anyways, it’s always a little weird coming back to Vermont from Sackville. Don’t get me wrong, I love being back home. There are some things that Burlington offers that Sackville just cannot. For example, the first night back, my parents took me out for Thai food which was delicious and one of the big things I miss when I go away to school. Also, I went downtown yesterday with a friend for lunch and we burned a couple of hours just window shopping and goofing around. Downtown Burlington is a really awesome place. We have this street that is completely free of traffic so it’s strictly pedestrians. One of the best activities is to grab a window seat at one of the restaurants on the street and just people watch. Especially now, during the holiday season, you can watch the bustle of people hurrying by, trying to fit in their holiday shopping while on their lunch breaks.

One thing Sackville definitely can’t offer are my friends. I’ve grown up with the same core of friends, Robbie, Keith, and Jared, for practically my whole life. If I was the President-elect, they would be my senior political advisors, great friends from back home who are always there to help me make tough decisions. However, the big thing that I miss when I’m home are all the people from Mount A. Since I live in residence, I can just walk down the hall or up the stairs and find a friend who is willing to watch a random YouTube video or just vent about some assignment I can’t figure out. On the weekends, it’s always great to go out to the Pub or to the Vogue and to see lots of people that I know. I’m always surprised by who I’ll run into on a Friday night in the most random locations. (SHOULD OUT TO SCRATCHY!) I’m not saying that I’m frequenting dark alleys behind Ducky’s doing illicit things, but like in the pizza place at two in the morning. I know it’s weird that the two biggest things I miss about both places are the people, but I think that’s just who I am. When I’m by myself, I tend to bore myself; I need other people to talk to and to hang out with. Nothing can replace a good conversation with a friend, whether it is in Sackville at Bridge Street Café or in Burlington at Ken’s Pizza.

I think that’s one of the big reasons I was drawn to Mount A. All of the literature put out by the school talks about the small environment and how you’ll be a person rather than a number. I can tell you right now that that is not a lie. Out of the five classes I had this term, I would say that four of my professors knew me by name and the fifth would have if I had made the effort to get to know him. As well, I can’t walk for more than a minute on campus and not see someone I don’t know. I’m not exactly the most popular person on campus, it’s just the nature of the campus. It’s amazing when I can talk to someone who lives on the opposite side of campus and we can reference people by their first names.

Anyways, I hope that you are all having a great holiday break! I’m going to get my camera out and snap some pictures of Vermont for you, so keep checking back!

Exam Stress?

2008-12-12T10:04:00.001-05:00

It’s exam time here at Mount A. I haven’t seen most of my friends for days now, as they have all been locked away in their respective rooms, trying to cram in all the information that fell by the wayside during the school year. It’s a weird time for me. Since I only have two exams, I haven’t been as stressed out as most of my friends. Instead, I’ve been reading a book for fun (which I haven’t done in months) watching movies and generally being a slob. I love being here at school because for the majority of the time, you can always find people who are willing to hang out and goof off. Exam time makes it hard to find those people, but they’re still around. I think that’s the thing that I miss the most when I go home for breaks. The accessibility just isn’t there. Sure, I love my friends back home, but if we want to meet up, we have to choose a place to meet up, figure out who is driving, coordinate rides, etc. By the time we get to where we are going (usually Ken’s Pizza on Church Street in downtown Burlington. If you’ve never been, you’re missing out on one of the best experiences of your life.), we’ve had to put at least 20 minutes of planning into it. Here, I can just walk down the hallway and bug my friends, or text a friend who lives in another residence to see what they are up and walk over to hang out with them.

I keep thinking back to the first couple of weeks of school. Most of us were back early to participate in the orientation for new students. They were a pretty jampacked couple of weeks, but they were easily the most relaxed time I’ve had at school. No school work meant that people could just chill out and enjoy themselves. Plus, we had a bunch of new students in Thornton and the energy from new people is always exciting. I wish we could have a period like that at the beginning of the winter semester, but sadly, its only one day back until we head back to classes.

To all those people who are madly studying for exams, I found this two minute video mashup of 40 inspirational videos from movies. Watch it.

To All My Friends

2008-12-07T14:53:00.000-05:00

In my attempts to avoid writing my final essay for a course, I was on YouTube today and this video popped up:

Over the summer, I was going through a rough period and a friend sent me the video of ‘Where the Hell is Matt?’ a compilation of clips of a guy named Matt dancing around the world. That video had a really profound effect on me. It sounds really sappy and corny, but it was amazing to know that someone could just go out and accomplish that. In 2008, travelling around the globe seems like such a simple thing, but back in the day, a world traveler was a rarity.

I think what made this new video so powerful for me was a combination of things. It had the worldwide aspect that ‘Where the Hell is Matt’ brought to the table. Here are musicians from around the world, collaborating to make one song. But there was something about the song they were working together on that added another element to it. I don’t think that we take enough to time to acknowledge those people around us, whether they are family or friends. They are the people who stand by us through good times and bad.

