So... I'm sitting here, alone in the hotel. It's not as bad as it sounds. I flew in this afternoon, took a cab to the hotel, and immediately met up with my friend GQ and his girlfriend E and had dinner at a super-posh beautiful Japanese restaurant in SoHo. GQ is working for firm F right now in New York as a third year, and in spite of all the busyness of BIgLaw firm life (which he freely admits) he really likes his work, though E complains that his schedule is a little too crazy and unpredictable.
After meeting with GQ and E, they gave me a ride to the restaurant where I'm meeting my good friend from college, SF and HIS on-again, off-again girlfriend L, whom I like a whole lot mainly because she reminds me somewhat of myself, and because she's beautiful and smart and thoughtful, which is also why it has always been a little sad to see her and SF struggle through their relationship. We had a lovely dinner (well, I didn't have dinner, but only a glass of wine). The conversation flowed freely. Both SF and L are applying to English grad schools, so I heard about that, and told them about law school and my interests and my fear about law firms and my (very nascent) aspirations for academia.
Then caught a cab and got back to the hotel. Getting up bright and early tomorrow for my interview - not that stressed, but still want to make a good impressions.
:D Having a string of emails in my inbox that I very much enjoy reading.
:( nothing, really. I've even caught up on my sleep!
10/22/2006
10/21/2006
Another Offer, and Some Hard Choices
I spent yesterday in NYC, interviewing at firm C, which was originally my second choice, and which now, through the permutations of OCI, has become my first choice. :)
I really liked the firm. It is in a less flashy, touristy part of town, smaller, and has a very elegant office. There is gorgeous artwork displayed on the wall, beautiful dark wood paneling everywhere, and very expensive-looking rugs everywhere. The chairs, couches, and tables all look like antiques - they have silk, embroidered covers and heavy wood frames. Closets are hidden by wood paneling; walls have wood accents; overhead lighting in the hall are recessed and muted. Everything screamed "Old, affluent New York." This is in sharp contrast to the corporate sterility of the firm S, where I was at last week.
Firm C had an all day interview process that at first sounded very intimidating, but which turned out to be a very good thing, since you are able to talk to the partners at your leisure and are not constrained by time. This means that as long as the conversation is going well, you can ask every questions that occurs to you to your heart's content. One of the partners and I ended up talking for nearly two hours, completely losing track of time and pushing my lunch back almost an hour. The two poor associates who were supposed to take me out to lunch had to wait until 1:30 and must have been starved.
The partners at C all seemed intellectual, energetic, impressive, and humane. That last part I was not expecting, but was pleased to find. Every partner also explained the firm's unique philosophy to me, which, I increasingly realized as the day went on, is really a unique system which sets their firm apart from others. The rules and institution of the firm are designed to eliminate destructive individual competition among partners and among associates, and make people more loyal to the firm as an institution. As far as I can tell, this system has worked. Even people I have met who no longer work at the firm (what the firm calls "alumni") have very positive things to say about firm C. People seem to really believe in their system and feel a great deal of loyalty and pride.
Firm C gave me an offer at the end of my interviews. I was of course very happy. On the way to the airport, I realized that there is a very good chance I will go there, and that the interviews next week are likely to be a waste of time. So, today, I sat down and cancelled most of my interviews next week except for one. I was planning to spend nearly the entire week in NY, but now I will actually be in C-Town for most of the week.
The only thing that is not ideal about firm C is its domesticness. In spite of being one of the elite firms, it has no (NO!) Asia office and does not have plans to have one. Since I may be interested in practicing law overseas, I am a bit worried that C's domesticness could very quickly become something I find frustrating. In this sense, firm S's sprawling offices and aggressive expansion may fit better with my goals (not to mention that I am rather enamored by the idea of spending a summer in Hong Kong!) Boyfriend and I spent some time last night discussing this, and he wrote me a long email dissecting the situation this morning. He thinks that firm C's failure to expand into the Asian market means that in spite of its eliteness, it will become increasingly marginalized in the next few decades. I'm really not sure what to think.
So, some hard choices ahead, but at least I have got some good options and a MUCH easier flyout week than I had previously expected. Next week, I expect to do a lot of catching up on work, and even more catching up on sleep! :D
I really liked the firm. It is in a less flashy, touristy part of town, smaller, and has a very elegant office. There is gorgeous artwork displayed on the wall, beautiful dark wood paneling everywhere, and very expensive-looking rugs everywhere. The chairs, couches, and tables all look like antiques - they have silk, embroidered covers and heavy wood frames. Closets are hidden by wood paneling; walls have wood accents; overhead lighting in the hall are recessed and muted. Everything screamed "Old, affluent New York." This is in sharp contrast to the corporate sterility of the firm S, where I was at last week.
Firm C had an all day interview process that at first sounded very intimidating, but which turned out to be a very good thing, since you are able to talk to the partners at your leisure and are not constrained by time. This means that as long as the conversation is going well, you can ask every questions that occurs to you to your heart's content. One of the partners and I ended up talking for nearly two hours, completely losing track of time and pushing my lunch back almost an hour. The two poor associates who were supposed to take me out to lunch had to wait until 1:30 and must have been starved.
The partners at C all seemed intellectual, energetic, impressive, and humane. That last part I was not expecting, but was pleased to find. Every partner also explained the firm's unique philosophy to me, which, I increasingly realized as the day went on, is really a unique system which sets their firm apart from others. The rules and institution of the firm are designed to eliminate destructive individual competition among partners and among associates, and make people more loyal to the firm as an institution. As far as I can tell, this system has worked. Even people I have met who no longer work at the firm (what the firm calls "alumni") have very positive things to say about firm C. People seem to really believe in their system and feel a great deal of loyalty and pride.
Firm C gave me an offer at the end of my interviews. I was of course very happy. On the way to the airport, I realized that there is a very good chance I will go there, and that the interviews next week are likely to be a waste of time. So, today, I sat down and cancelled most of my interviews next week except for one. I was planning to spend nearly the entire week in NY, but now I will actually be in C-Town for most of the week.
The only thing that is not ideal about firm C is its domesticness. In spite of being one of the elite firms, it has no (NO!) Asia office and does not have plans to have one. Since I may be interested in practicing law overseas, I am a bit worried that C's domesticness could very quickly become something I find frustrating. In this sense, firm S's sprawling offices and aggressive expansion may fit better with my goals (not to mention that I am rather enamored by the idea of spending a summer in Hong Kong!) Boyfriend and I spent some time last night discussing this, and he wrote me a long email dissecting the situation this morning. He thinks that firm C's failure to expand into the Asian market means that in spite of its eliteness, it will become increasingly marginalized in the next few decades. I'm really not sure what to think.
So, some hard choices ahead, but at least I have got some good options and a MUCH easier flyout week than I had previously expected. Next week, I expect to do a lot of catching up on work, and even more catching up on sleep! :D
10/18/2006
Delirious
Why am I still awake? I slept 4 hours last night, going to sleep at 3:30 and waking up at 7:30. Comparative con law was a blur, since I hadn't read and was really in danger of falling asleep constantly. Con law was not much better, although the prof was more engaging and made us laugh a few times. Then I had lunch with J; then read some more articles for the research project and handed the articles to Professor S's assistant. Then I barely had 20 minutes to skim 20 pages of reading for Local Government Law, and it was off to class again!
Today was the last class of Comparative Local Government Law this semester, for which I feel a little sad. I am very fond of Professor F. and really fascinated by his work, though I really don't feel like I have the hang of it yet. Not having taken the main class he usually teaches, Local Government Law, I feel like there are so many conceptual things I don't get. The class right now is weirdly theoretical and yet our discussions mainly focus on the practical aspects, with me feeling like I have no handle on either very well.
Everyone in the class is choosing a city to focus on for the next 5 months, and we will be researching and then writing a paper and presenting it to the class in the spring. My city is Nanjing. I'm not sure why I chose that exactly. I wanted to choose a medium-sized city in the south of China (so the temperature is not too low in the winter) that is not too well-known, and I wanted one that I haven't been to. I am planning to visit in the winter and to do field research, not that I know what THAT means either.
So after getting the offer from the firm that I interviewed with on Friday, I can now enter the process of next week so much more relaxed. I am lining up other interviews, and plan to fly to Chicago in the latter part of the week and then spend the weekend with ABS, which should be fun. I am also contacting a bunch of friends who live in New York so we can hang out when I'm in town.
Reading "Persons and Masks of the Law" by John Noonan tonight - in preparation for my meeting with Professor M, who recommended the book. The book is about how the legal system too often focuses on rules rather than persons, at the expense of the person and of justice. It looks at three cases and talks about them in-depth, giving the background and the history and showing how in each, the person has been sacrificed in preference for the rules.
I really like the book so far, but am not sure how to continue the discussion once that book is written and that idea is advanced. What to do to put the person at the center of the legal system rather than rules? Is it possible and is it desirable?
I have now come into contact with so many different ways of approaching legal questions, and so many different fields (though there are still so many more that I haven't yet learned about). With the possible exception of pure doctrinal stuff and pure law and (classical) econ, I find almost every single one of them fascinating. The problem in the next stage is to pick a field - and to write something worthwhile. I guess I can think of it as my last struggle against the certainties of the firm life. "Rage - Rage against the dying of the light"...?
Today was the last class of Comparative Local Government Law this semester, for which I feel a little sad. I am very fond of Professor F. and really fascinated by his work, though I really don't feel like I have the hang of it yet. Not having taken the main class he usually teaches, Local Government Law, I feel like there are so many conceptual things I don't get. The class right now is weirdly theoretical and yet our discussions mainly focus on the practical aspects, with me feeling like I have no handle on either very well.
Everyone in the class is choosing a city to focus on for the next 5 months, and we will be researching and then writing a paper and presenting it to the class in the spring. My city is Nanjing. I'm not sure why I chose that exactly. I wanted to choose a medium-sized city in the south of China (so the temperature is not too low in the winter) that is not too well-known, and I wanted one that I haven't been to. I am planning to visit in the winter and to do field research, not that I know what THAT means either.
So after getting the offer from the firm that I interviewed with on Friday, I can now enter the process of next week so much more relaxed. I am lining up other interviews, and plan to fly to Chicago in the latter part of the week and then spend the weekend with ABS, which should be fun. I am also contacting a bunch of friends who live in New York so we can hang out when I'm in town.
Reading "Persons and Masks of the Law" by John Noonan tonight - in preparation for my meeting with Professor M, who recommended the book. The book is about how the legal system too often focuses on rules rather than persons, at the expense of the person and of justice. It looks at three cases and talks about them in-depth, giving the background and the history and showing how in each, the person has been sacrificed in preference for the rules.
I really like the book so far, but am not sure how to continue the discussion once that book is written and that idea is advanced. What to do to put the person at the center of the legal system rather than rules? Is it possible and is it desirable?
I have now come into contact with so many different ways of approaching legal questions, and so many different fields (though there are still so many more that I haven't yet learned about). With the possible exception of pure doctrinal stuff and pure law and (classical) econ, I find almost every single one of them fascinating. The problem in the next stage is to pick a field - and to write something worthwhile. I guess I can think of it as my last struggle against the certainties of the firm life. "Rage - Rage against the dying of the light"...?
10/16/2006
10/15/2006
Realization
This is pretty random, but today I was sitting on the train back to C-Town, and all of a sudden it hit me: as little as 150 years ago, this country had SLAVES. Freakin' SLAVES! Just like the ancient Egyptians, who built the pyramids! American slaves carried an entire southern economy on their backs.
For a while, I just sat there trying to wrap my mind around the barbarism of it all.
I guess up 'til now, all this talk about southern slavery has always just passed over me, and I never thought about it with understanding and concreteness. Somehow in my mind, I have always categorized American slavery as something categorically differnet from, say, Egyptian slavery. But it hit me today that it is every bit as barbaric, and probably even more so b/c our society actually had claims to enightened concepts like quality or freedom or autonomy.
I can imagine the frustration of the abolitionist now from that era, literaly sick with disgust at the society that is at once modern and yet somehow still tolerating an ancient and horrendous anomaly. What a horrible tarnish to have on our nation's history.
For a while, I just sat there trying to wrap my mind around the barbarism of it all.
I guess up 'til now, all this talk about southern slavery has always just passed over me, and I never thought about it with understanding and concreteness. Somehow in my mind, I have always categorized American slavery as something categorically differnet from, say, Egyptian slavery. But it hit me today that it is every bit as barbaric, and probably even more so b/c our society actually had claims to enightened concepts like quality or freedom or autonomy.
I can imagine the frustration of the abolitionist now from that era, literaly sick with disgust at the society that is at once modern and yet somehow still tolerating an ancient and horrendous anomaly. What a horrible tarnish to have on our nation's history.
10/14/2006
Back in C-Town
I have done nearly no work today. I am reading con law, drinking an Earl Grey with soy milk, chatting with 2 friends on IM, missing 2 parties, and plan to go to sleep in about an hour. Tomorrow will be a full day of RAing (again), but at least, for the moment, different areas of my life are under control.
Hanging out with my parents has been fun. We went to a big Chinese buffet place for lunch today, and talked about law and narrative and my philosophy about parenting. My parents are really curious about the interviews with those law firms, and had lot of fun listening to my descriptions of them.
Slept almost the entire way on the train ride back to C-Town, and am still tired. I think it will take a least a 2-week long vacation to recover my sleep deficit.
Hanging out with my parents has been fun. We went to a big Chinese buffet place for lunch today, and talked about law and narrative and my philosophy about parenting. My parents are really curious about the interviews with those law firms, and had lot of fun listening to my descriptions of them.
Slept almost the entire way on the train ride back to C-Town, and am still tired. I think it will take a least a 2-week long vacation to recover my sleep deficit.
10/13/2006
End of OCI
My OCI season has ended with a modest bang -- yesterday I interviewed with the top choice firm that I wanted to work for on campus - then the same night, I flew to NYC to do my first callback interview, at one of the top5 firms.
My #2 choice firm called me today for a callback visit, but I haven't heard from my top choice firm yet -- it's kind of a long shot for even very good students since they hire so few people, but I really hope I get a callback because I admire them a lot.
My first callback interview today was initially intimidating, but ultimately went well. The firm is located in one of the busiest and most crowded part of town, in a beatiful building. Even I, who don't like New York very much, was impressed in spite of myself.
The firm itself is nice but a bit depressing. I can't quite picture myself there yet. It looked very corporate - people in suits - bare offices - sallow faces of overworked people... Yes, the view of midtown from the windows are of course stunning, but how often will I really be able to enjoy the view?
I interviewed with two associats and two partners - and finally learned what "private equity," "capital structure," and "merger and acquisition" are. Yes, I'm sad, and so NOT fit to do corporate work. The associates who interviewed me seemed a bit reticent and not really warm. They seem to treat the interview very much like a job and so just wanted to get it over with. One of the partners was nice. The other one was so-so.
I'm back in parent's house to visit them for the weekend before they go to China next week.
I'm feeling really pensive about my future today. I love law school, -- I love the people here, I love the intellectual environment, I love the ready accessibility of camaraderie and good conversations. I'm almost heartbroken at having to leave it. I know I won't have to for another year and a half, but I can already feel it. It will just be like leaving my undergraduate institution - being thrown into the cold, harsh world.
I think today, I saw a glimpse of that cold harsh world and imagined myself being inside it, which made me shudder. To be sure, it's a cold, harsh world very attractively packaged, and there could certainly be worse things. But it's still the world, and not the comfortable coccoon that I have been living in for the past year and a half, where I could think to my heart's content about justice and power and how law influences people's behavior and whether economic misses equity concerns. Words like "capital structure," "IPO," and "document review" don't even enter my consciousness.
...Maybe I should give academia some more thoughts?
My #2 choice firm called me today for a callback visit, but I haven't heard from my top choice firm yet -- it's kind of a long shot for even very good students since they hire so few people, but I really hope I get a callback because I admire them a lot.
My first callback interview today was initially intimidating, but ultimately went well. The firm is located in one of the busiest and most crowded part of town, in a beatiful building. Even I, who don't like New York very much, was impressed in spite of myself.
The firm itself is nice but a bit depressing. I can't quite picture myself there yet. It looked very corporate - people in suits - bare offices - sallow faces of overworked people... Yes, the view of midtown from the windows are of course stunning, but how often will I really be able to enjoy the view?
