On Tuesday morning I awoke to an e-mail in my inbox informing me that I had been chosen as a fellow at Columbia's Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI). Apparently they will now take over my funding for this year, relieving the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of the obligation. In practical terms this doesn't actually mean a whole lot; the funding is substitutional, not additional, so I'm no better off financially. It is, however, something of an honour, looks good on a CV, and involves turning up for dinners and panel discussions, etc. with fellow scholars. That's by no means a bad thing - though it may take up some of my time, it will widen my circle of contacts and get me a little better known in the field, which may come in handy in a couple of years' time when I'm looking for a job.
By a bizarre coincidence, WEAI - pronounced as one word - is also widely used in the dialect spoken in north-east England, where I grew up. Whey aye, as it's spelt, means something like 'Of course'. Can't imagine that had much to do with it, though.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Monday, September 25, 2006
Better
Things are looking a bit better after the weekend. I got most of my work done so it won't be hanging over me this week, and K and I have basically patched things up (for now, at least). The thing is, I will be going to Japan in 2008 - so some time in the next 18 months will come a crunch point. I don't know what's going to happen then...
Saw Corin, yet another ex-JET, on Sunday, now of this parish and job hunting. I helped her out with a bit of Japanese practice, as the job is at a Japanese TV firm. I'm not sure how much help I can realistically be - one can't teach Japanese in an afternoon, after all - but one likes to do what one can for friends and acquaintances.
Had a Chinese test on Thursday and Friday, the latter half of which consisted of speaking into a microphone and recording myself, to make sure I got the tones right. I'm not 100% sure I did...it's damn hard. Luckily, the objective is not to become completely fluent in Mandarin (though that would be nice), so much as to be able to read academic Chinese and classical Chinese poetry.
I got the paper copy of my echocardiogram from a few weeks back today. Apparently I have a 'trivial mitral insufficiency' and a 'trivial tricuspid insufficiency', which terms I can make neither head nor tail of, but I think the key bit is the 'trivial'. At least, I hope so.
Saw Corin, yet another ex-JET, on Sunday, now of this parish and job hunting. I helped her out with a bit of Japanese practice, as the job is at a Japanese TV firm. I'm not sure how much help I can realistically be - one can't teach Japanese in an afternoon, after all - but one likes to do what one can for friends and acquaintances.
Had a Chinese test on Thursday and Friday, the latter half of which consisted of speaking into a microphone and recording myself, to make sure I got the tones right. I'm not 100% sure I did...it's damn hard. Luckily, the objective is not to become completely fluent in Mandarin (though that would be nice), so much as to be able to read academic Chinese and classical Chinese poetry.
I got the paper copy of my echocardiogram from a few weeks back today. Apparently I have a 'trivial mitral insufficiency' and a 'trivial tricuspid insufficiency', which terms I can make neither head nor tail of, but I think the key bit is the 'trivial'. At least, I hope so.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Nadir
Ugh. Still running around like a blue-arsed fly. Lessons to prepare, reading to do, copies to make and stuff to hand in to people, and it rarely goes like clockwork. It's been particularly bad these last couple of weeks; it should ease off a bit from now on. Fingers crossed, but predictions about workload have a horrible habit of going badly wrong.
Someone in our School of International and Public Affairs thought it would be a good idea to invite Iranian president Mahmound Ahmadinejad to come and give a speech at Columbia, seeing as he's in town anyway to posture along with his fellow loonies at the UN. As one can imagine, that idea, when revealed yesterday, went down like the proverbial lead balloon, especially considering CU's rather large Jewish presence. It was perhaps the only time the college Dems and Repubs have actually agreed with each other on something. As it happened, he did accept the invitation, but on two days' notice it wouldn't have been feasible to get the security arrangements in place. If you recall last year, John Ashcroft's visit brought out the NYPD riot squad, so Ahmadinejad would probably have needed several tank divisions and the 81st Airborne to be safe. No doubt CU are very happy to have a plausible excuse not to have him around campus. As an aside, I think they're wrong, and that the way to deal with "hate speech" is not to suppress it, but to show it to all as the ignorant rot it is. As they say, free speech makes it easier to spot the idiots.
K and I aren't in the best of shape. We went for dinner last night and it was just bad - we had nothing to say to each other, it was horribly awkward. We talked afterwards for a while about various things. I think we patched it up, but we both need to do some serious thinking about where we're going.
