My first - and last - ski trip

One of the great things about New Haven is it's location: less than 2 hours from NYC, and only 2-3 hours from Boston. As I learned today, it's also only about 3 hours (by bus!) away from some great skiing/snowboarding at Okemo Lodge. Normally, a day of skiing would cost $100+, but thanks to Silliman subsidies, we only had to pay $25/person for the works: transportation to/from the resort, all the rental equipment, and even beginner lessons for those of us who needed them (like me).

College students are normally not morning people, but by 5:00 AM we had loaded up two coach buses with enough food to take up several seats, taken attendance, and settled back to nap as the drivers took us through CT and MA. By 9:00, we were picking out equipment from the rental shop, excited to get out on to the fresh powder (that would continue to fall all day).

Base view of Okemo

10:30 it was time for my first ski lesson...walking around with skis, gliding, turns, etc. I thought the hardest part was just walking in the ski boots - I had never realized that I usually walk on my toes, especially going up/down stairs, or that not being able to rotate my ankles would suck such much. We didn't even have poles (the guy in the equipment shop had told us that we didn't need them), although looking back, they might have been helpful when I couldn't stop turning and ended up going down a a very steep slope on the side of the lesson area.

I finally graduated to the "Magic Carpet," aka the most basic bunny slope possible. To get to the top, you didn't even take a ski lift, you took a rubber conveyor belt. I was still a pretty bad skiier, but I got progressively better:

First trip: 4 falls
Second trip: 3 falls, including one getting off the conveyor belt (to be fair, there was ice buildup at the top)
Third trip: 2 falls
Fourth trip: 1 fall
Fifth and sixth trips: no falls!

Me and Hilina, a fellow Silliman senior from Ethiopia
It was also her first time skiing =P

After a lunch break, I made it down the Magic Carpet a few more times, then asked a staff person if I could probably make it down a green circle slope, the easiest possible level. He said the fresh powder meant the slopes were slower than usual, so I would probably be ok if I felt comfortable with the Magic Carpet. After some hesitation and self-debate, I decided to go for it! As I was going up the lift, I took a couple photos for Hilina's sake (by this point she had decided to give up on skiing)

I did make it down...after 7 falls, including 1 after which I spent 20 minutes trying to get my skis back on my feet -_- By the time I finally got back to base, I was ready to call it a day, so I returned everything to the rental shop, got back to the bus, and happily collapsed into my seat with a handful of snacks and a couple boxes of Nesquik chocolate milk. It took us considerably longer to get home (thanks to all the snow clogging up Vermont's highways), but we made it back...even in time to watch the Oscars (which is what I'm doing now).

All in all, I'm glad I went, but from now on I think I'll stick to sledding =P

Superbowl Sunday, Silliman style

Even if you don't particularly like football, the Superbowl is like an unofficial American holiday, associated with particular foods and traditions that vary from family to family, some of them more quirky than others. No matter what team you're cheering for (or if you just don't care), it's hard not to get caught up in the excitement of a good game.

In Silliman, our tradition has been to set up a big-screen TV in the dining hall so everyone can watch from the pre-game to the trophy ceremony while munching on goodies like mac 'n cheese, buffalo wings with ranch dressing and juicy hamburgers.

The giant TV, although it's hard to see the size from this angle

We even got to crank up the popcorn machine, which made the made the dramatic game feel even more like a movie! More than a few kernels were flying through the air whenever someone scored. Microwave popcorn is all good and well, but it's hard to beat the buttery smell of fresh-popped corn.

I'm pretty sure Silliman is the only college that has a popcorn cart

To top it all off, there was Superbowl cake, which was tasty as well as awesomely decorated:

Final result Steelers 27, Cardinals 23 in a down-to-wire thriller...but I think my favorite is still the Puppy Bowl =)

Week 1: Shopping, strawberries, and...Dr. Niles Crane?!

Week 1 of senior year second semester, and things are pretty busy already! My roomie Sara and I were in charge of dessert for Mellon Forum this week, so we decided to make chocolate-covered strawberries/pineapple/pretzels. A trip to Shaws and 3 hours of dipping later, ta-da!

