A few weeks back I went a party at Wellesley, which was quite fun. I went with Amanda B and some friends from Phi Sig. Getting to Wellesley was quite an experience. It turns out that you need tokens in order to use the bus, and all the places that sold tokens near MIT were sold out. Amanda and I were frantically calling people to find out if they knew what we could do. Luckily one of our friends from Phi Sig had a car and we ended up driving there. The traffic was insanely slow (Fenway had a game that night), but we made it eventually. It was awesome because I saw my “bestest best” friend Maggie (I’ve known her since I was a baby) and Ilang, a good friend from my home town, who both go to Wellesley. My friend Peter from Harvard was also there. This was my first official college party and it was a blast. I had a great time dancing and talking with people. After the party I got lost trying to find Maggie’s dorm, but we found each other after a half hour of wandering around and I got to meet her roommate.
Maggie and I at Wellesley
After the party we drove back in the car to Phi Sig. Everyone was still pretty wide awake so we proceeded to watch Super Troopers until about 5:30, and at that time most people were falling asleep. Then we went to Dunkin’ Doughnuts for breakfast and then it was back to Simmons to sleep. I had told Annelise I’d be back around 3, so in case she woke up before I got back, I left her a text message on her cell phone. At first I was going to have it read “I’m staying over at Phi Sig”, but seeing as how we still didn’t know each other that well, I instead wrote “staying with friends, be back in the morning.” (I didn’t want her to get the wrong impression of me :-). That was an awesome weekend even though I was tired the next day.
Random Phi Sig people sleeping
Annelise and I went to see the Ig Nobel lectues. This is a spoof of the Nobel Prize, it is for research that is just really random and funny. We got to throw paper airplanes at the speakers and when their 5 minutes were up everyone was allowed to ring their cell phones, so that might tell you a little about how goofy the atmosphere was. To see more information, go to: http://www.improb.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html
One night I went out with Amanda M and Amanda B and her friends to see Just Like Heaven. Cutest movie ever. We really liked it, but the guys that came with us went to see Serenity though :-(. Afterwards we trudged through the pouring rain and went to eat at Uno’s (not the pizza place though, a different restaurant). When we got back Amanda M and I proceeded to watch Pirates of the Caribbean but were too tired to finish.
A great thing about MIT is that you get quite a few long weekends. These are called “Student Holidays” but to joke about the rumors and difficulty of MIT people call them “Suicide Prevention Days” (remember, this is jokingly, many people think that MIT students are always depressed and that a ton of suicides happen all the time---this is not true!). We took advantage of one of our five day weekends to go out shopping (I got new earrings!).
One of the most random things that happened the last month was that elephants walked down Mass Ave right in front of Lobby 7! The circus was in town and as a tradition the elephants walk to the circus though the streets. Very very cool! There were a bunch of people waiting for more than two hours to see them, and luckily I had a long time before my next class.
Elephants!
My parents came and visited me during Parents Weekend. It was really great to see them (I couldn’t believe it had already been more than a month and a half!). I have been fortunate not to be homesick. I took them to the science museum and also to my chemistry class. We also went to an acapella concert (MIT has a bunch of really wonderful acappellas groups—I have some of their CDs). Some of the names are really funny, for example, the “Logarhythms” is a popular all-male group that is very entertaining. It was a very relaxing weekend and I had fun spending time with my parents.
For Halloween MIT has yet another quirky tradition: the “Pumpkin Drop.” Pumpkins are thrown off MIT’s tallest building—the Greene Building—to explode into tiny pieces when they hit the pavement. The same weekend there was a Simmons Halloween dance. There were only about seven of us dancing, which was sort of sad, but we had a great time anyway.
Me with wings at the dance party
It was very exciting because a student from my high school, Michael, came to visit MIT. Amanda and I persuaded him to apply, and after talking to us he even said MIT had become his first choice! I hope he is accepted!
Another funny thing that happened this past month dealt with rubber duckies. Simmons’ strange architecture lures many architects to visit our dorm (they are only allowed in with a guide). One of the pieces of art we have is a ying-yang pond area. To make the area a bit more fun and welcoming, students have a tradition of putting rubber ducks into it. Unfortunately, a woman that organizes the art on the MIT campus, thought that there were altering the artist’s original meaning. We actually had a meeting with her (complete with pink peeps, save the ducks T-shirts, and duck-crossing signs). Luckily she agreed that we could keep the ducks in most of the time as long as they do not affect the sculpture in any way. We argued that this is our home, not a tourist attraction, and perhaps we could remove the ducks for architect tours. Right now there is an official duck committee that is in charge of making rules for the ducks. Really random….isn’t it? That’s MIT and Simmons Hall for you.
The Schrodinger Cats lounge went to see “Proof” a few weeks ago. It is a very good movie about an insane mathematician’s daughter and how she might be insane too. We appreciated a lot of the nerd jokes and MIT references. You should go see it!
I can also officially say that I saw the first snow of the season!!! One Sunday I saw white flakes drifting from the sky and got very excited. Annelise and I quickly grabbed our coats and ran outside. It only stuck to the grass, but we were able to eat a few snowflakes. After that day the weather became warmer again, and we have not had snow since. Hopefully this means we will have a relatively mild winter! The snow was gorgeous, a white blanket across the field outside.
Eating snowflakes
The last thing I want to discuss is the Star Wars Musical I saw last weekend. It was HILARIOUS!!!! They used songs from so many different musicals it was insane! There were even references to movies, like The Princess Bride and Pirates of the Caribbean. Our favorite line was from the Empire Strikes back, when Luke is battling Vader and is about to tell him he is Luke’s father. This is a reference to The Princess Bride when two men are battling each other with their left hands to be modest. When both realize that they are right handed, they switch hands.
Luke: I know something you don’t know.
Vader: And what is that?
Luke: I’m not left-handed!
Vader: (Cuts off Luke’s hand). You are now!
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