Duke's west campus looked just like the gothic architecture of Yale and Princeton. Some girl stood up from the front row (the only one in that row) and asked a question during the info session which consisted of a 5 minute and 37 second description of her life, ranging from her move from China to America 2 years ago, how she knew little English, only 500 words, she has a 5.03 GPA, 8 AP classes, was on a tv show, volunteers to help tutor kids, etc. For over 5 minutes! The whole room was laughing in disbelief the whole time. The speaker was trying to get her to stop talking and figure out what her question was. Finally after almost 6 minutes of this girl's life story, she finally spits out "so what my question is, is since my SAT scores are low, can I still get in?" The speaker just stares at her, open-mouthed, and repeated what she had said multiple times-- the admissions office looks at each applicant with a holistic perspective. The girl then promptly sat down, and continued to stare wide-eyed and dumb-founded back up at the speaker from the front row. This was pretty much the core message we got from each college. When they receive each application, they are looking for a good student, a good friend, and a good person. There is not one, singular thing put on the application that makes or breaks an admission choice. Everything matters, everything counts, but it’s the whole picture, the person’s essence, their personality, their attitude, their aptitude, their accomplishments, their achievements, their hopes, and their dreams, that’s what makes the difference between whether a student receives a thin or fat envelope.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Day 8: Duke University and the University of North Carolina
After breakfast we drove the short distance to the Duke campus and had a terrific information session to wake us up. Happened to sit next to a family from Winnetka.
The tour started with the center point of the West campus, the Duke Chapel. There were weddings going on there all day so we didn't go inside, but it was very similar to Princeton's chapel in size and design. In fact, most of the West campus seemed to be patterned after Princeton. Duke began as a Methodist University but gave up its religious affiliation long ago. One legacy in its charter, though, is that if the University erects a building that exceeds the Chapel in height, the University's endowment will be forfeited.
In the middle of all the Gothic, even inside it and adjoining it, is some soaring contemporary, like this new cafe tucked off the main reading room of the main library.
Princeton? Duke? Yale? Hard to tell. The East campus, which was not shown on the tour, was not nearly as nicely done...in fact, one could say that the freshman class is kind of dumped over there to live in secondary buildings until they move up and are allowed to join the upperclassmen, for living quarters at least.
We've seen a mixed bag of old and new classrooms throughout the trip, but none more modern than this lecture hall which was completely wired for students with computers including electrical outlet pop-ups in the tables.
The quads were quiet and beautiful.
And the upperclass dorms were arranged in enclosed quads, almost like residential colleges except that the frats and sororities inhabit the dorms as well; there are no separate frat houses.
The athletic facilities are adjacent to campus, including Cameron Indoor Stadium, where the Dooookies play basketball.
Josh was very happy standing on the court. Even took a virtual free throw from the line.
Our tour guide said that Duke was rated second overall for student food options, and we saw some signs of that like this smoothie and coffee bar. Maybe because it was a Saturday in summer, but our food options at the student center were limited to McDonald's; unfortunately the Armadillo was closed.
Also adjacent to campus are the stunningly beautiful Sarah Duke Gardens, which features large lawns to sunbathe on, ringed by formal gardens. There's also Duke Forest, a huge preserve with biking and running trails. Good deal.
We finished up back at Admissions, which was worth a picture itself.
The University of North Carolina was 30 minutes away in Chapel Hill. They didn't offer tours on Saturday, but we went anyway to get a t-shirt from Michael Jordan-land and to at least take a quick look around. Stopped at the bookstore and got a map while we bought the shirt, then went off on foot for a few quads worth of buildings. The Bell Tower is a focal point, sitting between the classrooms buildings and the athletic facilities.
The architecture was mostly undistinguished red-brick Georgian, looked like from the early 20th century...almost as if a series of elementary school buildings were arranged around each other. There were some nice surprises, though, like the original Library...
...and a few nicely weathered brick buildings.
The drinking fountain at the bottom of one of the main quads is featured in just about every piece of promotional material the University publishes.
This part of campus was very nice. And just in case you forget you're in the South, there's a memorial to the soldiers who fell for the Confederacy...the inscription remarks on the Great War of 1861-1865...and on the soldier's canteen, the letters C.S.A.
