Perceptions

A lot can be said about undergraduates' perceptions of grad students. I read somewhere that they refer to some of us as "trolls" - a term that is supposed to illustrate grad guys chasing after undergrad girls. I had heard this and similar stories, but thought, honestly, how bad can their perceptions be?

Well, fast forward to the Argentine tango class that I am taking this semester. At one point I am dancing with an undergrad student and he asks me, "What year are you?" "Grad student, first year," I reply. He gives me this semi-confused, semi-"I-feel-sorry-for-you" type of look and says, "Oh, I thought grad students only studied." (And he was totally serious.)

Hmmm, so, in case you don't already know, I am a boring, trolling graduate student who only studies.

You Know You Are at Princeton When...

1. A huge crowd of graduate students gathers in the grad student bar (D-bar) to watch the premiere of "Beauty and the Geek" in support of a fellow grad student who is actually in the show (yes, starring as one of the geeks).

2. You walk by a Ralph Lauren and Coach store, although you are in a town of fewer than 20,000.

3. You come across the most delicious home-made ice-cream you have ever tasted (incl. flavors such as Jersey melon and sweet basil).

4. You get the feeling there are more wild animals around than students .

5. You keep seeing the word "tiger" everywhere, including on your student ID. (Yup, the tiger is our mascot.)

6. You cannot answer 90% of the questions at the D-bar's monthly quiz night. (The name of Napoleon's horse, anyone?)

7. The gothic-type architecture of all campus buildings throws you off completely and you can't differentiate between a dorm and an academic building. (Never mind that you really do feel as if you are in Harry Potter's world.)

The NY Monitor Watchers

Location: Penn Station, New York City (although this may take place in other train stations in the U.S., I don't know)
Time: All the time
Activity: Intently watching the monitors displaying train departures and rushing off to your respective train track as soon as it is announced

For those of you who have traveled through Penn Station, the above will sound familiar. I had noticed it before, but today when I was leaving NYC, I really took notice. There were some people standing literally less than a foot away from the monitor and staring at it so intensely as if willing it to display the track number for the train they were taking. I found this scene almost ridiculous. Obviously, whether you stare at the screen or not won't really change the time, at which your track (gate) is announced. Also, the track is usually announced 15 mins before departure, so you have plenty of time to get to the right place, EVEN if you missed the exact moment in which the numbers appeared on the screen. However, sure enough, wherever there were monitors, there was also a huddle of people around them. I mean, seriously, don't people have something better to do with their lives during those 15-30 mins while waiting for their train than to stare without blinking at a monitor?

I guess some things about American society I will never get...

Quantity over Quality

"Our yogurt may not be better but it is 33% bigger than a Dannon yogurt!" (at least that is how I interpreted this). First, Colombo yogurts are not that great to begin with; so the fact that they are giving me 33% more actually puts me off rather than thrills me. Not that Dannon are much better. (Btw, what is up with writing Dannon instead of Danone in the U.S.? Surely "Danone" is not that hard to read or pronounce? But I digress.)

I have noticed that companies often tend to employ the "greater quantity" strategy when it comes to U.S. consumers, even when it comes to beating out the competition. Whether it is "Buy 10 sodas for $10" (and I am referring to the equivalent of ten 2 liter bottles) or "33% more than Dannon"... it is all about quantity when it comes to mass consumers. That and the "fat-free" strategy. Everything is branded as "low fat", "no fat" or "fat-free"... so how is it that so many people in the U.S. are overweight? I have never seen anything branded as "low fat" etc. in Europe. Yet, the percentage of overweight people in European countries is definitely much lower. I don't really have answers to these "questions", but just find it interesting sometimes. Honestly, I had forgotten how consumption-heavy U.S. society is.

Welcome!

So, it was revealed to me tonight that a few (or perhaps many) of the second-year students in my program have been reading my blog the past couple of weeks. How you ended up here (even before anyone from my year) I have no idea, but welcome. I am happy you are reading it whether you agree with what I write or not (and I know some of you may make fun of what I write down the line, but, hey, that's what having a blog is all about - to get people's reactions and thoughts.) I would love it if you de-lurked yourself at some point by posting a comment, but no pressure:) In the end, all I wanted to say was thanks for reading!

