We Did It!!!!!

Yesterday the Boston Red Sox won the 2013 World Series Championship!! For somebody who never feels homesick, I want to get back to Boston so badly. Throughout the playoffs, I was constantly reminded of my amazing memories growing up with the Red Sox and my family. It is crazy to think that a sports team can invoke so many positive and negative memories into a person’s mind. After being a die-hard Red Sox fan for as long as I can remember, there are so many reasons I want to be back home to celebrate with my family.

I vividly remember breaking down and crying during the 2003 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees when Pedro Martinez stayed in the game and Aaron Boone hit a walk-off home run to take the “Stankees” to the World Series. The Curse of the Bambino was alive and well. I get the chills just writing about that night because of how clear the memories are. My whole family watched the game in my grandparents’ home, and then had a quiet drive back through the city afterwards.

Then in 2004, things were totally different. I still have the World Series starting lineup memorized, as well as the pitching rotation and MVP awards when we beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4. I remember watching each game in my family room with my mother and father. During the final game I could barely stay awake, until the last out occurred. We jumped around and then my parents popped a bottle of champagne that sprayed onto our wall (we have never wiped the stain off). I couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night, simply because of how ecstatic I was. The good vibrations were felt all over my town for months afterwards, and the memories still bring a smile to my face.

In 2007, we watched the Red Sox win once again, and the memories are just as vivid as those a few years before. Even with hardships like the Boston Marathon Bombings this past year, it is sensational that a city can rally around a sports team in order to achieve greatness. I still don’t know why, but Red Sox Nation is like my second family. A quick nod of acceptance seems to come anywhere I make eye contact with another person wearing a Red Sox hat, which seems weird to people who don’t understand the dynamic. Now unfortunately, I am getting way too many chills to continue writing this blog post, so I am going to have to end things here. Time to go listen to my favorite Christmas song of all time: “Merry Merry Merry Frickin’ Christmas.” I highly suggest you listen to it!

A Hunting Story - Fall Break 2K13

Last weekend, one of my best friends invited me to head down to his house in Austin, Texas. From there, we drove even further to his ranch to do some hunting during Fall Break. Being from Boston, Massachusetts I had never hunted before, and had never even shot a gun. After telling my family all about my plans for the weekend, they then passed the stories on to my other relatives, and I received a phone call from my grandfather on Friday morning, just hours before we were going to leave.

After talking briefly about my plans for the upcoming weekend and how excited I was for the trip, my grandfather decided to tell me a story about one of his friends from college. The friend's name was Billy, and he and my grandfather went to college together at Indiana University. During his junior year at Indiana, Billy decided to participate in a foreign exchange program with a family in Switzerland. The host family lived near the Alps, so they decided to take Billy rabbit hunting during his first weekend at their house. Billy was very similar to me and had never been hunting before, but was excited to see the sites and perhaps bring back a rabbit.

After setting off on the family adventure, Billy heard some rustling in the nearby bushes as they were hiking through the trails. Immediately, he grabbed his pellet gun and shot at the rustling bush. Turns out... Billy had just shot the family dog. All it took was one weekend for the Swiss family to hate this college student for the rest of his time staying at their house. Luckily, the dog wasn't killed with the pellet gun. However, Billy did have to live with the daily sight of seeing a dog slightly limp around for the next several months, just to serve as a reminder to himself and the host family for what he had done. It turns out that the family never really forgave Billy, and essentially hated him for the rest of his time in Switzerland. Moral of the story, never shoot at something if you don't know exactly what it is.

Upon hearing this story, I started cracking up. I think the main reason I laughed at this was because the dog was never seriously injured, and my grandpa was the storyteller. My grandfather and I have always been close, but he will rarely stray from more serious and generic conversations with me. To hear him tell a story like this was a big change, and definitely caught me off guard. Also, the story itself provides a cognitive shift from a simple story of hunting, to a comical accident involving a misunderstood college boy. I believe that the story was also very relatable to my life, which made me laugh as well. It's safe to say I was very careful when shooting a gun the next few days, and relayed the story to my friend's family who all got a kick out of it as well. Well done Grandpa!

Meeting with Vera #3 - Fall Break Recap

The Wednesday following Fall Break 2013, Vera Wang and I met up for the third time this semester. We had a lot to talk about after four days away from the classroom, and I was very excited to hear about her long weekend. After the initial awkwardness associated with meeting in Union Grounds, we settled into a pair of comfortable chairs and struck up conversation.

Our conversation the week before regarding hunting made Vera a little uneasy, so I decided that it probably wouldn’t be in my best interest to continue on about shooting wild hogs and coyotes. I inquired about her shopping spree over the long weekend, but was unable to get a detailed response. Besides shopping, Vera simply told me that she was able to keep up with her necessary school work, and then relax and be with her IEP comrades. I was very surprised when she then asked me how the hunting trip went! We both laughed for a bit about the question, simply because I didn’t expect her to actually want to know. We talked about the experience of actually just being out in the middle of nowhere and enjoying the country lifestyle. I told her that it was unlike anything I had ever done before, and she agreed with that. We talked for a little while about exactly the kind of environment we were used to back home, and she began to tell me about her living situation.

With no brothers or sisters, she said that her parents were always very strict on the kinds of grades she had to receive in school, and constantly spent time studying and working to achieve success. She did mention that she was very lucky to have her father support the decision to travel to America and study here though. Vera explained that most of her friends back home wanted to leave China and travel to the United States, but found it difficult to do so. She also said that she missed living in such a big city. After adjusting to the suburban American lifestyle, things like the hustle and bustle of everyday Shanghai can be missed. However, while she may miss the city, Vera definitely does not miss China as a whole. She continually tells me that she loves being in America because of the freedom and opportunity here. One of the specific things that she mentioned during our meeting is her new love for Facebook. Back in China, she wasn’t allowed to have Facebook, but now loves keeping up with her friends in America via social media. After this short tangent on the topic of communication, Vera continued to ask me what I missed about Boston.