Back at the car a family from Virginia asked us for directions to the Dean Smith Center where North Carolina plays basketball, so we decided to try to take a look too. The doors were locked but we ended up chatting with the family for a few minutes, very interesting. The father was retired Army, with a son at West Point and a daughter who was vacillating between Navy, Air Force, and regular colleges. She was at Duke earlier today like we were...Josh is going to meet all kinds of new people if he ends up at one of these places.
And with that, we were done. Seven campuses on this trip, 1500 miles of driving...it was all quite enough. Came back to the hotel, rested and blogged, going out to dinner soon, then back to pack. Our flight is late morning tomorrow, and we've received our first class upgrades again. Should get lunch on board, but I wouldn't be surprised if we sleep right through it. So now the fun part of the college search is over, all the visiting...and now for the hard part...the evaluating, the essays, and then the decisions. Josh, it's all yours...go for it.
The tour started with the center point of the West campus, the Duke Chapel. There were weddings going on there all day so we didn't go inside, but it was very similar to Princeton's chapel in size and design. In fact, most of the West campus seemed to be patterned after Princeton. Duke began as a Methodist University but gave up its religious affiliation long ago. One legacy in its charter, though, is that if the University erects a building that exceeds the Chapel in height, the University's endowment will be forfeited.
In the middle of all the Gothic, even inside it and adjoining it, is some soaring contemporary, like this new cafe tucked off the main reading room of the main library.
Princeton? Duke? Yale? Hard to tell. The East campus, which was not shown on the tour, was not nearly as nicely done...in fact, one could say that the freshman class is kind of dumped over there to live in secondary buildings until they move up and are allowed to join the upperclassmen, for living quarters at least.
We've seen a mixed bag of old and new classrooms throughout the trip, but none more modern than this lecture hall which was completely wired for students with computers including electrical outlet pop-ups in the tables.
The quads were quiet and beautiful.
And the upperclass dorms were arranged in enclosed quads, almost like residential colleges except that the frats and sororities inhabit the dorms as well; there are no separate frat houses.
The athletic facilities are adjacent to campus, including Cameron Indoor Stadium, where the Dooookies play basketball.
Josh was very happy standing on the court. Even took a virtual free throw from the line.
Our tour guide said that Duke was rated second overall for student food options, and we saw some signs of that like this smoothie and coffee bar. Maybe because it was a Saturday in summer, but our food options at the student center were limited to McDonald's; unfortunately the Armadillo was closed.
Also adjacent to campus are the stunningly beautiful Sarah Duke Gardens, which features large lawns to sunbathe on, ringed by formal gardens. There's also Duke Forest, a huge preserve with biking and running trails. Good deal.
We finished up back at Admissions, which was worth a picture itself.
The University of North Carolina was 30 minutes away in Chapel Hill. They didn't offer tours on Saturday, but we went anyway to get a t-shirt from Michael Jordan-land and to at least take a quick look around. Stopped at the bookstore and got a map while we bought the shirt, then went off on foot for a few quads worth of buildings. The Bell Tower is a focal point, sitting between the classrooms buildings and the athletic facilities.
The architecture was mostly undistinguished red-brick Georgian, looked like from the early 20th century...almost as if a series of elementary school buildings were arranged around each other. There were some nice surprises, though, like the original Library...
...and a few nicely weathered brick buildings.
The drinking fountain at the bottom of one of the main quads is featured in just about every piece of promotional material the University publishes.
This part of campus was very nice. And just in case you forget you're in the South, there's a memorial to the soldiers who fell for the Confederacy...the inscription remarks on the Great War of 1861-1865...and on the soldier's canteen, the letters C.S.A.
Back at the car a family from Virginia asked us for directions to the Dean Smith Center where North Carolina plays basketball, so we decided to try to take a look too. The doors were locked but we ended up chatting with the family for a few minutes, very interesting. The father was retired Army, with a son at West Point and a daughter who was vacillating between Navy, Air Force, and regular colleges. She was at Duke earlier today like we were...Josh is going to meet all kinds of new people if he ends up at one of these places.
