7.29.2005
one week
It's been exactly one week since coming back from England. I think it's safe to write on two related topics: what I miss about England, and what I've missed about America.
What I miss about England, in no particular order:
• dry heat. I know that it sounds really really odd, but Oxford was drier than Boston this past week. Of course, it might help that England as a whole has been going through a drought while Boston's humidity and temperature have been reaching near-record heights of late. And it's gotten much more pleasant today, so perhaps this will change.
• sky tv. I miss having eight channels of movies every night. I miss having the Simpsons on at 6, 7, and 7:30. I miss news broadcasts that don't make me freak out or want to mess my pants out of fear.
• pubs in walking distance. Now, I've not had anything to drink since coming back to Boston. For certainly, I'm not fussed about it: I'm not going through withdrawal or anything. I just miss having the option of popping down to the pub for a pint.
• bitter ale. Even if I were to drink a beer, there's nothing here that comes close. Someone on the Princeton Boston alumni list just emailed out that her British husband misses English pubs and wants to know if there's an English-y pub around the Boston area. So far: nothing.
• libraries. I really do miss the libraries: I miss being able to walk around and see all of these fantastic books on the shelves. Wonderful stuff.
What I have missed about Boston, also in no particular order:
• good food at reasonable prices. I think that it's important to note that not only does the food in England suck, it's expensive. Like they advertise that they're going to kick you in stomach and that you're going to have to pay for the priviledge.
• my family. I have really missed my family. It's tough living away from home at times: I remember one fantastic day that I came home from an incredible tutorial and I was bouncing off the walls. I told my friends, and I blogged it, but it's just not the same emailing to tell my parents. And I do miss having my parents at my orchestra concerts or choral concerts: I was spoiled in college: my parents came down to my concerts and visited a lot. My parents came to visit me once, and I wish that they could visit more.
• driving my car. Wow... I really miss being able to drive. It's not as good for me as walking or biking, but it allows a degree of mobility that is unparallelled.
• national public radio. Oh yeah. This incredible receptacle of current events, trivia, knowledge, and lighthearted fun. Car Talk, All Things Considered, This American Life, Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!, and Marketplace. I've missed them all. Though I do occasionally download and listen to Wait Wait and This American Life. Marketplace is probably the best analysis of the business world that is available short of reading the Economist. Not surprisingly, Marketplace and the Economist have a special arrangement by which editors for the Economist speak on Marketplace.
• sportscenter. This is the irrational, sports-loving, fanatic side of me. Like NPR, SportsCenter is a finely tuned blend of news, trivia, and lighthearted fun. And I've missed it.
• girlfriend. This one's a no-brainer. I had a lovely lunch with Diana today: went to a deli where we helped ourselves to piles and piles of meat and cheese and fries and delicious half-sour pickles. Mmmm... :)
So there it is. Also, dinner tonight was at Icarcus in Boston. It was a strange experience: it was delicious but oddly overpowering and completely lacking in nuance. I started with a BLT salad, which was wonderful but entirely over-dressed, with too much pepper, and too much garlic (even for me). My main course was cannelloni with chanterelles, ricotta calabra, spinach and peas. The cannelloni were delightful and light: the spinach and ricotta stuffing was creamy without being heavy, and the peas added some nice sweetness. But the chanterelles were woefully oversalted, and they overpowered the dish, not with the meatiness that could have arisen from well-sauteed mushrooms, but with salt, pure and simple. Dessert was a strawberry sorbet which, again, was delicious but... I'm all for sweet desserts but this one was over the top. The essense of pure strawberry is a powerful thing, and to distill strawberries down to such a potent form might be akin to concentrating the sun down onto a pin-prick of light and melting action figures on the sidewalk. Too much of a good thing. It was certainly an eye-opener, and I did enjoy the meal. As for the rest of the main courses, my father ordered a swordfish which proved much fishier than I would have imagined, and my mother and brother ordered a roasted chicken breast (or was it pan-seared?) which, unlike anything else I'd tasted on the menu, showed a degree of restraint. Overall, not bad. Not fantastic, but better European food than I've eaten for a long time. I throw "European" in there, because there's no comparing this to the best of the best of Chinese food, ie. my Dad's homemade cooking.
