Yale

This weekend I volunteered as a writing coach with College Summit. The experience changed who I am... but, to be honest, my motivation behind signing up was simply to see the Yale Campus and experience the college dorms. Since arriving in the US I have heard my American friends and colleagues talk about dorm life - it sounds like so much fun. This weekend was my chance for a taste. 

Myself, and three workmates took a two hour train trip from Grand Central to New Haven. It was a nice journey with lots to see. In order to save face in front of my American friends I managed to stop myself from squealing every time I saw a cool sight "A wheat field!" ... "A pink house!" ....  

When we arrived in New Haven I could no longer keep my remarks to myself. It was gorgeous. 

It had a sweet small town vibe, but was in no way lacking in energy or excitement. Just so beautiful!

Me: I wasn't expecting it to be like this

Pizza: Like what?

Me: It's perfect

Pizza: Well, there is a lot of money here you know.

If I didn't know then, I was about to find out. The Yale campus was breathtaking. I cannot do it justice in words.

Castle like buildings, winding paths, manicured lawns. Just gorgeous. It was like stepping out of the real world and into a perfectly constructed fantasy. It was almost disturbing that people could live here - so far and excluded from reality. 

As beautiful as it was, it frightened me. It was intimidating. The grand buildings looked down and challenged me - "You don't belong here." 

They were right, of course - I didn't. Everything about Yale screamed legacy and exclusivity. There were chandeliers in the Cafeteria. The walls were lined with painted portraits and photographs of the generations of men who have passed through. The giant leather chairs and fireplaces in the common rooms were decidedly masculine. It was beautiful, but I felt disconnected - an outsider peering into this fantasy world. 

My students nicknamed the campus Hogwarts. When one finished early I allowed him to explore the building we were in. He came back ten minutes later eyes wide and keen to tell the rest of the class about the winding stair cases, secrets windows and passage ways. 

It wasn't just the students who were in awe of the mysterious campus. One night myself and four colleagues went exploring. We started out simply walking down to the basement, looking for the common room. What we discovered under the dorms was a labyrinth that would surely shock Harry Potter himself. As we ventured through the endless maze of passages we discovered a halls of historical art, a theater... even what appeared to be a crypt.  

As we explored further we found a dimly lit dining room. It had two imposing portraits and huge green leather chairs - it was a room of shadows. Despite our swipe passes letting us in we felt we didn't belong there. "I don't like it in here, lets leave" said one of the men in the group. I felt shivers, but was curious. A couple of us started to venture a little further. "No. I said let's leave." We listened that time, because he was right. It was spooky. 

Eventually we did manage to find the common room - fancy! It had two kitchens, two pool tables, fooseball (I am now a grand master) and table tennis. Oh! And a wide screen TV. 

Sadly, our dorm rooms were not so high tech. Our rooms were not air conditioned - it was the hottest weekend of my life. After a long night I climbed onto my one inch plastic mattress at 1am and turned on my portable fan. The fan seemed to turn the room into a fan forced oven. How could it possible be this hot at 1am. I checked the temperature... 100F. This was crazy. Surely some of that Yale trust fund money could go towards air conditioning? Perhaps we were in the servant quarters...

Me: How did you sleep?

Fail: In a pool of sweat.

Because of the heat I didn't spend much time in the dorm room - 1am to 7am to be precise. One afternoon I was reading my students papers outside. Feeling the mosquitoes bite, I made the brave decision to venture upstairs to my room. I put my fan on my bed and sprawled out. I was dripping, - but it was OK. I mean, if nothing else, I can handle the heat. 

That's when I saw it. The world's largest cockroach. Deep breath. No big deal - I mean, I'm not quite a New York girl yet. I wasn't going to scream and cry at the mere sight of a bug. I tried reasoning with it - "Hey you, go away!" Nothing. OK, so we would co exist. That was alright... so there I was, reading papers and coexisting with the cockroach.... until two minutes later when it started walking towards my bed. I grabbed all my stuff in seconds flat and bolted from the room. And the winner in the Battle of Zubi versus the Cockroach is.... the Cockroach! 