And with that, we were done. Seven campuses on this trip, 1500 miles of driving...it was all quite enough. Came back to the hotel, rested and blogged, going out to dinner soon, then back to pack. Our flight is late morning tomorrow, and we've received our first class upgrades again. Should get lunch on board, but I wouldn't be surprised if we sleep right through it. So now the fun part of the college search is over, all the visiting...and now for the hard part...the evaluating, the essays, and then the decisions. Josh, it's all yours...go for it.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Day 7
Georgetown was nice. Cool, old town and house around the campus. Two huge old buildings but the rest were regular red brick buildings. Lots of hills. Who knows how hard to it is to walk around in the winter. There was a Taco Bell in the student center, that was nice. Really cool view from the top of one of the dorms. You could see the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, and the Pentagon. Overall, GU was pretty nice. Duke and MJ's alma mater tomorrow. Later!
Day 7: Georgetown University
Friday started with breakfast at the hotel, where we overheard a job interview at the table next to us: a somewhat nervous woman trying to become PR director for a law firm. I voted no.
Interesting drive through the morning rush traffic to Georgetown. Even without the GPS you know you're entering the neighborhood on Avenue M, the main commercial street...nice quaint storefronts with hanging baskets of flowers. We found Georgetown and parked a couple of blocks away, then walked past some row houses that dated back to the mid-19th century. The neighborshood is full of them.
Immediatey on finding the main gate the view is dominated by Healy Hall, the main classroom building on campus and one of the main symbols of Georgetown. The security car is parked there 24 hours a day.
On our way to the Admissions office we passed a class being taught outside under a tree, exactly as it should be on a gorgeous day like this. Once again the weather held for us.
White-Gravenor Hall is the other trademark building of Georgetown, named after the two Jesuits who founded the precursor to Georgetown in nearby St. Mary's in 1634. If this date was used, Georgetown would be the oldest college in the United States, predating William & Mary and Harvard, but the University uses 1789 as its founding date, when Archbishop John Carroll received the title to the land upon which the current site is built.
Although Georgetown no longer carries an official religious affiliation, everywhere you look the history is present...and the curriculum requirements still call for two semesters of theology of some type. Two of the most popular classes are Introduction to Biblical Literature and The Problem of God. The Jesuits still maintain a small presence here, but there are clergy from nearly every religion, and even a Hillel society. Btw, that's Jake, our tour guide, from Dunellen, New Jersey. And a preview of Josh's bald spot.
There isn't much grass in the interior of campus, which is built on hills, but there are some nice quads ringed by classroom and dorm buildings. No question this is urban space, but it's quality urban space.
Old North has been around since the Civil War, when it was pressed into service as a hospital. The Jesuits at the time refrained from voting during the war, and after it was over adopted blue and gray as the official school colors to promote the healing of the nation. Thirteen US Presidents have spoken at Georgetown, from George Washington to Bill Clinton [an alum], many from the steps of Old North.
No one knows for sure what a Hoya is, not even the people who go to Georgetown. But they do love their teams, especially basketball. This is from the deck in front of a suite of one of the dorms; look out the other side and there's the Potomac River...look east, and see the Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials and the Kennedy Center.
Just to show that Jesuits have a sense of humor, this paved quad in front of the Intercultural Center is called Red Square.
Here's Josh making friends with St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. So okay, the question may not be so much can we get in, but if we do get in? Can we stay in.
And how could we forget that much of the Exorcist was filmed here. They still show it every Halloween, and the students cheer when the University shows up in the film. Here are the famous Exorcist Steps three blocks from the main gate.
After leaving Georgetown we crossed the Potomac at Key Bridge [one of Deep Throat's meeting sites] and drove past the Pentagon, then spent a good hour sitting in northern Virgina traffic. It eased off once we passed Fredericksburg. For a while every exit sign seemed to lead to another major Civil War battle; it was a shame to pass them by, but we had to boogie down to North Carolina and were already losing time. Made it to Durham, finally, in about five and a half hours...checked in, rested a bit, dinner, blog...and we hope, a little early to bed tonight. Duke tomorrow morning, UNC in the afternoon.