A lot of my friends have had long term relationships end this semester. I don’t know if it was Barack Obama’s call for change or just something in the Sackville air, but instead of last year when the majority of my friends were in long-term relationships, I have a lot of newly single friends. It’s definitely a weird shift and people always seem to look sad when someone makes a joke about dying alone, but at the same time, I think it can be a good thing. I know that it has made me appreciate my friends. After my breakup, three of the people I was interning with this summer took care of me, baking me cookies, making me smile and laugh, and generally making sure that I didn’t fade away. Their acts of kindness made me realize what good friends I have. I still carry around some of the random notes they wrote me during those weeks and when I’m feeling down, I pull them out for a little pick-me-up. I guess that they made me realize that you don’t necessarily need a significant other to stand by you, but just a group of good friends.

It sucks that we don’t always take the time to appreciate our friends. I hope that this post is read by all of my friends and they realize how much I appreciate them. They stand by me and hopefully, they know that I will always stand by them.

Dear Diary?

2008-12-02T11:50:00.001-05:00

Blogging is a funny thing. Back in high school, I had a LiveJournal account, like many of my friends. I read over it the other day after a friend brought it up in a conversation. It was funny, rereading the things I thought were important back then. From reading the posts, most of them seemed to be directed at one person or another--"I think you know what you did" and other posts like that. I knew that they were reading my journal, just like I was perusing theirs. It was a public journal, but at the same time, only a few friends knew the URL so it had a private feeling as well.

This blog is slightly different. Being on the Mount A website helps people from all over discover and read it. I was talking to Ashra, another Blogger for Mt. A about how I was feeling self-concious about my posts and she told me to just write and to not worry about other people reading it. It is intimidating to know that anyone can pop on here and read, but at the same time, it's pretty cool. I love it when people tell me that they have read my blog, even if I might blush profusely and nervously giggle.

One of my friends and I always try to meet up in the chapel in between classes. It's a really nice space right in the middle of campus that is also almost always empty. Most of the walls have huge stained glass windows and in the middle of the day, it's a peaceful retreat from the real world. It's really neat when you walk through the heavy doors. The din and commotion from the outside world just evaporates away and we're left in this sanctuary of light and quiet.

I had mentioned to her that I needed some new music and being the music whiz that she is, she brought me a mixtape of artists, mainly Canadian, that I had never heard of. I love getting mixtapes. I also love making mixtapes for people. Everytime I get one, I have a system for listening. I listen through it one time while its playing in the background while I'm working (or blogging). After that, I listen through a couple more times, paying more attention, finding out the artists, etc. Mixtapes have always represented something special; someone has gone through and selected songs that they think that YOU specifically would like.

One of the things I found on my high school LiveJournal was this thing called a "Life Mix". It has simple instructions: it lists several life experiences and tells you to associate a song with that experience. I encourage you to try it out, it's a really fun time. Also, comments are open on this post, so if you do end up filling this out, post your own Life Mix!

Opening Credits:

Waking Up:

Falling in Love:

Fight scene:

Breaking Up:

Getting back together:

Secret Love:

Life's okay:

Mental Breakdown:

Driving:

Flashback:

Happy dance:

Regretting:

Spending the Night Alone:

Death Scene:

Closing Credits:

Slow down

2008-11-25T16:45:00.000-05:00

Most of my time is spent in front of a computer. Whether I’m writing an essay, chatting with my friends, or watching a movie, my laptop is my lifeline. While the majority of the time I spend on YouTube is devoted to videos such as Charlie the Unicorn or finding cheesy Christmas songs, I was directed to one the other day that made me sit down and think. It’s hard for me to slow down and focus on one thing. I feel like I spend most of my day thinking three steps ahead of where I am, planning out my next move. However, for the first time in quite awhile, my mind was only on this video. It’s not long so please watch it before you keep reading:

Now it’s not that I didn’t know that Prop 8 had passed or that I hadn’t thought about it, but most of the time I was thinking about it, I also had a million other things on my mind. But something about this video made me stop and think. Olbermann’s comments had some kind of quiet power over me, begging me to stop what I was doing and to hear him out. He made me think about how lucky I am to live such a privileged life, virtually free of discrimination and negative attitudes. It’s funny being from a state like Vermont and also going to school in Canada. I can’t imagine being surrounded by people who would vote in favor of Prop 8. Yes, there are the occasional people who agree with it, but for the most part, and for the majority of my life, I have been surrounded by people who share my liberal viewpoints.

Whenever I’m talking with my friends, I mention how I want to be able to have a good argument with someone with fundamentally different values than me; a die-hard conservative who believed in their views as much as I believe in mine. I think that through debate and discussion with people who challenge our beliefs, is how our opinions and views are truly solidified. However, I brought this up with a friend recently and she pointed out that sometimes that approach can’t work. For example, debating Prop 8 works when talking in theoretical terms, but once you are debating about someone you know; that’s when things get messy. I can’t imagine someone trying to argue with me, telling me that a homosexual family member should be denied the right to marry.

I showed several friends the video after viewing it myself and every one had the same general reaction of “Wow…” There wasn’t must else that we said after that. I think moments like that are few and far between when you’re at university. We have to jump from one class to the subject, juggling anthropology with physics, going from class to an extracurricular. We don’t have time to slow down to really think about the world around us, but when we do, that’s when I learn the most.

