Goddamn Quidditch

Middlebury College has been in the news recently because of a new craze taking storm across campus. That craze of course being Quidditch of "Harry Potter," fame. I for one, am disappointed that this is the sort of press that Middlebury is now receiving. For a top five liberal arts college, with world class language and study abroad programs, we don't seem to be able to actually get into the paper for anything worth-while.

Three years ago it was for our paper, "The Middlebury Campus's" stupid stunt regarding Rudolph Guliani coming to speak for graduation and the student reaction (I'll give you a hint, the Fuhrer was associated with Mr. Guliani). Then this Fall we get passed over in a NYTimes special report regarding the study abroad experience (I still haven't forgiven Lauren Pappano for that gross error) and now we're finally being given some good press over what? 21 year olds running around in crazy clothing (or no clothing) with a broom jammed between their legs!

On another note, Ron Paul (thanks Graham) is quickly gaining steam as an internet sensation in the Republican race. Do I think the man can win? No, but I am really entertained and intrigued in his running methods. The success he has found through the internet simply shows how much the political landscape has changed. No longer are the conventional methods of running a political race the only way. John McCain has taken to old-fashioned grass roots campaigning, Mr. Paul has found his niche through the power of YouTube and while the two men remain long shots to receive the nomination, they have used their gaining momentum to portray the Republican Party in a good light, which it has not been privy to for quite a long time.

Two more things and then I'm out. iGoogle is the greatest development in my life in some time. It is so easy and efficient to "surf the web" now (I know how to say that in Chinese, but can't literally explain myself in English so I'm going with the stupid "surf the web" phrase). E-Mail, News Sources, Weather, Sports, and Music, all at my finger tips whenever I want them. Whoever is behind Google is an out and out genius.

Final matter, I am leaving China in 18 days for Kyoto and then a week later heading for home. While I've loved my time in Hangzhou, I'm very excited to get back to civilization. Middlebury, Rye, Kyoto here I come, BIATCHES!!! Kyoto with Wrangham-san and Citay Evans, Rye with the Power 9, and J-Term at Midd, those experiences pretty much wrap up the definition of "Where the Wild Things Are."

Everyone keep Sean Taylor's family in your prayers. I know that people die everyday, but when its someone so high profile, it really makes you remember that we're all just human and our time is short. 视死如归.

祝您们感恩节快乐！

Well friends, family, loved ones, Colodny. Its Thanksgiving Day here in China, which means a fun-filled day of classes, a cold, essay writing, and preparing for tomorrows test. Yay Middlebury in Hangzhou!

In all seriousness, although I'm a little under the weather and unfortunately won't be making it to my grandparent's for Thanksgiving (the first time ever BTW) Sorry Bu + Gigi! I'd like to wish you all a very happy, safe, and fun Thanksgiving.

For those of you worried about me. Thanks, but I'm good. All 28 students, Middlebury and the other Americans alike are going to the Irish Bar and Restaurant for an all you can eat homestyle Thanksgiving dinner in about an hour. Leave it to the Irish to be so stubborn as to not give a damn what country they're in. We're still celebrating Thanksgiving dammit! And you're all going to enjoy it! I'm sure those very same words will be uttered around the States on this greatest of holidays. Enjoy the tryptephane, the crappy parade and the even crappier Colts-Falcons, Jets-Cowboys games. See you all soon!

Oh for your viewing pleasure here is the first image listed on Google for "Chinese Thanksgiving."