And oh yeah...since we crossed into the South, the soundtrack has been the Allman Brothers. Baby turn your lamp down low.
Interesting drive through the morning rush traffic to Georgetown. Even without the GPS you know you're entering the neighborhood on Avenue M, the main commercial street...nice quaint storefronts with hanging baskets of flowers. We found Georgetown and parked a couple of blocks away, then walked past some row houses that dated back to the mid-19th century. The neighborshood is full of them.
Immediatey on finding the main gate the view is dominated by Healy Hall, the main classroom building on campus and one of the main symbols of Georgetown. The security car is parked there 24 hours a day.
On our way to the Admissions office we passed a class being taught outside under a tree, exactly as it should be on a gorgeous day like this. Once again the weather held for us.
White-Gravenor Hall is the other trademark building of Georgetown, named after the two Jesuits who founded the precursor to Georgetown in nearby St. Mary's in 1634. If this date was used, Georgetown would be the oldest college in the United States, predating William & Mary and Harvard, but the University uses 1789 as its founding date, when Archbishop John Carroll received the title to the land upon which the current site is built.
Although Georgetown no longer carries an official religious affiliation, everywhere you look the history is present...and the curriculum requirements still call for two semesters of theology of some type. Two of the most popular classes are Introduction to Biblical Literature and The Problem of God. The Jesuits still maintain a small presence here, but there are clergy from nearly every religion, and even a Hillel society. Btw, that's Jake, our tour guide, from Dunellen, New Jersey. And a preview of Josh's bald spot.
There isn't much grass in the interior of campus, which is built on hills, but there are some nice quads ringed by classroom and dorm buildings. No question this is urban space, but it's quality urban space.
Old North has been around since the Civil War, when it was pressed into service as a hospital. The Jesuits at the time refrained from voting during the war, and after it was over adopted blue and gray as the official school colors to promote the healing of the nation. Thirteen US Presidents have spoken at Georgetown, from George Washington to Bill Clinton [an alum], many from the steps of Old North.
No one knows for sure what a Hoya is, not even the people who go to Georgetown. But they do love their teams, especially basketball. This is from the deck in front of a suite of one of the dorms; look out the other side and there's the Potomac River...look east, and see the Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials and the Kennedy Center.
Just to show that Jesuits have a sense of humor, this paved quad in front of the Intercultural Center is called Red Square.
Here's Josh making friends with St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. So okay, the question may not be so much can we get in, but if we do get in? Can we stay in.
And how could we forget that much of the Exorcist was filmed here. They still show it every Halloween, and the students cheer when the University shows up in the film. Here are the famous Exorcist Steps three blocks from the main gate.
After leaving Georgetown we crossed the Potomac at Key Bridge [one of Deep Throat's meeting sites] and drove past the Pentagon, then spent a good hour sitting in northern Virgina traffic. It eased off once we passed Fredericksburg. For a while every exit sign seemed to lead to another major Civil War battle; it was a shame to pass them by, but we had to boogie down to North Carolina and were already losing time. Made it to Durham, finally, in about five and a half hours...checked in, rested a bit, dinner, blog...and we hope, a little early to bed tonight. Duke tomorrow morning, UNC in the afternoon.
And oh yeah...since we crossed into the South, the soundtrack has been the Allman Brothers. Baby turn your lamp down low.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Day 6
Princeton was very picturesque. The tour guide was terrible. After she finished telling us something she would look awkwardly at us for 15 seconds then start to slowly walk away without telling us where we were going. But w/e. She was some weird science major so she probably hadnt gotten out of the lab in a month or two. The girl in the white pants was hot! Not the mom, the one inbetween her mom and me in the pic. When we were getting close to DC, the GPS system started to lose battery. We missed what GPS lady's voice said one time, but we figured that since it was losing battery, she just got lazy and started slurring her words! It was quite funny. We woulda seen more of DC but it started to rain. Cya later.
Day 6: Princeton University, and on to Washington DC
Change of plans to start the day: we had realized the night before that trying to do both Princeton and Penn in the same day was just too much, especially since it meant waking up at 600. We were both pretty tired and trying to conserve energy, so Josh chose Princeton over Penn and we got down there in late morning. Had lunch in the student union, pizza of course, then walked back over to the Admissions office.
