Around the Horn

I picked up my parents at the Ithaca airport Saturday morning.  My brother Robert and I walked to Schoellkopf to attend Convocation, where David Plouffe, senior campaign manager for Barack Obama, commended the graduating class for shaping the election and promoting change for the future.  Plouffe also gave a shoutout to my friend CJ, who served as Convocation Chair, and his recent unsuccessful foray with Introduction to Wines.  In other words, he didn’t pass (sorry, CJ).  The Lins then set off on a full day of receptions and get togethers.  The weather was sunny and humid.  “I didn’t expect Ithaca to be this warm,” my mom remarked, as she trailed 25 feet behind Robert and I.  Apparently her solution to the heat is walking at a snail-slow pace while holding her handbag over her face to block the sun: an interesting sight.

Rise and shine!  Drowsy from the red-eye flight…

…cleaned up at the Johnson Museum

Sunday was a whirlwind of caps, gowns, diplomas, flowers, and balloons.  All the graduates assembled on the Arts Quad before the procession started around 10AM.  With overcast skies, I was glad that it was cooler, since sitting in a black robe that doubles as a compact sauna is not an ideal situation for anyone.  During the procession, my heart dropped when we walked through the Day Hall parking lot.  There, professors flanked both sides in their Harry Potter-esque cap and gown regalia, clapping and congratulating us on this special occasion.  It really put our achievement–graduation from a university–on a much more meaningful scale.  It was a bittersweet sendoff as we progressed to the stadium.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen Schoellkopf packed (it apparently has a capacity of 40,000), but it was teeming with family and friends Sunday morning:

Meanwhile, on the other side, Robert reported that the scene at Schoellkopf resembled the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.  “And now…the College of Arts and Sciences!”

President David Skorton addressed the graduates, asking us to take charge and embrace change.  With our liberal arts foundation and Cornell support, we have the skills and moral character that’ll ensure success in the future.  Then, one by one, the degrees were conferred.  Most notable in show were the Vet grads, who cleverly blew up arm-long plastic gloves to double as those thunder sticks you get at basketball games.  When Skorton mentioned “swine flu,” the flurry of blow-up arms drew a huge laugh.  We sang the Alma Mater as an entire class (I teared up a little bit), and before I knew it, it was over.

It still hasn’t hit me yet.  In a few months, I’ll be moving into an apartment in Manhattan and working in finance, a response which drew a lot of “get us out of this mess” and “finance…oh, I see” comments this past week.  I will be returning to JPMorgan this August, working in their Sales and Trading division, undoubtedly entering a field that thrives on high stress and quick thinking.  This show-no-mercy masochistic environment gets me going, and while I may be hitting the floor early in the morning, working hard every second until evening, I know it’ll be a fun ride.

I have many people to thank in this last (and rather long) blog entry.  First, to my family.  It was my dad who pushed for me to apply to Cornell in the first place.  Although we are separated for most of the year, the support my parents have given me over my 22 years, their respect for the “college experience” and their personal American Dreams have shaped me into the optimistic and direct Cornellian I am today.  To Robert, for becoming a new close friend instead of the pesky brother that makes fun of me…oh, wait…

Next, to friends old and new.  Special shoutout to my 219 Linden roommates (Katy, Hannah, Cath, Court, Michelle, Jill, Kara), some SHpecial friends, my KDs, fellow tour guides, and while it looks like I’m pulling names from a baby book, in no specific order: Jen, Danny, Frankel, Dave, Paz, Schneida, Steve, Scott M., Alex, Ryan, Bryant, Ray, Krebs, James, Jess, Sarah, and I’m missing about 50 other names–please forgive me, and the really nice coffee lady at CTB who always gets my medium hazelnut coffee…apparently her name is Paula.  To friends that I met from the first week of freshman year, and others I met this past year, with so little time left.  Regardless of duration, the bonds are rock solid and long term.  I’m talking about us ladies sitting in rockers knitting together when we’re grandmothers.  Not to ride on any stereotypes, but the guys, well, I don’t foresee us knitting, but perhaps playing golf or something else.  You all have changed my perspective on life and taught me to see things differently.  I’ll cherish our fun nights out, the relaxed nights in, the impromptu discussions, and heart-to-hearts.   While I’ll be able to see a lot of you next year in NYC, to everyone else spreading out in the states (or even going overseas), we are the generation of GChat, email, Facebook, and Skype, and by George, I hope we stay in touch.

