What’s up? by Lulu L. '09
here's whats up
The next few weeks are going to be something different.
To start, it is 3:30 am Friday night and I am moving back to EC tomorrow starting 11am. I don’t know how I did this 2 months ago, how do you pack up everything you own in a few hours and still get some sleep? Laundry is tumble-drying in the bexley basement. I went to a movie tonight called Vicky Christina Barcelona playing at the Kendall theater. Went in pouring rain in a tank top and a skirt, soaked my shoes and walked home barefoot.
Now it’s about 4 and out come the cardboard boxes and the cats are just having a field day they know something is definitely up.
At 5:30 4 boxes are packed and a suitcase and a large duffle bag. I look out the window and see the sun is coming up.
Tomorrow after moving my things back to EC, I’m driving back home with my parents to spend the last few days of summer in CT before heading out to Burning Man which is about a 10 hour drive from san francisco in the middle of the Nevada desert which would be my first time out to this event, camping with about 20 students/alums from MIT, our shelter, the Laplacetopede, named in honor of the great mathematician, along with our shade structure, a geodesic dome, in the center of our camp, this year named Z-Transform, after the discrete version of Laplace’s great transform operator.
Why Laplace? I don’t know. I might have picked Pauli myself.
But I’m not in charge of that. I’m in charge of feeding 20 people for 7 days in the desert.
The month of august has been a great busy time for all. I think the pressure of the impending summer’s end is what has been driving me to get up and about. Some things I’ve been up to:
Really seeing the city. I guess if I had to pick, I certainly do regret not having gotten out into the city sooner. Though I’m quite familiar with central and the harvard square area, I realized when my cousin came to visit that I’d never actually been down by the harbor or to the financial district of boston, and I’d only been down to chinatown and the downtown crossing area once or twice. Boston is a breathtaking city. The air is clean and unpolluted, the waterfront area is definitely worth the visit. Walking is fine, but a fixed up old road bike really makes getting around a treat. One thing though, if you get motion sick easily, I wouldn’t recommend going whale watching :/
Learning to sail. 3 free Wednesday classes with the easy-going folks down at the MIT boathouse later, and I’m ready to pick up my sailing card at the pavilion. If I’d known it was so easy, I would have probably done it a long time ago. After all, I did pass the sailing and boating swim test during orientation freshman year with the last ounce of my strength. Saturday night after I’ve gone, the pavilion will be hosting its monthly moonlight sailing event under the full moon. It would have been my first time going and I just think it would have been such a sight. Instead, coming out of a house party in CT saturday night at the house of some family friends, I catch a glimpse of the high full moon through the trees before falling asleep on the dark road home.
Getting together some sort of exercise regimen. For some unknown reason, MIT’s athletic facilities (DAPER) decided in the last year or so to close off its summer facilities to all but paid members. What used to be included in the cost of your tuition is now a $40 extra membership fee for use of the gym/pool during the summer. What many people don’t know I discovered accidentally, which is that a half-summer long membership is offered for $25. As I didn’t get around to doing the paperwork until mid-July, that is all I had to pay. Still, come mid-August, and I still haven’t put that membership to good use. Then one day last week I started going to the pool. Ran off to the gym to work out and tumble, and hopped in the pool to cool off. That’s about when I realized that I couldn’t even swim 10 meters without losing my breath.
So this is what I do now after work. 3 days going, i’ve gotten back my standing backhandspring and can swim about 2 laps freestyle in the 50m pool. I figure once I get that floating feeling back that’ll improve quite rapidly.
This weekend is reading blogger applications. It’s catching up with a few old high school friends. It’s olympics and kitchen renovations and sleeping regularly and missing the goings on at school.
In other news, waking up at 3pm and running into Lobdell for a smoothie/soba chicken breakfast, I ran into a sign for orientation check-in. What the hell. :P
first
lame
I live in the Mojave Desert and all I have to say is drink lots of water. Dehydration headaches put a huge damper on things. Also, bring a sweater.
Have fun at Burning Man.
It sounds like quite an unfortunate collection of circumstances. I know how a “decent” day can become its unexpected antithesis quickly.
Bummer!!!
@Lulu – Chris Mills and I were contemplating on how to bribe you today :p haha. Oh how sweet it is to be on campus now.
Btw, is it true Bexley purposely scares freshmen so that they don’t choose it? Sounds like it is :D
But the Charles is definitely beautiful! Atleast from what I have seen in photos and movies:-)
Hey now, I’m not in on the bribe scheme?
W00 sailing! I was in the sailing PE before I left. I think I’m just going to take the free lessons, though, and complete the PE requirement with bouldering or something. After a, er, mishap, I learned that sailing is probably not something I should learn with other inexperienced people =D.
your ineffectiveness at bribing me is duly noted.
and that goes for all 3 of you i’ll have you know.
@Omar
er, how do they scare you?
nice post lulu but where are the pictures?