A lovely display of deliciousness

TWO trays of chocolate-covered strawberries
(and that's not even including the pineapple)

Let's just say dessert disappeared quickly...Master K even joked that she should start hiring us to cater her events! Isn't it wonderful when you get to have fun and make yummy stuff on Yale's dime?

In terms of classes, I have to finish up both majors, so I came in with a pretty good idea of what I had to take. Senior Essay in HSHM is one credit, and I was planning to take Epidemics and Society as my fourth term course. For psych, I'm writing my senior essay through a seminar with Marvin Chun entitled "Mind, Brain, and Society," a mix of neuroscience, ethics, law, philosophy, and psych, so it should be pretty awesome.

After some debate, I also decided to take Abnormal Psychology over Biotechnology because I heard (from my roommate) that Abnormal Psych was a good course, and I figured I would get enough science in med school starting next year. The final question (still unresolved) is what I'm going to take for my fifth class, a seminar of some sort to be my final HSHM elective. Choices:

1) PLSC 248: Politics of Health Care - a Political Science seminar with William Kissick, who is a Yale alum and taught at UPenn for many years. He's one of the guys who helped draft Medicare, way back in the day. I'm hoping to go into public health as well as practicing medicine, so this would be very useful information.
2) HSHM 447: History of Chinese Science - a HSHM seminar with William Summers, whom I also had for Perspectives on Science one semester freshman year (he also teaches Philosophy in the Directed Studies program - a true Renissance Man!). Alternative medicine (e.g. accupuncture) is becoming a huge movement, so I figured it would be a good idea for me to learn about this too.
3) NBIO 535: History of Neuroscience - a grad-level Neurobio course with a historical twist...this would seem to be the perfect intersection of my two majors!

To get some (indirect) advice, I decided to attend a Master's Tea with David Hyde Pierce, a 1981 Silliman alum and now a famous actor. TV buffs will know him as Dr. Niles Crane from Frasier (a 4-time Emmy-winning role), while theater folks may know him better from the original casts of Spamalot and Curtains (for which he won a Tony in 2007)

Master's Teas usually begin with the guest telling us students something about their lives - how they got to where they are, and where they hope to go next - but Mr. Pierce simply opened the floor: "I have absolutely nothing to say, so just ask me questions!" What followed was a wonderful 90 minutes of intimate conversation touching on everything from how he got started in acting (he was originally a music major intending to become a concert pianist), to his first disappointment (auditioning for the Yale School of Drama and not being accepted).

He also had some hysterical show anecdotes, e.g. touring with a production of The Cherry Orchard in Japan: "Every night in the theater, we would hear this pitter-patter noise, kind of like rain. We couldn't figure out what on earth it was, until the wife of one of the actors came from the States to watch the production. Afterwards, she came backstage and told us that all the Japanese audience members had these headset-thingies that provided instant translation so they could understand what was going on, but as they would fall asleep, they would all drop their sets, and that was the pitter-patter noise we heard every night! In some sense, I guess that was the first feedback I had from an international audience!"

While at Yale, Mr. Pierce double-majored in Theater Studies and English: "When I chose to double-major, I guess I was subliminally listening to my mother's advice to always get a liberal education base. An English major seemed to be about the vaguest thing you could be...besides a philosophy major." Now as a successful actor, he's trying to branch out into different areas, such as trying musical roles, and he has even returned to playing piano, recently performing with Victoria Clark. His advice for students: "Always do scary things when you're old!"

With that in mind, off to tackle my first week of reading...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

One of my favorite Yale traditions is the annual holiday dinner - besides the big one for freshmen in Commons, each residential college hosts their own feast, with their own traditions.

Not only does the dining hall staff make an extra-special dinner, they show off their decorating skills in elaborate displays, like the sugared fruit below:

This year, as we ate, we were also treated to music from a quartet of trombones, composed of one Silliman junior and three School of Music students. It just goes to show the incredible talent and opportunities for creativity at Yale, that an undergrad can perform with music students, and that together they can arrange/re-adapt their own music.