No question that Princeton has one of the prettiest campuses in the country. Gorgeous and varied architecture, from Gothic to Americanized versions of God-knows-what:
There is impressive modern architecture too, especially the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. 5-year BA/MA degrees offered here.
Tigers everywhere. Einstein seems to be an official mascot, even though he only ever taught one class here. And buried cannons too, which aren't very picturesque, but which keeps the Rutgers students from stealing them.
Mason-Dodge Hall, one of the prettier brownstone buildings.
And of course Nassau Hall, facing Nassau Street, which dates from before the Revolutionary War and which survived the Battle of Princeton, with the colonials firing cannon at the British who were holed up in the building. Legend has it that a cannonball went through a wall and decapitated a painting of King George, causing the British soldiers to flee in fear and confusion. Josh was more interested in the girl in white pants.
The arch featured in A Beautiful Mind...
...and the building where Russell Crowe lived. Now featuring Josh.
After the tour, the info session was held in an impressive room in Nassau Hall, replete with original portraits of George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, and other great figures in American history who had touched the University at one time or another.
After everything was over, we ventured over to a Starbucks outside the main gate across Nassau Street, the main drag. The superstition of course is that if a Princeton student walks out the main gate before he or she graduates, then he or she will never graduate. I of course strolled right through, while Josh wasn't taking any chances and used one of the smaller doors. On the way back in, though, the traffic signals seemed to offer commentary not only on a certain rejection letter of 30 years ago, but an opinion on letting a Columbian back on campus.
After Princeton we made the three-and-a-half hour drive to Washington DC, plagued by heavy rains going through Delaware, the only truly bad weather we've had except for some normal rain on the way to New Haven. We made the hotel with some time to sightsee, so we ventured out to the White House which is only three blocks away, and got some photos in before the rains started again. Don't know if George was home, but the lights were on and there seemed to be a party going on at the West Wing. Here's the White House itself through the main gate:
The White House is flanked by the Treasury and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Building...here's the Old Exec.
Back to the hotel room to write the blog and maybe to get to sleep a little early. Friday is Georgetown in the late morning, followed by a 5-hour drive to North Carolina, the last long drive of the trip.
No question that Princeton has one of the prettiest campuses in the country. Gorgeous and varied architecture, from Gothic to Americanized versions of God-knows-what:
There is impressive modern architecture too, especially the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. 5-year BA/MA degrees offered here.
Tigers everywhere. Einstein seems to be an official mascot, even though he only ever taught one class here. And buried cannons too, which aren't very picturesque, but which keeps the Rutgers students from stealing them.
Mason-Dodge Hall, one of the prettier brownstone buildings.
And of course Nassau Hall, facing Nassau Street, which dates from before the Revolutionary War and which survived the Battle of Princeton, with the colonials firing cannon at the British who were holed up in the building. Legend has it that a cannonball went through a wall and decapitated a painting of King George, causing the British soldiers to flee in fear and confusion. Josh was more interested in the girl in white pants.
The arch featured in A Beautiful Mind...
...and the building where Russell Crowe lived. Now featuring Josh.
After the tour, the info session was held in an impressive room in Nassau Hall, replete with original portraits of George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, and other great figures in American history who had touched the University at one time or another.
After everything was over, we ventured over to a Starbucks outside the main gate across Nassau Street, the main drag. The superstition of course is that if a Princeton student walks out the main gate before he or she graduates, then he or she will never graduate. I of course strolled right through, while Josh wasn't taking any chances and used one of the smaller doors. On the way back in, though, the traffic signals seemed to offer commentary not only on a certain rejection letter of 30 years ago, but an opinion on letting a Columbian back on campus.
After Princeton we made the three-and-a-half hour drive to Washington DC, plagued by heavy rains going through Delaware, the only truly bad weather we've had except for some normal rain on the way to New Haven. We made the hotel with some time to sightsee, so we ventured out to the White House which is only three blocks away, and got some photos in before the rains started again. Don't know if George was home, but the lights were on and there seemed to be a party going on at the West Wing. Here's the White House itself through the main gate:
The White House is flanked by the Treasury and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Building...here's the Old Exec.