I interviewed with two associats and two partners - and finally learned what "private equity," "capital structure," and "merger and acquisition" are. Yes, I'm sad, and so NOT fit to do corporate work. The associates who interviewed me seemed a bit reticent and not really warm. They seem to treat the interview very much like a job and so just wanted to get it over with. One of the partners was nice. The other one was so-so.
I'm back in parent's house to visit them for the weekend before they go to China next week.
I'm feeling really pensive about my future today. I love law school, -- I love the people here, I love the intellectual environment, I love the ready accessibility of camaraderie and good conversations. I'm almost heartbroken at having to leave it. I know I won't have to for another year and a half, but I can already feel it. It will just be like leaving my undergraduate institution - being thrown into the cold, harsh world.
I think today, I saw a glimpse of that cold harsh world and imagined myself being inside it, which made me shudder. To be sure, it's a cold, harsh world very attractively packaged, and there could certainly be worse things. But it's still the world, and not the comfortable coccoon that I have been living in for the past year and a half, where I could think to my heart's content about justice and power and how law influences people's behavior and whether economic misses equity concerns. Words like "capital structure," "IPO," and "document review" don't even enter my consciousness.
...Maybe I should give academia some more thoughts?
10/09/2006
Foot-in-Mouth Disease
Interviewed with a Top 5 Firms today, and said my most embarrassing thing yet.
Me: I know it's a long time since you were an associate, but...
Interviewer (white woman, in her late 30s, looking offended, interrupting me): I'm not THAT old.
Me: Um, sorry...
The rest of the interview wasn't that much better either. Oh well. Guess I won't be getting a callback from THEM.
Me: I know it's a long time since you were an associate, but...
Interviewer (white woman, in her late 30s, looking offended, interrupting me): I'm not THAT old.
Me: Um, sorry...
The rest of the interview wasn't that much better either. Oh well. Guess I won't be getting a callback from THEM.
10/08/2006
Numbers
40
The number of hours I spent this week on Professor H's research assignment, at least.
6
The number of hours I slept last night and the night before, each.
102
My current weight, in pound, after not sleeping and barely eating for a week. Time to have some protein shakes.
1
The number of drinks I had at S and AC's joint birthday party in B-Town, which was nonetheless sufficient to give me a headache the next day; the number of glasses of wine I plan to have this afternoon at the sports bar, where I'll be watching some football games with Boyfriend.
7, 15, 12
The number of interviews I will have next week, the number of interviews I've had, and the number of callbacks I got so far.
140
The number of pages I have to read for comparative con law before I catch up. (This is truly absurd... and will never happen.)
11
Time I plan on going to bed tonight, hopefully.
The number of hours I spent this week on Professor H's research assignment, at least.
6
The number of hours I slept last night and the night before, each.
102
My current weight, in pound, after not sleeping and barely eating for a week. Time to have some protein shakes.
1
The number of drinks I had at S and AC's joint birthday party in B-Town, which was nonetheless sufficient to give me a headache the next day; the number of glasses of wine I plan to have this afternoon at the sports bar, where I'll be watching some football games with Boyfriend.
7, 15, 12
The number of interviews I will have next week, the number of interviews I've had, and the number of callbacks I got so far.
140
The number of pages I have to read for comparative con law before I catch up. (This is truly absurd... and will never happen.)
11
Time I plan on going to bed tonight, hopefully.
10/06/2006
Callback / Procrastination
Interviewed with a top 5 firm today, and really connected with my interviewer, who is a smart, thoughful, and intellectual man who graduated from both of my alma maters, only in reverse.
He is only 51 but has had a very impressive career, working as a highly successful federal prosecutor for several years, winning some high-profiled trials, and then leaving the government and going to the firm to start his own practice group.
For some reason, from the very beginning, we just really clicked, and I felt enogh confidence to speak very frankly about my thoughts on law firms and my career and my uncertainties, and also asked him about his career and life choices, which were truly amazing, by the way.
I got the callback tonight, by phone. As far as I can tell, no one else has gotten a callback yet. A lot of people have interviewed for that firm -- the hotel at which these interviews are held were just mobbed today, and about 15 people or so hung out around the hospitality suite constantly at any given time, trying to schmooze with the lawyers. I usually hate these scenes, and left as quickly as I could after the interview, thinking about the conversation I had, and how cool it would be if I worked for his practice group.
I have not been considering his firm seriously before, but after meeting him, I am going to give it some serious thought.
So it's 1:26 am, and I'm still working on writing this paragraph and footnote for Prof. H's paper. I'm exhausted and really should be asleep by now, but wasted a lot of time earlier this evening, so now I'm paying the price in sleep!
:D The many ego boosts of OCI. Yes, I know it's idiotic, but I'm not above it. I can totally see, however, that this is how they begin to draw you in...
:( too little sleep, and way too much work.
He is only 51 but has had a very impressive career, working as a highly successful federal prosecutor for several years, winning some high-profiled trials, and then leaving the government and going to the firm to start his own practice group.
For some reason, from the very beginning, we just really clicked, and I felt enogh confidence to speak very frankly about my thoughts on law firms and my career and my uncertainties, and also asked him about his career and life choices, which were truly amazing, by the way.
I got the callback tonight, by phone. As far as I can tell, no one else has gotten a callback yet. A lot of people have interviewed for that firm -- the hotel at which these interviews are held were just mobbed today, and about 15 people or so hung out around the hospitality suite constantly at any given time, trying to schmooze with the lawyers. I usually hate these scenes, and left as quickly as I could after the interview, thinking about the conversation I had, and how cool it would be if I worked for his practice group.
I have not been considering his firm seriously before, but after meeting him, I am going to give it some serious thought.
So it's 1:26 am, and I'm still working on writing this paragraph and footnote for Prof. H's paper. I'm exhausted and really should be asleep by now, but wasted a lot of time earlier this evening, so now I'm paying the price in sleep!
:D The many ego boosts of OCI. Yes, I know it's idiotic, but I'm not above it. I can totally see, however, that this is how they begin to draw you in...
:( too little sleep, and way too much work.
10/05/2006
Taking My Stand
I got a haircut today from a very bitchy hair stylist. Boy was he bitchy. I think all hair stylists worship VOLUME, and therefore get extremely offended when you refuse to cut your hair to increase VOLUME! I told him that I kinda like the long-haired Asian girl look. He didn't even crack a smile.
Ah well. I got the haircut I wanted, even though the 25 mintues it took him to do it was excruciating. At least my hair now looks good - long, layered, and super-smooth!
Ah well. I got the haircut I wanted, even though the 25 mintues it took him to do it was excruciating. At least my hair now looks good - long, layered, and super-smooth!
10/04/2006
So-So Day
I missed both of my morning classes today. :( I'm not proud of it, but decided that I cannot pull off another day with only 3-4 hours of sleep. So I slept an astounding 7.5 hours today, and feel pretty refreshed.
However, my reaction paper this week for the political economy workshop -- which was due this afternoon at 4, was not very good, and I am a little upset about that. I thought I had a reasonably good topic, but 3 hours before the deadline, I reviewed the paper that we were supposed to react to, and realized that the topic had already been discussed in the paper, THOROUGHLY. So... I had to scratch much of what I had already written (charts and all!) and tried to bulk up the parts of the reaction paper that could be salvaged... which was not a lot.
Had dinner with ABS at C-House tonight and griped about work, then read in his room for a while. Came back and began reading and preparing for the meeting with Professor M about my pet topic: law and narratives (storytelling). Because of all the RAing and the independent reading, I am now reading more law review articles than ever before. I wish I had started on this earlier, because it is so helpful in giving me research and writing ideas and just in general getting an idea of what legal scholarship is all about.
In other news, I got another callback which will probably fund a nice trip to Chicago during flyout week! This makes it 8 out of 10. Yay.
I should probably go to sleep soon though. Tomorrow, with interviews, 2 classes, and independent reading, will be a LONG day.
However, my reaction paper this week for the political economy workshop -- which was due this afternoon at 4, was not very good, and I am a little upset about that. I thought I had a reasonably good topic, but 3 hours before the deadline, I reviewed the paper that we were supposed to react to, and realized that the topic had already been discussed in the paper, THOROUGHLY. So... I had to scratch much of what I had already written (charts and all!) and tried to bulk up the parts of the reaction paper that could be salvaged... which was not a lot.
Had dinner with ABS at C-House tonight and griped about work, then read in his room for a while. Came back and began reading and preparing for the meeting with Professor M about my pet topic: law and narratives (storytelling). Because of all the RAing and the independent reading, I am now reading more law review articles than ever before. I wish I had started on this earlier, because it is so helpful in giving me research and writing ideas and just in general getting an idea of what legal scholarship is all about.
In other news, I got another callback which will probably fund a nice trip to Chicago during flyout week! This makes it 8 out of 10. Yay.
I should probably go to sleep soon though. Tomorrow, with interviews, 2 classes, and independent reading, will be a LONG day.
10/02/2006
4 more callbacks
My voicemail was loaded with messages today. The London office of a top 30 firm, which i thought did not like me at all, called me back. A top 10 firm and a top 15 firm, both of which I thought I had lackluster interviews with (at least from my perspective), also decided to invite me back. The NY office of the the top 20 firm, for which I already got a callback, also decided to invite me to the DC office.
In the ultimate analysis, I think what must be true is that the firm's standards just aren't that high. They need warm bodies to slave away. Anyone who goes to a top school who is not crazy can probably do it. They are not picky.
So, now I'm a bit overwhelmed and thinking about cutting back on interviews large-scale next week. Probably will delete everything from my list that's not top 7. This should pare down my schedule for a bit
In other news, I'M SO BUSY! Doing more work for Professor H. It's interesting, to the point where it's worth it to sacrifice sleep. Boyfriend is worried, though.
In the ultimate analysis, I think what must be true is that the firm's standards just aren't that high. They need warm bodies to slave away. Anyone who goes to a top school who is not crazy can probably do it. They are not picky.
So, now I'm a bit overwhelmed and thinking about cutting back on interviews large-scale next week. Probably will delete everything from my list that's not top 7. This should pare down my schedule for a bit
In other news, I'M SO BUSY! Doing more work for Professor H. It's interesting, to the point where it's worth it to sacrifice sleep. Boyfriend is worried, though.
10/01/2006
Reflections on OCI, week 1
So... so far I have 3 callbacks, one from a major DC firm's New York office, two from a major NY firm's DC and NY offices. This is 3 callbacks out of the 10 interviews I had last week. How does my ratio stack up against the others? I have no idea.
On our career services website, they say that the typical student accepts 5-7 interviews. This means I need another 3-5 interviews, especially given that I am not sure about the DC firm's New York office. The woman who interviewed me, while very nice, also looked listless and exhausted, which I'm not sure bode well for the overall experience at the firm. But, we'll see.
Overall, I have been singularly unimpressed by the interviewer I have met so far. A few seem like the prototypical law firm jerks: male, white, jock-ish, arrogant. The 2 London offices interviewers seemed utterly distant and uninterested and even vaguely hostile, but that could just be a cultural thing. On the whole, the women interviewers were a lot better, usually warm and friendly, though the younger associate interviewers are almost suspiciously perky. The male partners tended to be older, and more serious, and more formal, and ask a lot harder questions.
What do I think of the whole process? It's not hard, not stressful, especially given that everyone going into it knows that he or she will get a job, and it's just a matter of "which one?" On the other hand, it IS mindnumbing, and time-consuming, and boring. Just the daily trek back and forth from the law school and the downtown hotel where the firms all do their interviews takes 15 minutes each one, so if you have 3 interviews scheduled at different times during the day, that's 1.5 hours walking!
On the way to and from the hotel, we meet other absurdly well-dressed classmates carrying leather portfolios, and give each other a knowing smile. The other students and townspeople must think that we are exceedingly weird, or they are used to the yearly ritual. Some of the hotel guests look bewildered at the number of suited students on each floor, standing right outside of room doors, perusing firm literature or reviewing their resumes. To outsiders, it must be a very comical sight.
----------------------
In other news... lots of work this weekend, as usual. Editing Professor JH's manuscript and looking up cites for him took up most of today, pushing my comparative con law reading completely out of sight. Tonight, Boyfriend, who is in town, and I met up with ABS and his boyfriend C, who is also in town visiting from Chicago. We had Indian food, which was lovely, and then spend 2 hours chatting in this nice little dessert place with yet another couple, JJ and his girlfriend M (visiting from Michigan). All the out of town significant others bonded and had a great time chatting. I arrived home shortly before midnight and still need to put in 1-2 hours of solid work!
On our career services website, they say that the typical student accepts 5-7 interviews. This means I need another 3-5 interviews, especially given that I am not sure about the DC firm's New York office. The woman who interviewed me, while very nice, also looked listless and exhausted, which I'm not sure bode well for the overall experience at the firm. But, we'll see.
Overall, I have been singularly unimpressed by the interviewer I have met so far. A few seem like the prototypical law firm jerks: male, white, jock-ish, arrogant. The 2 London offices interviewers seemed utterly distant and uninterested and even vaguely hostile, but that could just be a cultural thing. On the whole, the women interviewers were a lot better, usually warm and friendly, though the younger associate interviewers are almost suspiciously perky. The male partners tended to be older, and more serious, and more formal, and ask a lot harder questions.
What do I think of the whole process? It's not hard, not stressful, especially given that everyone going into it knows that he or she will get a job, and it's just a matter of "which one?" On the other hand, it IS mindnumbing, and time-consuming, and boring. Just the daily trek back and forth from the law school and the downtown hotel where the firms all do their interviews takes 15 minutes each one, so if you have 3 interviews scheduled at different times during the day, that's 1.5 hours walking!
On the way to and from the hotel, we meet other absurdly well-dressed classmates carrying leather portfolios, and give each other a knowing smile. The other students and townspeople must think that we are exceedingly weird, or they are used to the yearly ritual. Some of the hotel guests look bewildered at the number of suited students on each floor, standing right outside of room doors, perusing firm literature or reviewing their resumes. To outsiders, it must be a very comical sight.
----------------------
In other news... lots of work this weekend, as usual. Editing Professor JH's manuscript and looking up cites for him took up most of today, pushing my comparative con law reading completely out of sight. Tonight, Boyfriend, who is in town, and I met up with ABS and his boyfriend C, who is also in town visiting from Chicago. We had Indian food, which was lovely, and then spend 2 hours chatting in this nice little dessert place with yet another couple, JJ and his girlfriend M (visiting from Michigan). All the out of town significant others bonded and had a great time chatting. I arrived home shortly before midnight and still need to put in 1-2 hours of solid work!
9/27/2006
First Call-Back!
Firms certainly act quickly. I got my first call-back today, from a large top 10 firm that I interviewed with yesterday. I had two very good interviews with two different branches, one with a young perky middle-eastern associate, and another one with an older, more formal, white partner. Both were nice and friendly and seemed to like me. I liked them a lot too, and was hoping that they would call me back. Yay!
Thus far, I have had interviews with six firms in total, and this is the only one that has called me back. I wonder whether other people's ratios are better. One of the advantages of having 28 interviews, of course, is that it's really hard to care about any one of them. Quite a few of my interviewers also seem to have deficient (to say the least) personalities. One of the interviews today never smiled once. He was distant and cold and utterly uninterested, which makes the line "our firm is not as stiff and starchy as the other firms" (delivered in a monotone) really not that believable.
But, the first call-back! Hopefually there are a lot more coming...
Thus far, I have had interviews with six firms in total, and this is the only one that has called me back. I wonder whether other people's ratios are better. One of the advantages of having 28 interviews, of course, is that it's really hard to care about any one of them. Quite a few of my interviewers also seem to have deficient (to say the least) personalities. One of the interviews today never smiled once. He was distant and cold and utterly uninterested, which makes the line "our firm is not as stiff and starchy as the other firms" (delivered in a monotone) really not that believable.
But, the first call-back! Hopefually there are a lot more coming...
9/26/2006
Three Hours of Sleep
What I did today on 3 hours of sleep..
- went to all 3 classes, including the 8:45 comparative con law, and made comments in two.
- wrote a 2-page reaction paper for health care law workshop, arguing, in all seriousness, that even if a legal system is neither accurate nor efficient, it might still need no reform.
- finished 20 pages of reading for local government law.
- went to two firm interviews, and did okay at them.
- only had one meal.