I never did find out what happened to it. 

So, overall impression of Yale? Out of the world - literally like a fantasy. So, one night, when I was returning home well past my student's curfew and I saw one dangling out of the window from a sheet, I turned a blind eye... I mean, this was Hogwarts after all.

College Summit - A Life changing Weekend

Those who know me well, will know that I can be flippant with the phrase "that was the best day of my life." I just love saying this, because I honestly feel that life keeps getting better and better - there is no looking back. So, I need you to know that I mean the following right from my core -

This weekend was the best weekend of my life.  

I have been deeply moved and inspired. My heart has been touched and I have grown as a person. This weekend, I was a writting coach at College Summit. 

In America today, there isn't a systemic approach to getting all college-ready students to college.  Every year, hundreds of thousands of high school students who are "better than their numbers"—who have average test scores and/or grades—but who have clearly demonstrated their potential for college success, fail to make it to college. Data shows that getting into college requires more than solid academic preparation and even adequate financial aid.

College Summit has worked in partnership with schools, school districts and colleges to develop a sustainable model for raising college enrollment rates community-wide.   

If communities can raise their college-going rates community-wide, affordably, then America’s college transition gap can be solved.  Hundreds of thousands of young people will break the cycle of poverty for their families, and America will stand stronger tapping their talent.  College Summit and our school partners, together with our higher education, corporate and philanthropic allies are committed to the day when every student who can make it in college makes it to college.  

http://www.collegesummit.org/

Myself and nine colleagues participated in College Summit by acting as Writing Coaches at a four day workshop held at Yale University. Each Writing Coach was each give four to five students to assist with writing their Personal Statement. (The Personal Statement is an essay that the student submits with their college applications to give the college an idea of who the student is as a person.)

I can hear the screams coming from any avid readers of this blog "Her?! A writing coach? That is disturbing!" I appreciate your concern, but fear not, dear readers. As a writing coach my job was not to teach the students how to write, but to help them translate the beat of their heart into words. Although, yesterday one of my students did declare, "Lara, how can you be our teacher when you can't even spell!" Kids nowadays...

All four of my students were precious. They were incredibly smart and determined. Five minutes after I met them they had all eagerly told me their career and collage dreams. I was instantly inspired by their passion.

When they began to write, their words blew me away. They were so powerful. As I sat in the classroom checking their papers I felt wave after wave of shivers run through me. Not only did they have clear direction,  they were able to convey this with passion and beauty. The raw sadness of their stories made me feel so deeply for them. I was brought to the verge of tears by the strength and confidence they had. All of my students were raising above any adversity and I could see this in their words and faces - they were four shining stars.

I don't know what my students did wrong to get placed with the Australian. I know they did find me a little bizarre but they loved it. Turns out that threatening to break out my dance moves is an effective teaching technique.

That wasn't the only occasion where I got some odd looks. One morning I took one of my students outside to give her some feedback. I was distracted when I noticed a squirrel playing nearby on the steps of a building.

Me: "Check it out, a squirrel!"
Student: <Looks at me with extreme concern>
Me: "Oh! I'm so sorry, I forgot, you're American, squirrels aren't exciting to you."

The team from College Summit were spectacular. They created an incredible vibe and kept the students pumping despite the tough environment... Their schedules were packed from 7:30am to 11:15pm... and I doubt many of them went straight to bed. It's no wonder the catch phrase of the weekend was "I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm hot, I'm bored!"

To be honest, it wasn't just the students who were hot and tired - it was us writing coaches too. One night I was only just climbing onto my one inch thick plastic mattress at 1:30am. It had been a late night reading papers and writing feedback. Of course, it was a joy to read the papers, but nevertheless, I was exhausted. It was a surprise I could sleep at all given it was 30 degree Celsius outside (86F). That's right - in the middle of the night it was 30C... and our dorms didn't have air conditioning!