Someone in our School of International and Public Affairs thought it would be a good idea to invite Iranian president Mahmound Ahmadinejad to come and give a speech at Columbia, seeing as he's in town anyway to posture along with his fellow loonies at the UN. As one can imagine, that idea, when revealed yesterday, went down like the proverbial lead balloon, especially considering CU's rather large Jewish presence. It was perhaps the only time the college Dems and Repubs have actually agreed with each other on something. As it happened, he did accept the invitation, but on two days' notice it wouldn't have been feasible to get the security arrangements in place. If you recall last year, John Ashcroft's visit brought out the NYPD riot squad, so Ahmadinejad would probably have needed several tank divisions and the 81st Airborne to be safe. No doubt CU are very happy to have a plausible excuse not to have him around campus. As an aside, I think they're wrong, and that the way to deal with "hate speech" is not to suppress it, but to show it to all as the ignorant rot it is. As they say, free speech makes it easier to spot the idiots.
K and I aren't in the best of shape. We went for dinner last night and it was just bad - we had nothing to say to each other, it was horribly awkward. We talked afterwards for a while about various things. I think we patched it up, but we both need to do some serious thinking about where we're going.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
All-consuming
I wonder if I'm turning into a workaholic. I spent between twelve and fourteen hours in class and studying almost every day this week (usually from 9 a.m. til 11 p.m.). It's not that I don't enjoy it - for the most part I do, the work's stimulating and I get a lot out of it - but it seems to be affecting my social life. Went out for dinner on Friday night to a sake bar in midtown with K; she was a bit frosty, mainly cos she hadn't seen me all week. Trouble is, this is just something I have to do right now; and these couple of weeks I have to prepare to lead the discussion in our colloquium, which means doing all the reading a week in advance. Perhaps this is what they mean by work-life balance, and maybe I need a bit more of the life side of things. Still. The bar was good, reasonably authentic (apart from the massive portions - not authentically Japanese, but welcome enough), and the booze was cheap. Got fairly hammered, blowing off steam I suppose.
I'm working through a 500-page book required for the Mod. Hist. colloquium right now, entitled Memory, History, Forgetting by some Frog philosopher by the name of Paul Ricoeur. To misquote and paraphrase Hermann Goering, "whenever I hear the words 'French philosopher' I reach for my revolver". It's not as bad as some - Derrida comes to mind - and it does have some interesting ideas, but in the general tradition of many theorists it's quite spectacularly badly written, long-winded, opaque, pretentious and generally annoying. If I might be allowed to quote another German of dubious moral heritage, Friedrich Nietzsche: "Those who know that they are profound strive for clarity. Those who would like to seem profound strive for obscurity."
I'm working through a 500-page book required for the Mod. Hist. colloquium right now, entitled Memory, History, Forgetting by some Frog philosopher by the name of Paul Ricoeur. To misquote and paraphrase Hermann Goering, "whenever I hear the words 'French philosopher' I reach for my revolver". It's not as bad as some - Derrida comes to mind - and it does have some interesting ideas, but in the general tradition of many theorists it's quite spectacularly badly written, long-winded, opaque, pretentious and generally annoying. If I might be allowed to quote another German of dubious moral heritage, Friedrich Nietzsche: "Those who know that they are profound strive for clarity. Those who would like to seem profound strive for obscurity."
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
A rose by any other name...
Apparently it's standard procedure to give everyone in the Chinese class a Chinese name. Mine is
塗 英杰
pronounced Tú Yīng Jié, or, if you prefer the Japanese, To Ei Ketsu. Though not a lot of 'em would know the last one, it's rather unusual. It contains the character for England, which is also quite nifty. I think it's rather cool.
塗 英杰
pronounced Tú Yīng Jié, or, if you prefer the Japanese, To Ei Ketsu. Though not a lot of 'em would know the last one, it's rather unusual. It contains the character for England, which is also quite nifty. I think it's rather cool.
Monday, September 11, 2006
September 11th
Today, as I'm sure everyone is aware, marks the fifth anniversary of 9/11. By a strange quirk of fate, I have managed to be in the USA for three out of those possible five anniversaries, being here as a tourist in '02, and studying here in '05 (I was doing the GRE in Tokyo in 2004, and I can't remember what I was doing in 2003. So there). It feels odd to be in New York today, which in itself is rather strange, as it didn't last year, but this time round is a bit different.
For one thing, the five-year mark gives a sense - perhaps a false one, but the effect remains - of completing a cycle, of somehow ending the first phase of the aftermath. I suppose this feeling is reflected in the wall-to-wall coverage that the milestone is getting on U.S. TV right now. I don't wish to downplay the enormity of what happened on that horrible day, and I can respect a nation's wish to honour its dead, but the day-long blanket coverage (starting at 5 a.m. on one channel I saw) rather recalls the grief-fest that overtook the U.K. after Diana's death in 1997. It's probably just me, but I can't help but feel that a tone of quiet reflection would have been a more fitting memorial than a day-long media junket. Oh well. I guess my personal tastes just tend towards the understated, that's all. Maybe it's for that same reason that I never visited Ground Zero itself and always thought turning it into a tourist site was really tacky.