Back to the hotel room to write the blog and maybe to get to sleep a little early. Friday is Georgetown in the late morning, followed by a 5-hour drive to North Carolina, the last long drive of the trip.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Day 5: Yale University
The two-hour drive to New Haven turned into almost three because of our first encounter with rain, which was with us the whole drive. We hoped we weren't going to have the day washed away. Was still raining as we arrived for the info session but only drizzling by the time we stepped outside for our tour.
Yale is known for its Gothic architecture and the campus is simply lovely...exactly what you'd expect a college campus, or Hogwarts, to look like.
The first building we visited housed The Commons Dining Hall, the largest facility on campus, now with organic food available. It was under reconstruction because Steven Spielberg had just finished using it to film the next edition of the Indiana Jones series; he turned the dining hall into a library [?!] and now it was being transformed back into a dining hall again.
But Indiana Jones isn't Harry Potter, and if Yale is anything, it's Harry Potter [yes, that's a snarky Columbia-type remark]. Because the Yale residential college system is exactly what's in the Harry Potter books, and aside from the talking hat, the system works exactly as described by J.K. Rowling. The college we toured was Saybrook College, with a gorgeous courtyard.
The dining hall...kind of looks familiar, doesn't it?
And just so you don't forget who preceded you there:
Sterling Library is the main library on campus, and was designed to look like a cathedral.
The tour was surprisingly short, there was so much campus to see. Guess we hit the main landmarks, also including Harkness Tower, once the second tallest free standing structure in the world [until the architect poured acid on it to make it look old, which weakened it so much it had to be taken down and reinforced with steel]...
...the main quad...
and the War Memorial plaza.
A few slices of pizza off campus, and we were on our way back to New Jersey.
Yale is known for its Gothic architecture and the campus is simply lovely...exactly what you'd expect a college campus, or Hogwarts, to look like.
The first building we visited housed The Commons Dining Hall, the largest facility on campus, now with organic food available. It was under reconstruction because Steven Spielberg had just finished using it to film the next edition of the Indiana Jones series; he turned the dining hall into a library [?!] and now it was being transformed back into a dining hall again.
But Indiana Jones isn't Harry Potter, and if Yale is anything, it's Harry Potter [yes, that's a snarky Columbia-type remark]. Because the Yale residential college system is exactly what's in the Harry Potter books, and aside from the talking hat, the system works exactly as described by J.K. Rowling. The college we toured was Saybrook College, with a gorgeous courtyard.
The dining hall...kind of looks familiar, doesn't it?
And just so you don't forget who preceded you there:
Sterling Library is the main library on campus, and was designed to look like a cathedral.
The tour was surprisingly short, there was so much campus to see. Guess we hit the main landmarks, also including Harkness Tower, once the second tallest free standing structure in the world [until the architect poured acid on it to make it look old, which weakened it so much it had to be taken down and reinforced with steel]...
...the main quad...
and the War Memorial plaza.
A few slices of pizza off campus, and we were on our way back to New Jersey.
Day 4: Columbia University and Yankee Stadium
[posting a day late because we got back so late last night]
Tuesday was a full day. Started on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, across the George Washington Bridge, then down the West Side Highway to 95th and back up Riverside Drive towards Morningside Heights. Stopped for a quick look at my old apartment building at 102nd and Riverside, it's being renovated now, but I was able to show Josh my old bedroom window.
From there up to Columbia...a quick look at Barnard from where we parked, then through the main gates. The entire main walk was torn up and was being replaced, first time since the 1950s! Kind of disappointed for a few minutes until I started showing Josh around, then everything came rushing back. We did a pre-tour in advance of the official sessions, starting with the main activity of Columbia students: sitting on the Low Library steps.
I first sat there when I was 15.
Columbia may not be the largest campus but it certainly is pretty and one of the best spaces in New York City. Here's the main walk looking over South Field towards John Jay, the large building, my sophomore dorm.