- accepted one research assistantship.
- researched in the library for Professor KM for an hour.
Now I am home, it's 9, and I'm ready to go to bed!
- went to all 3 classes, including the 8:45 comparative con law, and made comments in two.
- wrote a 2-page reaction paper for health care law workshop, arguing, in all seriousness, that even if a legal system is neither accurate nor efficient, it might still need no reform.
- finished 20 pages of reading for local government law.
- went to two firm interviews, and did okay at them.
- only had one meal.
- accepted one research assistantship.
- researched in the library for Professor KM for an hour.
Now I am home, it's 9, and I'm ready to go to bed!
9/24/2006
Thoughts for Myself
Things always look different when I take an ambien. The sleepiness always takes a bit of time to set in, which is fine. But before you become sleepy, you notice other things changing too. For instance, when I look into the mirror, I think I see a slightly different me. The difference is hard to put my finger on, but it has something to do with the strange skin tone - I see to look much darker than I'm used to. My expressions are different too. Usually I'm more alert, but now I am droopy. Certain parts of my face seems to have subtly changed proportions so that the resulting face is still like my original one but just slightly off. I can't explain it, and I'm sure when I sleep it off it will be gone.
After all, I took the ambien to sleep. Sleep has been a rare thing for the past few days. Friday night, when parents came, we chatted, drank, ate, and watched photo slideshows from my Scandinavian trip until after 3. The next morning I got up before 9 (sleeping on the floor really wasn't that comfortable anyway). After they left, I tried to do work, went to the gym, had dinner with ABS and RH and JJ and S in H Square at a great little sushi place. Then went back to ABS's apartment, read some con law, and played his game for the next FIVE hours! I tried researching some firms while he's doing it, but it was hard. Anyway, I didn't come home until 5 AM, but still managed to get up around 11:30.
Did not step out of the apartment today. I read for con law, read for comparative con law, read for my research for Prof.M, then drafted a letter of resigniation for one of the student activities that I took on. Really am not going to have enough time.
Tomorrow is the first week of on campus interview. I'm not really ready, but I will be intereviewing with 4 firms. Yikes. Here I come...
After all, I took the ambien to sleep. Sleep has been a rare thing for the past few days. Friday night, when parents came, we chatted, drank, ate, and watched photo slideshows from my Scandinavian trip until after 3. The next morning I got up before 9 (sleeping on the floor really wasn't that comfortable anyway). After they left, I tried to do work, went to the gym, had dinner with ABS and RH and JJ and S in H Square at a great little sushi place. Then went back to ABS's apartment, read some con law, and played his game for the next FIVE hours! I tried researching some firms while he's doing it, but it was hard. Anyway, I didn't come home until 5 AM, but still managed to get up around 11:30.
Did not step out of the apartment today. I read for con law, read for comparative con law, read for my research for Prof.M, then drafted a letter of resigniation for one of the student activities that I took on. Really am not going to have enough time.
Tomorrow is the first week of on campus interview. I'm not really ready, but I will be intereviewing with 4 firms. Yikes. Here I come...
9/19/2006
Hellish Day
Today was exhausting. Who said that 2L would be easier? It's not. While the classes are not harder, you are about 100X busier, and this stuff piles on right from the start, so you don't have any breathing room at all.
First of all, I hardly slept. Last night I went to sleep at 3 am because of all the readings I had to complete by today (comparative con law prof, you will pay for assigning 70 pages of reading for a single class TWICE in the first two weeks!) Tuesdays this semester are already my worst days anyway. I have 3 classes, from 8:45am until 7 pm. My Law and Political Economy weekly reaction paper is also due this afternoon. And then, add a meeting with the prof I'm researching for, and an organizational meeting late at night, and my whole day is spent with hardly a moment of relaxation.
My meeting with the prof, KM, was filled with delicious awkwardness. KM was late, and when he finally arrived he was sweaty and out of breath. (It's probably one of the last warm days this year, but it was 85 degrees and freakin' hot under the sun). He said hi and I sat down. Silence. Then he said: "So... nice weather, isn't it?" I cringe inside.
I did try to break the ice by asking him about football. He has a newspaper clip of the Steelers winning the Superbowl last year on his office door. "One for the Thumb!" it read. Boyfriend is from Pittsburgh and is a Steeler fan. This made for about 40 second of relatively relaxed conversation.
Then he gave me my assignment. It's kind of interesting. Looking through 3 reels of microfilm of this case during the civil rights era that is famous for its civil procedure ruling, but which is prosecuted by a prominent black lawyer who worked for the NAACP. I have to index the microfilm. Probably should get this started right away, given how busy my next few weeks are going to be, with 27 interview so far and all.
And then, I get my other research assignment, from this young assistant prof JS. A very interesting project, but sadly likely to be humungous as well.
This weekend, parents are visiting, so will have no time to read, study, or research. Next week, I am immediately hit with 12 interviews. AND I kind of want to do upper-level Moot Court competition.
Damn, thinking about all this is making me a bit worried.
Tomorrow: only two classes, thank God. But I am scheduled for the office hours of prof M, with whom I wanted to do an independent reading this semester but who has completely ignored my email up 'til now. I hope I'm not looking for personal humiliation by going to meet her. Crossing my fingers...
:D that I survived the day at all.
:( that next week is going to be like this, all 5 days.
First of all, I hardly slept. Last night I went to sleep at 3 am because of all the readings I had to complete by today (comparative con law prof, you will pay for assigning 70 pages of reading for a single class TWICE in the first two weeks!) Tuesdays this semester are already my worst days anyway. I have 3 classes, from 8:45am until 7 pm. My Law and Political Economy weekly reaction paper is also due this afternoon. And then, add a meeting with the prof I'm researching for, and an organizational meeting late at night, and my whole day is spent with hardly a moment of relaxation.
My meeting with the prof, KM, was filled with delicious awkwardness. KM was late, and when he finally arrived he was sweaty and out of breath. (It's probably one of the last warm days this year, but it was 85 degrees and freakin' hot under the sun). He said hi and I sat down. Silence. Then he said: "So... nice weather, isn't it?" I cringe inside.
I did try to break the ice by asking him about football. He has a newspaper clip of the Steelers winning the Superbowl last year on his office door. "One for the Thumb!" it read. Boyfriend is from Pittsburgh and is a Steeler fan. This made for about 40 second of relatively relaxed conversation.
Then he gave me my assignment. It's kind of interesting. Looking through 3 reels of microfilm of this case during the civil rights era that is famous for its civil procedure ruling, but which is prosecuted by a prominent black lawyer who worked for the NAACP. I have to index the microfilm. Probably should get this started right away, given how busy my next few weeks are going to be, with 27 interview so far and all.
And then, I get my other research assignment, from this young assistant prof JS. A very interesting project, but sadly likely to be humungous as well.
This weekend, parents are visiting, so will have no time to read, study, or research. Next week, I am immediately hit with 12 interviews. AND I kind of want to do upper-level Moot Court competition.
Damn, thinking about all this is making me a bit worried.
Tomorrow: only two classes, thank God. But I am scheduled for the office hours of prof M, with whom I wanted to do an independent reading this semester but who has completely ignored my email up 'til now. I hope I'm not looking for personal humiliation by going to meet her. Crossing my fingers...
:D that I survived the day at all.
:( that next week is going to be like this, all 5 days.
9/18/2006
I'm Back!
I know, I know, I have been totally MIA. Between adjusting to classes, a gazillion organizational meetings, and hanging out with ABS, J, and Boyfriend, every day just somehow seems to slip away without me putting a word down. I do feel guilty. So here I am back again.
Well, I'm a 2L now... how do I feel?
I feel fine, and a lot more relaxed than 1Ls. I remember last year around this time, when classes were just getting started. There was so much uncertainty and anxiety about classes and classmates and meeting people and "doing the right things." Now, I'm just a lot more relaxed about everything. I am not jaded. In fact I am very excited about the courses I'm taking this semester. Thank God we don't have those mandatory 1L classes and can instead take what interests us! In my case, this includes a lot of policy and comparative law courses. For J, it means copyright, secured transaction, and human rights stuff. For many others, it means trial advocacy courses where they spend 7 (!) hours a day learning about how to be a "real" lawyer. I really want to do that next semester too.
In terms of extracurriculars, upon reflection, I realized that I didn't really enjoy either of my two "main" activities last year, and therefore I am jettisoning both of them! Yay! Nothing wrong with them. In fact I know a ton of people in both orgs who really love the activities, but for whatever reason they just didn't click with me. Instead, I am trying out a couple of other campus activities. One is a relatively newly formed liberal organization (formed explicitly to counter the very influential conservative studetn organization on campus) that brings in speakers and discusses public policy. They are launching a new journal this year, and I volunteered to be an articles editor, and just got assigned to an article on constitutional law last week. It's a bit scary since I am only just now taking con law, but no matter!
I am also a nonresidential law tutor for one of the undergraduate dormitories here, where ABS is a residential tutor and in fact hooked me up with the sweet job. I get 5 free meals a week at the house in exchange for doling out advice and general support about law school. So far, I have met one of my advisees (I have a total of two) and he seems nice, if a bit lost about the whole law school application process. I have also just been hanging out a lot with ABS and his cat in his nice suite in the dorms (which is a convenient 7-minute walk from my apartment).
Oh, I am also researching for a professor here who is an expert in legal history. He seems nice, and the work seems light... we will see how that goes.
So, this is how I spend my days. My life is still in a bt of flux right now, especially since today our career services office posted the interview schedules for Fall On-Campus Interview. I bid for a total of 37 firms (mainly because I didn't know too much about them and just kind of went down the rankings... I know, it's the worst way of doing these things.) In any case, I now have 25 interviews scheduled over the next 3 weeks. Yikes!
:D beautiful summer weather today. Cute con law prof!
:( 70 pages of reading for comparative con law for tomorrow's class.
Well, I'm a 2L now... how do I feel?
I feel fine, and a lot more relaxed than 1Ls. I remember last year around this time, when classes were just getting started. There was so much uncertainty and anxiety about classes and classmates and meeting people and "doing the right things." Now, I'm just a lot more relaxed about everything. I am not jaded. In fact I am very excited about the courses I'm taking this semester. Thank God we don't have those mandatory 1L classes and can instead take what interests us! In my case, this includes a lot of policy and comparative law courses. For J, it means copyright, secured transaction, and human rights stuff. For many others, it means trial advocacy courses where they spend 7 (!) hours a day learning about how to be a "real" lawyer. I really want to do that next semester too.
In terms of extracurriculars, upon reflection, I realized that I didn't really enjoy either of my two "main" activities last year, and therefore I am jettisoning both of them! Yay! Nothing wrong with them. In fact I know a ton of people in both orgs who really love the activities, but for whatever reason they just didn't click with me. Instead, I am trying out a couple of other campus activities. One is a relatively newly formed liberal organization (formed explicitly to counter the very influential conservative studetn organization on campus) that brings in speakers and discusses public policy. They are launching a new journal this year, and I volunteered to be an articles editor, and just got assigned to an article on constitutional law last week. It's a bit scary since I am only just now taking con law, but no matter!
I am also a nonresidential law tutor for one of the undergraduate dormitories here, where ABS is a residential tutor and in fact hooked me up with the sweet job. I get 5 free meals a week at the house in exchange for doling out advice and general support about law school. So far, I have met one of my advisees (I have a total of two) and he seems nice, if a bit lost about the whole law school application process. I have also just been hanging out a lot with ABS and his cat in his nice suite in the dorms (which is a convenient 7-minute walk from my apartment).
Oh, I am also researching for a professor here who is an expert in legal history. He seems nice, and the work seems light... we will see how that goes.
So, this is how I spend my days. My life is still in a bt of flux right now, especially since today our career services office posted the interview schedules for Fall On-Campus Interview. I bid for a total of 37 firms (mainly because I didn't know too much about them and just kind of went down the rankings... I know, it's the worst way of doing these things.) In any case, I now have 25 interviews scheduled over the next 3 weeks. Yikes!
:D beautiful summer weather today. Cute con law prof!
:( 70 pages of reading for comparative con law for tomorrow's class.
9/12/2006
Course Schedules
The past few days have been INSANE! Aside from a big project that I need to do for a student business venture that I'm involved in, I also had to decide on my courses. Add/drop period for courses ends tonight at midnight! After going to approximately 4-5 classes per day, I have finalized the classes - finally!
1. Con Law
2. Comparative Con Law
3. Comparative Local Government: Seminar
4. Political Economy Seminar
5. Health Law Policy Seminar
All 3 of the seminars will involve reading and writing original work. I'm tres excited!
What's more, my Friday is entirely FREE! yoohoo.
1. Con Law
2. Comparative Con Law
3. Comparative Local Government: Seminar
4. Political Economy Seminar
5. Health Law Policy Seminar
All 3 of the seminars will involve reading and writing original work. I'm tres excited!
What's more, my Friday is entirely FREE! yoohoo.
9/07/2006
So Much To Do!
My "to-do" list:
- write to professors and seeing whether they wanted to supervise independent reading with me.
- update resume, research firms and sign up for fall On-Campus Interviews.
- decide on my courses before add/drop period ends.
- fulfill my various extracurricular commitments, including a very time-consuming task that needs to be done by this weekend (too tedious to really explain here - take my word for it that I do NOT look forward to it!)
- inquire into various fellowships, honors programs, and awards, the due dates for which are all in a few weeks!
- organize my apartment, do laundary, dry clean my clothes, buy books, and get ready for the new semester!!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
- write to professors and seeing whether they wanted to supervise independent reading with me.
- update resume, research firms and sign up for fall On-Campus Interviews.
- decide on my courses before add/drop period ends.
- fulfill my various extracurricular commitments, including a very time-consuming task that needs to be done by this weekend (too tedious to really explain here - take my word for it that I do NOT look forward to it!)
- inquire into various fellowships, honors programs, and awards, the due dates for which are all in a few weeks!
- organize my apartment, do laundary, dry clean my clothes, buy books, and get ready for the new semester!!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
9/06/2006
New Semester!
I am back in C-Town. Got back to the States late last night, and spent the entire morning packing and then driving back to the C-Town apartment. Then spent 4 hours vacuuming, disinfecting, and wiping down the entire apartment. Then carried all my stuff in from the car, and piled them on the floor, where they still are.
Too tired to really unpack, and tomorrow is going to be a full day of running around doing errands. I apparently owe my law school $8,000, so have to cough up the cash somehow. (Hello, high-interest loan!)
It's now almost 5 a.m. in Norway. Sigh...
Observation of the day: brown-rice sushi, while an intriguing concept, is really not that good. Actually, they are kind of awful.
Too tired to really unpack, and tomorrow is going to be a full day of running around doing errands. I apparently owe my law school $8,000, so have to cough up the cash somehow. (Hello, high-interest loan!)
It's now almost 5 a.m. in Norway. Sigh...
Observation of the day: brown-rice sushi, while an intriguing concept, is really not that good. Actually, they are kind of awful.
8/31/2006
Bergen photos
I've talked a lot about how beautiful Bergen is without posting a photo. Here are four that I took just yesterday evening walking around the city.
8/30/2006
Another Day in Bergen
I love the hotel we are staying at. All the hotels in Scandinavia has been very good - clean, spacious, and functional. A bit on the expensive side, to be sure. All the double rooms that Boyfriend and I found have been at least $80, and in Copenhagen, the room cost $100 per night. But I had expected that before I came. After all, Scandinavia is famous for its expensiveness.
What I love in particular about the hotel in Bergen, though, are two things: its location, and the fact that it has free Internet. The second reason is why I've been able to post more often in the past few days. :D The hotel, called CityBox, is a budget hotel right in the heart of the city, 3 blocks from the train station, 2 blocks from the university, with lots of cheap and cool-looking student bars, pizzerias, grocery stores, and restaurants.
Boyfriend and I spent the whole day exploring different neighborhoods in Bergen. We decided that if there's any city we have visited so far so far that we would definitely want to live in, Bergen is it. The entire city of Bergen is built on the mountain side, overlooking the ocean, islands, and fjords. As a result, there are several harbors teeming with boats, many stretches of beautiful beach-front neighborhoods, as well as gorgeous houses built on steep slopes of the mountain and streets made entirely of stairs (reminds me a bit of San Francisco).