At the other end of the scale, of course, we have the certifiably bat-shit crazy bunch. You know the ones, the tinfoil-hat brigade who think that the CIA, or the Bush Clan, or the Illuminati, or the Jews, or Tom and Jerry crashed the planes into the WTC, or used explosives to bring them down, or any of a dozen or so quarter-baked theories concocted from the flimsiest of supposition and downright lies. This wouldn't usually bother me; I would normally be inclined to class such whackjobs with UFO nuts and those who think we never went to the moon or that the NSA controls the weather.
But damned if this stuff doesn't seem to keep popping up and affecting people I know. A certain somewhat flakey Miyagi couple who shall remain nameless originally tipped me off on this strain of thought - if it can be so called - by showing me a video doing the rounds on the net a few years ago. I thought it was crap then, and still do now that I've dug around a bit and learned for a fact it's total nonsense...but the idea just won't die. On the pole in a shot from October last year you can see their sticker; there are flyers up on all the lamp-posts round Columbia right now, the secretary in the Law school was watching that same video a couple of months back, and there was even some loony in a "9/11 is a lie" t-shirt on campus today. I don't know why this sort of stuff bugs me, but it does. It's not my fight, and yet...
For one thing, the five-year mark gives a sense - perhaps a false one, but the effect remains - of completing a cycle, of somehow ending the first phase of the aftermath. I suppose this feeling is reflected in the wall-to-wall coverage that the milestone is getting on U.S. TV right now. I don't wish to downplay the enormity of what happened on that horrible day, and I can respect a nation's wish to honour its dead, but the day-long blanket coverage (starting at 5 a.m. on one channel I saw) rather recalls the grief-fest that overtook the U.K. after Diana's death in 1997. It's probably just me, but I can't help but feel that a tone of quiet reflection would have been a more fitting memorial than a day-long media junket. Oh well. I guess my personal tastes just tend towards the understated, that's all. Maybe it's for that same reason that I never visited Ground Zero itself and always thought turning it into a tourist site was really tacky.
At the other end of the scale, of course, we have the certifiably bat-shit crazy bunch. You know the ones, the tinfoil-hat brigade who think that the CIA, or the Bush Clan, or the Illuminati, or the Jews, or Tom and Jerry crashed the planes into the WTC, or used explosives to bring them down, or any of a dozen or so quarter-baked theories concocted from the flimsiest of supposition and downright lies. This wouldn't usually bother me; I would normally be inclined to class such whackjobs with UFO nuts and those who think we never went to the moon or that the NSA controls the weather.
But damned if this stuff doesn't seem to keep popping up and affecting people I know. A certain somewhat flakey Miyagi couple who shall remain nameless originally tipped me off on this strain of thought - if it can be so called - by showing me a video doing the rounds on the net a few years ago. I thought it was crap then, and still do now that I've dug around a bit and learned for a fact it's total nonsense...but the idea just won't die. On the pole in a shot from October last year you can see their sticker; there are flyers up on all the lamp-posts round Columbia right now, the secretary in the Law school was watching that same video a couple of months back, and there was even some loony in a "9/11 is a lie" t-shirt on campus today. I don't know why this sort of stuff bugs me, but it does. It's not my fight, and yet...
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Pics
Not much to add right now, just thought I'd put up some recent pictures that were floating around on my digital camera. I'd also like to add a note of congratulations to Pocket Rocket, now safely married off. Women the world over are crying themselves to sleep, mate. Though it'll probably be a while before you read this; or at least, I should hope so, you're meant to be having a honeymoon.
Friday, September 08, 2006
And the beat goes on
Term is here, with all its gentle showers. I'm back on the treadmill of academia, polishing my mind to a keenly-honed edge with the grindstone of learning. Stop laughing at the back there.
It's good to be back in the saddle. I'm taking beginning Chinese this semester, and the first two sessions I've had so far have consisted of my comical efforts to get my tongue round the sounds of this rather esoteric language. I'm also taking three seminars, on modern Japanese history, pre-modern Japanese literature and modern Japanese cultural criticism respectively, so while a solid and demanding workload, it is unlikely to be quite as crushing as it was this time last year.
Before the grueling four-month semester kicked off, I hosted the lovely Miyagi belle Ms. Christine Ngan for a few days in New York. Having spent most of the last two years in rural Tohoku, New York must have been something of a step up, but despite her notoriously poor sense of direction she still managed to avoid getting seriously lost. I had feared that she would take my assertion that the grid system in Manhattan makes it almost impossible to lose one's bearings as some kind of challenge. But it was not to be, and we managed a few trips to Ellis Island, the Empire State building and other sundry landmarks in the few days she was here. Perhaps I'm getting a bit blase; it was my fifth visit to the Statue...
