5.27.2005
transit
Specific location unknown, most likely south of Iceland while flying over the Atlantic Ocean. Well, today was kind of a bust rowing-wise, as the Keble Men’s 3rd were bumped pretty fast by the Christ Church Men’s 3rd boat. The Women’s 1st boat was bumped for the first time in a year today. Jess was unhappy about that, but in truth there really wasn’t much that could be done. Today was, in fact, my last race for Keble College this academic year. One by one, my extracurricular activities are coming to a close: two weeks ago was the last OUO concert, Tuesday was the last OU Sinfonietta concert, and today the last crew race. I will, without question, be singing through the remainder of the term. On a sort of side note, wow – I got lightly sunburned yesterday as I was officiating a few of the races.
So today is the last day of classes at the P. school – I wish them the best of luck on their exams. Exam preparation was always the worst part of being a student. I honestly couldn’t tell you whether it was bad as a teacher, since middle school Latin didn’t give exams. I would always have the week of exams off even though my colleagues did not. I miss that…
There’s a guy sitting behind me spinning complete lies about America to an English kid who’s visiting America for the first time. That’s not true: I’m sure he thinks that the stories he’s telling are true, about Paul Revere and his midnight ride to Lexington (Revere never made it past Waltham), and how the battles of Lexington and Concord are reenacted on July 4th. I had to fight the urge to smack him and set this poor English kid straight.
Oh and the food tonight, surprisingly good. I was pleasantly surprised to hear over the PA system that the flight crew told us the selection for dinner so that we could choose the appropriate color of wine. I had a rather nasty red wine from Bordeaux. It was astringent and entirely unsubtle. It was served with a beef lasagna, which was good, though not actually a beef lasagna. It was a layered pasta bake, but with odd hints of grease and basil sauce: tomatoes were present, I think, but their effect was minimal. However, the starter was probably the best I’ve had on an airplane in a long while – grape sized buffalo mozzarella and real fresh tomatoes on a bed of arugula, accompanied by a delightful pesto vinaigrette. The dessert too, which was a rich chocolate torte with fresh raspberry coulis, was wonderful.
I’m excited to be going home: I haven’t seen my family in almost six months and I’m really psyched to be seeing them again. Specifically, I can’t wait to see my Mom and Dad – they do a lot for me, and it’s rare that I get to spend much time with them. Andrew will be home from medical school too, and I can’t wait to see what he’s up to. As for Matt, well, it’s *always* fun to see Matt.
I’m actually heading back for my cousin Mike’s wedding. He’s marrying Doreen, who is a med student, and the three of us and many, many more have all grown up together. Which I have to say makes it kind of weird that Mike and Doreen are getting married – it’s a little incestuous, methinks. Not, like, ot the point of actual incest or anything, but because we were all friends and like one big extended family growing up. It’s just a little weird, I guess. I do wish them the best of luck, and I’m honored to have been asked to serve as a groomsman.
I wanted to see Diana while I was in town too, but she’s leaving tomorrow for California to attend the funeral of her grandmother. Of course I’m disappointed, but I know that she has to go home for the good of her family, and there’s nothing in my heart that would want to prevent her from doing that. I’ll see her in a few weeks time when I come back for Matt’s high school graduation.
Oh, and one more thing. I’ve officially entered the election for MCR president for next year. It’s something that I think that I can do well, something that I can leave a legacy doing, and something that I think would be, of course, a good amount of hard work, but also quite a bit of fun.
So today is the last day of classes at the P. school – I wish them the best of luck on their exams. Exam preparation was always the worst part of being a student. I honestly couldn’t tell you whether it was bad as a teacher, since middle school Latin didn’t give exams. I would always have the week of exams off even though my colleagues did not. I miss that…
There’s a guy sitting behind me spinning complete lies about America to an English kid who’s visiting America for the first time. That’s not true: I’m sure he thinks that the stories he’s telling are true, about Paul Revere and his midnight ride to Lexington (Revere never made it past Waltham), and how the battles of Lexington and Concord are reenacted on July 4th. I had to fight the urge to smack him and set this poor English kid straight.
Oh and the food tonight, surprisingly good. I was pleasantly surprised to hear over the PA system that the flight crew told us the selection for dinner so that we could choose the appropriate color of wine. I had a rather nasty red wine from Bordeaux. It was astringent and entirely unsubtle. It was served with a beef lasagna, which was good, though not actually a beef lasagna. It was a layered pasta bake, but with odd hints of grease and basil sauce: tomatoes were present, I think, but their effect was minimal. However, the starter was probably the best I’ve had on an airplane in a long while – grape sized buffalo mozzarella and real fresh tomatoes on a bed of arugula, accompanied by a delightful pesto vinaigrette. The dessert too, which was a rich chocolate torte with fresh raspberry coulis, was wonderful.
I’m excited to be going home: I haven’t seen my family in almost six months and I’m really psyched to be seeing them again. Specifically, I can’t wait to see my Mom and Dad – they do a lot for me, and it’s rare that I get to spend much time with them. Andrew will be home from medical school too, and I can’t wait to see what he’s up to. As for Matt, well, it’s *always* fun to see Matt.
I’m actually heading back for my cousin Mike’s wedding. He’s marrying Doreen, who is a med student, and the three of us and many, many more have all grown up together. Which I have to say makes it kind of weird that Mike and Doreen are getting married – it’s a little incestuous, methinks. Not, like, ot the point of actual incest or anything, but because we were all friends and like one big extended family growing up. It’s just a little weird, I guess. I do wish them the best of luck, and I’m honored to have been asked to serve as a groomsman.
I wanted to see Diana while I was in town too, but she’s leaving tomorrow for California to attend the funeral of her grandmother. Of course I’m disappointed, but I know that she has to go home for the good of her family, and there’s nothing in my heart that would want to prevent her from doing that. I’ll see her in a few weeks time when I come back for Matt’s high school graduation.
Oh, and one more thing. I’ve officially entered the election for MCR president for next year. It’s something that I think that I can do well, something that I can leave a legacy doing, and something that I think would be, of course, a good amount of hard work, but also quite a bit of fun.