We wandered through the main campus and over to east campus, where the School of International Affairs is located. Josh convinced me to look up my old apartment roommate [and best man] John Micgiel, who is now a professor and Director of the Institute on East Central Europe [a position once held by Zbigniev Brezhinski before he was National Security Adviser and Secretary of State]. We made our way up to his floor and stuck our heads in his office, where he was just starting to eat lunch. "Hey John." "Yes, can I help you?" "You don't recognize me, do you..." "No, no I don't..." "It's Kurt!" "OMG WTF etc etc." We hadn't seen each other in almost 20 years, but after a few minutes it was just like being back on that blue couch at 299 Riverside Apt 8E. Except John's a bigshot now. But I know better. Josh was pretty amused by it all.
When we left John to his sandwich, we headed down Amsterdam Avenue to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The inside was mostly closed because they were cleaning smoke damage from a fire in 2001, but it was nice to see that the stonecutters are once again making progress on the outside...here are some new carvings on the southern portal. I remember them starting the neighborhood stonecutter apprenticeships in the 1970s, and those apprentices must now be masters.
Across the street...I couldn't believe it...the Hungarian Pastry Shop and V&T's Pizza were still there! The pastry shop was like an original Starbucks, only better. We all used to go there to treat ourselves to Capucino's and rich pastry and smoke filterless Gauloises and talk about the books we were reading...about anything really. Spent hours there. And V&T's was a real restaurant with the crankiest old waiters. "I'm not bringing your pizza until you finish your salad. Your mother may not be here but I am."
But the biggest treat for me was back on Broadway...no, not Tom's Restaurant of Seinfeld fame, but Amir's Falafel...a block away from the original, the new one run by a nephew, but the exact same falafel that tasted the exact same way as when I ate it for lunch almost every day thirty years ago! And Josh even liked his hummus and chicken platter. Kind of made up for the rest of the neighborhood being turned into fancy sidewalk cafes and the like.
After lunch we headed back to campus for the official info session and tour. The info session was excellent, the assistant dean of Admissions got it exactly right. I knew a little more than the tour guide, like the fact the Alma Maters left arm had been blown off in the 1968 riots, but what the heck. It was great being inside Butler Library again [the large building below] and the two dorms I lived in the first two years on Campus, Carmen Hall and John Jay. The sample room they showed us was in Carman, and I was able to show Josh where my suite had been on the hallway [Room 1101] and where my bed had been in the suite.
We had taken some other pictures earlier too...Josh in front of Philosophy and Rodin's The Thinker...
...and me in front of Hamilton Hall [Alexander Hamilton of course], home of Columbia College, and the English Department, and the building in which I took a lot of my classes.
In typical Columbia fashion the tour went late, so we had to scramble to our next destination, Yankee Stadium, for the game against the Blue Jays. Wouldn't have been my first choice but we drove through Harlem across 125th Street and then across the Willets Avenue Bridge...part of the education I guess. Yankee Stadium was where I saw my first game, with Mickey Mantle playing...dozens of games with The Record...and now Josh was finally here, ready to get a Yankees cap.
We stopped at the monuments before we took our seats...is there a sports franchise anywhere with such history?
Seats were pretty good, close to home plate and not too far up.
And the game featured several possible future Hall-of-Famers...Derek Jeter, Frank Thomas, maybe Roy Halladay and Alex Rios [still young], and of course...ARod, here driving in a run in the first inning.
We stayed until the bottom of the eight when the Yankees went down 2-1...wanted to make sure we wouldn't be stuck in traffic for hours with another busy day on Wednesday...and the Yankees tied in the 9th and rallied to win 3-2 in the 10th...but in very unexciting ways, so we didn't feel like we missed anything. Back to the hotel in New Jersey, and to bed.
Tuesday was a full day. Started on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, across the George Washington Bridge, then down the West Side Highway to 95th and back up Riverside Drive towards Morningside Heights. Stopped for a quick look at my old apartment building at 102nd and Riverside, it's being renovated now, but I was able to show Josh my old bedroom window.