There's more to the title of this entry than merely the above would suggest. For the last couple of months or so I've been experiencing an irregular heartbeat and palpitations fairly frequently, for no obvious reason that I can discern. While I've had no other symptoms, I still thought it warranted getting checked out, and so I went to see the doc back home in Newport. She thought it was probably nothing - blood pressure, pulse etc all normal - but recommended an ECG as a precautionary measure. I learned upon my return to NYC that they had seen something there they weren't happy with, and I should get it checked out further here. I made an appointment on Tuesday, and learned that I have a heart murmur, albeit a very faint one, and should get an echo cardiogram at the hospital.
So I duly did, and thus was my first encounter with US medicine. I have no complaints; it was all done quickly and efficiently. I had some gel smeared on my chest, the readings taken, then again with the doctor present. The final result, after all the blood work and sonograms were analyzed, is...
...there's absolutely nothing wrong with me. Given the absence of any other symptoms, medical minds on both sides of the Atlantic are inclined to think that it's just one of those things. Bizarre, perhaps, but a relief nonetheless. Now I can bury myself in the library again, and hope that the only thing that'll get me flatlining is the reading list for this semester...
It's good to be back in the saddle. I'm taking beginning Chinese this semester, and the first two sessions I've had so far have consisted of my comical efforts to get my tongue round the sounds of this rather esoteric language. I'm also taking three seminars, on modern Japanese history, pre-modern Japanese literature and modern Japanese cultural criticism respectively, so while a solid and demanding workload, it is unlikely to be quite as crushing as it was this time last year.
Before the grueling four-month semester kicked off, I hosted the lovely Miyagi belle Ms. Christine Ngan for a few days in New York. Having spent most of the last two years in rural Tohoku, New York must have been something of a step up, but despite her notoriously poor sense of direction she still managed to avoid getting seriously lost. I had feared that she would take my assertion that the grid system in Manhattan makes it almost impossible to lose one's bearings as some kind of challenge. But it was not to be, and we managed a few trips to Ellis Island, the Empire State building and other sundry landmarks in the few days she was here. Perhaps I'm getting a bit blase; it was my fifth visit to the Statue...
There's more to the title of this entry than merely the above would suggest. For the last couple of months or so I've been experiencing an irregular heartbeat and palpitations fairly frequently, for no obvious reason that I can discern. While I've had no other symptoms, I still thought it warranted getting checked out, and so I went to see the doc back home in Newport. She thought it was probably nothing - blood pressure, pulse etc all normal - but recommended an ECG as a precautionary measure. I learned upon my return to NYC that they had seen something there they weren't happy with, and I should get it checked out further here. I made an appointment on Tuesday, and learned that I have a heart murmur, albeit a very faint one, and should get an echo cardiogram at the hospital.
So I duly did, and thus was my first encounter with US medicine. I have no complaints; it was all done quickly and efficiently. I had some gel smeared on my chest, the readings taken, then again with the doctor present. The final result, after all the blood work and sonograms were analyzed, is...
...there's absolutely nothing wrong with me. Given the absence of any other symptoms, medical minds on both sides of the Atlantic are inclined to think that it's just one of those things. Bizarre, perhaps, but a relief nonetheless. Now I can bury myself in the library again, and hope that the only thing that'll get me flatlining is the reading list for this semester...
Monday, August 28, 2006
What all the fuss is about
I picked up my stipend cheque today from the financial office (though perhaps I should start spelling it check in deference to my hosts). It felt good. Very good, in fact. This year Columbia University will be giving me money instead of taking it away from me. As I'm sure I conveyed at times, life was tight financially as a MA student - I worked out that I survived on an operating budget of less than $10,000 per year, though that was after rent and tuition had been paid. This year, things are different - my monthly budget will more than double, I can start doing boring stuff like replenishing my savings and starting to pay off my loans, and fun stuff like travelling up to my uncle's pad in the countryside of Massachussetts, snowboarding and the like. With my job at the Law library kicking in, now, finally, thankfully, I don't have to worry about whether I'm going to have enough money to make it to the end of term.
It did help that New York City is actually one of the cheapest places I've ever lived. Most Americans will no doubt goggle in amazement at that statement, but it's true. You do, however, have to remember that my standards of comparison are Japan and the UK, neither renowned for a low cost of living.
I went a bit crazy in anticipation of the cheque, actually - on Sunday I bought myself an electric toothbrush, a duvet cover and a new MP3 player. OK, I admit it's not really very crazy at all - but to be able to go out and have the freedom to spend some money on things I want, rather than need, was a most welcome experience.
K's back from her friend's wedding in Illinois. Hadn't seen her in over a month, so you can probably imagine how the evening proceeded...
And in other news, to my delight I learn that my friend and that of many of my readers, Mr. Dave Fusco, is now back in New York after his sojourn working in Japan. Dave, bless his heart, is one of those types of people so peculiar to and ubiquitous in New York; the sort who, whenever he gets an idea, acts on it, no matter how misguided it may be, and who has the attention span of a goldfish on Ritalin. Needless to say, that makes him great fun to hang around with. I love the guy, really. Can't wait to get a night out on the beers organised.
