Back to campus

[tarigwaemir]

Lowell House, on the Feast of St. John Chrysostom

Back in Cambridge. Classes begin next week. Feelings about this translocation are mixed as usual.

1. Oh, Firefox, how I missed thee! During the summer, I was using my (very outdated) iBook, which has the sleek and elegant Safari browser, but I'm a Windows person at heart, you know. At home, I was using my father's laptop, which has the elaborate but oh-so-clunky MSN Explorer (one of the most badly designed web browsers in existence). But now that I'm back on my desktop, I can use Firefox once more! And Thunderbird, which I prefer to SecureCRT because it can automatically read HTML attachments and Unicode characters. I love Mozilla, don't you?

2. I met ayatsujik yesterday at the Freshmen Activities Fair. ^_^ She's as cool in person as she is online! That reminds me, I also managed to meet serendip before I left New York. We ate naengmyeon at a really nice restaurant in Koreatown. ^_^ I heart my friends list.

3. On a not-so-positive note, I'm in a bit of a dilemma about what courses to take. ::sighs:: Went to the Coop this morning and realized that the Literature and Arts A class (called Tragic Drama and the Human Conflict) that I was thinking about taking had an uninspiring reading list. Well, I mean, it's mostly great Greek tragedies, but the professor chose plays I've already read, not the ones I haven't. -_- But then again, reading something on your own and reading it for a class are two very different things. I've looked at all possible combinations of courses though, and I can't come up with a viable alternate schedule (not without making myself miserable, anyway). I guess I'll just have to shop the classes and hope Tragic Drama turns out to be interesting after all. To go with the bad news, I forgot my hanja textbook at home. >_< It figures that I remember to bring all sorts of unnecessary books, but not the one book that I really ought to have with me for school.

4. Resolutions for this year: (1) run every day, (2) do some sort of community service, (3) study for the GRE subject test, (4) lose the Internet addiction. Hah! How many of these will I manage to break by October?

5. Last year I promised to post photos of Lowell but never got around to taking photos. In the spirit of resolution-making, I made a new Scrapbook gallery and uploaded four photos here. Enjoy, mes amis. Our doubles suite has a common room and a bedroom, but for convenience, we usually just split the rooms into two singles. I've taken the smaller bedroom this year, since I had the larger common room last year. The size difference is less drastic though, so my room isn't quite as small as Nan's was, which is lucky for me, I guess. Nan's room has this old wooden bookshelf that takes up half the wall space, with adjustable shelves and dark varnish. It would be almost pretty if it wasn't so scratched. We are on the second floor and Daera and Schwimmerin are across the hall. There's a stairway next to the doors of both suites that leads outside, a good shortcut when leaving for class. Shall attempt to take photos of the Lowell courtyard sometime. Oh, and upload photos of 불국사 from the summer.

6. The dining halls here don't have all that exciting a selection of food, but what I have missed is the grapefruit. Grapefruit at breakfast! Grapefruit juice at lunch!

Yours &c.

Comments

[sangoire.livejournal.com]

Oh, Freshman Activity Fair. I got mauled by about six different acappella groups all down that stretch ("Do you like to sing?" "Sorry, I'm tonedeaf." "I didn't ask you if you could sing, I asked you if you liked to sing!"). Is ayastujik coming here too?

[troisroyaumes]

Haha, and if you passed by the recreation tables, chances are you were accosted by me (or someone from my club) telling you to join the kendo club. ^_^ An exasperated freshman told me that she'd gotten the same brochure three times from us. >_>;;

Yup, ayatsujik is class of '09 too. ^_^

[sangoire.livejournal.com]

I saw the table and thought, wow, that's pretty cool, but then I reminded myself what an utter failure I am at fencing and competitive martial arts in general, so I don't think I ever ventured close enough to be accosted. :P

Really? I had no idea. I'll have to try to meet her somehow.

[unrequitedangst.livejournal.com]

Do the Harvard cafeterias have fantastic grapefruit? Or is this akin to the potatoes at my high school? (I -- uh -- I think the least gruesome explanation is, despite the fact that they swore they did not recycle food, it was hardly unusual to have baked potatoes on Monday, mashed potatoes on Tuesday, creamed potatoes on Wednesday, and whipped potatoes on Thursday.)

Also, we must meet up sometime as well!

[troisroyaumes]

Oh no, the grapefruit is the only decent fresh fruit we get around here. There was a terrible stretch of two or three months where they stopped serving grapefruit, and I left a mock-despairing comment in the feedback box, asking how they expected me to survive my morning without it. The grapefruit returned that very next week. ^_^

The recycling of potatoes occurs here as well. -_-;; I try not to think too much about it.

Re: meeting up, sure! I'm mostly free this week, so do poke me if you have time to hang out. ^_^

[unrequitedangst.livejournal.com]

I should be free all day on Saturday and most of Sunday -- is there a particular time which works best for you?

[troisroyaumes]

I meant to reply to this comment, but kept forgetting...gah. I ought to be free most of Sunday as well. Do you want to meet up for lunch perhaps? ^_^

[unrequitedangst.livejournal.com]

Oh, that would be great! ^^ Will warn you in advance, though, that I'm not quite familiar with Cambridge's restaurants yet, so I'll go along with whatever you want. (I eat anything so long as it doesn't have coconut, so, uh, restaurant selection shouldn't be difficult. ^^;;;)

Will leave my cell phone # and AIM SN in a screened comment so we can work out the details later. I'll be semi-AFK and attempting to study the rest of today, but I should be around all evening after 7-8ish for sure.

[multilingualism.livejournal.com]

How do you make a scrapbook?

And which restaurant? I'm going to NYC this weekend to meet a friend and she's never been to Kblock (she's Korean, too)!

[troisroyaumes]

I think the Scrapbook comes automatically if you have a paid account?

The restaurant was 강서면옥, practically right next to the 우리은행 at the corner of that block. You might want to take her to 감미옥 too--that place makes the best 설렁탕! XD

[serendip.livejournal.com]

I had fun too~! I love going to the Koryodong on 32nd Street--I seem to be taking lots of ljers there. Midtown is usually where I drag people at first--it's sort of my way of easing people into NYC. I know of so many faboo tea/cofee places in the city <3333333

[troisroyaumes]

Yes, the Koryodang was awesome! I know almost nothing about where to find nice places to just hang out and talk. ^_^;; It's kind of sad--my knowledge of Manhattan is limited to the libraries and bookstores and movie theatres. ^_^;;