Always Coming Back Home to You

I’ve been listening to a lot of rap by Atmosphere, a rap group out of Minneapolis, Minnesota comprised of Ant, the spacy and actually quite old-looking DJ, and Slug, the masochistic front man and MC, both known as Anthony and Sean, respectively. My favorite song by the duo off of their “Seven’s Travels” album is the final track entitled “Always Coming Back Home to You,” in which Slug describes his hometown and the feelings of comfort despite his sometimes bleak past there, only to let the track drone out and fade into a powerful tune praising the Mid West and all that is good about it, while still pleading with his listeners to not let anyone else on the secret. Bottom line, his home is the Shit. Well I beg to differ, because I am officially STOKED to head home to R-Y-E. Rye, NY, a little place where affairs with tennis pro’s isn’t uncommon, the parents are often times crazier than the kids, and a Beemer for a 16th Birthday is common place. Whatever man, who cares? I love the place and the people. Nevertheless, I still have some time to burn over here and with that in mind I took a weekend trip to Nanjing, a city that I’ve been intrigued by ever since hearing the musings of Don Wyatt last year in Modern Chinese History. The city did not disappoint. Becky, Big Bear, Molly (three friends from other schools), and I took off Friday night, met Becky’s brother in Shanghai and made our way to Nanjing first thing in the morning. First let me say this, the train system here is awesome. You barely realize that you are moving, the quality is first rate and the service (free water) is outstanding and they all move significantly faster than the Metro-North and Amtrak I’m so used to (see: always late, no service other than a “EY TICKETS BUDDY,” and usually terribly dirty).
Anywho, despite having my first bout of Home-sickness (real honest to goodness homesickness) I managed to enjoy Nanjing to no end. The city is gorgeous, tree-lined streets, historical sites everywhere, and great food. We spent Saturday going to Sun Yat-Sen’s Mausoleum, the man credited with founding modern China and it struck me, nothing in the States compares to this. The Statue of Liberty? Cool, but you can’t even walk up it (Screw you terrorists, let me walk up to the head of the Big French Woman) Shouldn’t this be a priority of someone in the States? Fix up Lady Liberty. I want to be able to go up and hang out on that big ole torch. I want to sing from the head like Bill Murray in “Ghostbusters 2” “Your Love!! Is Lifting Me Higher!!!” so on and so forth. Frankly, aside from the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, two NATURAL landmarks the States are lacking in awe-inspiring sights. It is worth noting I had the same feeling when seeing the Great Wall and Forbidden City.
We finished the day off with a nice dinner at Tao Restaurant, which is housed in a remodeled traditional house. Sunday we found our way to a gigantic bridge built during the mid-20th Century without much aid from heavy machinery, spanning the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal (an ancient canal stretching from Hangzhou up to Beijing) both fascinating accomplishments and compliments to the Chinese will and ability.
Before hopping back on our train we walked the City wall, which is one of only a few remaining fully intact city walls, which is especially remarkable considering the Japanese essentially razed the city during World War II. We ended the day at Yuejiang Tower, a giant pagoda on top of the largest hill in Nanjing with a panoramic view of the city and the river. Perhaps one of the best views of a city I’ve ever seen. It really compares favorable to the view of NYC from the Whitestone Bridge at Sunset.
On top of a great weekend, my one-on-one class this morning was cancelled (meaning I’m done for the day) and I have a phone interview with Lehman Brothers this afternoon. Things are looking good for our hero. If anyone wants postcards let me know, I have a ton of them, but don’t know who would like one. Nanjing, not where the wild things are, but a great time nonetheless.

The Simple Life

"The Simple Life" starring Nicole Richy and Paris Hilton placed the two spoiled daughters of insanely rich "Aristocratic" families in unexpected and difficult situations to see how the two would react.

I'd like to see how they'd react being here.

Its not that its difficult to live here. I love it, but its soooooo different from anything the States has to offer.

I went to Shanghai last weekend with a crew of Middlebury kids and partied like I haven't in a while, but first I did something else, which I also hadn't done in a while talk to parents. Brendan's mom and grandparents were in Shanghai and took us in for wine and cheese (Just like at Midd!) and honestly it was a blast having a nice mature conversation with adults and I think I impressed, good to know I still got it! Afterwards we made our way to Attica, which I described in an earlier post and essentially repeated our last night in Shanghai's insanity. Drinking, Dancing, Getting home at 6 AM. That is all that needs to be said about that.

This past week has been equally insane, spending Wednesday at a friend's apt. eating mac & cheese and hanging with her Nigerian neighbors and yesterday going out to SOS the major dance hall in Hanghzou and I'm sure tonight will be a great one as well with my boy Nate Evans making his way down from Beijing.

Hot Pot for dinner and then we'll see where we go from there.