It did help that New York City is actually one of the cheapest places I've ever lived. Most Americans will no doubt goggle in amazement at that statement, but it's true. You do, however, have to remember that my standards of comparison are Japan and the UK, neither renowned for a low cost of living.
I went a bit crazy in anticipation of the cheque, actually - on Sunday I bought myself an electric toothbrush, a duvet cover and a new MP3 player. OK, I admit it's not really very crazy at all - but to be able to go out and have the freedom to spend some money on things I want, rather than need, was a most welcome experience.
K's back from her friend's wedding in Illinois. Hadn't seen her in over a month, so you can probably imagine how the evening proceeded...
And in other news, to my delight I learn that my friend and that of many of my readers, Mr. Dave Fusco, is now back in New York after his sojourn working in Japan. Dave, bless his heart, is one of those types of people so peculiar to and ubiquitous in New York; the sort who, whenever he gets an idea, acts on it, no matter how misguided it may be, and who has the attention span of a goldfish on Ritalin. Needless to say, that makes him great fun to hang around with. I love the guy, really. Can't wait to get a night out on the beers organised.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Back in the USSA
I think I've used that heading before, but I'm too tired to care right now.
Flight back was endured - they're never a pleasure, and BA's selection of films over the summer has been crap. Still, I made it on time, which was rather fortunate - there was a 'fatality' on the King's Cross line as I was on my way down to London, which occasioned a delay of nearly two hours before the train could be re-routed. We saw a body bag with police on the platform as we went by - some poor bastard either fell or jumped in front of a train. Not uncommon in Japan, of course, and while I know I'll sound insensitive, I would say that if you're going to top yourself the least you can do is not make everyone else late on your account...
But it's good to be back. Spoke to K when I got in - she's away right now, coming back Sunday. I have a feeling that this is going to be a very good year.
Flight back was endured - they're never a pleasure, and BA's selection of films over the summer has been crap. Still, I made it on time, which was rather fortunate - there was a 'fatality' on the King's Cross line as I was on my way down to London, which occasioned a delay of nearly two hours before the train could be re-routed. We saw a body bag with police on the platform as we went by - some poor bastard either fell or jumped in front of a train. Not uncommon in Japan, of course, and while I know I'll sound insensitive, I would say that if you're going to top yourself the least you can do is not make everyone else late on your account...
But it's good to be back. Spoke to K when I got in - she's away right now, coming back Sunday. I have a feeling that this is going to be a very good year.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
New York State of Mind
After five weeks of bucolic relaxation, I'm headed back to the big bad city. It's been a tonic - the Essex countryside was just the ticket, exactly the right place to unwind and blow off the stress of the past year. Tomorrow of itself might be quite stressful - nobody seems quite sure what exactly I can take on board the flight, and I'm flying with BA, whose reputation for efficiency and high standards is not exactly flawless.
I was back in the Smoke this weekend, having dinner and drinks with Matt and Nina at a Sichuan place in London by the name of Bar Zhu. The food was, quite simply, phenomenal - the best Chinese I think I've had in this country, wonderfully piquant and (apparently) authentic Sichuan delicacies of all various flavours. Marvellous. Met Karen and my brother for lunch, once again in Chinatown, the next day, and hoisted a couple of pints. Mike was celebrating too - he just got a grant worth ￡26,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, quite against the odds, to do an MA in sculpture at the Slade (University College London's Art school). Beers on him then.
Sunday was my actual birthday, celebrated in a sort of aromatic haze of beer and Indian food. While the Indian on offer in New York - like, for example, Jacksonville Heights - is not bad, it's not British Indian food. I'm a creature of habit, a fact for which I make no apologies.
Will blog again when back in the wilds of NYC.
I was back in the Smoke this weekend, having dinner and drinks with Matt and Nina at a Sichuan place in London by the name of Bar Zhu. The food was, quite simply, phenomenal - the best Chinese I think I've had in this country, wonderfully piquant and (apparently) authentic Sichuan delicacies of all various flavours. Marvellous. Met Karen and my brother for lunch, once again in Chinatown, the next day, and hoisted a couple of pints. Mike was celebrating too - he just got a grant worth ￡26,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, quite against the odds, to do an MA in sculpture at the Slade (University College London's Art school). Beers on him then.
Sunday was my actual birthday, celebrated in a sort of aromatic haze of beer and Indian food. While the Indian on offer in New York - like, for example, Jacksonville Heights - is not bad, it's not British Indian food. I'm a creature of habit, a fact for which I make no apologies.
Will blog again when back in the wilds of NYC.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Smoke and Mirrors
By popular demand...
I've been told I need to update my blog more often. This is an unprecedented phenomenon; very few people indeed have ever told me that I should actually write more. Boringly enough, it's because there's not a whole lot to write about; I am at home most of the time, reading, watching DVDs (mostly The West Wing), and doing a bit of academic work from time to time. Even with the best will in the world, I doubt most of you really care about all the old books on my shelves I'm enjoying once again.