From there up to Columbia...a quick look at Barnard from where we parked, then through the main gates. The entire main walk was torn up and was being replaced, first time since the 1950s! Kind of disappointed for a few minutes until I started showing Josh around, then everything came rushing back. We did a pre-tour in advance of the official sessions, starting with the main activity of Columbia students: sitting on the Low Library steps.
I first sat there when I was 15.
Columbia may not be the largest campus but it certainly is pretty and one of the best spaces in New York City. Here's the main walk looking over South Field towards John Jay, the large building, my sophomore dorm.
We wandered through the main campus and over to east campus, where the School of International Affairs is located. Josh convinced me to look up my old apartment roommate [and best man] John Micgiel, who is now a professor and Director of the Institute on East Central Europe [a position once held by Zbigniev Brezhinski before he was National Security Adviser and Secretary of State]. We made our way up to his floor and stuck our heads in his office, where he was just starting to eat lunch. "Hey John." "Yes, can I help you?" "You don't recognize me, do you..." "No, no I don't..." "It's Kurt!" "OMG WTF etc etc." We hadn't seen each other in almost 20 years, but after a few minutes it was just like being back on that blue couch at 299 Riverside Apt 8E. Except John's a bigshot now. But I know better. Josh was pretty amused by it all.
When we left John to his sandwich, we headed down Amsterdam Avenue to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The inside was mostly closed because they were cleaning smoke damage from a fire in 2001, but it was nice to see that the stonecutters are once again making progress on the outside...here are some new carvings on the southern portal. I remember them starting the neighborhood stonecutter apprenticeships in the 1970s, and those apprentices must now be masters.
Across the street...I couldn't believe it...the Hungarian Pastry Shop and V&T's Pizza were still there! The pastry shop was like an original Starbucks, only better. We all used to go there to treat ourselves to Capucino's and rich pastry and smoke filterless Gauloises and talk about the books we were reading...about anything really. Spent hours there. And V&T's was a real restaurant with the crankiest old waiters. "I'm not bringing your pizza until you finish your salad. Your mother may not be here but I am."
But the biggest treat for me was back on Broadway...no, not Tom's Restaurant of Seinfeld fame, but Amir's Falafel...a block away from the original, the new one run by a nephew, but the exact same falafel that tasted the exact same way as when I ate it for lunch almost every day thirty years ago! And Josh even liked his hummus and chicken platter. Kind of made up for the rest of the neighborhood being turned into fancy sidewalk cafes and the like.
After lunch we headed back to campus for the official info session and tour. The info session was excellent, the assistant dean of Admissions got it exactly right. I knew a little more than the tour guide, like the fact the Alma Maters left arm had been blown off in the 1968 riots, but what the heck. It was great being inside Butler Library again [the large building below] and the two dorms I lived in the first two years on Campus, Carmen Hall and John Jay. The sample room they showed us was in Carman, and I was able to show Josh where my suite had been on the hallway [Room 1101] and where my bed had been in the suite.
We had taken some other pictures earlier too...Josh in front of Philosophy and Rodin's The Thinker...
...and me in front of Hamilton Hall [Alexander Hamilton of course], home of Columbia College, and the English Department, and the building in which I took a lot of my classes.
In typical Columbia fashion the tour went late, so we had to scramble to our next destination, Yankee Stadium, for the game against the Blue Jays. Wouldn't have been my first choice but we drove through Harlem across 125th Street and then across the Willets Avenue Bridge...part of the education I guess. Yankee Stadium was where I saw my first game, with Mickey Mantle playing...dozens of games with The Record...and now Josh was finally here, ready to get a Yankees cap.
We stopped at the monuments before we took our seats...is there a sports franchise anywhere with such history?
Seats were pretty good, close to home plate and not too far up.
And the game featured several possible future Hall-of-Famers...Derek Jeter, Frank Thomas, maybe Roy Halladay and Alex Rios [still young], and of course...ARod, here driving in a run in the first inning.
We stayed until the bottom of the eight when the Yankees went down 2-1...wanted to make sure we wouldn't be stuck in traffic for hours with another busy day on Wednesday...and the Yankees tied in the 9th and rallied to win 3-2 in the 10th...but in very unexciting ways, so we didn't feel like we missed anything. Back to the hotel in New Jersey, and to bed.
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