Cornell and Beyond

my dirty little secret

I re-activated facebook. Before you go all hog-wild on me and my hypocrisy, let me just say that I stand by my choice.

Going cold turkey for a few weeks really helped me re-evaluate my priorities. (And find new websites to procrastinate with.) And although facebook does sometime seem like a dark cesspool of stolen time, it’s also my main avenue for keeping contact with friends across the pond. Hello friends across the pond!

looks like you’re stuck with me

You may have noticed that I’m still blogging.  Well, get used to it because I get to blog for this WHOLE summer while I do research at Cornelly!

Yay!

I may be ugly, and I may wear bad clothes, but at least I have a sense of humour (that’s right, humour with a u)

Today, as I was walking back home from the library at 10 PM, I was reminded of a Cornell anecdote you might find amusing.

First let’s set the scene. 10 PM, me in my super cool backpack, walking back home from the library on a Thursday night. Here in Bristol I just happen to live off a very hip and happening street, so I was passing tons of bars and restaurants. And, because it was such a beautiful day today, the front windows of said bars and restaurants were wide open, with people lounging in front of them with their drinks, looking quite stylish in the hip, dimly lit establishments. Nobody gave me a particularly incredulous look that said, “You dare show up on Park Street with a backpack past 5 PM? Really?” But I couldn’t help feeling slightly un-cool all the same.

Anyways, back to my anecdote. Freshmen year, my friends and I were walking to Collegetown one evening after a long day at the library. It was around 9 PM, and we were innocently discussing what we would have for dinner. It was finals week, so all of us were particularly disheveled, in sweats and with backpacks the size of baby buffalo. When, a dark SUV passes us by, the windows get rolled down, and a guy screams out the window:

“YOU GIRLS ARE UGLY, –AND YOU WEAR BAD CLOTHES!”

I think we all looked at each other in disbelief for a second and then promptly burst out laughing hysterically. You would think that getting into Cornell would allow you to think of slightly more clever insults. Anyway, that single moment is a constant source of amusement for us, and whenever I’m walking somewhere ‘happening’ after a long day of studying, I think about it and smile.

PS- My friends are NOT ugly. And I’m not just saying that, they are all pretty smoking. (And not just by Cornell standards…normal standards as well! Wink, wink, I jest of course…the whole “Cornell girls are ugly” bit is a load of b period s period, if you’ll pardon my expression. The girls at Cornell are no more all ugly than they are all dumb, or all athletic, or any other generic adjective you’d like to throw out there. Cornell boys, on the other hand… I kid again, of course.)

PPS- Insult of the day. My flat mate, screaming at a friend in a heated debate about Al Gore’s little venture into global warming and the movie industry…

“AMERICANS ARE IGNORANT!” She turns to me and says quietly, “No offense.” Turns back to her opponent, “THEY’RE IGNORANT AND HE HAS TO REACH THEM SOMEHOW.”

Don’t worry, I took this in stride, which I’ve learned to do quite well at this point. There are pluses and minuses to being American, and I can handle this minus.

some things never change

While there are certainly vast cultural differences between the US and the UK, one thing with college students stays constant.

Come final time, the libraries become **suddenly** packed full of students. You need to walk around for 10 minutes just to find a free seat.  It’s kind of like libraries become the new ‘place’ to be.

I’ll just be glad when I can walk around the library and not get the feeling that the amount of people in the room is compromising the oxygen concentration.

the karmic weather monster gave Ithaca spring, then looked at Bristol and laughed

The weather forecast tells me to expect:

Rain tonight
Rain and wind tomorrow
Showers and wind Saturday
Rain on Sunday
Showers on Monday
PARTLY CLOUDY on Tuesday… WHOOHOO…wait, don’t get too excited, because…
Showers on Wednesday

I think Bristol just might have Ithaca beat for most miserable weather in the world. (Note: I’ve heard Ithaca is having a lovely transformation away from the frigid hellscape (or something along those lines) that Jon Stewart so lovingly called it when he visited Cornell. Addendum to Note: We make fun of the weather, but don’t get me wrong, the Ithaca campus is still probably one of the nicest ones I’ve ever seen. Granted, my knowledge of college campuses is pretty limited, but most people agree, Ithaca is GORGES. Addendum to Addendum to Note: I need one of those t-shirts! If you’re coming to Cornell, or you’ve been here, ever, you know what I’m talking about.) Personally I think it’s the karmic weather monster getting back at me for rubbing in the fact that I missed that wonderful April Ithaca snowstorm.