Thanks to my elder mentors.  To my professors, who have instilled the importance of learning and curiosity. To Lisa, who got me this blogging job and put up with my antics: you probably think I’m crazy.  To Hilary, my rowing coach for 3 years: thank you for taking a doe-eyed freshman under your wing and giving me knowledge, faith, and the challenge of the sport of rowing, which I look on as one of my most memorable experiences.  To Taiya and Peggy, my tour guiding supervisors, I will definitely miss the hubbub in Day Hall.  Even to my finance gurus at my upcoming job (Rita, DBD, and others, all Cornell grads!), I appreciate your mentoring and look forward to August.

To my readers (Matt, Drew, this is for you):  Thank you for your continued support and comments.  While I was sure that the banality of my routine college lifestyle would be as boring as watching summer TV reruns, I’m glad there was something in my blog that willed the faithful few to keep up with my life.  Maybe it was the pictures…

And finally, thank you, Cornell, for the most amazing 4 years of my life.  Leisurely, I will miss Stella’s half-off burgers, late night pizza from Sindbad’s, Cornell Dairy ice cream, pitchers at CTB, fun nights at Rulloffs and the Palms, Olin Cafe, runs through the Plantations, Cayuga Inlet, the chimes, muffins and soup from Temple of Zeus, the driving range, and of course, Wegmans.  Let’s not forget the prelims, problem sets, papers, the bitter wind, and the hills.  You have challenged me, excited me, and given me hope and opportunity.  I leave the Hill with a sweet taste in my mouth and an enthusiastic smile.  I’ll be back, but for now, I’m ready for the next chapter in my life.

Finals are finally over, or in my case, have been for the past 6 months, but all of my friends are finally on the same page with having fun and living up the last few days as a college student.

Is Senior Week fun?  Absolutely.  Is Senior Week relaxing?  Depends on how you look at it.  Starting in early April, Senior Week tickets for events, including white water rafting, spa days, brunches, cruises, and wine tours, go live for the mad rush of Seniors who buy to their liking.  I opted for a couple of events spread throughout the week.   Outside of events my friends and I went to the movies (Star Trek and Angels & Demons), visited a ton of bbqs and parties, soaked up sun at the Plantations, went to the driving range, and of course, hit up the Collegetown bars at night.  At the same time, the Senior Week planning committee also planned free events on campus, starting with a carnival in Barton, a Casino Night in Duffield, and free dinner catered by Dinosaur BBQ (YUM! Love those pulled pork sandwiches).

A brief picture log of a few of my week’s events…

Starting off the week with a little bit of winetasting at Cayuga Lake wineries…

A Twilight Cruise with some close friends…

A sunset dinner cruise on Seneca Lake…

And a refreshing day hike of Buttermilk Falls!

There wasn’t an excuse not to do something every day, since “final”, “thesis”, and “grade” did not apply.  This is the life of leisure.  In good company, weather, and food and drink, no better way to celebrate the past 4 years.  The Class of 2009 knows how to party, and we sure went out with a bang.

I decided last Wednesday to fly back home to LA to surprise my mom for Mother’s Day.  As much as I like to seize the day and embrace spontaneity, tickets for Virgin America were MAD CHEAP (as in <$250 round trip), and that pushed me over the edge.

While travel can be a pain, I had nothing to complain about with my flights.  In fact, with Bryant hyping up Virgin Amerca, I couldn’t wait to get on the plane.  Virgin America’s planes are hip and have the hookups, literally; they offer WiFi and live TV on their flights.  Instead of busting out an IPod, I browsed through their music library and formed my own playlist.  There’s even in-flight chat.  I didn’t use it, but it’s a potentially cute and/or creepy way to contact a cute boy you see up 2 rows.  The tray tables are not the generic gray blah:  they are shiny white plastic!  Walking onto the plane, I felt like I entered a night club instead of a potentially-claustrophobic cabin; did I mention the cabin lights are purple?

36 hours in LA was surreal and fleeting, but the smile on my mother’s face was worth the 30 hours of travel.

Our final stop on our epic 2-week Europe extravaganza: Rome.  As you may have read in Tim’s blog, Cornell has an amazing Architecture, Art, and Planning program in Rome.  I stayed with my good friend Jess, a Urban and Regional Students major.  Knowing that we had a few hours less in a more intimidating city, Sarah and I managed to cram a lot into 48 hours.

Day 1 in Rome started with a nice morning hike around the Trastevere area (where we were staying), hiking through the hillside park called the Gianiculum, and trekking our way over to the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica.  Tucked behind the Basilica lies the famed Vatican Museum.  The museum was breathtaking: from Raphael’s School of Athens to the Sistine Chapel, it was masterpiece after masterpiece everywhere we turned.