Silliman in particular has a special tradition: a performance from the Silliringers! Some alum donated a lovely set of handbells, which are brought out just a few times a year for practicing ("for minutes and minutes") and the annual performance. A Youtube video below:



Of course, what would Christmas be without a little snow?

The snow falling at night

The frosted courtyard in the morning

Silliman Halloween

Every year, Silliman celebrates Halloween with a full 3 days of festivities including the Halloweenie Roast, our very own Haunted House, and then a big party in the dining hall.

We began with the Halloweenie Roast Weds night: s'mores, apple cider, hot chocolate, girilled hot dogs/hamburgers/veggie burgers, and lots of apple/pecan/pumpkin pie out in the courtyard for everyone to enjoy as a study break. We also had pumpkin carving for the artistically-minded, with some creative and highly amusing results:

Mm, pie =D

Ray roasting s'mores

Dracula jack o'lantern o_O

The Haunted House theme this year was "Searching for Salovey," with the (somewhat thin) story-line being that Dean (now Provost) Salovey had not been seen in weeks, so the police had begun investigating the possibility of a kidnapping. When we devised the different rooms, most of us thought the house would be more funny than scary, but judging from the screams I could even hear in the courtyard, it was pretty crazy!

See all the cobwebs? Now imagine bumping into them in pitch-black darkness!

Preparing the clown room...think strobe light and lots more balloons!

Creepy...

Finally came the Halloween party, incluing lots more yummy food, a costume contest, and a "special performance" from Master K, Dean Flick, and Mister K. I dressed up as the Giving Tree, based on Shel Silverstein's book, and surprisingly won a $25 gift certificate to Cutler's, the local music shop =)

Our august panel of judges, including Dean Brenzel in the Sorting Hat

"Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine...oh yeah!"

The Dark Knight, literally.

Of course, no Halloween would be complete without the YSO midnight concert, this year combining The Godfather and Mario (including Provost Salovey as Luigi!) A clip below:

Random conversations around the grill...

From the Halloweenie Roast earlier tonight:

1) "We should get a Silliman hot tub!"

2) "I kept a dream diary for a couple weeks - they say that's the best way to learn to control your dreams...one time I dreamed I was riding in a cab but I wanted to try flying, but then I was bumping my head against the top of the cab." [There was more to this story, but I'm choosing to keep the rest private out of consideration for the person who told it =P]

3) "You know, I feel bad for not canvassing for Obama this weekend. Maybe next week I'll go up to New Hampshire." [Um...what about class?]

4) "If they had just put 'Free Food!' in the subject line, I would have read the email and known this was happening! What I need is someone to read the emails for me and screen them..."

Nothing like s'mores to bring out the most amusing in people! Photos of pumpkin carving creativity and other fun stuff to come...tomorrow night: Haunted House!

Safety Dance!

The biggest Yale party every year is undoubtedly the 80s-themed Safety Dance, run by Silliman! We book Commons for the night, spend a couple hours moving all the tables and chairs, bring in a crazy DJ with video screens and laser shows, then let everyone in for dancing the night away to 80s hits from the likes of Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, and more!

The tradition was born in 1990 - before then, Silliman hosted an "End of the 80s" dance, but they clearly couldn't keep that name. "Safety Dance" comes from this amazing/crazy song by Men Without Hats, which was a huge 80s hit. Youtube video below:

Even if you weren't born in the 80s (as many of our current freshmen were not), everyone can get into the spirit of the event. The week before, everyone heads to Salvation Army to get their costumes, and some people definitely go all out! Even a couple of the DJ crew came in costumes - they say this is their favorite event all year =P

Guess which guy is a residential college dean?

Group hug during the last song

Spring IMs begin!

Friday was absolutely freezing (we could actually see our breath!), but we dedicated Sillimanders still turned out for an afternoon of IMs: baseball, 4x4 lawn volleyball, and Ultimate Frisbee. This was actually my first foray into spring IMs, aka I haven't run this much since IM cross-country last fall ^^;

4x4 lawn volleyball is a totally different experience than indoor volleyball, with a co-ed team (2 guys, 2 girls), much smaller space, lower net, and (of course), the wind. I ended up not playing, but it was interesting to watch how people had to adjust their serves and spikes for the smaller court, yet each person still had to cover a lot of ground. We eventually beat JE in three games, pulling out the third in rally scoring 16-14.