But at other times - namely weekends - I go down to London to meet friends. Saw Karen and Nat last weekend, took a walk by the river and remembered that London is just as amazing a city as New York is. I think perhaps one is apt to forget the qualities of one's own native land when one spends so much time overseas. As one of my professors remarked, London is like New York, only with history. And much, much more expensive - but that's a story for another time.
This past weekend, I reminded myself of an old and venerable English tradition, namely, the Session. Wherein a group of young men gather at a drinking place after work, and proceed to drink more than is really good for them in a turn-based system (known, I believe, as a round). Quaint and curious some may call it - others may prefer to think that it highlights the primitive nature of those who participate in it - but it's still damn good fun, especially when joined by old friends. It also proves that you can take the man out of college; but you can't take college out of the man. Of ten of us, I am the only one who isn't in a well-paid and prestigious job in London. Do we, then, enjoy fine wines and good dining? Do we hell. Eight pints of lager and a kebab on the way home. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.
In other news, Al-Qaeda is once again trying to kill me. Or, if that fails, annoy the hell out of me. I'm not so worried about a fiery aerial death over the Atlantic - it'd have the virtue of being quick - as I am about being bored out of my mind in Heathrow, or not being able to have my laptop with me and thereby having it damaged by the heavy-browed baggage handlers at the world's busiest airport. It's 10 days until I fly out, so I have to hope that things settle down by then. Cos if my laptop were to get damaged - well, that'd put an end to the blog for, ooh, at least a week - and what would you do then, my loyal readers?
I've been told I need to update my blog more often. This is an unprecedented phenomenon; very few people indeed have ever told me that I should actually write more. Boringly enough, it's because there's not a whole lot to write about; I am at home most of the time, reading, watching DVDs (mostly The West Wing), and doing a bit of academic work from time to time. Even with the best will in the world, I doubt most of you really care about all the old books on my shelves I'm enjoying once again.
But at other times - namely weekends - I go down to London to meet friends. Saw Karen and Nat last weekend, took a walk by the river and remembered that London is just as amazing a city as New York is. I think perhaps one is apt to forget the qualities of one's own native land when one spends so much time overseas. As one of my professors remarked, London is like New York, only with history. And much, much more expensive - but that's a story for another time.
This past weekend, I reminded myself of an old and venerable English tradition, namely, the Session. Wherein a group of young men gather at a drinking place after work, and proceed to drink more than is really good for them in a turn-based system (known, I believe, as a round). Quaint and curious some may call it - others may prefer to think that it highlights the primitive nature of those who participate in it - but it's still damn good fun, especially when joined by old friends. It also proves that you can take the man out of college; but you can't take college out of the man. Of ten of us, I am the only one who isn't in a well-paid and prestigious job in London. Do we, then, enjoy fine wines and good dining? Do we hell. Eight pints of lager and a kebab on the way home. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.
In other news, Al-Qaeda is once again trying to kill me. Or, if that fails, annoy the hell out of me. I'm not so worried about a fiery aerial death over the Atlantic - it'd have the virtue of being quick - as I am about being bored out of my mind in Heathrow, or not being able to have my laptop with me and thereby having it damaged by the heavy-browed baggage handlers at the world's busiest airport. It's 10 days until I fly out, so I have to hope that things settle down by then. Cos if my laptop were to get damaged - well, that'd put an end to the blog for, ooh, at least a week - and what would you do then, my loyal readers?
Monday, July 31, 2006
Notes from the Midlands
The occasion was the 21st birthday of my cousin, Sarah, at the family home in Bewdley, not far away from Kidderminster. In the final year of a teaching course at York University (while I, as she remarked, am in New York), she is a bright and very affable young girl, though no doubt teaching will change all that soon enough. One's 21st birthday is, of course, a moment for celebration and looking to the future; though left largely unspoken throughout proceedings, there was also a certain sense of poignancy, if not sadness, that my cousin - her sister - Claire could not be present. She had died while still a teenager in a minibus crash in the Midlands in the autumn of 1993. Had she lived, she would be about my age and have celebrated her own 21st five years earlier.
Still, it was a lively and boisterous occasion, the party being held in a marquee in her parents' capacious garden and supplied with copious quantities of food and drink. Most of the guests were Sarah's friends from York University and from her childhood in the Midlands, though there was still a sizeable representation of older friends and family. It didn't half make me feel old, though. Less than a month away from my 27th birthday, I was never entirely sure whether I should be chatting with the 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates that composed the majority of Sarah's guests, or making rather more adult conversation with the rest. I am ashamed to admit that I couldn't help silently drooling over one or two of the student body; one girl, in particular, was in possession of what I think were the two most perfect breasts I have seen in recent times and was not shy of displaying them. Proof, if it were required, that I am a drooling pervert. God knows what will happen when I have to start teaching (or rather, TA-ing) in a year's time. Put me and the English accent in a room with some nubile 18-year old American girls and it will probably be all I can do not to trip over my own tongue, let alone avoid getting kicked out of the University and summarily deported (needless to say, K is less than thrilled at this prospect, because, as she said, "we always fancied our TAs in college").