From there, we walked across the Tiber to Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, to Trevi Fountain (we tossed a coin over our left shoulder, so we’ll be back!) and down towards Piazza Venezia.  Right behind Piazza Venezia? The Forum and the Coliseum.

The feeling of walking along ruins that have stood for millennia was overwhelming.  Makes you feel pretty insignificant.  Pictures of the ruins really don’t do it justice. The sheer size of these buildings makes you wonder how all of this was possible without modern technology.

On Day 2, we booked tickets to the Galleria Borghese, home to the famous Bernini sculptures David, Apollo and Daphne, and the Rape of Persephone. I stood in the Apollo and Daphne room for half an hour, just ogling at the detail.  How is it even possible to sculpt marble so thin that it looks like glass?!?!  We then strolled through the nearby Villa Borghese gardens, and made our way over to the Spanish Steps.

The view from Aventine Hill:

It was so hard to leave.  My trip to Europe was everything that I imagined it to be and more.  Seeing masterpieces in real life, soaking up the European lifestyle, was exactly what I needed to cap off a busy-bee four years.  If there’s anytime to take a trip, it’s now.  With my Roman Holiday over, I’m now looking forward to graduation in (YIKES) four weeks!

In a scramble to partake in everything Ithaca has to offer, Katy and I trekked over to Taughannock Falls State Park last Saturday for a leisurely hike.  With a 215 feet drop, the falls is taller than Niagara Falls, and is one of the highest drops east of the Rockies, not to mention a stone’s throw from campus.  We hiked on a flat 3/4 mile trail to get to the falls, soaking up the sun and marveling at the natural beauty.  Definitely won’t be able to see things like this in New York City…

Jumping for joy?

Beautiful!

Sarah and I lovin' Florence

A lost in translation moment: From the Florence airport, Sarah and I took a 15 minute taxi ride to our hostel, a small apartment 30 seconds from the Uffizi Gallery, a five minute walk to the Duomo. The hostel was cash only, so when we checked in, we used up all of our cash and needed an ATM and a place for dinner. The hostel recommended a cheap place called Gusto Leo. This was when we realized that we didn’t know how to say “ATM” in Italian. The host greeted us outside the restaurant, eager to seat us, but got confused when we started pecking at a wall, motioning for an ATM. The host clearly spoke no English, but only understood the word “Cash.” We were soaked from the rain and cashless, on our last strings of patience (we had waited at the Barcelona airport for 6 hours…) until thankfully, an American guy walked by and asked if we were looking for an ATM. There was an ATM a few blocks away. For your reference, “Bancomat” is ATM in Italian.

Breathtaking!

The next morning, we set off on a personal tour of the Tuscan countryside. We spent the morning cruising around the Chianti Classico wine region, visiting three wineries: Castello Vicchiomaggio, where Leonardo daVinci stayed the summer he painted the Mona Lisa; Castello Verrazano, think Verrazano bridge in NYC; and a smaller villa Fattoria Montagliari. We also had olive oil and balsamic vinegar tastings (aged 20 years…rich and delectable) and a tour of a wine cellar.

Crostini, anyone?

Some villages we stopped by included Castilina, Monterriggio, the “crown” of Tuscany”, and San Gimignano, the “Manhattan” of Tuscany, complete with 12 remaining family towers. We also visited Siena, walked the square, St. Catherine’s home, the 17 different animal districts, the Duomo and Santo Domingo.

Sarah and I capped off an amazing first leg of our trip in the metropolitan and beautiful Barcelona.  It was  a challenge for both of us to relax and soak up the vacation time, since both of us are very uptight and punctual/scheduled people.  Our phrase for the entire trip: where’s the fire? There was no rush to do anything, and we embraced spontaneity (for once)!

Food-Drinkwise, we started our mornings with the prerequisite cappuccino and pastry, and fresh fruit juice from La Boqueria the outdoor market off of La Rambla.

During the day, we dined on tapas, paella, cava, and sangria.  We visited the Picasso Museum, walked along the beach, visited the Olympic stadium and the F.C. Barcelona stadium (2 blocks from our hostel!).

We walked by churches, cathedrals (La Sagrada Familia, which is still a work in progress, was AMAZING), parks, and unique buildings designed by Gaudi, the psychotic/obsessive Spanish architect.  On top of walking miles and miles of Barcelona streets, we mastered the Metro and also took the funicular up to Monjuic, which has some of the best views of the ports and city.