There are also beautiful little parks nestled in the center of the city, spectacular water fountains, random statues, and the obligatory cobbled-stoned streets in the town center that every single European city is required to have, of course. In short, walking around town, every few minutes you seem to be in a completely different neighborhood. I think I would never get bored in Bergen.
Boyfriend and I have decided to stay for at least one more day in Bergen. We simply cannot leave this beautiful town behind.
What I love in particular about the hotel in Bergen, though, are two things: its location, and the fact that it has free Internet. The second reason is why I've been able to post more often in the past few days. :D The hotel, called CityBox, is a budget hotel right in the heart of the city, 3 blocks from the train station, 2 blocks from the university, with lots of cheap and cool-looking student bars, pizzerias, grocery stores, and restaurants.
Boyfriend and I spent the whole day exploring different neighborhoods in Bergen. We decided that if there's any city we have visited so far so far that we would definitely want to live in, Bergen is it. The entire city of Bergen is built on the mountain side, overlooking the ocean, islands, and fjords. As a result, there are several harbors teeming with boats, many stretches of beautiful beach-front neighborhoods, as well as gorgeous houses built on steep slopes of the mountain and streets made entirely of stairs (reminds me a bit of San Francisco).
There are also beautiful little parks nestled in the center of the city, spectacular water fountains, random statues, and the obligatory cobbled-stoned streets in the town center that every single European city is required to have, of course. In short, walking around town, every few minutes you seem to be in a completely different neighborhood. I think I would never get bored in Bergen.
Boyfriend and I have decided to stay for at least one more day in Bergen. We simply cannot leave this beautiful town behind.
8/29/2006
Norway
13 days, 3 countries later, I am writing from Bergen, Norway, a stunningly beautiful city by the Sognefjord.
Boyfriend and I took an overnight cruise from Copenhagen to Oslo, then immediately jumped on the 7 hour train ride from Oslo all the way to the western Norwegian city of Bergen.
The train ride has been called "the most beautiful train ride in the world". We were literally riding in the mountains, so high up that trees don't even grow anymore, passed by the highest train station in the world, and saw all through the way, crystalline lakes and streams tucked in between cliffs and peaks, white glistening glaciers, and miles and miles of virgin pine forest.
Bergen is a colorful little city on the western coast, with a bustling town center (with the obligatory cobble-stoned streets, of course), beautiful row of houses by the water, a busy harbor, and lots and lots of nice cafes and historical buildings.
Norway is much more rugged than the other 3 countries. So far, Copenhagen has been the most cosmopolitan of all the cities, with a ton of fantastic museums, castles, palaces, and galleries. Finland has been the most exotic, because it seems very Eastern European to me. Everyone we saw there has been very Slavic-looking. Sweden has been most... Scandinavian, or what is commonly imagined to be Scandinavian -- clean, polished, with blonde and beautiful people walking around. And now, Norway, which seems to be just pristine and unspoiled nature, and a little bit of culture carved out of the nature.
I'm really looking forward to exploring Bergen tomorrow.
Boyfriend and I took an overnight cruise from Copenhagen to Oslo, then immediately jumped on the 7 hour train ride from Oslo all the way to the western Norwegian city of Bergen.
The train ride has been called "the most beautiful train ride in the world". We were literally riding in the mountains, so high up that trees don't even grow anymore, passed by the highest train station in the world, and saw all through the way, crystalline lakes and streams tucked in between cliffs and peaks, white glistening glaciers, and miles and miles of virgin pine forest.
Bergen is a colorful little city on the western coast, with a bustling town center (with the obligatory cobble-stoned streets, of course), beautiful row of houses by the water, a busy harbor, and lots and lots of nice cafes and historical buildings.
Norway is much more rugged than the other 3 countries. So far, Copenhagen has been the most cosmopolitan of all the cities, with a ton of fantastic museums, castles, palaces, and galleries. Finland has been the most exotic, because it seems very Eastern European to me. Everyone we saw there has been very Slavic-looking. Sweden has been most... Scandinavian, or what is commonly imagined to be Scandinavian -- clean, polished, with blonde and beautiful people walking around. And now, Norway, which seems to be just pristine and unspoiled nature, and a little bit of culture carved out of the nature.
I'm really looking forward to exploring Bergen tomorrow.
8/26/2006
Nostalgia for an Imaginary Fatherland
I am writing from Copenhagen, after nearly a week in Sweden and a brief day in Helsinki. Both were lovely, but I must say that so far, Copenhagen is my favorite.
It's the most diverse of all the Scandinavian cities. People are not just thin and white and blonde hair. Walking on the street, you see people of all skin colors, looking perfectly at home. The natives look much more middle European.
More like... Germans.
And Danish sounds like German. On the train from Malmo to Copenhagen, I thought I could almost understand the conductor. All around the train station, I see familiar traces of the language that I once was fluent in. And then, lying in my hotel bed, I turned on the TV and four of the stations were German. I could watch ZDF and ARD and SAT-1, all the familiar stations that helped me while away the long winter nights in Potsdam.
And that's when it hit me: I have been missing Germany. I have been away for four years. And I miss it.
Away. A funny word to use, but one that I chose instinctively. My nostalgia for Germany is not like missing a country that I have visited and liked. Strangely, it is like missing a country that I count as one of my homes. I have only visisted a dozen times, lived there for 10 months. And yet... even before I have visited the country, I have longed for it and almost loved it.
Is it because of Beethoven and Bach adn Goethe and Wittgenstein? Perhaps Germany is the closest thing I have to a spiritual homeland. I remember reading an essay once, where it said that "I have been missing Paris even before I visited." This is how I feel and have always felt about Germany. Visiting Israel was a very spiritual experience for me, but visiting Germany, for me, was even more so. I remember the first day I was off the plane - my uncle drove me from Zurich to Konstanz. And as soon as we entered the border, I remember saying to myself, thinking: I am in Germany. I really am in Germany!
And sitting here, in Copenhagen, this most German of all Scandinavian cities, I am realizing that I want to go back to Germany. I have been away for four years, and now I'm finally at its doorstep again. Many of the tourists here are German, and sitting on the bus, I hang on to their conversation hungrily, trying to remember and to understand.
All the while, I feel enveloped by nostalgia -- for that year I spent in Potsdam, but more for an imaginary land that I have always wanted to call home.
It's the most diverse of all the Scandinavian cities. People are not just thin and white and blonde hair. Walking on the street, you see people of all skin colors, looking perfectly at home. The natives look much more middle European.
More like... Germans.
And Danish sounds like German. On the train from Malmo to Copenhagen, I thought I could almost understand the conductor. All around the train station, I see familiar traces of the language that I once was fluent in. And then, lying in my hotel bed, I turned on the TV and four of the stations were German. I could watch ZDF and ARD and SAT-1, all the familiar stations that helped me while away the long winter nights in Potsdam.
And that's when it hit me: I have been missing Germany. I have been away for four years. And I miss it.
Away. A funny word to use, but one that I chose instinctively. My nostalgia for Germany is not like missing a country that I have visited and liked. Strangely, it is like missing a country that I count as one of my homes. I have only visisted a dozen times, lived there for 10 months. And yet... even before I have visited the country, I have longed for it and almost loved it.
Is it because of Beethoven and Bach adn Goethe and Wittgenstein? Perhaps Germany is the closest thing I have to a spiritual homeland. I remember reading an essay once, where it said that "I have been missing Paris even before I visited." This is how I feel and have always felt about Germany. Visiting Israel was a very spiritual experience for me, but visiting Germany, for me, was even more so. I remember the first day I was off the plane - my uncle drove me from Zurich to Konstanz. And as soon as we entered the border, I remember saying to myself, thinking: I am in Germany. I really am in Germany!
And sitting here, in Copenhagen, this most German of all Scandinavian cities, I am realizing that I want to go back to Germany. I have been away for four years, and now I'm finally at its doorstep again. Many of the tourists here are German, and sitting on the bus, I hang on to their conversation hungrily, trying to remember and to understand.
All the while, I feel enveloped by nostalgia -- for that year I spent in Potsdam, but more for an imaginary land that I have always wanted to call home.
8/21/2006
Stockholm photos
Boyfriend and I finally got our luggage today, the night before we check out of our hotel! Yay!
To celebrate, here are a bunch of photos I took over the past few days in Stockholm. Enjoy!
Old Town Gamla Stan, in the crisp early morning light.
Pretty building facade in Gamla Stan.
Pretty alley in Gamla Stan.
One of the many bridges of Stockholm. The city is build on many islands, so there is water everywhere.
Ha!
Mmmmmm... I've missed European bakeries...
Cute Swedish guard guarding the royal palace...
... And a cute tourist taking a photo of him.
Another view of the city.
By the Royal Palace.
Tourists gathering to see the changing of the guards in front of the Palace.
One of the rooms in the palace. Bleh.
Beautiful and stylish Swedish children.
The Swedes have an obsession with their royalties too! These are postcards being sold at the palace gift shop.
Central square in Gamla Stan.
Costumed tour guides in the square, posing for tourists...
...And flirting with a pretty passer-by. :)
Obessive-compulsively square trees in front of the Parliament
Girl making ice cream cones in the shop window.
Swedish glass, which is apparently a famed specialty in the region, or so claim the gift shops...
Hot air ballons rising in the dusk from the city center.
Random and picturesque square.
Folk dancers dressed in costumes in front of the Nordic Museum.
The imposing architecture of the Nordic Museum. The exhibits though were bleh.
Another view of the city, from Katrinahissen, a high point in the city.
A cruise to Helsinki sailing out to the sea. Boyfriend and I will be on one of those tomorrow.
Sunset in Stockholm.
To celebrate, here are a bunch of photos I took over the past few days in Stockholm. Enjoy!
Old Town Gamla Stan, in the crisp early morning light.
Pretty building facade in Gamla Stan.
Pretty alley in Gamla Stan.
One of the many bridges of Stockholm. The city is build on many islands, so there is water everywhere.
Ha!
Mmmmmm... I've missed European bakeries...
Cute Swedish guard guarding the royal palace...
... And a cute tourist taking a photo of him.
Another view of the city.
By the Royal Palace.
Tourists gathering to see the changing of the guards in front of the Palace.
One of the rooms in the palace. Bleh.
Beautiful and stylish Swedish children.
The Swedes have an obsession with their royalties too! These are postcards being sold at the palace gift shop.
Central square in Gamla Stan.
Costumed tour guides in the square, posing for tourists...
...And flirting with a pretty passer-by. :)
Obessive-compulsively square trees in front of the Parliament
Girl making ice cream cones in the shop window.
Swedish glass, which is apparently a famed specialty in the region, or so claim the gift shops...
Hot air ballons rising in the dusk from the city center.
Random and picturesque square.
Folk dancers dressed in costumes in front of the Nordic Museum.
The imposing architecture of the Nordic Museum. The exhibits though were bleh.
Another view of the city, from Katrinahissen, a high point in the city.
A cruise to Helsinki sailing out to the sea. Boyfriend and I will be on one of those tomorrow.
Sunset in Stockholm.
8/20/2006
Scandinavian Diaries, Day 1 - 4
Here are a summary of my four days so far in Scandinavia. Pictures hopefully soon to follow.
Day 1 (Thursday):
We get to Stockholm at 11:30 am local time. Arlanda airport is immaculately beautiful – modern, bright, airy, clean, and the exact opposite from the cramped, ugly, and creakyAmerican Airlines international terminal in JFK. After an extremely hectic time in Heathrow (thanks for nothing, f’ing terrorists!), we were very grateful to arrive at a place where everything seems orderly and under control.
Upon arrival, however, Boyfriend and I discovered with dismay that our luggages did not arrive. The British Airway agent did not seem at all surprised, and very perfunctorily took down our information and said that BA would reimburse each of us up to 50 pounds for our expenses replacing the necessary toiletries for the next few days. He said that our luggage would probably be delivered later in the day or during the night.
With some difficulty, we find our way from the airport to our hotel. Swedish is very similar to German, which ended up helping enormously because I was able to vaguely understand that the subway that was supposed to take us to our hotel was under renovation and that we had to take a bus transfer instead. We finally get to the hotel around 3:30 or so. Our room is a small, cutterbox-type basic room at a hotel that we found at approximately $70/day – a real find for Scandinavia! – a ways outside the city. Boyfriend and I collapsed immediately upon arrival. I remember lying in the bed and literally not being able to move a muscle. Then I fell into a deep sleep.
We wake up at dusk, around 8 or so, and struggle out of bed and decide to go to the local supermarket, which turned out to be about a 20 minute walk away. The scenery on the way – trees and square and functional apartment buildings, remind me of East Germany, or Israel. Only one lone supermarket was open in the shopping center district. We stocked up on toiletries, yogurts, fruits, and veggies, then carried our purchase back in our backpacks and walked back to the hotel just before darkness fell. We had dinner in the hotel garden and went back to sleep around 10:30 pm.
High point: the airport
Low point: the lack of our luggage.
Day 2 (Friday)
I woke up around 2:30 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. To pass the time, I read Bill Bryson’s essays “Neither Here Nor There,” which is an account of his travels in Europe, starting in Norway, no less. It’s very funny. Boyfriend, who is a much better sleeper than I am, wakes up around 5:30, and we make our way out of the hotel around 7:30. Our luggage, sadly, has not arrived.
We take the bus/metro (which is called the T-Bana here in Swedish) into town. We get out at Gamla Stan, the Stockholm old town, and walk around. Gamla Stan is the classic European center city, with narrow cobble-stoned streets, colorful old houses, touristy shops, town squares, and outdoor cafes. Because it was early, nothing was open yet, so we had the whole quite winding paths to ourselves.
Stockholm is a city built on small islands, and some guidebooks have called it more watery than Venice. Walk in any direction for a few minutes and you’ll likely come upon a harbor, a canal, or a lake. In the early morning sunlight, the entire city was glistening with water and sunlight. The facades of grand old buildings by the water were beautiful and imposing. The view was quite stunning.
Boyfriend, who is still wearing his sweatpants that he wore to the airplane, needs a pair of regular pants urgently. So we found our way to the more commercial parts of the city, the equivalent of 5th Avenue in New York, where hundreds of glitzy, affluent boutiques and department stores opened their doors wide to tourists and shopaholics of all nationalities. We dive into the stores and shop shop shop. I got some urgently needed face lotion and lipstick (my own extensive collection is sadly inaccessible in my lost luggage). Boyfriend got himself a pair of pants.
In case you are wondering, Swedish people are indeed breathtakingly beautiful. Every other person walking down the sidewalk is so gorgeous he/she could be a model. They are tall and trim and blond and tan and glowing with wholesomeness. Never in my life have I felt so short and plain. The men have chiseled faces, and wear narrow pants and expensively cut sweaters or suits. The women are tall, stylish, wide-set eyes, almost whitish blond hair, golden skin, impossibly thin, their almost endless tan legs ending in a pair of understated ballerina flats. Random people are more gorgeous than movie starlets in the United States – the bank attendant, the ticket counter lady, the salesgirl, the ice cream vendor, even the bus driver (a blonde with large, liquid eyes). It’s almost ridiculous. There are women with darker complexions here too, some of them probably southern European immigrants, and they too are often very beautiful. Perhaps the city brings it out in people. Very few people are overweight here.
So, after the shopping, Boyfriend and I sat in the café section of NK, a large and ritzy department store here, and had an excellent shrimp and cottage cheese salad and coffee. After that, my sleeplessness caught up with me, so I went back to the hotel to sleep while Boyfriend wandered around more and met up with his cousin who lives in Stockholm for dinner. I myself napped until after 7, then caught the bus and wandered around in Gamla Stan a bit more. The canals and the old city looked very romantic in the evening, and the streets were filled with pedestrians and street artists. Around 10:30 it got chilly, and I decided to go home.
High point: Evening stroll by the canal.
Low point: having no matching shoes except for my blindingly white sneakers to wear all day long. I miss my luggage!
Day 3 (Saturday)
Still no sign of any luggage.
Once again I got up around 2:30 am and could not fall back asleep, so read my guidebook and the New Yorkers that I brought with me on the trip as reading material.