Now of course I could have gone on for hours about what I loved about my hometown, but I decided it would probably be best to spare Vera of that. Instead, I simply told her that I miss the city atmosphere like she noted, but also the greenery and autumn foliage that Texas doesn’t have much of. We discussed things for a bit longer, but soon finished up the conversation and parted ways. I am looking forward to meeting with Vera again in the near future, in hopes of having even more interesting talks about life in general.

The Second Meeting with Vera Wang

The night before Vera Wang and I were scheduled to meet up again, I saw her with a group of fellow IEP students sitting around a table in Market Square laughing and exchanging stories with each other in Chinese. I went up to the table and said hello to Vera who was completely embarrassed by me. After a solid ten to fifteen seconds of feeling like an awkward parent, she finally introduced me to her friends around the table. We chatted for a few minutes, and then everybody burst into laughter as I walked away from the table. I turned bright red as people at surrounding tables looked at me to investigate what all the students were laughing at. Tomorrow's meeting was going to be interesting.

Immediately after Vera and I sat down at our typical meeting location in Union Grounds, I was quick to ask why all of her friends laughed at me the night before. She giggled a little bit more, and simply said that they thought it was so funny that I came up and started talking to them out of the blue. She said she would be far too shy to come say hello to me if I were with a group of friends. After realizing that my conversation partner was a little shy, my new goal for the rest of the semester became to help Vera Wang break out of her shell. Anytime I see her walking around campus, I now go out of my way to be social and see how she is doing.

After getting the initial confusion out of the way, the two of us decided to catch up since it had been a long time since our first meeting. I told Vera that the football game against University of Texas was approaching rapidly and asked if she would be going. She told me that she couldn’t understand football at all, or really any sports for that matter. I asked if she played any sports back home, but was disappointed to hear that the only thing she had done was swim and run. My next goal for the semester was set in place: I was going to teach Vera Wang how to play racquetball or squash in the recreation center. After sitting down for no more than five minutes, I already had several goals for my conversation partner and I to accomplish together.

The next order of business was to see what her plans were for Fall break. She simply told me that she was planning on going shopping, and nothing much more than that. It was difficult for Vera to explain to me what she was shopping for, but she eventually said new clothes were a necessity. I proceeded to tell her about my plans to hunt in southern Texas. Immediately as I began to explain it, her face turned to sheer terror. I stopped right away, and she simply said, “That is really really gross!” We both burst out into laughter and agreed that I wouldn’t go into further details of my plans. The conversation changed over to what type of food we eat here at TCU compared to back home. I first told her that I am a big seafood fan, but simply can’t eat the fish that is served in Market Square. We talked about how the food here is also much spicier than anything back home. It was quite funny when we both thought it was bizarre that even the nightly pasta contains hot peppers. We also agreed that the home-cooked meals are missed more and more every day we eat at the BLUU.

In the final minutes of our conversation, I reminded Vera that she had asked about fake IDs the first time we met. I asked if she had done any partying recently or tried to get into some of the local bars. She practically cut me off with her quickest response of the afternoon and said, “Oh nooo, I was only kidding last time Chris!!!” Afraid she was going to bite my head off, I quickly took back the questions and apologized. One of the final things she made sure I understood was that she was "by the book," and didn’t want to engage in much more than studying and quietly hanging out with her friends. She explained her strict study and sleep schedule, which seemed incredibly intense to me. Nevertheless, it was a great meeting with Vera Wang, the fashion icon herself.

My Room: Home & School

After finally getting settled into my Sophomore dorm room, I feel like I am at home whenever I return from a long day of class. This year, I am living in the Tom Brown/Pete Wright apartment complex which is located right next to the TCU Recreation Center. I live with three other roommates, all of whom are close friends of mine. We all share a common living space with a lounge area and a kitchen, but each have our individual bedrooms. Personally, I love this dynamic, simply because I can relax and watch television with my roommates when time permits, but also retreat to my personal room when I want to go to sleep or do homework. Also, I am thankful to have my own living space because I can escape from the clutter and mess associated with a stereotypical male dorm room. While dirty dishes collect in the kitchen, I am able to depart to a relatively clean space with all my necessities at my fingertips.

During my time in high school, I was heavily involved with video production and computer science, and essentially created a command center in my bedroom. With a plethora of screens and gadgets, it is safe to say that I was a certified geek. Everything around me served a purpose though, and I loved it. Last year when I shipped myself across the country to attend TCU, I had to downsize my command center significantly. Today, you could say that I am a geek-on-the-go, and carry my laptop and cell phone almost everywhere. While I have my laptop computer on my bedroom desk, there is not much more gadgetry needed.

My living quarters at school consists of the bare necessities. I have a few posters to showcase my interests and hobbies, but generally keep peripherals to a minimum. Fraternity and sorority t-shirts that I have acquired overflow my dirty laundry hamper, and my various pairs of sneakers line the visible side of my bed frame. I have definitely come to appreciate my room at school, simply because it doesn’t seem to be much of a liability. I don’t have a car on campus, so the only things I really have to look after are all contained in this simple space. I feel like I can pack everything up and leave at any given time should the need present itself.

When I look around other people’s rooms, the amount of “stuff” astonishes me. While others may find a need to have their full collection of DVDs from elementary school, I will continue to live my new simplistic lifestyle. After all, when it comes time to pack up for summer vacation, I will have to put all of my possessions in a duffel bag and climb aboard an airplane.