After a wonderful weekend, this morning it was time to pack up our bags and leave Yale. I was feeling so proud, of both my students and myself. I felt fulfilled. I know that by helping these beautiful young people I have made a difference in this world. I have inspired them and they are all going to make beautiful footprints on this Earth.

So, despite swearing black and blue that I would not cry, it is not a surprise that I was a mess of tears at the final goodbye. The goodbye ritual was unique and touching. In a hypnotic, beautiful voice, the College Summit director spoke to us. We said goodbye to all of the students in complete silence, simply looking deep into their eyes as the College Summit director spoke to us. She spoke about the hardships some of the students had faced, but more importantly she talked about their determination and strength.

"Your past does not define your future"

Initially I was awkward and a little uncertain as I looked directly into the first student's eyes. But I was able to let go of my reservations and really look into the students eyes. I saw her. I saw pain and sadness. But more than that I saw passion and desire. She was powerful and ambitious. She was a smart and a beautiful girl. The world could be hers, all she needed was someone to believe in her. She was asking me to believe in her. I did.

As I looked into her eyes it was as if our souls connected. I felt her leave an imprint on my being and I left an imprint on her. Never before had I spoken to this girl, yet we had truly touched each other.

As I made eye contact with each student I felt a deep connection. I could physically feel my heart swell. Finally, I reached my own student - my beautiful island girl. The look in her sweet, sweet, shy face was overwhelming. I saw so much admiration and love. As we looked into each other's eyes we both sobbed happily. I felt we were connected.

After this ceremonial goodbye, we said our real goodbyes. There was more emotion. It's hard for me to describe how moved I felt. It's like my heart had grown. I knew that I would never be the same person again. In the crowd I searched for my four students and said a special goodbye. Last to say goodbye was the class clown - A confident and extraordinarily bright young man who can beat box like nobody's business. As we parted his words moved me deeply -

"You will never how how much you have helped me."

To all of the young people at the workshop I would say - Thank you for changing the world. You are writing a wonderful future. 

The Queen of Queens

I had two reasons to make a trip to Queens on Saturday. 

Firstly, to check it off the list! Queens is one of the five boroughs of New York City. How could I say I'd live in NYC when I hadn't even been to Queens? (Check out this clip on the five accents of New York... You tell your friends, 'I'm from Queens, I live there. It's not fun.')

Secondly, King of Queens, is a fantastic comedy... Ok, I know, that is not a very deep or well thought out reason to visit Queens, but let's face it - New York is nothing if not a living television set. So, I went with it, and E, R and I jumped on a Number 7 Subway to Queens. 

We got off at Flushing Meadow Park at the Met Stadium. 

First point of call was to stop at the park's map to make a game plan. E and R fought it out - would we visit the planet pond or the World Fair globe fountain first? E won (obviously) and it was off to planet pond. The park was crowded with kids and families enjoying Saturday morning sports. It was pleasant, but it was obvious the budget for maintenance was a little less than that at Central Park. (Turns out little was a gross underestimate). 

We found the planet pond quickly. Pity it didn't seem to have any connection with planets. The closer we got the more we realized just how filthy it was.

Ok, no drama - R got a few good pictures by zooming up on the 5 inch square of clean surface area (uses imperial measurements, check!) We laughed and took it in our stride. Given the group's average height was 5'1'' it was a little stride, but a stride nonetheless - we all agreed that the globe would be better. Right?

The walk to the globe was not promising. What advertised as a walk by the pools was actually a walk along an empty blue ditch. Chin up! To prove we were having fun, we all jumped in and went "swimming".

So this was Queens, eh?

Luckily the globe was brilliant! (Is is possible that, as E pointed out, we were just so disappointed in our trip so far, that we were just excited to see something half decent.) The globe is left over from the World Fair in '88. It's breathtakingly huge and surrounded by fountains. 

 

There were kids and adults alike playing in the fountains and climbing the globe. Around the edges people sunbathed. I actually found this less odd than the mass numbers of people who trek to Central park to sun bake in swimsuits... Why do this, when there is no water!!