Weather-wise, the day was as perfect as the previous few days. It is sunny and dry and not too warm but also not too cool. No air-conditioning needed in our hotel room (and there was none). Perfect days to walk outside, which is what Boyfriend and I did for much of today. We walked around in the city center and had coffee and breakfast at a large gourmet market place that we discovered by accident. The food was fresh and delicious (couscous salad, tomatoes, fresh shrimp, broiled beef, plums, and beef teriyaki kebab), though certainly not cheap. Afterwards, a very full Boyfriend and I went across the street to Sweden House to buy a 48-hour Stockholm Card, which entitled us to enter more than 47 museums and use all of the city’s transportation system for no additional cost. We than attacked the city’s museums and attractions like there’s no tomorrow.
First place we went was the royal palace, right outside of Gamla Stan. It’s no Versaille, but there were quite a few rooms to walk through in the royal apartments section, and interesting nonetheless. There were a few interesting exhibits, both within the Royal Palace itself and nearby in the Royal Armory and art museums. We also witnessed an initially interesting but increasingly endless “changing of the guards” ceremony that takes place every day at noon. A lot of loud military music, shouting of orders, and men in military uniforms involved.
Boyfriend and I went to a few other museums after that, and contemplated taking the ferry, but ended up not to and just walked round and round the city, exploring several neighborhoods and neighboring islands. Before this trip, I got a pedometer from this trendy little store, and according to it, we walked more than 30,000 steps yesterday. Not bad.
High point: the royal palace. But the discovery of the gourmet food hall was wonderful as well. We will definitely be back for more.
Low point: Boyfriend losing his Stockholm Card, upsetting me and prompting a serious discussion about his carelessness while sitting on the bank of the island.
Day 4 (Sunday)
I woke up dutifully again around 2:30am, but this time was able to fall asleep again at 4:00 for a couple of hours. Had a lot of weird dreams about law school people.
Boyfriend and I had a leisurely morning and didn’t leave the hotel until after 9, the latest we’ve left yet. We spend some time in the central train station reserving train rides to Copenhagen next week, then debated how to spend our Monday – whether to go to a nearby small town named Uppsala, or to take a ferry to one of the 24,000 small archipelagos surrounding Stockholm and hike. In the end, we decided that Stockholm is way too pleasant and interesting for us to leave and that we should stick around instead. Also, in case we don’t see our luggage again, there’s some shopping that we need to do!
Boyfriend got another Stockholm Card, and we found our way to another of Stockholm’s central islands where there the Nordic Museum, the famous Vasa Museum and a big open air folk museum named Skansen. The Nordic Museum is beautiful, but the exhibits are kind of blah. The Vasa Museum, which features an entire sunken ship from the 17th century that was lifted out of the water and restored, is the coolest thing I have seen so far on this trip. Boyfriend and I spent hours in the museum poring over everything, and just marveling at the size and the beauty of the ship.
We then walked around the park grounds – the entire island consists of a large botanical garden and lovely views of the center city and lots of nice picnicking spots. We ended up eating our food at one of these spots, then strolled along the canals looking at the boats gliding by, the
We are now sitting at one of the cafes in the city that has free Internet access. This evening, we plan to take a cable car lift to the top of a cliff to see Stockholm from a high point.
High point: hands down, the Vasa Museum.
Low point: Learning that I hate, hate, hate herring. Ugh.
Day 1 (Thursday):
We get to Stockholm at 11:30 am local time. Arlanda airport is immaculately beautiful – modern, bright, airy, clean, and the exact opposite from the cramped, ugly, and creakyAmerican Airlines international terminal in JFK. After an extremely hectic time in Heathrow (thanks for nothing, f’ing terrorists!), we were very grateful to arrive at a place where everything seems orderly and under control.
Upon arrival, however, Boyfriend and I discovered with dismay that our luggages did not arrive. The British Airway agent did not seem at all surprised, and very perfunctorily took down our information and said that BA would reimburse each of us up to 50 pounds for our expenses replacing the necessary toiletries for the next few days. He said that our luggage would probably be delivered later in the day or during the night.
With some difficulty, we find our way from the airport to our hotel. Swedish is very similar to German, which ended up helping enormously because I was able to vaguely understand that the subway that was supposed to take us to our hotel was under renovation and that we had to take a bus transfer instead. We finally get to the hotel around 3:30 or so. Our room is a small, cutterbox-type basic room at a hotel that we found at approximately $70/day – a real find for Scandinavia! – a ways outside the city. Boyfriend and I collapsed immediately upon arrival. I remember lying in the bed and literally not being able to move a muscle. Then I fell into a deep sleep.
We wake up at dusk, around 8 or so, and struggle out of bed and decide to go to the local supermarket, which turned out to be about a 20 minute walk away. The scenery on the way – trees and square and functional apartment buildings, remind me of East Germany, or Israel. Only one lone supermarket was open in the shopping center district. We stocked up on toiletries, yogurts, fruits, and veggies, then carried our purchase back in our backpacks and walked back to the hotel just before darkness fell. We had dinner in the hotel garden and went back to sleep around 10:30 pm.
High point: the airport
Low point: the lack of our luggage.
Day 2 (Friday)
I woke up around 2:30 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. To pass the time, I read Bill Bryson’s essays “Neither Here Nor There,” which is an account of his travels in Europe, starting in Norway, no less. It’s very funny. Boyfriend, who is a much better sleeper than I am, wakes up around 5:30, and we make our way out of the hotel around 7:30. Our luggage, sadly, has not arrived.
We take the bus/metro (which is called the T-Bana here in Swedish) into town. We get out at Gamla Stan, the Stockholm old town, and walk around. Gamla Stan is the classic European center city, with narrow cobble-stoned streets, colorful old houses, touristy shops, town squares, and outdoor cafes. Because it was early, nothing was open yet, so we had the whole quite winding paths to ourselves.
Stockholm is a city built on small islands, and some guidebooks have called it more watery than Venice. Walk in any direction for a few minutes and you’ll likely come upon a harbor, a canal, or a lake. In the early morning sunlight, the entire city was glistening with water and sunlight. The facades of grand old buildings by the water were beautiful and imposing. The view was quite stunning.
Boyfriend, who is still wearing his sweatpants that he wore to the airplane, needs a pair of regular pants urgently. So we found our way to the more commercial parts of the city, the equivalent of 5th Avenue in New York, where hundreds of glitzy, affluent boutiques and department stores opened their doors wide to tourists and shopaholics of all nationalities. We dive into the stores and shop shop shop. I got some urgently needed face lotion and lipstick (my own extensive collection is sadly inaccessible in my lost luggage). Boyfriend got himself a pair of pants.
In case you are wondering, Swedish people are indeed breathtakingly beautiful. Every other person walking down the sidewalk is so gorgeous he/she could be a model. They are tall and trim and blond and tan and glowing with wholesomeness. Never in my life have I felt so short and plain. The men have chiseled faces, and wear narrow pants and expensively cut sweaters or suits. The women are tall, stylish, wide-set eyes, almost whitish blond hair, golden skin, impossibly thin, their almost endless tan legs ending in a pair of understated ballerina flats. Random people are more gorgeous than movie starlets in the United States – the bank attendant, the ticket counter lady, the salesgirl, the ice cream vendor, even the bus driver (a blonde with large, liquid eyes). It’s almost ridiculous. There are women with darker complexions here too, some of them probably southern European immigrants, and they too are often very beautiful. Perhaps the city brings it out in people. Very few people are overweight here.
So, after the shopping, Boyfriend and I sat in the café section of NK, a large and ritzy department store here, and had an excellent shrimp and cottage cheese salad and coffee. After that, my sleeplessness caught up with me, so I went back to the hotel to sleep while Boyfriend wandered around more and met up with his cousin who lives in Stockholm for dinner. I myself napped until after 7, then caught the bus and wandered around in Gamla Stan a bit more. The canals and the old city looked very romantic in the evening, and the streets were filled with pedestrians and street artists. Around 10:30 it got chilly, and I decided to go home.
High point: Evening stroll by the canal.
Low point: having no matching shoes except for my blindingly white sneakers to wear all day long. I miss my luggage!
Day 3 (Saturday)
Still no sign of any luggage.
Once again I got up around 2:30 am and could not fall back asleep, so read my guidebook and the New Yorkers that I brought with me on the trip as reading material.
Weather-wise, the day was as perfect as the previous few days. It is sunny and dry and not too warm but also not too cool. No air-conditioning needed in our hotel room (and there was none). Perfect days to walk outside, which is what Boyfriend and I did for much of today. We walked around in the city center and had coffee and breakfast at a large gourmet market place that we discovered by accident. The food was fresh and delicious (couscous salad, tomatoes, fresh shrimp, broiled beef, plums, and beef teriyaki kebab), though certainly not cheap. Afterwards, a very full Boyfriend and I went across the street to Sweden House to buy a 48-hour Stockholm Card, which entitled us to enter more than 47 museums and use all of the city’s transportation system for no additional cost. We than attacked the city’s museums and attractions like there’s no tomorrow.
First place we went was the royal palace, right outside of Gamla Stan. It’s no Versaille, but there were quite a few rooms to walk through in the royal apartments section, and interesting nonetheless. There were a few interesting exhibits, both within the Royal Palace itself and nearby in the Royal Armory and art museums. We also witnessed an initially interesting but increasingly endless “changing of the guards” ceremony that takes place every day at noon. A lot of loud military music, shouting of orders, and men in military uniforms involved.
Boyfriend and I went to a few other museums after that, and contemplated taking the ferry, but ended up not to and just walked round and round the city, exploring several neighborhoods and neighboring islands. Before this trip, I got a pedometer from this trendy little store, and according to it, we walked more than 30,000 steps yesterday. Not bad.
High point: the royal palace. But the discovery of the gourmet food hall was wonderful as well. We will definitely be back for more.
Low point: Boyfriend losing his Stockholm Card, upsetting me and prompting a serious discussion about his carelessness while sitting on the bank of the island.
Day 4 (Sunday)
I woke up dutifully again around 2:30am, but this time was able to fall asleep again at 4:00 for a couple of hours. Had a lot of weird dreams about law school people.
Boyfriend and I had a leisurely morning and didn’t leave the hotel until after 9, the latest we’ve left yet. We spend some time in the central train station reserving train rides to Copenhagen next week, then debated how to spend our Monday – whether to go to a nearby small town named Uppsala, or to take a ferry to one of the 24,000 small archipelagos surrounding Stockholm and hike. In the end, we decided that Stockholm is way too pleasant and interesting for us to leave and that we should stick around instead. Also, in case we don’t see our luggage again, there’s some shopping that we need to do!
Boyfriend got another Stockholm Card, and we found our way to another of Stockholm’s central islands where there the Nordic Museum, the famous Vasa Museum and a big open air folk museum named Skansen. The Nordic Museum is beautiful, but the exhibits are kind of blah. The Vasa Museum, which features an entire sunken ship from the 17th century that was lifted out of the water and restored, is the coolest thing I have seen so far on this trip. Boyfriend and I spent hours in the museum poring over everything, and just marveling at the size and the beauty of the ship.
We then walked around the park grounds – the entire island consists of a large botanical garden and lovely views of the center city and lots of nice picnicking spots. We ended up eating our food at one of these spots, then strolled along the canals looking at the boats gliding by, the
We are now sitting at one of the cafes in the city that has free Internet access. This evening, we plan to take a cable car lift to the top of a cliff to see Stockholm from a high point.
High point: hands down, the Vasa Museum.
Low point: Learning that I hate, hate, hate herring. Ugh.
8/14/2006
Travels
Okay, so I haven't posted for a while. But folks, you ain't seen nothing yet. I have been traveling nearly all of last week, to GenCon in Indianapolis for a few days and hung out with ABS and his Gay-mer friends, and then to DC for a whirlwind visit with Dickie (long time no see!) and shopped 'til we dropped.
AND, this Wednesday I'm flying to Scandinavia with Boyfriend, for three weeks! We are flying through London, which is a little scary.
Ever since I came back Sunday evening, I have been packing furiously. Today Boyfriend and I went out and got a lot of provisions for our trip, including comfy sneakers, snacks, eyemasks, and little bottles that I can put my lotions and creams and shampoos.
Words on the street is that Scandinavia is pretty modern and there are many wireless hotspots, so perhaps I would be able to post every once in a while, but don't be surprised if you don't see me very often.
Here's my approximate itinerary:
Aug 17-20: Stockholm, Sweden
Aug 20-22: Helsinki, Finnland
Aug 22-26: Copenhagen, Denmark
Aug 26-27: Danish countryside
Aug 27-29: Oslo, Norway
Aug 29-31: Bergen, Norway
Sept 1-2: fjords
Sept 3: Bergen - Oslo
Sept 4: Oslo
Sept 5: departure.
School starts on Sept 5, so I'd have to call the registrar and beg them to let me come in a day late, or change my flight. Here's to crossing my fingers.
:D Europe, I missed you!
:( too much to do before I leave!!
AND, this Wednesday I'm flying to Scandinavia with Boyfriend, for three weeks! We are flying through London, which is a little scary.
Ever since I came back Sunday evening, I have been packing furiously. Today Boyfriend and I went out and got a lot of provisions for our trip, including comfy sneakers, snacks, eyemasks, and little bottles that I can put my lotions and creams and shampoos.
Words on the street is that Scandinavia is pretty modern and there are many wireless hotspots, so perhaps I would be able to post every once in a while, but don't be surprised if you don't see me very often.
Here's my approximate itinerary:
Aug 17-20: Stockholm, Sweden
Aug 20-22: Helsinki, Finnland
Aug 22-26: Copenhagen, Denmark
Aug 26-27: Danish countryside
Aug 27-29: Oslo, Norway
Aug 29-31: Bergen, Norway
Sept 1-2: fjords
Sept 3: Bergen - Oslo
Sept 4: Oslo
Sept 5: departure.
School starts on Sept 5, so I'd have to call the registrar and beg them to let me come in a day late, or change my flight. Here's to crossing my fingers.
:D Europe, I missed you!
:( too much to do before I leave!!
8/08/2006
In Shock
Ned Lamont defeated Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut democratic primary! I'm not sure what to say, except that I'm kind of shocked.
Ending. Beginning.
My internship officially ended yesterday. Actually it officially ended last Friday, and I kind of sat in mourning of that this weekend, feeling listless and vaguely sad. But I still had a few things to wrap up -- memos that an attorney assigned to me about 5 weeks ago that had not been finished. So I stayed for one more day.
Saying goodbye to everyone was a bit sad. Thankfully, most of the interns who still remained went to NYC to see an attorney from our office argue in front of the Second Circuit, so I was spared the hugs and the pang of sadness that always came when I had to take my leave. What do you say to people that you'd very much like to see again, but may not, ever? When JG, one of the interns, left us on Thursday, we jokingly said: "Have a good life." But it really wasn't that in appropriate, when you think about it. Would any of us ever see JG again? The chances are slim, though of course not impossible. I suppose if we wanted to we could, but then the currents of life sweeps you along, and you lose the desire to seek out old friends (or acquaintances in this case). Or you forget about them.
But of course, there is always the possiiblity of a chance encounter, on the street, or in court. (Heh.) Someone looked vaguely familiar, but you can't place him. You begin hesitatingly, then "Oh my God! It's you!" "How have you been all these years?" "I'm doing very well too!" Perhaps a real surge of warmth. The guy I hung out with for a summer when I was in my mid-twenties! But more likely awkwardness.
So I said goodbyes to a few attorneys when I left the office at 6. They tried to give me advice. "What do you want to do after law school?" "Yes, it really is a great sacrifice to go into a firm." "Make sure you go into it with your eyes open." "Follow your heart." I spoke to KS and EG and TK and JM. Some of the attorneys had already left, so I was spared of having to say goodbye to them.
I really liked them all -- I would like to see them again someday, but I really am just so bad at goodbyes. They grip me with fear. I am so conscious of a stage of my life ending. Of course this means another stage is beginning, but at least before I settle into it, I approach it with apprehension. I'm not sure what the future will bring. Will I like my 2L year? WIll it be disappointing, now that I'm not on Law Review? Will ABS and I remain close? Will I be at a good firm? Will I make new friends and find new passions and still feel good about myself? Will I finally reach clarity on what I want to do with my life, now that I have advanced inexorably another year towards -- well, death really, but let's call it middle age for now...?
So, that was an ending. Not very dramatic. Anti-climactic really. I gave my ID back to EG. I'm sorry to part with it, because using it to open our super-securitized office doors every morning made me feel proud, that I am a member of this organization fighting crime and immorality. I will miss it here. Perhaps I will return one day.
