In Transit

I wrote an early post while traveling at high speeds in the first class car of a train heading from Rosendaal, Netherlands through Brussels to Paris. I was impressed by the complimentary Internet and spent the majority of the train ride blogging, writing in my journal, and reading articles about Micheal Jackson's death twelve hours earlier.

And here I am, only a year and a half later, appreciating a new achievement in wireless technologies; I am sitting in seat 30A of a Delta flight, at a cruising height of 33,000 feet, accessing wifi via my iPod. Which is currently free thanks to Google Chrome during the holiday season.

I was told to prepare for stricter screening measures during this holiday season, yet I managed to get through security without any problems. At least MSP doesn't do the crazy and totally incomprehensible screening featured at YHZ. But as D told me today, I come across as quite inoccent so it's not surprising that I had no problems.

Last fall, as Thanksgiving approached, my HC professor told our class - which consisted mainly of first years - that freshman year Thanksgiving was something to be prized; not only does one get to come home after what has, most likely, been the longest extended absence yet experienced, but there is a shared excitement as all one's peers attempt to outdo one another with outrageous college stories. Relationships, trysts, drunken nights, tests bombed, friends made, friends forgotten, all of it is discussed, shared, marveled at and laughed about.

I will be arriving in Massachusetts after four months divided between Canada and the Midwest. It will be strange, yet because I so greatly rely on stuff and things to make me feel comfortable and grounded, I already feel a deep fracturing between the life - what I have grown used to - that I'm leaving (albeit temporary) in the 12th largest state - and the one I will attempt to pick up where I left off in July.

Well, here goes - bananagrams, laughing, snuggling, giggling, fighting, and old jealousies, rivalries, and chemistry all await the landing of this plane. And don't forget that a beautiful bicycle, just begging for me to take her out to the river (not the Mississippi anymore!) for a breathless sprint.

What A Quote

Just a quick anecdote:

Sitting in my Asian Religions class in an exhausted stupor at 8:45 AM on Friday morning, my professor was discussing celibacy within the Tai Ping (God Worshipers) forces in 19th century China. As a conclusion to his philosophy on the perils of celibacy, he informed us, "Humans are only good at three things: being born, having sex, and dying."

I don't know if I was inspired, but it certainly got me pondering the differences between instinct, innate skills, and the skills one learns from a young age.

I will write more when I finally return to Massachusetts after 4 months elsewhere (longest continuous amount of time I've ever spent outside of Massachusetts. Ever.)