Stan spiking on JE

Angel hustling toward the ball

Ultimate was my first game since Freshman Olympics, which was not really legit since we were playing on the New Haven Green and it was quite difficult to play around the trees. For IM Ultimate, club players aren't allowed to participate since that the "highest" level available, which meant rank newbies like me could actually get into the game. Rules are pretty standard: 7-on-7, with at least 2 of either gender. We were again against JE, at it turned out to be a pretty intense match:

My friend Kyle, the IM captain and a varsity swimmer =P

One of the freshmen, Jack

Time ran out in the second half while we were playing, so we just played until the next point and ended up losing 7-6. However, I realized I was a lot better than I thought (aka I could actually throw), so I'll definitely be back out for more ;-)

The Path to the Tyng

For those of you who don't know, the 12 residential colleges (think Hogwarts houses) have an annual competition in intramural sports ranging from soccer and basketball to inner-tube water polo (think Quidditch Cup). The prize is the glorious Tyng Cup, given to the college that earns the most points for the whole year, thereby demonstrating their athletic prowess (plus bragging rights, of course).

Me holding the Tyng Cup at last year's banquet

What makes it more fun is that intramurals are more about enthusiastic participation than actual athletic skill. To make things more fair, varsity athletes are not allowed to compete in their varsity sport, so my friend Jake would not be able to run IM cross-country because he's on the varsity squad, but he still contributes a lot to the IM ice hockey team! That means the field is wide open for anyone who wants to try to play, or even pick up a totally new sport. Even college fellows can get in on the fun, such as the ever-versatile admissions officer David Reiman, a proud member of Silliman '05:

"Roy-man" neatly stopping a shot in an IM hockey game

Usually I'm the cheerleader on the side taking photos...some of them turn out rather amusing =P

I'm flying!

Fellow URCs Jeff and Funmi serving up volleyballs

Just today, my favorite IM started: bowling! It was just practice, but it was still a lot of fun and a good stress reliever at the end of a long shopping week. I hadn't gone since the last week of last year's IM season (my proud 2-point contribution to the Tyng Cup run), but I was surprisingly consistent, managing to break 100 each time and even scoring a double strike in the last game. Even more surprising was my suitemate Sara, who managed four strikes in a row to earn the high score for the day:

She even did it in the last frame -> bonus points!

The winter seasons is really important because there are so many sports going on: men and women's volleyball, men and women's squash, swimming, and more. It's also somewhat more schedule-friendly than the fall and spring seasons, with most events taking place in the evening at Payne Whitney Gym rather than in the afternoons at the IM fields. As it's been in the past two years, we Sillimanders are busy building up our lead...here's to Tyng #3!

Holidays at Silliman

First snowfall, lots of yummy food and good fun at the holiday dinner...how much better can it get?

The lovely Christmas tree in the Common Room

Stu's gingerbread house at the Holiday Dinner

Mmm...sugared fruit!

The festive Silliringers



An interesting version of "Santa Claus is coming to town"

The view from my bedroom window Thursday
(might look a little weird because of the screen)

Just one week of finals to go, then home for the holidays!

Halloween 2007

Having Halloween on a Wednesday this year made it like a week-long celebration rather than just one day. A bunch of us went on a Haunted Hayride in Old Saybrook, we had the traditional Silliman Haunted House in the basement, plus the Halloweenie Roast, Master K's party, and the YSO midnight concert.

The Tower does look kinda eerie...

Cari, Jess, and Lulu with one of the haunted hayride ghouls

Matt grilling at the Halloweenie roast

Pumpkin carving!

At Master K's party, I was thoroughly impressed with my fellow Sillimanders' creativity and sense of humor =P Unfortunately, I can't upload the Disney princesses video (it's too large) so you'll just have to imagine what might have happened...

Devils in disguise

(sophomore) Super Smash Brothers

The claws are orgo lab scoops =P

Charlie and the Tyng Cup Factory

Oompa-Loompas and all

"Desperate Disney princesses"