Here Comes the Square Dancer

I was introduced to my first square dancing experience tonight. (Square dance, for those not familiar, has come to be regarded as the U.S. traditional dance and is the official dance in many U.S. states.) Funnily enough, for some reason, square dancing happens quite often in my program, or at least people always seem to mention it in passing. The dancing was fun, but the best part came during one particular dance when you had to find a partner and say to him/her in Russian: "Саша, Саша, раз-два-три." (Translation: "Sasha, Sasha, one-two-three.") And repeat that twice, while also pointing and shaking your finger at your partner (and then do some dance steps). You can just imagine about 75 of us (with a predominant number of Americans) walking around a huge room, finding a partner and then saying "Саша, Саша, раз-два-три" with the finger pointing, and then just carry on dancing. I just burst out laughing. I have no idea who ever thought of that addition to the dance, but it had most people who spoke/could understand Russian in fits, and the rest of the people struggling to remember and pronounce the words. All in all, the evening was a very "cultural" experience for all involved.

I Love NYC!

Until recently I hadn't been very fond of New York. I don't really know why. I think I always thought that it was too hectic and cement-filled for me to enjoy living in. However, it started growing on me a little bit when I was here in March for my friends' wedding. And now that it's the closest big city to Princeton, it seems like I will be visiting a whole lot more frequently.

I decided to spend this weekend here and so far the "growing on me" part has only grown stronger. I have realized that diversity is what draws me to a city, and no city in the US can really beat NYC when it comes to diversity of everything - from things to do, to people, to restaurants, to parts of town, to shops, to cultural events ... Just today we went to brunch with my friends to a French crepes place called Sortie. Not only were the crepes absolutely delicious, but the whole set-up of the restaurant was more like that of a lounge, including electro music playing in the background. What really surpised me at one point though is hearing the song "White Horse" - one of the greatest hits of Summer 2006 in Bulgaria (and perhaps other parts of Europe). It felt like being home again. And I am very very happy that I can get that kind of experience here. It's nice to feel at home.

So, as of today, the verdict has changed. I really like New York!

High-Tech Education

The last time I attended an educational institution was a little over six years ago. Funny to think that when I first started college (in 1997), Internet was a totally new thing for me. And we all used Netscape as the internet browser on the PCs in the college computer labs. Netscape doesn't exist anymore, and now when I look around in a classroom I see lots of people typing their notes on their laptops and checking their email on their Blackberries from time to time. It is pretty amazing to compare that to my last time in a classroom when cell phone use was non-existent and no-one brought their laptop to class even if they had one. (And I am talking about the U.S. I won't even compare to Bulgaria where the "laptop-in-classroom" kind of development lies somewhere in the future.)

Just today I needed to receive a fax and I went around campus looking for a fax machine, when somebody told me, "Why don't you look online? There are free e-fax services out there." Honestly, the thought hadn't even occurred to me, but sure enough, there were plenty of e-fax services--some free, others not. You sign up, get your own fax number, and then receive your fax in PDF format by e-mail. So simple! (And to think that there is no fax machine at all involved in the process.)

Obviously, we have started taking these things a little bit for granted, but when I stop to think and compare to what it was like 10 years ago, the technological advances (especially with anything to do with the Internet) are simply mind-boggling! I am still wow-ed when I consider everything I can now do online.... and, often, now do for FREE.

Third Week On

This is my third week at Princeton. Somehow though, it seems like I have been here for much much longer. And I mean that in the positive sense - I feel more or less settled in, familiar with the campus and surrounding area, and already have a bunch of people that I can hang out with in my free time. I had definitely expected it to be harder somehow and also hadn't expected to take a liking to Princeton so quickly. Well, either I have just become easily adaptable to all sorts of places or Princeton has that way of drawing you in pretty fast and making you feel at home. I honestly feel as if I have been living here for forever.