Still. It was all good fun in a teacher-at-a-school-disco kind of way, and I think most of them were suitably impressed at what I laughingly refer to as my 'jetset lifestyle'. I was rather happy that I didn't have to venture outside much, though - aside from the Worcester countryside, I find most aspects of the West Midlands - not least the accent - to be uniformly horrible. We went for a pub lunch on Sunday before I came back down to Cambridge at the pub at the end of the road. My family on my mum's side seem to have this bizarre obsession with pub lunches, even when they're manifestly horrible, and especially (as in this case) ridiculously overpriced. I got a leathery piece of beef and some overcooked vegetables for 8 quid or so, though everything else on the menu was at least ￡15. For the equivalent - $30 or so - I could get quite a feed in NYC. But then, as Mum reminded me - "this is the Midlands, dear, they're not very sophisticated round here".
Still, it was a lively and boisterous occasion, the party being held in a marquee in her parents' capacious garden and supplied with copious quantities of food and drink. Most of the guests were Sarah's friends from York University and from her childhood in the Midlands, though there was still a sizeable representation of older friends and family. It didn't half make me feel old, though. Less than a month away from my 27th birthday, I was never entirely sure whether I should be chatting with the 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates that composed the majority of Sarah's guests, or making rather more adult conversation with the rest. I am ashamed to admit that I couldn't help silently drooling over one or two of the student body; one girl, in particular, was in possession of what I think were the two most perfect breasts I have seen in recent times and was not shy of displaying them. Proof, if it were required, that I am a drooling pervert. God knows what will happen when I have to start teaching (or rather, TA-ing) in a year's time. Put me and the English accent in a room with some nubile 18-year old American girls and it will probably be all I can do not to trip over my own tongue, let alone avoid getting kicked out of the University and summarily deported (needless to say, K is less than thrilled at this prospect, because, as she said, "we always fancied our TAs in college").
Still. It was all good fun in a teacher-at-a-school-disco kind of way, and I think most of them were suitably impressed at what I laughingly refer to as my 'jetset lifestyle'. I was rather happy that I didn't have to venture outside much, though - aside from the Worcester countryside, I find most aspects of the West Midlands - not least the accent - to be uniformly horrible. We went for a pub lunch on Sunday before I came back down to Cambridge at the pub at the end of the road. My family on my mum's side seem to have this bizarre obsession with pub lunches, even when they're manifestly horrible, and especially (as in this case) ridiculously overpriced. I got a leathery piece of beef and some overcooked vegetables for 8 quid or so, though everything else on the menu was at least ￡15. For the equivalent - $30 or so - I could get quite a feed in NYC. But then, as Mum reminded me - "this is the Midlands, dear, they're not very sophisticated round here".
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Summer lightning
It's summer in England. You can tell by the rain.
Been back a week now, and though it seems to me pleasantly cool, those in the know and those on TV (usually not the same thing) are all on about the heatwave. It seems that summers in New York and Japan have given me a higher tolerance than most of my countrymen for hot weather; although whether this weather marks the beginning of a long-term trend, only time will tell. Certainly last year's summer was pretty cool overall, if I remember rightly - but right now the humidity has burst and there's a thunderstorm outside, which has been going on for a few hours now.
The flight back was passable - leaving at 4.00 a.m. was not fun, but the flight was 80% empty and I got a bulkhead seat, so I was able to stretch my legs out a bit. Normal modus operandi when coming back is to go to Stansted (it's only 20 mins drive from where I live in Cambridge), and so I did, but it was so packed with holidaymakers returning from the continent that I missed my Dad and had to get a taxi home. Was about 1 a.m. before I got to bed. But then, seasoned traveller that I am, I suppose I'm more or less used to that...
This last week has not, I regret to say, been very exciting. I've been reading some of my old books and magazines and enjoying my DVD collection again, partly through tiredness and the need to get over my jetlag and partly because I don't really have any money until I get paid tomorrow. This was always the point at which things might get a bit stretched financially, especially as I had to pay for a flight back to New York to resume my studies in mid-August, but I think I'll just about manage to squeak through. As from September 1st, Columbia will thankfully be giving me money instead of taking it away from me.
Off to Birmingham this weekend for a family function. May God have mercy on my soul...