Snow

2008-11-20T06:42:00.000-05:00

Snow changes everything. This morning, for the first time in a very long time, I woke up without an alarm to the sunrise. I was shocked, confused, and a little sleepy, but I was clear-headed enough to think of snapping this picture:It's not the best picture, but that's the view from my room window. I look out over the football/soccer field towards downtown Sackville and apparently, there is a pretty awesome sunrise that happens every day.

With the first snowfall of the year, everything has a different feel to it. There are the changes that everyone notices; the way a tree looks with a new coat of snow or the iced-up paths between residences and classrooms. There are the fancy winter coats, the cute hats and mittens, the runny noses, and the rosy red cheeks. But there is also something different. I was in the Argosy office when the first flurries began and we opened the window and smelled the air. The refreshing bite of the cold wind was a relief to our nostrils; it really did smell like snow. Everytime I saw a friend outdoors, we would shout at each other "IT'S SNOWING!" Snow had this way of turning people's days around. One friend was quite remourseful that he had been having a bad day and the snow had not cheered him up as much as he had hoped. Another friend, when I asked her how she was doing, responded "Look outside Noah. That's all I need to make me happy."

For myself, the first snowfall has this magic that nothing can replicate. Snow changes everything.

Internet-less

2008-11-15T19:08:00.001-05:00

Mmk, so you should remember this from last time. Before you start reading, throw on Brand New Day by Joshua Radin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97df0Q5qxa8) It's essential to reading this. I don't know what would happen if you read it without it. Probably something really bad and catastrophic.

For the past two days, my computer (Rosa) has been without Internet. To make a long story short, something was wrong with the drivers used to connect to the Internet. During those two days, I felt so cut off from the world. Normally when I wake up, the first thing I do is stumble to my desk and check my email. And then I get my breakfast and check my email again. And then I wash my dishes and check my email again. By the end of the day, I probably get it around 80 times. So to go from checking 80 times to around 2 is a drastic change. At the same time, it was nice to have a change from my normal routine. Instead of sitting in front of my computer, I was wandering around the house while eating my breakfast, visiting my friends who I normally wait for in my room. It was nice to not constantly be signed into MSN Messenger and to be forced to go out to check my email. Of course, I never received anything drastic or important during those two days. I realized that the time that I spend on the Internet could definitely be better spent elsewhere.

It's a Saturday night here in Thornton and as always, there are a lot of really different things going on. One of our neighbor residences, Hunton, is having a floor crawl and I'll be heading over there to serve later. A few of my friends are going to a party off campus and even more of my friends are in the lounge watching all six Star Wars movies in a row. (Serious commitment, they started at 9 AM). No matter what, there is always a plethora of activites going on here. I remember being worried because Sackville didn't have the clubs or nightlife that a larger city might have. But now that I'm here, I realize how great it is to be in such a small town. We have to make our own entertainment on the weekends, we can't just escape and run away to the waiting city. I think in the end, it brings us all closer together. We're all a part of the Sackville bubble whether we like it or not.

I'm waiting patiently for the first snow. It needs to hurry up and get here.

An Introduction

2008-11-11T04:55:00.000-05:00

Wait. Before you do anything else, before you proceed any further, stop. Now, before you read this blog, it is very important that you listen to a song. "What song?" you might ask. Good question. Put on 'Forever Young' by Youth Group. If you don't own the song, search for it on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQi8wEHMm5Y)

OK, is the song playing? Alright, you're good to start reading now. Thanks for that.

Welcome! I suppose that this is my first blog post as an "official" Mount Allison blogger. I've spent the past couple of days trying to figure out what the best way to approach this blog is. Do I make it funny with crazy anecdotes about my life here? Do I make it all formal where I only say the amazing, magical experiences that have stood out in my mind? Then I thought of some advice a friend gave me a while back. Mind you, she wasn't talking about writing a blog, but it still applies. She said that in order to get what you're seeking, to achieve that goal, you can't try to force anything. When you try too hard, that's when things don't work out. I'm the type of person that always overthinks things waaay too much. So the approach for this blog? Nothing. Every week might be something different or maybe I'll find a format that I like and we'll stick with that. You'll just have to keep checking in, week after week to see what I'm up to. See, that makes you want to come back for more, doesn't it?

But this isn't fair. I haven't told you anything about myself yet. Unless of course, you looked me up on Facebook. Which is cheating, by the way. Sorry, back to the point. All about me...all about me...what to say, what to say...

I'm Noah. I like to have a good time. I've been called high strung. I've been called laid back. I've been called crazy, neurotic, put-together, mellow, ridiculous, crazy, silly, and just about every other adjective out there. I like giving people high fives. I love eating. I voted for Barack Obama. I'm from Vermont and I am proud of it. I love Thornton House. I love my friends and family more than they know. I firmly believe that everyone should be allowed to dance around in their underwear if they need to. I love people who can be true to themselves; they are my role models.

I think the song might be finished by now, so sadly, this first post is going to draw to a close. Confused? Feel like it bounced all over the place? Welcome to my life. Get ready for bouncing.