Delayed telecast

(The following is just some of what i've noted down over the past two weeks of limited internet access)

Am typing this at the moment on ms word, since where i am now in the Atlanta area does not have internet access. For memory’s (or lack thereof) sake,I’m typing this first, lest i forget everything at a later date. (And of course when this is finally posted, i’ll probably be in Boston already but nvm that.) But that’s a minor issue, overall the place is great, and Atlanta itself has definitely been worth visiting.

But since it’s been a while, i shall start off where i last left off – finishing my last paper – a take-home due just a couple of hours before i was due to leave the Hill for RDU to catch the plane. As usual i procrastinated to the extent that i was up all the way till around 4:30am trying to finish it (so my last night in Chapel Hill turned out to be the one with the least sleep ever), and then packing the contents of my room into my two bags, which was far worse than doing the paper actually. To cut a long story short there's a lot of reorganization and throwing away to do once i repack my stuff just before i leave, and knowing what a hoarder i am, that’s not gonna be easy at all…

So anyways, got to RDU thanks to a ride from Emily, and then the flight to Atlanta via Charlotte was quite uneventful. The only event took place just after landing, when halfway along the very, very long passageway between the arrival gate and the baggage claim; when i realized that i’d stupidly left my passport in the magazine pocket in front of my seat – fifteen frantic minutes later and that was settled thankfully…

Atlanta itself has been a great experience overall so far – lots of different things so far to do and see (one of the most memorable, though not necessarily the favorite, involved sampling methinks more than thirty varieties of Coca-Cola Company drinks from all over the world at the World of Coca-Cola – i’m not one to drink carbonated drinks usually but the lure was just too great). It has also been a great time spent with the others, and we’re staying in like the coolest place (OM HQ- the Doulos people), which i’m very glad and thankful for…

Tomorrow if all works out well i’ll attempt to cook eggs for the rest for breakfast, since i’m up the earliest anyway, and also since i don’t eat breakfast foods typically, technically i won’t have any chance of poisoning myself should anything go wrong. Heh – but methinks the cooking itself won’t be a problem (i mean, how wrong can one go in scrambling eggs?), the thing that i’m more worried about is cracking the eggs in the first place, since i’ve a bad track record of doing so that involves lots of extra calcium (i.e. shell bits) in the eggs as well as untimely splatterings of eggs on adjacent parties whom I did not know…

Updates – well now i’ve reached Boston, and it turns out that i’ve still limited internet access – the hotel that we’re staying in offers wireless, but it costs $9.95 for 24 hours. Good thing that there’s a cost-free alternative, which is to just go downstairs and use the computers at the hotel business center – less convenient and can’t use aim and skype, but better than nothing i guess.

Today after arriving at the hotel (and toot me nearly left my laptop in the cab this time), we took a walk across the river to Cambridge, where we went and explored Harvard and the surrounding area – it certainly felt quite different from UNC and Chapel Hill, that’s for sure, but it was a very interesting campus nevertheless… Never been this far north so far since arriving in the States, so the sunset’s earlier than it has ever been before (5pm)… The weather’s been quite nice here too – at least it’s quite a bit colder than things were in Atlanta (and as has turned out to be a recurring theme with me, the day we left Atlanta was the last day temperatures were near record highs). All that’s missing now is some snow…

Well after the first day, in the end we decided to rent a car and drive around the area. Admittedly, i was all for it mainly cos it meant that i would be able to add more states to my list; but in any case it was fun whatever way you look at it. The second day we headed down to Providence, Rhode Island, which is really no more than an hour’s drive south from Boston. It’s a nice place, with no really big touristy things, but it was worth the drive in any case.

On the way back we stopped by a giant outlet store. Now, i'm normally not a shopper, not in Singapore at least, but when i’m overseas somehow i become more inclined to purchase things. And this mall was giant – more than 100 shops, several of which i’d be inclined to purchase from – stuff like Nike, Banana Republic, Oakley etc. From browsing through the shops, i found heaps of stuff that i would like to buy. However, it also struck me how consumerist this whole thingy was, and i guess in that sense buying all i wanted would not only be playing up to this, but also not being the best steward of God’s resources. (Also, my already bursting-at-the-seams bags have no room for that much more stuff.) So I tried to limit myself to stuff that i would really need and would be worth it (i.e. forget about US$70 Oakley shades or Teva sandals) – think i still overshopped though, but not very excessively.

Yesterday we drove up north to New Hampshire and Maine, again not more than just over an hour’s drive from Boston. (So in other words, if you want to cover many states in a jiffy, start off from Boston…) The New Hampshire coast was just beautiful – we managed to cover it all since it’s only 18 miles long, and the coastline and the quaint houses and coastal towns was just such a refreshing change and something totally different from what i’ve experienced so far here. The only thing that freaked me a bit was the sheer number of crab claws littering the beach…

Just up north a bit in Maine, we ended up in Portland, the biggest city in the state. It’s another place well worth the visit, though probably not for more than a day, although I’m sure driving up further north all the way to Canada and stopping along the way to soak in the whole New England atmosphere would be a great idea, though one that would take way more time than we had. Again, in keeping with my maritime aversions, my only bone to pick with Portland was the overwhelming odor (at least to me) of the sea, not surprising since the fishing industry’s big there. But everything else more than made up for it…