I also realized that being in a small town is not that bad. NYC is just an hour away by train and you can easily access the more hectic city life when you choose to. But while at Princeton and on campus, you are free to just focus on learning (both in the literal and more metaphorical sense). It is a bubble of sorts, but I realized that I don't mind being in a bubble for two years. It feels very refreshing. And having most (if not all) people around you be in the same boat (i.e., studying, not working) makes it a lot easier. You are all on a similar schedule, have similar concerns, etc. so you can relate to people a lot better. I think being the only student amongst working friends would be tougher.

Things I want to do this semester (and hopefully continue) outside of school work:

1) Start to climb again - The university is building a new climbing wall (supposed to open sometime in the fall) and it would just be stupid of me not to take advantage of it while I'm here, especially since I love climbing so much. I was reminded of how much I enjoy it this past weekend during our 2-day outdoors trip to nearby Blairstown, where I got the chance to climb an outdoor climbing wall.

2) Return to salsa - I have missed dancing. I didn't do any in Bulgaria. There is supposedly a salsa club on campus, social dances every few weeks and probably a few places in and around Princeton to salsa dance. Definitely want to explore those.

3) Continue with yoga - I am determined to stay dedicated to yoga and try to get a little bit of it in every morning before class. The fact that it energizes me should be a good enough incentive, but laziness can prevail too, so let's see how I do.

No End in Sight

Four and a half years after the invasion of Iraq, we are all familiar with the daily headlines of rising casualties and increasing chaos. So much so, that some of us (myself included) have stopped paying attention, angered and appalled at the Bush administration's incompetence and short-sightedness in handling the conflict in Iraq. With his first movie, No End in Sight, Charles Ferguson gives us a good jolt and reminds (as well as educates) us on what went wrong with policymaking for post-war Iraq. No End in Sight is an extremely illuminating documentary and if you weren't feeling angry and appalled enough with the usual Bush administration suspects, such as Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, and some less familiar faces such as Paul Bremer, then you most surely will after seeing it. To quote Ambassador Barbara Bodine (in charge of Baghdad during the Spring of 2003) from the movie: "There were 500 ways to do it wrong and two or three ways to do it right. What we had never anticipated is that we would go through all 500 of them." From the lack of an occupation plan to the preclusion of forming an interim Iraqi government to the disbanding of the Iraqi military, the film highlights mistakes made by the Bush administration again and again. Amazing how much damage a bunch of men who have set their minds on one thing can do, and how they will disregard anyone and anything that might suggest they could be wrong in their assessment. For most of the film, I sat there seething. At the same time, I was amazed by how much I actually didn't know about the conflict.

Go see it. You won't be disappointed. And if you agree with me, then tell your friends to see it too.

Luck or Something Else?

Last week I lost my favorite cardigan. I am normally very good about not losing things, so was even the more pissed off at myself that I lost this particular item of clothing that I really like. I emailed all of my classmates to ask if they had seen it around our academic building, checked in lost & found, but it was nowhere to be found. No-one had seen it. In the end I came to terms with the fact that it was gone for good.

Last Thursday, I was making my way from the dorms to our program's academic building through most of campus - a route that I take to and from the dorms every day, and as I was passing by a bush on the way, something for some reason caught my eye. Something black was draped over the bush. In that split second the thought went through my head, "Why would anyone drape anything over a bush?" And the next split second, I received the signal from my brain that there was a large button on the black draping thing. It made me turn around to look at it again. And another second later I realized why that button had drawn my attention. Because that was the very cardigan that I had lost almost a week earlier. I was speechless. It was lying right there, on that bush. I guess I had dropped it on the way home and someone had draped it over the bush in case "the owner" came back to look for it. Things like that do happen in universities and small towns in the U.S., but still it struck me as almost extraordinary. It was as if someone or something was rewarding me for something by giving me back what I have given up as lost forever.

That small occurrence made my entire day. Guess one should never give up hope even when it comes to more significant things and should keep on believing that extraordinary things can and do happen.