Of course, the day continued to get better - we came across Eddie's Garden, donated to the park by Eddie's friend. 

R, E and I all took about a thousand pictures - which proved E was right - we were really starved for entertainment. As if to drive her point home, we caught her talking to a bird who was taking a dip in a icky looking puddle....

"Seriously, you're going to swim in that! Can't you do better??" <Looks around and sighs> "OK, I guess not."

And with that, we headed back to Manhattan... ashamed to discover what snobs we have become, but happy to be home. I guess I just love living on a small island with no open spaces. Should I just sign up for a Agoraphobia Anonymous meeting now?  

A Little Bit of Crazy...

Today I had plans to go to the Met to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit, Savage Beauty (@Monica). However, the wait was an hour and a half, so I gave up, leaving it for another day. Instead, I thought I would enjoy the warm weather and take a stroll around the Upper East Side.

What an adventure! There was some interesting people about.

Firstly in the subway, one man begging got angry with another beggar who had stole his turf. That was probably fair though. I'm no begging expert (yet), but everyone knows you don't try to beg in a carriage that someone else is already begging in. That is just rude. Especially not when the guy already begging appears to be your twin, and has an identical limp.  

Another man got mad at a young lady, when she accidentally knocked him when crossing the street. He actually lost his temper and started shouted at her! "Don't you watch where you are going?! What's wrong with you!?"

There were the usual "Hey there Miss, how you doin'??" But... as E said, its almost concerning when you don't hear those.

Crazy of the Day award goes to a chase I saw on Fifth Ave...

It started with a young lady cycling down a crowded footpath. She was a nuisance! If riding on the footpath wasn't bad enough, she couldn't cycle properly. Because of the people she was forced to go slowly, but had no control. She kept swerving and knocking people down. When she almost struck an elderly woman, the old lady's husband lost it. What followed was a slow motion chase. The old man "ran" after the cycler, whilst shouting insults and curses in a thick New York accent. All the while shaking his fist in the air.

At first I was like "Get her!" (Mob mentality....tick!) Then I realised how ludicrous the situation was and laughed in spite of myself. No doubt there is a blog out there that reads identical to this, only it ends with "And then I saw some weird Australian laughing to herself in the middle of the path."

Actually, speaking of being a special Australian... the other morning at work I was trying to clock in, but being new (hello, five month mark) I was having some issues. A queue formed behind me (which is unheard of). It would have been extremely embarrassing if Noodles hadn't of been in the queue. She used the opportunity to heckle me: "Hurry up, stupid Australian! What's wrong with you... go back to Europe you Scottish freak!!" 

Jersey Shore

It' summertime in New York.. and it's hot. Really hot. So, on Sunday it was time for a trip to the beach. But not just any beach, E, R, Potato, Cupcake and I filled up a hire car and headed down to the Jersey Shore.

We were up bright and early, but there was a small delay to the day when Cupcake got lost in Central Park (when R said 68 8th street... she had read 68th street and Avenue.) No drama, we found her easily. Thank goodness that Manhattan is organised into numbered streets and avenues... otherwise as Potato said "I would never have even met you guys"

So we were off to the Shore. We stopped briefly at Point Pleasant ... but were unable to find parking. It was a gorgeous spot. With dollhouse looking houses painted pastel colours. The only thing that was please about Point Pleasant was the group of Bikers who seemed to be getting angrier and angrier every time R drove past them in his search for a spot.

So, it was onto to Seaside Heights. This is the beach where MTV's Jersey Shore is filmed. I have only seen a few episodes, but I have seen enough to be able to say... It is exactly like the show portrays! If nothing else, my trip to Seaside Height was a culture experience. I had to resist the urge to take pictures of the people. When I retold the story to Noodle's this morning:

Me: The women all walked around in string bikinis... even if they didn't quite have the figure for it
Noodles: In other words Snookie
Me: The men were all super built and tanned
Noodles: Seriously, you're just describing the TV show now...