:D Indianapolis for GenCon tomorrow!
:( Feeling reflective.
Saying goodbye to everyone was a bit sad. Thankfully, most of the interns who still remained went to NYC to see an attorney from our office argue in front of the Second Circuit, so I was spared the hugs and the pang of sadness that always came when I had to take my leave. What do you say to people that you'd very much like to see again, but may not, ever? When JG, one of the interns, left us on Thursday, we jokingly said: "Have a good life." But it really wasn't that in appropriate, when you think about it. Would any of us ever see JG again? The chances are slim, though of course not impossible. I suppose if we wanted to we could, but then the currents of life sweeps you along, and you lose the desire to seek out old friends (or acquaintances in this case). Or you forget about them.
But of course, there is always the possiiblity of a chance encounter, on the street, or in court. (Heh.) Someone looked vaguely familiar, but you can't place him. You begin hesitatingly, then "Oh my God! It's you!" "How have you been all these years?" "I'm doing very well too!" Perhaps a real surge of warmth. The guy I hung out with for a summer when I was in my mid-twenties! But more likely awkwardness.
So I said goodbyes to a few attorneys when I left the office at 6. They tried to give me advice. "What do you want to do after law school?" "Yes, it really is a great sacrifice to go into a firm." "Make sure you go into it with your eyes open." "Follow your heart." I spoke to KS and EG and TK and JM. Some of the attorneys had already left, so I was spared of having to say goodbye to them.
I really liked them all -- I would like to see them again someday, but I really am just so bad at goodbyes. They grip me with fear. I am so conscious of a stage of my life ending. Of course this means another stage is beginning, but at least before I settle into it, I approach it with apprehension. I'm not sure what the future will bring. Will I like my 2L year? WIll it be disappointing, now that I'm not on Law Review? Will ABS and I remain close? Will I be at a good firm? Will I make new friends and find new passions and still feel good about myself? Will I finally reach clarity on what I want to do with my life, now that I have advanced inexorably another year towards -- well, death really, but let's call it middle age for now...?
So, that was an ending. Not very dramatic. Anti-climactic really. I gave my ID back to EG. I'm sorry to part with it, because using it to open our super-securitized office doors every morning made me feel proud, that I am a member of this organization fighting crime and immorality. I will miss it here. Perhaps I will return one day.
:D Indianapolis for GenCon tomorrow!
:( Feeling reflective.
8/05/2006
8/02/2006
Scattergories
Co-intern N hosted a party for the other interns at her house tonight. I showed up about 2 hours late, but brought my game Scattergories, so no one was mad at me.
Here are a few memorable plays for the night:
Category: tools. Letter: G
"Guns"
Category: bad habits. Letter: A
"Abstinence"
(Co-intern JB had some interesting explanation for why he came up with that one, which I shall not repeat here. :) )
Category: bad personality traits. Letter: A.
"Aggressive, passive-"
Category: terms of endearment. Letter: J.
"Jew"
(This last one was dreamt up by N, who is Jewish herself. Otherwise it would have been mildly offensive.)
Category: terms of endearment. Letter: J.
"Ju-ju bean"
There were more than a few iffy ones in there, so just imagine how chaotic it was, with 6 would-be and very much drunk lawyers arguing over whether a word should or should not count in that category. It was a ton of fun.
:D Party, and dropping another pound
:( There are actually two things today:
1). 99 degrees today, with 60% humidity. Holy crap...
2). hung jury in TK's trial! Very surprising.
Here are a few memorable plays for the night:
Category: tools. Letter: G
"Guns"
Category: bad habits. Letter: A
"Abstinence"
(Co-intern JB had some interesting explanation for why he came up with that one, which I shall not repeat here. :) )
Category: bad personality traits. Letter: A.
"Aggressive, passive-"
Category: terms of endearment. Letter: J.
"Jew"
(This last one was dreamt up by N, who is Jewish herself. Otherwise it would have been mildly offensive.)
Category: terms of endearment. Letter: J.
"Ju-ju bean"
There were more than a few iffy ones in there, so just imagine how chaotic it was, with 6 would-be and very much drunk lawyers arguing over whether a word should or should not count in that category. It was a ton of fun.
:D Party, and dropping another pound
:( There are actually two things today:
1). 99 degrees today, with 60% humidity. Holy crap...
2). hung jury in TK's trial! Very surprising.
8/01/2006
Last Week at Work
This week is my last week at the internship. I feel a little sad because I will have to say goodbye to all the nice attorneys and co-interns who I have come to be very fond of. Today was actually the first time I've been in office because yesterday all the interns drove to the State Capital for TK's trial. This is the first time TK is first-chairing a criminal trial, I think, and he did a really good job. Looking at him, I could hardly believe that this was the same boy who was my freshman counselor.
Today I rode in CC's truck to the State Capital again, to hear TK's closing arguments. TK was phenomenal, and afterwards all the interns agreed that the jury would definitely find the defendant guilty. On the way there and back, CC and I had really nice conversations. We found out that we had a lot in common. CC continues to be my favorite person at work (though JS comes in a close second, and MM close behind - oh me and my obsession with ranking things). I really hope I keep in touch with him after the internship (and with the others as well, of course).
After work the interns went to a little Mexican place, and I had a little margarita. The rest of the day I ate only fruits. The weather was brutal today -- 96 degrees. I nearly died when I ran the mile around the W-Square this morning. Near the evening there was a violent thunderstorm, and it cooled down, but only a bit. Nearly died again when I ran my mile in the evening, but very proud of myself. :)
I thought I would feel sadder about my last week at work, but I think I'm still adjusting to the idea - and tired. I'll sort everything out when I have my energy. For now, it'll be an early night in for me.
Also, booked my flight to Indianapolis for GenCon this weekend. I'll be hanging out with ABS and his "gaymers" for 4 days! Then flying over to DC to visit Dickie. Yay.
:D laughing and talking with CC
:( Nothing, really, just tired.
Today I rode in CC's truck to the State Capital again, to hear TK's closing arguments. TK was phenomenal, and afterwards all the interns agreed that the jury would definitely find the defendant guilty. On the way there and back, CC and I had really nice conversations. We found out that we had a lot in common. CC continues to be my favorite person at work (though JS comes in a close second, and MM close behind - oh me and my obsession with ranking things). I really hope I keep in touch with him after the internship (and with the others as well, of course).
After work the interns went to a little Mexican place, and I had a little margarita. The rest of the day I ate only fruits. The weather was brutal today -- 96 degrees. I nearly died when I ran the mile around the W-Square this morning. Near the evening there was a violent thunderstorm, and it cooled down, but only a bit. Nearly died again when I ran my mile in the evening, but very proud of myself. :)
I thought I would feel sadder about my last week at work, but I think I'm still adjusting to the idea - and tired. I'll sort everything out when I have my energy. For now, it'll be an early night in for me.
Also, booked my flight to Indianapolis for GenCon this weekend. I'll be hanging out with ABS and his "gaymers" for 4 days! Then flying over to DC to visit Dickie. Yay.
:D laughing and talking with CC
:( Nothing, really, just tired.
7/31/2006
Fall Courses
Almost forgot to post my fall semester courses, courtesy of the (semi-incompetent) registrar:
- Con Law (5 credits)
- Citizenship: Seminar (2 credits)
- Comparative Con Law (3 credits)
- Globalization (4 credits - maybe)
- Another Seminar or Independent Writing (1 or 2 credits - maybe).
So I got my top three choices, though thinking of dropping globalization, even though it's taught by a super-famous and genius prof, and instead take a few seminars or independent writing course.
My spring semester courses are still a bit up in the air, other than a few "multi-section" courses like corps and admin law. Still not sure whether I really want to take corps.
:D TK's trial today, including his cross-examination of the defendant.
:( still working to take off those 4 lbs.
- Con Law (5 credits)
- Citizenship: Seminar (2 credits)
- Comparative Con Law (3 credits)
- Globalization (4 credits - maybe)
- Another Seminar or Independent Writing (1 or 2 credits - maybe).
So I got my top three choices, though thinking of dropping globalization, even though it's taught by a super-famous and genius prof, and instead take a few seminars or independent writing course.
My spring semester courses are still a bit up in the air, other than a few "multi-section" courses like corps and admin law. Still not sure whether I really want to take corps.
:D TK's trial today, including his cross-examination of the defendant.
:( still working to take off those 4 lbs.
7/30/2006
Weekend with Parents
My parents came to visit me and Boyfriend this weekend. On Friday and Satureday, Boyfriend spent a long time cleaning up the unit next to our apartment, and I spent the evening shopping for groceries, marinating shredded porks, and making a big pot of soup in the small pot. I also tried to make meringue, which turned into the World's Worst Dessert, but we won't go into that. :)
On Satureday, parents arrived around 1 in the afternoon, after a big traffic jam. I had already worked all morning and whipped up 8 dishes on the table, and we proceeded to have a very big and yummy meal. Afterwards, Boyfriend, who wasn't feeling too well, went upstairs to take a nap while I directed my parents to a premium outlet mall in the area, and shopped to our heart's content. I bought a pair of sunglasses; my mom got some shirts, and my dad bought some shoes. All was happy.
We stopped at the grocery store on the way home and brought fresh salad ingredients. I then made a big salad for the four of us, and we had wine with dinner. Parents and I then talked about law school plans sans law review, what I want to do with my life after law school, what firms I want to interview at, etc You know, the perrenial topics. Around 11:00 we called grandma in China and spoke to her briefly.
Boyfriend is really so sweet. Parents and I sometimes speak in Chinese, just because it is the easiest for us. And he just listens patiently, even though he doesn't understand, and sometimes even guesses what we are talking about and chimes in. I found that very amusing. I'm so glad that he gets along with my parents.
Today my parents left around early afternoon, after a lunch at my favorite Thai restaurant and driving around for a bit at the beach. Boyfriend and I drove to a nearby mall and bought a bunch of beach novels, then came back and relaxed.
Some thoughts on reading: I haven't read any fiction for quite some time. Last time I really read was on the vacation to Vermont, when I devoured three books by David Sedaris, which, while funny, were not exactly serious literature. I used to like reading fiction so much, but nowadays I find it hard to really immerse myself in the worlds. If it came too close to my life, it gives me anxiety; if it's too far apart, then it's hard for me to really follow the narrative and to enjoy the plot.
The last "serious" fiction I enjoyed reading was Ishugoro's "Never Let Me Go", and that was a loooong time ago. I liked Jonathan Franzen too, because his books are well-written and easy to read, but he hasn't done anything in recent years. The books I bought today were mostly trashy easy readings, but I included a few serious ones in there too.
I think my inability to enjoy fiction is a sign of my ADD and the fact that I lack much of an "inner life" these days other than thinking about law and my career. This is not good, and I want to change that. By starting to read serious fiction. As soon as I'm done with the trashy novel that I'm reading right now. :)
:D quality time with parents!
:( gained 4 lbs over the weekend. Is this possible?!??!
On Satureday, parents arrived around 1 in the afternoon, after a big traffic jam. I had already worked all morning and whipped up 8 dishes on the table, and we proceeded to have a very big and yummy meal. Afterwards, Boyfriend, who wasn't feeling too well, went upstairs to take a nap while I directed my parents to a premium outlet mall in the area, and shopped to our heart's content. I bought a pair of sunglasses; my mom got some shirts, and my dad bought some shoes. All was happy.
We stopped at the grocery store on the way home and brought fresh salad ingredients. I then made a big salad for the four of us, and we had wine with dinner. Parents and I then talked about law school plans sans law review, what I want to do with my life after law school, what firms I want to interview at, etc You know, the perrenial topics. Around 11:00 we called grandma in China and spoke to her briefly.
Boyfriend is really so sweet. Parents and I sometimes speak in Chinese, just because it is the easiest for us. And he just listens patiently, even though he doesn't understand, and sometimes even guesses what we are talking about and chimes in. I found that very amusing. I'm so glad that he gets along with my parents.
Today my parents left around early afternoon, after a lunch at my favorite Thai restaurant and driving around for a bit at the beach. Boyfriend and I drove to a nearby mall and bought a bunch of beach novels, then came back and relaxed.
Some thoughts on reading: I haven't read any fiction for quite some time. Last time I really read was on the vacation to Vermont, when I devoured three books by David Sedaris, which, while funny, were not exactly serious literature. I used to like reading fiction so much, but nowadays I find it hard to really immerse myself in the worlds. If it came too close to my life, it gives me anxiety; if it's too far apart, then it's hard for me to really follow the narrative and to enjoy the plot.
The last "serious" fiction I enjoyed reading was Ishugoro's "Never Let Me Go", and that was a loooong time ago. I liked Jonathan Franzen too, because his books are well-written and easy to read, but he hasn't done anything in recent years. The books I bought today were mostly trashy easy readings, but I included a few serious ones in there too.
I think my inability to enjoy fiction is a sign of my ADD and the fact that I lack much of an "inner life" these days other than thinking about law and my career. This is not good, and I want to change that. By starting to read serious fiction. As soon as I'm done with the trashy novel that I'm reading right now. :)
:D quality time with parents!
:( gained 4 lbs over the weekend. Is this possible?!??!
7/27/2006
The Defeat of Article III People
Today was the first of three softball games between my office and the office of the court clerks, or whom I affectionately call the Article III people, as opposed to the Article II people, which is us.
About 8-9 attorneys showed up from our office, with their wives and kids. All of the interns from our office except for one showed up. The attendance from the Article III people were much more spotty.
Even though I wasn't going to play, I ended up being the catcher, and swung the bat a few times. Despite not having played softball since Eighth Grade, I managed not to embarass myself terribly and actually hit a few balls. The rest of the time I clumsily caught the balls clumsily to me by the pitcher, and cheered for my teammates.
Some of the attorneys from my office were very athletic and quite impressive. In the end, we defeated the Article III people 21:13. Yes, Article II clearly rocks more than Article III.
The weather was super-humid today. But everyone seemed to have a great time.
:D winning, of course!
:( treked dirt all over the livingroom floor and earning the wrath of Boyfriend.
About 8-9 attorneys showed up from our office, with their wives and kids. All of the interns from our office except for one showed up. The attendance from the Article III people were much more spotty.
Even though I wasn't going to play, I ended up being the catcher, and swung the bat a few times. Despite not having played softball since Eighth Grade, I managed not to embarass myself terribly and actually hit a few balls. The rest of the time I clumsily caught the balls clumsily to me by the pitcher, and cheered for my teammates.
Some of the attorneys from my office were very athletic and quite impressive. In the end, we defeated the Article III people 21:13. Yes, Article II clearly rocks more than Article III.
The weather was super-humid today. But everyone seemed to have a great time.
:D winning, of course!
:( treked dirt all over the livingroom floor and earning the wrath of Boyfriend.
7/25/2006
News
Well, I didn't make law review. I'm disappointed, but have already begun to plan what I'm going to do with my free time for the rest of this summer and next year.
Went on a fieldtrip to a medium-security Federal Correctional Institution today. It was a women's facility, and the inmates actually seemed quite content inside.
:D sashimi
:( Law Review
Went on a fieldtrip to a medium-security Federal Correctional Institution today. It was a women's facility, and the inmates actually seemed quite content inside.
:D sashimi
:( Law Review
7/23/2006
Excellent Weekend
Boyfriend and I had a lot of good food. We ate at an excellent Indian restaurant on Friday evening, and we also cooked a lot on Saturday and Sunday I approximated some Thai recipes (with low-carb twists of my own, of course) and we both had very good food for both of the days. Perhaps in the next few days, when I have time, I'll post some of them here.
We also went shopping both yesterday and today, and I got a very cute Ralph Lauren Polo bikini that was on unbelievable sale, and a pair of gold hoops that was also on sale. Yoohoo for shopohaliism!
Today, there was rain forecasted, but we went to the beach anyway, and the weather actually stayed excellent right until the end. Perhaps because of the fear for rain, the beach was quite empty, and we walked along the sand for a long time, then read my stash of New Yorkers that we haven't had a chance to read. Afterwards, we went to a nearby Starbucks where we read some more, and I sipped a Earl Grey tea.
Felt very at peace with myself today. Hopefully this feeling will stay in the next few days...
:D running to "Survivor" by Destiny's Child.
:( work tomorrow (and I actually do have a lot of work! Yikes.)