Having a car on campus for the past two years has really changed my perception of our four-wheeled friends.  Bold statement, I know, but consider this:  you live on North Campus your freshman year, with a select sprinkling of your class having cars.  The only exposure you have to current music, in the form of radio stations, is via car, which you rarely ride in your freshman year.  Not having a car also deems you virtually directionless anywhere outside of campus:  Routes 79, 96, 13, don’t exactly ring a bell.  The second you come home for winter break, driving seems so foreign.  I’m not ashamed to admit that moving quicker than walking pace freaked me out the first few days back home.

Aside from the practical perks of having a car, one thing that we miss out on is car naming.  I drove a silver minivan in high school named Linus.  However, my naming scheme has changed from just “liking” a name (Did you know that Linus actually means “flax”? Right.) to coming up with witty and creative names based on one’s license plate letter and number permutation.

For example:  My friend Danny’s license plate is DXT ####.  The name that first comes to mind is “Dexter”.  How apropos that Danny enjoys watching the show “Dexter” on Showtime, and that Danny sometimes wears glasses that kind of remind me of Dexter’s Laboratory.

Another few examples:  Adam’s license plate is CVZ ####. This is not meant to offend anyone, but the name we came up with was “Chavez”.  Even my friend Hannah, with license plate RJY ###, can come up with “Ray Jay” as her car’s name.Take it as you may, but these consonants all fit well into the naming scheme.

My license plate?  TNM ###.  No cutesy names here.  Tannym, Tennyam, all seem to be far stretches and don’t roll off the tongue as easily.  The only one that fits seems to be–Tsunami.

“That’s not a real name.”
“Well, at least it sounds intimidating.”

As I briefly mentioned earlier, I trekked to Massachusetts over Fall Break to visit a few high school friends.  It was good to get away from Ithaca for a weekend, but I couldn’t help by notice how all of our college lifestyles are immensely different, and this is undoubtedly influenced by the location, size, culture of our respective schools.  And for many of you contemplating early decision/action, these are crucial elements to consider.  If you have the opportunity to visit a campus, especially if you are applying early, take it.  My own thoughts after this enlightening social experience:

The small liberal arts school:  While visiting my friend Sarah, there is no beating the scenery of rural Massachusetts.  The leaves were in their full fall glory, and the campus is idyllic.  I also admire the school spirit within this small school; students were out in force, cheering at football, soccer, and other sporting matches.  While I think having such a small student community (2,000 students) really bonds the students together, by the end of the weekend, I was unwillingly immersed in all of the school’s drama.  Yes, any school will have their fair share of talk and gossip, but this gave me memories of high school, where everyone knew everyone, and you couldn’t really walk around campus without bumping into the one guy/girl you are currently in a tiff with.  Sarah also seemed to have a saga/epic for every person who passed us (and–of course–said hi, too).

The urban campus: During my senior year, I was sure I wanted urban; I’m an LA girl, and city folk don’t enjoy anything rural or inaccessible.  I applied early, and was devastated when I received a rejection letter (ouch?).  I will say that everything worked out for the best.  While I maintain that I prefer a city environment, I’ve shifted my necessity for city down a few years.  Looking back, I would have been terrified of the city; I probably would never fully experience a community or bond among my class.  And, pinching pennies would be difficult with my impulse shopping and buying.

Too big, too small, just right: Cornell is a perfect match for me, and I can only wish you all the best in your quest to find your perfect-fit school.

The Schenectady/Albany freeway system is horrific.  And leave it to the US to combine the interstates and routes 7, 787, 87, 88, within a 15 mile radius.  I must have passed 4 separate Route 7s on my trip back to Ithaca.  I’d encourage to be a little more creative with numbers…To add, my 4 hour trip became a 5 hour ordeal.  On the upside, gas is pretty cheap on this end of town.

I’m taking a City and Regional Planning class about Green Cities, and the freeway system is one of the hot topics discussed.  Back in the 1950’s, there was a surge of freeway building under the Eisenhower Administration, and the not-so-subdued efforts of automobile lobbying in Congress.  While the interstate freeway system is useful, we’re left with many urban cities as the crossroads for multiple routes, creating traffic, confusion, and complex roundabouts.  However, I’m not a big fan of the one-lane roads in the rural areas (driving behind the slow cars on the 79 is torture).  I guess that’s why I’m excited to rid my car after graduation, and move into the city.  An effort to escape freeways and windy roads.