Until next time

What the Hell New York Times

In an article published in today's Sunday New York Times entitled "The Foreign Legions,"

(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/studyabroad.html?pagewanted=4&ref=edlife)

Laura Pappano takes an in-depth look at the modern day American's study abroad experience. While I applaud her for looking into a more and more important aspect of college life, I wish she'd bothered to actually dive into the topic matter rather than simply pay lip service to both sides of the argument and call it a day.

Ms. Pappano interviews heads of Study Abroad Programs from Yale, Syracuse, and Indiana, students from those schools as well as Chapel Hill, and Loyola Maryland, but does not make anything clear other than these few facts:

1. Schools abroad can be easy or hard. Thanks
2. Some foreign nations' societies might be different from American society. No Shit Sherlock.
3. Schools prepare and aid their students differently during their study abroad experience. That is like being suprised UVA and UCLA have different experiences to offer, REALLY YOU DON'T SAY!!?!?!

My main problem with the article is her gross mishap of not including Middlebury College in her article. Call me a homer, but a college with perhaps the strongest language programs in the country, a world renowned summer language program, and some thirty options for study abroad (both in English and other languages) probably has some good information to offer regarding this subject. Moreover, the majority of the students sound as if they are whining in their responses. Oh Palestine's policies towards women are different from Americans. Who knew? Jeeeze

I agree with her "analysis" that the study abroad experience is one that forces college students to mature, in many ways my experience has been of the "kill or be killed" variety, but that is not a bad thing. Perhaps what Ms. Pappano should have extrapolated from her research was that the modern American twenty year old is actually spoiled by their lifestyles at home, instead of harping poetic about the various qualities of homestays abroad. I don't know, maybe I'm being to cynical, but speaking from my own experience I can say that whenever I've wanted to interact with Chinese culture I've had that option, whenever I wanted to take a break and Westernize an afternoon, I have Starbuck's at arm's reach.

Study abroad is entirely what you make of it. The colleges offer a means out of the States and a program that the students can follow as strictly or loosely as they wish. Ms. Pappano writes, "Being in a place a dozen time zones away, where Internet service and cellphones are unreliable, provides one of the first chances for true and prolonged independence." While that maybe true, it is up to the student to assume the responsibility to lead as independent a life as he or she may wish to.

Talking for My Own Enjoyment

I frequent a variety of websites, Drudge, Take a Report, NYTimes, BBC, Vault, NHL, Askmen, and a few others and appreciate how well these are maintained and updated.

Obviously The New York Times is expected to and does maintain a very professional manner on their website, but what is so enjoyable about the site is their new catering to the blogging community. They have a scroll bar on the right side, which informs the reader, which articles, editorials, and op-eds have been most read and blogged about, which I must admit to stealing many of the leads I put on this blog. Moreover, and this IS why New York is so great, they never let that New York aura wear off. We're New York, get over yourself, you'll never be us.

I sound arrogant and pompous, but I don't really care. There is a reason people come to New York chasing dreams. Despite only being a few hundred years old the City has so much character and has gone through so much that it seems like it has the history of Rome behind it. We've traded the Coliseum for the Garden, the Roman Baths for the high rise apartments and the Senate for the Empire State Building. New York is the capital of the World and I'm damn proud to be a part of it, even if I am only from the suburbs.

Changing Subjects...kinda.

Your home, in my opinion, is such a crucial element to what defines you as person. Obviously parents, teachers, blah blah all have big parts in your development, but what I mean to say is that your hometown is key to this as well. I'm from Rye, its a town of 10,000 odd people, we're all fairly well off (generally speaking), it might be the whitest town in the Union, and hockey certainly still thrives there, while it dies elsewhere. Do we take shit for our proximity to $Greenwich$? Absolutely. Do $Greenwichians$ dish it out for us not being them? Ditto. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

People who deny their hometown, frankly need a good swift kick in the ass. Whether for better or worse, home played a bigger role defining people than many would like to admit.

I, for one am damn proud to call Rye, NY, Middlebury, VT, and perhaps by the time I leave, Hangzhou home.