Scary Big Spider Crab Thing On Loose

Day 10

Sept. 1, 2010

This was the first day of shopping week- a brilliant idea where for the first week of school, you can take any classes you want, try them out, and figure out which ones you actually want to take. Unfortunately, it was a crazy shopping day, and I didn’t actually make it to a single class today. I showed up for Spanish at 9 am only to find out it had been postponed until 10, and then at 10 I found myself sitting in a room full of confused students and no professor- turns out that Spanish didn’t even start until next week! I also managed to lose both my room key and swipe card to get into Harvard buildings. Oh boy. The school year really has begun.

Picture: Imagine waking up to this on your whiteboard...

Opening Ceremony

Day 9

August 31

Today was opening ceremony! I spent the first half of the day continuing to carry heavy boxes, and then we had our opening ceremony!

At the beginning of each year, Kirkland house has an opening ceremony with people dressed up as revolutionary soldiers. We all shake hands with the house masters, have a barbecue, and the school year officially begins. Pretty exciting!

Picture: Marching marching marching!

Towers and Giant Cockroaches

Day 8

August 30

Today I carried heavy boxes all day- that's literally about all I did. Our room is a disaster! It is so hot it is hard to sleep!

Picture of the Day: Alright all you engineers and technical people in my family- I won the engineering contest at our entry-way meeting. We had to build the tallest tower we could in 5 minutes with just paper and paperclips, and here it is! I even included a detailed tower picture to the right to show you how awesome our design is :)

We also learned that our building has a problem with giant cockroaches that crawl out of sink and bathtubs. Greeeat....

Moving in

Day 7

My roommates are back (except for Jenny, who is still in New York!) I spent the day carrying heavy objects and catching up with roomies. We were all in different countries from China to Uraguay to Cambridge, MA (which is ofcourse a country in itself)

I also went to MIT, and was happy to discover it only takes 15 min. total from my dorm to Matthew's. Matthew came to Harvard for a bit and checked out our yard sale, but then he went shopping with Mark and Miriam and I spent the day hauling heavy boxes up the stairs.

I think it will be a great year!

Picture of the day? I got a single!! I decided to put my bed in the closet. Now, don't start thinking I am being tortured or anything. It is actually quite convenient, giving me a quiet place to study with light control, and it opens up a lot more space in the room. Plus, now I can say I live in a closet and mean it!

We are here!

Day 6

A brother shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams.

~Author Unknown

Well, I'm here. I'm sitting all alone in my dorm room! I really like it. It is bigger than freshman year, and it has two beautiful window-seats! All my life, I have wanted window seats, so it is pretty exciting. I know that two of my roommates, Jenny and Rose are already here because they had already signed the sign-in sheet, but I haven't seen them yet. I'm very excited to be back, but I hope my roomies come back soon. It is a bit lonely all by myself :(

We drove all the way from New Jersey, and it only took 5 hours, and it would have taken 4.5 had it not been for a little adventure. They have lots of tolls here and Matthew was talking to me about what would happen if you didn't pay, but meanwhile he got so distracted he got in the wrong lane! This lane was only for people with a special pass, and we didn't have one, so we had no choice but to go through the booth without paying. Ironic, no? We were worried about the camera that takes a picture of your license plate and bills you, wondered how much the fine would be, and what Mom would say when she got it... Luckily, we explained what happened at the next gate and the guy was nice enough to let us off the hook. Phewf.

Matthew seemed a bit overwhelmed by this ideas of living in a completely new place, but we worked together to rearrange furniture to maximize space, and later we went grocery shopping and to a get-to-know you event on his floor.

Wow, there are not very many girls at MIT engineering grad school! It is probably 75% male! Everyone was happy to talk to me, and seemed a bit disappointed that I didn't got there. They need more girls in engineering :)

I am so happy to have my brother here! I heart you matthew!

Here's the picture! There's no extra bed, so I told Matthew I'd just live on his bookshelf!

New Jersey Bike Ride

Day 5

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. ~John F. Kennedy

Went bike riding today and heard great stories from the grandparents. I am really excited to get the opportunity to spend more time with them this year.

So, my camera is full of sand, so I am left with the bad camera for now- here's the best I can do for a picture... Oh well, I didn't guarantee the picture of the day would be a good one. I had to turn it sepia because the color version was so blown out.

Omi and Opa

Day 4

Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies carrots

~Author Unknown

The storage container was packed, last goodbyes said, and six hours on the airplane later, I am in New Jersey with my grandparents who we call Omi and Opa (Grandma and Grandpa in German). It is really nice to see them!

My grandmother Omi is amazing. Tomorrow am going to go walking with her and to the gym with her (yes, this IS my grandmother. She is so fit! Just being in the house makes me went to exercise and eat vegetables. The entire downstairs is one giant exercise room, and I have already had my diet thoroughly analyzed. When I am 80, I would love to be as fit as she is!

My grandfather Opa is amazing too! He helped to invent the LED and worked at Bell Labs designing integrated circuits and other innovative pieces of technology. To hear him and my brother Matthew talk electronics is something else. My brother, Opa, and my Dad are so much alike it is scary sometimes!

The picture of the day was taken just before we left, a final family portrait before we took off. We won't get another chance to take one until at least Christmas, and my brother and I might not even come home until January :(

I love you family!