What I miss about England, in no particular order:
• dry heat. I know that it sounds really really odd, but Oxford was drier than Boston this past week. Of course, it might help that England as a whole has been going through a drought while Boston's humidity and temperature have been reaching near-record heights of late. And it's gotten much more pleasant today, so perhaps this will change.
• sky tv. I miss having eight channels of movies every night. I miss having the Simpsons on at 6, 7, and 7:30. I miss news broadcasts that don't make me freak out or want to mess my pants out of fear.
• pubs in walking distance. Now, I've not had anything to drink since coming back to Boston. For certainly, I'm not fussed about it: I'm not going through withdrawal or anything. I just miss having the option of popping down to the pub for a pint.
• bitter ale. Even if I were to drink a beer, there's nothing here that comes close. Someone on the Princeton Boston alumni list just emailed out that her British husband misses English pubs and wants to know if there's an English-y pub around the Boston area. So far: nothing.
• libraries. I really do miss the libraries: I miss being able to walk around and see all of these fantastic books on the shelves. Wonderful stuff.
What I have missed about Boston, also in no particular order:
• good food at reasonable prices. I think that it's important to note that not only does the food in England suck, it's expensive. Like they advertise that they're going to kick you in stomach and that you're going to have to pay for the priviledge.
• my family. I have really missed my family. It's tough living away from home at times: I remember one fantastic day that I came home from an incredible tutorial and I was bouncing off the walls. I told my friends, and I blogged it, but it's just not the same emailing to tell my parents. And I do miss having my parents at my orchestra concerts or choral concerts: I was spoiled in college: my parents came down to my concerts and visited a lot. My parents came to visit me once, and I wish that they could visit more.
• driving my car. Wow... I really miss being able to drive. It's not as good for me as walking or biking, but it allows a degree of mobility that is unparallelled.
• national public radio. Oh yeah. This incredible receptacle of current events, trivia, knowledge, and lighthearted fun. Car Talk, All Things Considered, This American Life, Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!, and Marketplace. I've missed them all. Though I do occasionally download and listen to Wait Wait and This American Life. Marketplace is probably the best analysis of the business world that is available short of reading the Economist. Not surprisingly, Marketplace and the Economist have a special arrangement by which editors for the Economist speak on Marketplace.
• sportscenter. This is the irrational, sports-loving, fanatic side of me. Like NPR, SportsCenter is a finely tuned blend of news, trivia, and lighthearted fun. And I've missed it.
• girlfriend. This one's a no-brainer. I had a lovely lunch with Diana today: went to a deli where we helped ourselves to piles and piles of meat and cheese and fries and delicious half-sour pickles. Mmmm... :)
So there it is. Also, dinner tonight was at Icarcus in Boston. It was a strange experience: it was delicious but oddly overpowering and completely lacking in nuance. I started with a BLT salad, which was wonderful but entirely over-dressed, with too much pepper, and too much garlic (even for me). My main course was cannelloni with chanterelles, ricotta calabra, spinach and peas. The cannelloni were delightful and light: the spinach and ricotta stuffing was creamy without being heavy, and the peas added some nice sweetness. But the chanterelles were woefully oversalted, and they overpowered the dish, not with the meatiness that could have arisen from well-sauteed mushrooms, but with salt, pure and simple. Dessert was a strawberry sorbet which, again, was delicious but... I'm all for sweet desserts but this one was over the top. The essense of pure strawberry is a powerful thing, and to distill strawberries down to such a potent form might be akin to concentrating the sun down onto a pin-prick of light and melting action figures on the sidewalk. Too much of a good thing. It was certainly an eye-opener, and I did enjoy the meal. As for the rest of the main courses, my father ordered a swordfish which proved much fishier than I would have imagined, and my mother and brother ordered a roasted chicken breast (or was it pan-seared?) which, unlike anything else I'd tasted on the menu, showed a degree of restraint. Overall, not bad. Not fantastic, but better European food than I've eaten for a long time. I throw "European" in there, because there's no comparing this to the best of the best of Chinese food, ie. my Dad's homemade cooking.