Store from Jersey Shore TV series


Even the 16 year olds had tattoos. I overheard one mother say to her 5 year old son. "You aren't old enough for me to take you to a night club." It was astonishing... the kid was so small!

We walked along the board walk and enjoyed the sun. Lunch was greesy hot dogs and burgers. None of us braved the deep fried Oreos or Italian ice though (we did the Oreos on Renault's birthday, and no one needs more than one in their lifetime.)

After a long hot day it was time to go home. On the way back we got so lost we had to stop and pull out R's ipad for directions.

Potato: hmmm the map doesn't go to this area
R: That makes no sense. Give it here... Oh, its because we are in the US naval base. We better go.
<Puts down ipad and turns back onto road quickly>
Cupcake: ooh, that was tight
<Pause>
Potato: Wrong side bro. Wrong side.


All ended well though... we got home in one piece (if a little exhausted by the almost stand still traffic the whole way back to Manhattan). The important thing was we didn't crash into on coming traffic.. we weren't abducted by the military... and R did not steal the working ATM we found (on wheels). Oh! And nobody got into any trouble with any guidos or guidettes. Although, I think Potato was tempted

"Shoot the guido"

Boys Last Night in New York

My brothers have been visiting me in the city for the past week. Tonight, their last night in the city, we planned to go to a Yankees game - but the weather this afternoon looked bad... new plan.

Dinner at Butter in NoHo, then we walked over to Chelsea to the Gotham Comedy Club. 

It was a good time and a funny show. I think its worth summarising one of the supporting acts.

"Good evening folks. I can see tonight we have black people, white people, Asian people... that guy over there with the moustache" <Points at Kalim. Crowd looks over and laughs.>

 "I recently went to Japan" <talks about Japan for a while>

"How about those Japanese Kamikazes? There is nothing scarier than a Japanese man in a bandanna. Except maybe if moustache guy was wearing a vest" <Points at Kalim. Crowd laughs>

"Put that guy in a vest and you'll clear this place out. If he was in a vest it would be like.. Woooah, Where did everybody go??"

Happy 4th of July

I was born on the same day as America. I remember when I found this out. I was in year one and a new girl had started at my school. She was from New Zealand and was sitting near me on the seats outside our classroom with her Mum.

Her Mum started chatting to me, eventually finding out that my birthday was the 4th of July - "Did you know that you share a birthday with America?" No, I did not. This was cool.

So this year, I found myself in New York for Independence Day. Best bit? Four day weekend! Brilliant. My brothers were visiting from Australia and we spent the long weekend exploring the city and discovering interesting places to brunch.

The actual 4th of July was all about the fireworks. (I asked my boss if New York put the show on for me. He considered it but said "No, but we gave you the day off.")

E, Cupcake (a new and welcomed Australian), Potato, R and I turned up to 40th street on the Hudson River at 4pm. Even though the fireworks didn't start until 9pm there was a crowd. We struggled, but managed to find a prime spot.

Sadly, when R and I went to get snacks, the others were kicked out of our spot by the NYPD. There were thousands of millions of police officers patroling the event. It was quite a sight to see. The crowd was so orderly and well mannered. Everytime the police came around and told us to stand up, we stood. (Then sat when they left... but still, the effort was there.) When I asked Potato why everybody was so quick to follow orders he pointed out "They are affraid of being tasered... or worse." Good point.

There was a little bordem... (Sitting on a New York City road gets a bit old...)  And we lost a few people - R left to get his camera a couple of hours before, and the police wouldn't let him back in. Too sad, especially because he came back with cupcakes. My brothers also missed out because they had to use the Men's room and couldn't get back in.

But in the end it was worth it. By far the most spectacular fireworks display I have ever seen.

As far as Birthdays go, it was a special weekend. The day off, fireworks, visiting brothers, two suprise birthday cakes at work (thanks Noodles et al), suprise brownie & prezzies at Social Eatz (thanks R and E), and a call from my Nanna:

Nanna: You so old! How do you feel?
Lara: Wiser... you can hear it in my voice, can't you.
Nanna: Hmmm... yes, yes I can hear it