Lawl at 3PM breakfast.
The accidental all-nighter is unfortunate, perhaps one of the first real-life scenarios I have heard thus far
MIT has two pools, actually – one in the Z-center, and one near East Campus.
@ Lulu
Great post, good information to keep in mind(gym summer membership)
Are you planning on blogging/posting pictures about Burning Man?
What hours does the gym open/close?
What about the pool area?
It´s a stupid question:
Lets say that next year I get into MIT (0_!) and I have friends at a different university nearby. Are they allowed to use the gym as well or would we have to play sports somewhere else?
thanks in advance for the answers *_*
Hail Laplace! :p Lulu, pl post a few pics of the dreamy MIT pool!
Oh,haha
re: bexley’s antirush
yes they do it every year, the emails have already gone out for it this year. the idea is if you’re not lame it won’t scare you away, kinda flawed logic, but it’s a part of what makes bexley bexley, and its residents self-regulated and independent. if you don’t like the concept of anti-rush just ignore it, no big deal.
re: 2 pools
There’s the Z center pool in/near the johnson athletic complex and the alumni pool by stata center in east campus. I think both are olympic size. During the summer, the hours for all the athletic facilities are crap, I know the Z center kicks you out at 9pm. During the school year, it goes on til 11 I’m fairly certain.
re: the charles river
that is where sailing happens. i haven’t capsized yet on my sailboat, but i’m not too worried about that. you know the water has been recently rated “swimmable”? lol imagine!
re: friends getting into athletic facilities
i dont know if there is a guest program at the z center you should call them and find out.
Lulu – haha, your ineffectiveness in being bribed has also been noted :p Yes, flawed logic since technically that’s my fault but w/e.
Mynameiscabbage – Yea, so apparently Bexley people try to scare away frosh by being mean to them and such. I can’t speak from firsthand experience so I better not get yelled at.
@Ahana
MIT has a pool?
oh wait yeah, it has a swimming pool.
does MIT have any water bodies? like lakes and stuff, i’ve never heard of any.
should definitely talk about it if there are.
Ok post but you need some pictures
@cabbage: Well, the Charles River forms the southern boundary of campus.
Although it’s not necessarily the best river for swimming…
^lol …
tyty lulu for the answers
hm thanks for the help, admin, but i’m perfectly capable of regulating my own comments, thanks
Sleep deprivation can be an ugly thing, but you came up with a nice post, regardless…
My FPOP starts in…40 minutes! Can’t wait!
I want a burrito…
see?
is it that what u r intending on to express urselves in MIT?just like a common blog as yahoo or sina and so forth?…
and w8…say sorry 4u and be happy…
u know tomorrow is a new sun
the day after tomorrow is another different sun
and lol…okay?…haha,wish u here in the opposition to the Ocean…
COME ON!…good luck!
forget to mention…i’m a Chinese high school girl who is always holding a MIT dream and try hard to go through this tough road…and hope to meet u some day on campus,if possible…
may u happyhappyhahappy!!!
um, yes… wait, no?…
what?
Oh, I forgot how China and the United States has the time difference ah. You guess my age, you certainly Caibu Dao. . He!
@lulu, is this some sorta inside joke between you and shinyliuliu? Because I cant make any sense of the comment:-S
it’s not just you, man
WOOOO!!!! VERY NICE PICTURES!! I LOVE THEM!!
by the way: FIRST!!!!!
are you a chinese girl?if so contact me
Dear Lulu,
In two weeks, I’m launching a website, bostontparties.com, which focuses on Boston and its goings-on told through the eyes of its young. Most of my writers are still in college, but I haven’t found one from MIT, and I was wondering if you knew of anyone who might be interested. The position would be pretty easy, and fun -4 short posts a week on upcoming events, restaurant/boutique/cd/movie/club etc…reviews, interviews with interesting Bostonians or fellow classmates, and I can offer college credit. Can you think of someone who might want to do this?
Regards,
Claire
ps- I love your stark, introspective poeticisms -such a change from the typical blog!
hello lulu,
I like your blogs and i like your tour of the “getting a physics major” If there is any chance, could you try writing up another tour of the campus or nice places around MIT to eat and hang out. I know this might be a lot to ask, but I will greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
why?…sweat…
i wish my english is not that poor…i was~~just encouraging,wasn’t it?
and true,we r strangers and i came here by accident coz i was looking4 information on mit website~hehe~
hey there lulu…….i’m a computer science engg. undergrad student here at IIT-BOMBAY(i hope u know this college,its da best in India!!!)………..
newaz,i’ve been….like…..seein’ ur blogs for quiet some time now…..and i must say that i’m very impressed by ’em…..i mean they’re pretty interestin’………..love to someday live da MIT life myself….!!!!
C-ya ma’am…….
p.s :can we be in contact(love to interact with a student of a college better than our own!!!) ??