I went swimming today, and I’m pretty sure I got more soaked walking home then actually swimming.

On the bright side, such dreary weather actually makes studying in a cozy library not that bad. Relatively of course.

scholarships are bad?

The school newspaper I get here in the UK, the Epigram, had a cover story on how Bristol is using certain scholarships to “coerce” applicants into making the school their first choice.  (Which is different than the American first choice, FYI.)

Apparently, here in the UK this is controversial because giving out money eliminates the ability to make a decision based on personal preference since a stipulation of the scholarship is that the student must list Bristol as their first choice.

OK, this might be the grateful Cornellian in me who has been the recipient of scholarships, but since when has helping students been a bad thing?

Granted, the article points out Bristol’s tactics result in some of the scholarship funding to go untouched…but the real emphasis of the article is on how these “seductive scholarships…manipulated” students.

There is a huge culture difference between the US and England, and this is just one example.  I just can’t imagine there ever being a controversy in the USA based on scholarship manipulation of personal choice.  If you have an example of one such controversy, comment away.

But as I hinted at before the other reason I thought of this was because it reminded me of Cornell.  From my experience, I can honestly say that Cornell is pretty good about addressing the needs of students who actually have needs.  (And yes, I do mean it, and no, I’m not just being a PR machine spewing propaganda garbage.) Granted, I will admit that I’m basing this solely on Numero Uno, myself, so take my words with a grain of salt.

So I just get a little touchy when I hear that some Bristol scholarships are regarded as manipulative, even if the aforementioned recruitment tactics are slightly (very slightly) sketchy.  What happened to being thankful?

Because there are two sides to every story, I will admit that higher education funding is pretty different from the US, and I might be slightly biased.  But the article still serves to highlight some of the basic differences in thought between the two countries that you might not expect.

Been here for almost 4 months, and I still get surprises everyday.  It seems that when I finally figure out everything, it’ll be time for me to go home.

brief musings on the past, present, and future

Slope Day, undeniably the biggest event at Cornell every year, transpired without me yesterday.

I did miss it, but not as much as I expected to.  In fact, I think I was a little glad to have a break from the frenetic partying that Slope Day inevitably brings.  I’ve been focusing too much on my future lately to worry about missing a party, no matter how good it may be.

Plus, I made a phone call to some of my friends in Ithaca yesterday, so I got a little taste of Slope Day 2007.

Besides, I have almost ONE MORE MONTH in the UK! Can you believe that time has flown by so fast? I don’t.  Every year I always say, “Wow, that year went by fast.”  And each year, they just go by faster.  Sigh.

With my one month looming, I have to periodically go from missing my friends and family back home to anticipating missing all the friends that I’ve made here.  Neither seem particularly appealing to me, but that’s what going abroad is all about.

it’s funny, because Americans LOVE the English

Today I got the nicest, and rarest, compliment an American can ever expect to get in England.

“I really like your accent.”

If you are American, have been living in England for more than a week and in that time have not been living in a cave, or in one of England’s plentiful meadows, you know that the English love making fun of Americans more than they love rugby.

Some of the things I’ve overheard/people have told me:

“It’s nothing personal, it’s just your country we don’t like.”

“Can you really buy a gun in Walmart?”

“Well, you know. It’s just that, well, Americans are known for, you know, um, being fat.”

Conversation I overheard: Person 1: “It didn’t make sense.” Person 2: “It’s America, what do you expect?” Person 1: “No, he’s Bush.” Person 2: “Oh, right.” (I actually got a kick out of this one, I overheard it while I was trying to remember all the insults to Americans I’ve heard for this very post.)

Person I just met, addressing group, “…at least I still wouldn’t be a filthy dirty yank.” My flat mate, “That’s funny, our friend Caroline here hails from the States.” Said person then literally walked out of the room red with embarrassment.

And not to mention the COUNTLESS jibes at the American, and New York accent in particular. So I was really happy when for once, I wasn’t taken the piss out of for being American. (English slang interjection there, how ironic.)

And when the person who liked my accent went on to say, “I like Americans, they’re very nice,” I almost didn’t believe my ears. Looks like there is a tiny ray of hope for us harshly labeled yanks after all. Or accurately labeled, as your opinion may hold.