We also went shopping both yesterday and today, and I got a very cute Ralph Lauren Polo bikini that was on unbelievable sale, and a pair of gold hoops that was also on sale. Yoohoo for shopohaliism!
Today, there was rain forecasted, but we went to the beach anyway, and the weather actually stayed excellent right until the end. Perhaps because of the fear for rain, the beach was quite empty, and we walked along the sand for a long time, then read my stash of New Yorkers that we haven't had a chance to read. Afterwards, we went to a nearby Starbucks where we read some more, and I sipped a Earl Grey tea.
Felt very at peace with myself today. Hopefully this feeling will stay in the next few days...
:D running to "Survivor" by Destiny's Child.
:( work tomorrow (and I actually do have a lot of work! Yikes.)
7/22/2006
Cure for Insomnia?
Those of you who have read Petite Bourgeoisie long enough know that I am an insomniac. But lately, I have begun running every day for about a mile, and my sleep problem has pretty much gone away on its own. I now feel really tired around 10:00 at night, and go to sleep by about 10:15, and wake up 9 or even 10 hours later. Could it be that exercising has cured my insomnia? Who knows? But it's lovely not waking up feeling tired.
7/20/2006
Deja vu
So, voir dire was really interesting, though it did little to make me more confident in our jury system.
I woke up bright and early yesterday morning (6:30!) to get to the office by 7:30 so TK could give me a ride to the state capitol. He showed up in a sweet little Mercedes two-seater, "spoils from his law firm days," he called it. Ride both there and back was very pleasant, and we talked about alma maters (he went to the same undergrad and law school as me), gossiped about professors, talked about law firms and firm life, and practicing law for the government.
Back to voir dire, apparently, each judge does his jury selection differently, and our particular judge summoned a bunch of jurors (we had 45) to the courtroom, asked them to talk about themselves for 45 seconds, and then the prosecutions and the defense must make their decision about whom to strike and whom to keep based on the little information that they received.
Apparently, this judge is known to be quick among the bar in this state, to the detriment of the selection process, I thought. Other federal judges take more time to ask jurors relevant questions and to feel them out a bit more. In fact, both the prosecution and the defense submitted questions they requested the judge to aks the prospective jurors before voir dire began. But apparently, in this judge's hurry, only one of these questions was asked.
So no one was happy. Both the defense and the prosecution complained privately about the judge afterwards. They thought that his questions were irrelevant and did not at all give them a good idea about the jurors. "Who cares about their personal interests?" TK said to me afterwards. "What we need to know is their attitude towards crime, whether they or anyone they know have ever been a crime victim, whether their friends or close relatives are law enforcement officers or victims."
But, the whole thing was done in about 2.5 hours, much faster than I thought. I was back in N-Town by the middle of the afternoon.
The best part of the day was talking to TK about his former life as a private attorney in a famous New York firm C, S, & M, and his reflections on practicing law as an associate in a big law firm versus being a prosecutor for the government. Both lives have their advantages and disadvantages, although he is definitely enjoying his life and freedom now. We talked on the way there, during lunch, and on the way back. I had a lot of chance to ask my burning questions about a life in law, and I definitely have a better idea about what to expect, and what I want for myself as a lawyer.
I was of course the envy of the interns when I got back -- how lucky was I to see something so cool!
Today, we had a brownbag lunch with a really, really funny FBI agent talk about biochemical weapons (the talk was enough to make me queasy about eating any kind of processed food for a while). He was full of interesting anecdotes and stories, unfortunately not all pleasant.
This affternoon, one of the trials that two of the attorneys from our office worked on had the closing arguments, and I heard one of the best orators I have perhaps heard in my life - attorney DR from our office was just spellbinding. He is normally such a quiet and unassumign man, a bit aloof, that I had never thought he could be such an eloquent speaker. But he was. For 45 minutes, he kept me, the jury, the judge, and everyone else in the court -- even the defendant -- breathless and spellbound. And at the end of the impassioned speech, I was ready to vote whatever way he wanted me to vote. Heck, I was a little in love with the man. Wow, did I ever want to be a litigator like him.
So - perhaps this summer was useful for this. I want to be a litigator -- a trial attorney.
After work today, at my suggestion, 6 of the interns, and one of the other attorney who was working on the same case with the orator DR, came to this neat little bar near my alma mater, and we drank to our internship, the cool weather, the end of the trial, and anything else we could think of. I walked home with MR, a new intern who just joined our office this week and who lives quite close to my house. She split her summer and worked first for a firm in N-Town for 7 weeks, and will now work in my office for another 7 weeks. So she'll be working long after the rest of us are gone.
Lucky her. :)
:D Two glasses of pinot grigio after work. First time I've drunk wine in a week!
:( not much work done today, since I was trial-spectating.
I woke up bright and early yesterday morning (6:30!) to get to the office by 7:30 so TK could give me a ride to the state capitol. He showed up in a sweet little Mercedes two-seater, "spoils from his law firm days," he called it. Ride both there and back was very pleasant, and we talked about alma maters (he went to the same undergrad and law school as me), gossiped about professors, talked about law firms and firm life, and practicing law for the government.
Back to voir dire, apparently, each judge does his jury selection differently, and our particular judge summoned a bunch of jurors (we had 45) to the courtroom, asked them to talk about themselves for 45 seconds, and then the prosecutions and the defense must make their decision about whom to strike and whom to keep based on the little information that they received.
Apparently, this judge is known to be quick among the bar in this state, to the detriment of the selection process, I thought. Other federal judges take more time to ask jurors relevant questions and to feel them out a bit more. In fact, both the prosecution and the defense submitted questions they requested the judge to aks the prospective jurors before voir dire began. But apparently, in this judge's hurry, only one of these questions was asked.
So no one was happy. Both the defense and the prosecution complained privately about the judge afterwards. They thought that his questions were irrelevant and did not at all give them a good idea about the jurors. "Who cares about their personal interests?" TK said to me afterwards. "What we need to know is their attitude towards crime, whether they or anyone they know have ever been a crime victim, whether their friends or close relatives are law enforcement officers or victims."
But, the whole thing was done in about 2.5 hours, much faster than I thought. I was back in N-Town by the middle of the afternoon.
The best part of the day was talking to TK about his former life as a private attorney in a famous New York firm C, S, & M, and his reflections on practicing law as an associate in a big law firm versus being a prosecutor for the government. Both lives have their advantages and disadvantages, although he is definitely enjoying his life and freedom now. We talked on the way there, during lunch, and on the way back. I had a lot of chance to ask my burning questions about a life in law, and I definitely have a better idea about what to expect, and what I want for myself as a lawyer.
I was of course the envy of the interns when I got back -- how lucky was I to see something so cool!
Today, we had a brownbag lunch with a really, really funny FBI agent talk about biochemical weapons (the talk was enough to make me queasy about eating any kind of processed food for a while). He was full of interesting anecdotes and stories, unfortunately not all pleasant.
This affternoon, one of the trials that two of the attorneys from our office worked on had the closing arguments, and I heard one of the best orators I have perhaps heard in my life - attorney DR from our office was just spellbinding. He is normally such a quiet and unassumign man, a bit aloof, that I had never thought he could be such an eloquent speaker. But he was. For 45 minutes, he kept me, the jury, the judge, and everyone else in the court -- even the defendant -- breathless and spellbound. And at the end of the impassioned speech, I was ready to vote whatever way he wanted me to vote. Heck, I was a little in love with the man. Wow, did I ever want to be a litigator like him.
So - perhaps this summer was useful for this. I want to be a litigator -- a trial attorney.
After work today, at my suggestion, 6 of the interns, and one of the other attorney who was working on the same case with the orator DR, came to this neat little bar near my alma mater, and we drank to our internship, the cool weather, the end of the trial, and anything else we could think of. I walked home with MR, a new intern who just joined our office this week and who lives quite close to my house. She split her summer and worked first for a firm in N-Town for 7 weeks, and will now work in my office for another 7 weeks. So she'll be working long after the rest of us are gone.
Lucky her. :)
:D Two glasses of pinot grigio after work. First time I've drunk wine in a week!
:( not much work done today, since I was trial-spectating.
7/18/2006
Voir Dire
Voir Dire is a legal term that basically means "selection of jury". A case for which I have done a few research projects is going to trial, and tomorrow we are selecting the jury in the state capitol. And the attorneys who are prosecuting the case asked me to accompany them!
So, I have to get up at 6:30, and ride with TK, my former freshman counselor who also happens to be the attorney who is doing the case. I have never seen a voir dire before and can barely contain my excitement.
Otherwise my day was filled with work. I was working really hard on my research assignments and got quite a lot done, and had really good conversations with two of the attorneys about my legal research. I am still amazed that the "adults" here in the office still take us interns' opinions seriously, but they really do listen and engage with us. It's a great work environment.
In other news, apparently, our little flyer action yesterday in W-Square has triggered a bit of neighborly reaction. Boyfriend had a long conversation today with a neighbor about the assault. Apparently, the teenagers attacked not only him but also another old lady. There have also been other random acts of vandalism and theft on the rise in the square, and many are concerned and angry.
Anger is good! Anger is a great motivator and gets things done. Tonight, for example, there is a town hall meeting about exactly the problem of crime in our neighborhood. If Boyfriend and I had known about it in time, we would totally have gone too.
Yay for citizen action!
:D Knocked out two projects!
:( Lebanonese civilian casualties.
So, I have to get up at 6:30, and ride with TK, my former freshman counselor who also happens to be the attorney who is doing the case. I have never seen a voir dire before and can barely contain my excitement.
Otherwise my day was filled with work. I was working really hard on my research assignments and got quite a lot done, and had really good conversations with two of the attorneys about my legal research. I am still amazed that the "adults" here in the office still take us interns' opinions seriously, but they really do listen and engage with us. It's a great work environment.
In other news, apparently, our little flyer action yesterday in W-Square has triggered a bit of neighborly reaction. Boyfriend had a long conversation today with a neighbor about the assault. Apparently, the teenagers attacked not only him but also another old lady. There have also been other random acts of vandalism and theft on the rise in the square, and many are concerned and angry.
Anger is good! Anger is a great motivator and gets things done. Tonight, for example, there is a town hall meeting about exactly the problem of crime in our neighborhood. If Boyfriend and I had known about it in time, we would totally have gone too.
Yay for citizen action!
:D Knocked out two projects!
:( Lebanonese civilian casualties.
7/17/2006
Updates
Thanks to all of you who emailed me out of concerns about Boyfriend! He is fine, and my heart is also tres warmed.
I had the idea this morning that Boyfriend and I should post flyers around the square where he was assaulted, describing the incident and asking any witnesses to the event or anyone who can identify his attackers to step forward and contact the police. Of course the chances of anyone coming forward is remote, but there are a few reasons why I thought it's good to post the flyers.
1. The teenagers who attacked Boyfriend seem to hang out at the square after dark. This flyer would serve to let them know that their would-be victims would not be victimized lying down.
2. It would warn others who are in the square after dark to be careful.
3. It might rally the neighborhood and remind the other neighbors that we are a community and that it is up to all of us to try and make the neighborhood safe. So that next time someone is attacked or a crime is committed, perhaps the bystanders will step forward and help.
So, here is the final text of the flyer that Boyfriend and I ended up using. This evening (before dark of course), while I jogged in the 90 degree weather, Boyfriend went around the square and put them up with tacks.
"ATTACK IN W-SQUARE
On Sunday at 9:30 pm, one of our neighbors was assaulted without provocation by three or four male, African American teens. The attack occurred at the corner of A-Street and CH-Street, after which the youths were seen running up C- Street, turning right onto O- and into the entrance of the XXX Apartments. This crime has been reported to the police, who is taking the matter seriously and has opened an investigation.
If you can identify the individuals who committed the assault, or can provide any information relating to this assault or these individuals, please contact N-Town City Police Officer P--- K---, at (###) ###-####.
Those who commit crimes of violence use our fear and apathy against us. It is up to us to make our neighborhood safe and free of violence. If you are walking in W- Square after dark, please use your vigilance. If you see a crime being committed against one of our neighbors, please help!"
Consider that my little civic moment of the day.
:D Affable senior judge from the Circuit Court joined the interns for a very entertaining lunch!
:( 100 degree weather!
I had the idea this morning that Boyfriend and I should post flyers around the square where he was assaulted, describing the incident and asking any witnesses to the event or anyone who can identify his attackers to step forward and contact the police. Of course the chances of anyone coming forward is remote, but there are a few reasons why I thought it's good to post the flyers.
1. The teenagers who attacked Boyfriend seem to hang out at the square after dark. This flyer would serve to let them know that their would-be victims would not be victimized lying down.
2. It would warn others who are in the square after dark to be careful.
3. It might rally the neighborhood and remind the other neighbors that we are a community and that it is up to all of us to try and make the neighborhood safe. So that next time someone is attacked or a crime is committed, perhaps the bystanders will step forward and help.
So, here is the final text of the flyer that Boyfriend and I ended up using. This evening (before dark of course), while I jogged in the 90 degree weather, Boyfriend went around the square and put them up with tacks.
"ATTACK IN W-SQUARE
On Sunday at 9:30 pm, one of our neighbors was assaulted without provocation by three or four male, African American teens. The attack occurred at the corner of A-Street and CH-Street, after which the youths were seen running up C- Street, turning right onto O- and into the entrance of the XXX Apartments. This crime has been reported to the police, who is taking the matter seriously and has opened an investigation.
If you can identify the individuals who committed the assault, or can provide any information relating to this assault or these individuals, please contact N-Town City Police Officer P--- K---, at (###) ###-####.
Those who commit crimes of violence use our fear and apathy against us. It is up to us to make our neighborhood safe and free of violence. If you are walking in W- Square after dark, please use your vigilance. If you see a crime being committed against one of our neighbors, please help!"
Consider that my little civic moment of the day.
:D Affable senior judge from the Circuit Court joined the interns for a very entertaining lunch!
:( 100 degree weather!
7/16/2006
Crime Blotter
Boyfriend was assaulted this evening around 10:00 pm by a group of black teenagers while walking in the square next to our house and talking to his nephew on the phone. He is okay, though a bit shaken up. The police was called, but did not catch the teenagers, who were apparently just doing this for sport (they didn't attempt to mug him or anything. Apparently the assault was just for sport.)
This is quite an upsetting ending to what is otherwise a very nice weekend. Perhaps a sign that crime in N-Town is on the rise again and safety down?
:D lots of cooking and eating today.
:( If you have read my post, you can guess.
This is quite an upsetting ending to what is otherwise a very nice weekend. Perhaps a sign that crime in N-Town is on the rise again and safety down?
:D lots of cooking and eating today.
:( If you have read my post, you can guess.
Lost in "Lost"
My primary activity today, other than dealing with my angst, was watching 4 episodes of Lost with Boyfriend. We just finished watching the First Season. Wow. What a great show. Can't wait to download the Second Season from iTunes and discuss with ABS!
7/15/2006
My Little Mid-Life Crisis
I've been buying a lot of clothes lately, which is usually a sign that I'm anxious about something, although I try to tell myself that it's because of "work" and "summer" (most of my clothes are in C-Town and although Boyfriend and I meant to, we haven't been back once this summer to retrieve the things that I thought I would retrive once summer began.)
The past few days I didn't sleep very well, although I felt fine at work.
I feel restless and anxious, like I have some urgent things on my mind, though I can't figure out what they are. I think it was the conversation with KS on Tuesday that affected me. KS went to exactly the same undergraduate and law school as I had, so I felt a bit of alumni kinship with him. (He also went to the same ritzy private school in DC that Dickie went to). On the way back from the polygraph test, I asked him how long it had been since he had worked in my office. He said since 1998. He started out his career working for a prominent DC firm that does primarily litigation, then decided to move with his wife to this area because they wanted to start a family. He first worked in a small practice that he started with some other folks. (This part I didn't really quite follow, but I didn't' want to interrupt his flow). I think it was his wife who first got a job in my office. He worked then for a small firm right in the city, then went over to this office too. I think his wife is no long working in the office, though once again I'm not sure.
It's how he describes his current life that struck me. He described working for the DC firm as "very lucrative, but some of the work you do is not necessarily pleasant." I had heard this before, of course. But then, he said: "and now, the money is not too bad. I can support a nice home close to the water."
(I of course immediately went and looked up his address and google-earthed it to see how close to the water it really was. And it WAS close to the water -- it was the second house down from a large public beach near N-Town.)