Been back a week now, and though it seems to me pleasantly cool, those in the know and those on TV (usually not the same thing) are all on about the heatwave. It seems that summers in New York and Japan have given me a higher tolerance than most of my countrymen for hot weather; although whether this weather marks the beginning of a long-term trend, only time will tell. Certainly last year's summer was pretty cool overall, if I remember rightly - but right now the humidity has burst and there's a thunderstorm outside, which has been going on for a few hours now.
The flight back was passable - leaving at 4.00 a.m. was not fun, but the flight was 80% empty and I got a bulkhead seat, so I was able to stretch my legs out a bit. Normal modus operandi when coming back is to go to Stansted (it's only 20 mins drive from where I live in Cambridge), and so I did, but it was so packed with holidaymakers returning from the continent that I missed my Dad and had to get a taxi home. Was about 1 a.m. before I got to bed. But then, seasoned traveller that I am, I suppose I'm more or less used to that...
This last week has not, I regret to say, been very exciting. I've been reading some of my old books and magazines and enjoying my DVD collection again, partly through tiredness and the need to get over my jetlag and partly because I don't really have any money until I get paid tomorrow. This was always the point at which things might get a bit stretched financially, especially as I had to pay for a flight back to New York to resume my studies in mid-August, but I think I'll just about manage to squeak through. As from September 1st, Columbia will thankfully be giving me money instead of taking it away from me.
Off to Birmingham this weekend for a family function. May God have mercy on my soul...
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Master of the Universe
So I got my MA thesis finished, finally. It's done, basically, though I will need to make one or two revisions to it before I submit it at the end of August. In the meantime, I have a translation to finish off, though that's not particularly urgent. In any case, it does feel good to have got the bulk of my work done; now I can relax for a bit back home.
It's hot in NYC right now; it hit 35℃ yesterday and will apparently be much the same way for most of the next few weeks. Thankfully I'm not going to be here, as I'm off back to the UK for a month or so. I managed to find someone to sublet my place, thankfully, so that's saved me a wodge of cash I would otherwise have had to pay on rent for the time I wasn't here.
The McCollums, friends from Japan, were visiting from California yesterday; we had lunch down in Bryant Park, then I showed them around Columbia and Riverside Park. Current and ex-JETs from Miyagi will no doubt remember both of them, especially their not insignificant contributions to Miyagi football. That's one of the great things about New York, people just are queueing up to come to visit.
In sort of related news, I'm also now the secretary for the New York JET AA association (which stands for Alumni Association; not, as one might think, Alcoholics Anonymous, although I think it's fair to say that there are more than a few JETs we know who would find the latter rather more useful). Not entirely sure how that happened, given as how I've only been to a couple of events, but I think it'll prove an interesting experience; I got an invite to a reception at the Japanese embassy at the end of the month because of it, but sadly I can't go as I won't be here.
One further invitation I sadly cannot respond to - my good friend Pocket's wedding in September. He and his bride-to-be have been great friends to me over the years, even coming out to visit in November of last year, and I'm genuinely distressed that I can't make their big day - but unfortunately I have to be here. I have no doubt it will be one to remember...but circumstances dictate otherwise for me.
Anyway...chances are the next time I blog I will be back in Blighty!
It's hot in NYC right now; it hit 35℃ yesterday and will apparently be much the same way for most of the next few weeks. Thankfully I'm not going to be here, as I'm off back to the UK for a month or so. I managed to find someone to sublet my place, thankfully, so that's saved me a wodge of cash I would otherwise have had to pay on rent for the time I wasn't here.
The McCollums, friends from Japan, were visiting from California yesterday; we had lunch down in Bryant Park, then I showed them around Columbia and Riverside Park. Current and ex-JETs from Miyagi will no doubt remember both of them, especially their not insignificant contributions to Miyagi football. That's one of the great things about New York, people just are queueing up to come to visit.
In sort of related news, I'm also now the secretary for the New York JET AA association (which stands for Alumni Association; not, as one might think, Alcoholics Anonymous, although I think it's fair to say that there are more than a few JETs we know who would find the latter rather more useful). Not entirely sure how that happened, given as how I've only been to a couple of events, but I think it'll prove an interesting experience; I got an invite to a reception at the Japanese embassy at the end of the month because of it, but sadly I can't go as I won't be here.
One further invitation I sadly cannot respond to - my good friend Pocket's wedding in September. He and his bride-to-be have been great friends to me over the years, even coming out to visit in November of last year, and I'm genuinely distressed that I can't make their big day - but unfortunately I have to be here. I have no doubt it will be one to remember...but circumstances dictate otherwise for me.
Anyway...chances are the next time I blog I will be back in Blighty!
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Red, white and blue
I celebrated the 4th of July down in Brooklyn, at a small gathering held by one of K's friends. We watched the fireworks from the south of the borough, from an area known as DUMBO - Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass - in the tradition of SoHo and TriBeCa. The fireworks were, as you'd expect, spectacular. Pics below for your viewing pleasure.
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