Then, just as we walked into our office building, he said: "Of course, now I have to decide if I want to send my kids to private school. If so, then I have to figure something out."
Perhaps it's because I feel a bit of kinship with this person that I was so struck by his concerns. I guess in a flash I looked at the stuff that I'm likely to be thinking 15, 20 years down the road, and I suddenly felt suffocated. It's like looking at a life and thinking: do I want this? What do I want? A nice house by the beach in the suburbs; 2 kids that I can send to private school; working in a small colleagial office, doing financial ligitation and winning a few cases. Isn't that a good life? A life that most people would die to have?
But why do I feel so soffocated thinking about it? Thinking: That's IT? That's what my life is going to be like? It's a view down a predictable, safe path, one that I know will make me reasonably happy, probably, but one that also terrifies me. Will I get bored? Will I be disappointed? Will I feel trapped? Will I envy those with more money or success than me? But even if I had chosen THEIR life, would I then regret not spending more time with my family, my children. Do I even want children? Would I want to be tied down like that and take over the terrifying responsibility? Would I be happy with ANY kind of life? But what kind of life do I really want? And would it be too late to change if I realized that I was wrong?
:D large dungeness crabs with vinegar, ginger, and garlic sauce
:( angst.
The past few days I didn't sleep very well, although I felt fine at work.
I feel restless and anxious, like I have some urgent things on my mind, though I can't figure out what they are. I think it was the conversation with KS on Tuesday that affected me. KS went to exactly the same undergraduate and law school as I had, so I felt a bit of alumni kinship with him. (He also went to the same ritzy private school in DC that Dickie went to). On the way back from the polygraph test, I asked him how long it had been since he had worked in my office. He said since 1998. He started out his career working for a prominent DC firm that does primarily litigation, then decided to move with his wife to this area because they wanted to start a family. He first worked in a small practice that he started with some other folks. (This part I didn't really quite follow, but I didn't' want to interrupt his flow). I think it was his wife who first got a job in my office. He worked then for a small firm right in the city, then went over to this office too. I think his wife is no long working in the office, though once again I'm not sure.
It's how he describes his current life that struck me. He described working for the DC firm as "very lucrative, but some of the work you do is not necessarily pleasant." I had heard this before, of course. But then, he said: "and now, the money is not too bad. I can support a nice home close to the water."
(I of course immediately went and looked up his address and google-earthed it to see how close to the water it really was. And it WAS close to the water -- it was the second house down from a large public beach near N-Town.)
Then, just as we walked into our office building, he said: "Of course, now I have to decide if I want to send my kids to private school. If so, then I have to figure something out."
Perhaps it's because I feel a bit of kinship with this person that I was so struck by his concerns. I guess in a flash I looked at the stuff that I'm likely to be thinking 15, 20 years down the road, and I suddenly felt suffocated. It's like looking at a life and thinking: do I want this? What do I want? A nice house by the beach in the suburbs; 2 kids that I can send to private school; working in a small colleagial office, doing financial ligitation and winning a few cases. Isn't that a good life? A life that most people would die to have?
But why do I feel so soffocated thinking about it? Thinking: That's IT? That's what my life is going to be like? It's a view down a predictable, safe path, one that I know will make me reasonably happy, probably, but one that also terrifies me. Will I get bored? Will I be disappointed? Will I feel trapped? Will I envy those with more money or success than me? But even if I had chosen THEIR life, would I then regret not spending more time with my family, my children. Do I even want children? Would I want to be tied down like that and take over the terrifying responsibility? Would I be happy with ANY kind of life? But what kind of life do I really want? And would it be too late to change if I realized that I was wrong?
:D large dungeness crabs with vinegar, ginger, and garlic sauce
:( angst.
7/14/2006
Madness
Oy... What is going on at the Israel-Lebanon border? I hope this doesn't turn into a full-fledged war.
7/11/2006
Today
Today a man accused of child molestation was found guilty by 12 jurors on all counts. He is going to go away for a long, long time.
Today one of the attorneys from my office, KS, took me to the FBI building, where I saw for the first time an FBI agent performing a lie detector test. It was a very interesting experience. The agent was very charming, very authoritative, and I seriously felt that if it was me in the room, I would have told the truth immediately.
Today I submitted my course selection once again, before this Friday when the bids are all due. I won't bore you with the details once again. My top three choices are: citizenship seminar, comparative con law, and globalization of law in historical perspective. ABS commented that my course selection looks very international law and comparative law heavy.
Today I did nearly no work, once again. Between the polygraph test (4 hours) and the verdict (1 hour) I was only able to squeeze in a little bit of research and some scanning.
Today I feel slightly depressed. Perhaps it's realizing that my summer internship has only 3.5 weeks left, and that I will miss here a lot. Perhaps it's seeing so many life-changing decisions being made every day where you really get a sense of how quickly someone's life can go down the drains. Perhaps it's feeling the gravity of the decisions I'll have to make in the months ahead. What firm do I want to interview with? What kind of job do I want? This summer, after all, is just a stopping place. I thought I was sick of N-Town when I left. I never thought that I would become so fond of it again, and so filled with regret that I will leave soon.
Perhaps it's a bit early for retrospectives, but this summer I got a lot more excited about practicing law, and about associating with other lawyers. I feel pretty good that our judicial system is being run by this group of dedicated, good-hearted, (perhaps a little too morally extremely but really doing their best) and multi-talented practitioners.
:D KS
:( Feeling suddenly as if the summer is about to end.
Today one of the attorneys from my office, KS, took me to the FBI building, where I saw for the first time an FBI agent performing a lie detector test. It was a very interesting experience. The agent was very charming, very authoritative, and I seriously felt that if it was me in the room, I would have told the truth immediately.
Today I submitted my course selection once again, before this Friday when the bids are all due. I won't bore you with the details once again. My top three choices are: citizenship seminar, comparative con law, and globalization of law in historical perspective. ABS commented that my course selection looks very international law and comparative law heavy.
Today I did nearly no work, once again. Between the polygraph test (4 hours) and the verdict (1 hour) I was only able to squeeze in a little bit of research and some scanning.
Today I feel slightly depressed. Perhaps it's realizing that my summer internship has only 3.5 weeks left, and that I will miss here a lot. Perhaps it's seeing so many life-changing decisions being made every day where you really get a sense of how quickly someone's life can go down the drains. Perhaps it's feeling the gravity of the decisions I'll have to make in the months ahead. What firm do I want to interview with? What kind of job do I want? This summer, after all, is just a stopping place. I thought I was sick of N-Town when I left. I never thought that I would become so fond of it again, and so filled with regret that I will leave soon.
Perhaps it's a bit early for retrospectives, but this summer I got a lot more excited about practicing law, and about associating with other lawyers. I feel pretty good that our judicial system is being run by this group of dedicated, good-hearted, (perhaps a little too morally extremely but really doing their best) and multi-talented practitioners.
:D KS
:( Feeling suddenly as if the summer is about to end.
7/09/2006
What I did this weekend
Saturday: eccentric but entertaining First Year Lawyering instructor, W, who chatted with me on a number of occasions and who became friendly with me, emailed me and said that he was in N-Town and wanted to hang out. So Saturday night, I went out with him and a bunch of his friends (all failed academics somehow), along with some random guy one of his friends brought, who is from Sudan and teaching Arabic at my alma mater, and who claimed that he's a prince, and who is having a lot of trouble picking up American women. We first went to hang out a bit at my old huant the Graduate Student Bar, on one of its deadiest night ever, then went out to a much more happenin' Irish bar.
I got to witness W engage in some very un-professorial behavior, mainly consisting of expounding endlessly on how to pick up women. He was determined to hook up the Sudanese with someone, and got to work looking for a date for him among the clubgoers. Amidst this boredom, I ran into CC and was overjoyed to have an excuse to be away from W et al. for a bit, though W relentlessly tracked me down. But CC and I managed to have some nice conversations.
Eventually, some woman W met on the dance floor invited him and friends to this strip club nearby. That was when I bailed, walked 5 blocks to where I parked my car, and drove home half-drunk. Not a good idea in general, but thankfully I got home safely. :)
Sunday: got up at 8, and drove to Six Flags around 10, where I met up with J and her husband, and went on a gazillion rides. My favorite? Superman. You have to experience it to understand how awesomely fast and insane it was.
The weather was perfect today -- clear, breezy, a bit on the hot side but not in the shades. We went on many water rides as well as rollercoasters to keep ourselves cool.
This was the first time I saw J all summer. She was busy preparing for her brother-in-law's wedding (where she was supposed to perform an Indian dance), and also to prepare to go to Cambodia for 5 weeks doing research.
We also exchanged belated birthday gifts. J gave me a pair of earrings and a necklace that she made herself. It was so sweet.
:D I lost 4 lbs since last week! Hopefully it's not all waterweight. I'm determined more than ever to lose the 10 lbs I gained in law school.
:( I miss ice cream.
I got to witness W engage in some very un-professorial behavior, mainly consisting of expounding endlessly on how to pick up women. He was determined to hook up the Sudanese with someone, and got to work looking for a date for him among the clubgoers. Amidst this boredom, I ran into CC and was overjoyed to have an excuse to be away from W et al. for a bit, though W relentlessly tracked me down. But CC and I managed to have some nice conversations.
Eventually, some woman W met on the dance floor invited him and friends to this strip club nearby. That was when I bailed, walked 5 blocks to where I parked my car, and drove home half-drunk. Not a good idea in general, but thankfully I got home safely. :)
Sunday: got up at 8, and drove to Six Flags around 10, where I met up with J and her husband, and went on a gazillion rides. My favorite? Superman. You have to experience it to understand how awesomely fast and insane it was.
The weather was perfect today -- clear, breezy, a bit on the hot side but not in the shades. We went on many water rides as well as rollercoasters to keep ourselves cool.
This was the first time I saw J all summer. She was busy preparing for her brother-in-law's wedding (where she was supposed to perform an Indian dance), and also to prepare to go to Cambodia for 5 weeks doing research.
We also exchanged belated birthday gifts. J gave me a pair of earrings and a necklace that she made herself. It was so sweet.
:D I lost 4 lbs since last week! Hopefully it's not all waterweight. I'm determined more than ever to lose the 10 lbs I gained in law school.
:( I miss ice cream.
7/07/2006
Some Photos from the North
Here are some photos I took last weekend in the countryside in Vermont.
I loved the chickens roaming free on the farm. They are always looking for food and follow people around, and they seem so happy.
A little country inn we passed by. We were tempted to stay there, but already had reservations elsewhere
Sitting in the sun room in the afternoon with a glass of raspberry wine, reading David Sedaris. Heaven.
A new friend peeks out!
This is where we stayed: a little B&B on a farm overlooking a hill...
... and very aptly named.
Evening falls from the air...
Bath by the window.
Northern trees.
Bridge over a stream in the woods. The water was calm.
Moose country.
Poetry walk. We are in Frost Country.
A little waterfall.
Whose woods these are I think I know...
I loved the chickens roaming free on the farm. They are always looking for food and follow people around, and they seem so happy.
A little country inn we passed by. We were tempted to stay there, but already had reservations elsewhere
Sitting in the sun room in the afternoon with a glass of raspberry wine, reading David Sedaris. Heaven.
A new friend peeks out!
This is where we stayed: a little B&B on a farm overlooking a hill...
... and very aptly named.
Evening falls from the air...
Bath by the window.
Northern trees.
Bridge over a stream in the woods. The water was calm.
Moose country.
Poetry walk. We are in Frost Country.
A little waterfall.
Whose woods these are I think I know...
7/05/2006
Bowling!
Work was stressful today. Since I hardly did any work on my vacation, today everything crashed down on me with full force. At 2:30 I had to meet one of the attorneys and discuss this project I've been researching. So spent my morning and early afternoon preparing for that. I ended up meeting with him for an hour and a half discussing where the project should head. It was exhausting, and I was basically a vegetable for the rest of the afternoon.
The meeting is going to continue tomorrow afternoon. Sigh...
After work, went shopping with Boyfriend and got a pair of pearl earrings. Then came back and took a shower, and drove out to a bowling alley about 20 minutes from my house, where some interns and their friends have scheduled a big match. I have only bowled once in my life before, with AC, S, et al, and I am really not very good. But it was a ton of fun, and people were very complimentary, and my score wasn't half bad.
One of the interns, CC, who is actually one of my favorite person at work, has his own bowling ball. He is an awesome bowler, who just seems to casually throw his ball on the lane, and the ball somehow curves around and hit all the pins. And even if it doesn't, he just casually throws the ball on the lane again, and it would head straight to the stray pin. It was pretty awesome.
We divided the team up into law students and non-law students, and we won two games out of three. It might have had something to do with the fact that there are four people on the law student team and only three on the non-law team, but the three were all strong, beefy guys who hurled the bowling ball the way Zeus hurled his thunderbolt. Plus, the law student team had me, which gave them a bit of a handicap. I think under the circumstances, it's pretty amazing that we won.
I drove my co-intern N home again. On the way, a police car began flashing its lights. I thought for sure I was speeding, and sat in my car trying to remember all the things that the police was and was not allowed to do during a "stop," and how I would politely but firmly refuse if they wanted to search my trunk (which, being a hatchback, the car sadly lacks). But the policeman only pointed out that the registration of the car has expired, and after I told him that the car belonged to my boyfriend, he just bade me good night and waved me off.
Oh well, I guess I won't be experiencing a live crim pro demonstration after all.
I was still a little freaked out on the way home, but N squealed with delight. In restrospect, that was a pretty neat ending to our night.
By the way, I finally saw "March of the Penguins" last night. I know that I'm a few months too late, but it was an awesome, awesome film. Absolutely loved it. Penguins are now officially my favorite birds.
:D Seeing CC's awesome bowling skillz.
:( zit on right cheek, and the 100% humidity.
The meeting is going to continue tomorrow afternoon. Sigh...
After work, went shopping with Boyfriend and got a pair of pearl earrings. Then came back and took a shower, and drove out to a bowling alley about 20 minutes from my house, where some interns and their friends have scheduled a big match. I have only bowled once in my life before, with AC, S, et al, and I am really not very good. But it was a ton of fun, and people were very complimentary, and my score wasn't half bad.
One of the interns, CC, who is actually one of my favorite person at work, has his own bowling ball. He is an awesome bowler, who just seems to casually throw his ball on the lane, and the ball somehow curves around and hit all the pins. And even if it doesn't, he just casually throws the ball on the lane again, and it would head straight to the stray pin. It was pretty awesome.
We divided the team up into law students and non-law students, and we won two games out of three. It might have had something to do with the fact that there are four people on the law student team and only three on the non-law team, but the three were all strong, beefy guys who hurled the bowling ball the way Zeus hurled his thunderbolt. Plus, the law student team had me, which gave them a bit of a handicap. I think under the circumstances, it's pretty amazing that we won.
I drove my co-intern N home again. On the way, a police car began flashing its lights. I thought for sure I was speeding, and sat in my car trying to remember all the things that the police was and was not allowed to do during a "stop," and how I would politely but firmly refuse if they wanted to search my trunk (which, being a hatchback, the car sadly lacks). But the policeman only pointed out that the registration of the car has expired, and after I told him that the car belonged to my boyfriend, he just bade me good night and waved me off.
Oh well, I guess I won't be experiencing a live crim pro demonstration after all.
I was still a little freaked out on the way home, but N squealed with delight. In restrospect, that was a pretty neat ending to our night.
By the way, I finally saw "March of the Penguins" last night. I know that I'm a few months too late, but it was an awesome, awesome film. Absolutely loved it. Penguins are now officially my favorite birds.
:D Seeing CC's awesome bowling skillz.
:( zit on right cheek, and the 100% humidity.
7/04/2006
Happy Independence Day
Sorry that I have been AWOL for the past few days. Boyfriend and I spent our 4-day long weekend on a B&B farm in Vermont, without Internet access, and had a fantastic time.
I have taken a lot of photos this weekend, and will post them as soon as I find the necessary cables to download from my camera. For now, I have to go recuperate from today's long drive home.
:D donkeys!
:( work tomorrow!
I have taken a lot of photos this weekend, and will post them as soon as I find the necessary cables to download from my camera. For now, I have to go recuperate from today's long drive home.
:D donkeys!
:( work tomorrow!
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