Adventure Time!

Orientation is done, and class doesn't start until the 6th. That means I've had the past few days to wander around/get myself in trouble in Boston! Adventures outlined below:

September 2nd: The Internet Escapades
So, apparently when one of the previous roommates moved out of our apartment, she took the modem with her. A modem, I am told, is what makes internet happen. We still had Comcast service, we just didn't have the right box, so it was up to one of us to go to the Comcast store and pick it up. I had the privilege of being the select roommate for this task.
Unfortunately, the Comcast store is two neighborhoods over and doesn't follow any logical public transportation route, which means the best way to get there was to walk. For 40 minutes. Through two neighborhoods I have never even driven through. Perhaps this is a good time to mention that I don't have internet or any other convenient/helpful directional tools on my phone. But...I found it! It's in Allston, which could best be described as a student ghetto (think Greenwood post-block party at its WORST). Gross gross gross. But it made me appreciate how pretty Brookline is and how lucky I am to be living where I am.
I managed to get the right box thingy and wires from the nice Comcast man and lugged the comically large, bright red bag 40 minutes back home, where I could not figure out how to get anything to make sense to me. Luckily, Miriam (roommate) and her brother were around and we tackled the internet and cable set-up (read: Miriam's brother plugged stuff in and we watched) and lo and behold! I am writing this entry from my own room.

September 3rd: Fanheuil Hall = Smorgasbord
Yesterday was my first real day to go into the city and find cool stuff outside of Emerson's campus. My roommate Lizzie (who is super friendly and funny and sounds like Bria Gray) decided to take me to Fanheuil Hall and introduce me to the place that will make sure I don't get skinny anytime soon. It. Was. Amazing. Plus the Michigan game was on one of the TVs. And I was wearing my Michigan shirt and got lots of "Go Blues" so it made me feel at home. :)
We ate and watched some crazy street performers and met up with her friend Chris who's visiting from Ireland. So Lizzie was our tour guide and we got to walk down to the wharf by the Aquarium to sit by the water and watch the boats. Which means I know where the Aquarium is now! Which means I can go see it! YAY.
Then we walked through the North End, which is Boston's Little Italy. Oh my God, it was...everything I ever thought it would be and MORE. Just so Italian and all full of historic nonsense and fun and Paul Revere's statue and Old North Church and ahhh it was great. I can't wait to be hungry and walk through again for pizza and pastries. We walked down Washington Street which is where the Paramount Center is and I was excited to kind of see how the city connects itself. It was nice to find somewhere I was familiar with. We wound up in the Boston Public Gardens which were beautiful. I found the swan boats my aunt used to take me on! All-in-all, a great day of adventuring.

September 4th: Newbury Street and the Blisters
OK, Newbury Street is infamous for its high-end stores and pretty people. Which means if I was going to go shopping on Newbury Street, I was going to look GOOD. So I decided to wear my brand new bright red loafer flats with an appropriately yuppie outfit and I did, indeed, look GOOD. Newbury Street itself is cool and very posh and very dangerous for my wallet. As much as I was enjoying looking around in all the stores and people-watching, I was mostly wishing I had worn my tennis shoes. I have never had so many blisters in my life. But I brought Band-Aids for just such a situation! And I was a dork and stopped to bandage my heels on a bench in front of some super expensive boutique. But they didn't really hold up and I wound up limping to the T station at the end of the day. But hopefully my cute shoes are worn-in now? At least they'd better be...

SO. One more day of aimless wandering before class starts on the 6th! Which will be a new adventure altogether...

Orientated

I feel like such an official Emersonian (and Bostonian) after getting my student ID and my Charlie Card yesterday. A Charlie Card is my "T" pass (they call the subway the T here...I get made fun of for calling it the subway or the metro but I'm learning). I take the Green Line straight into the city and as much as I LOATHED Michigan's M-Bus system, I am rather fond of the T and the commuting crowd from my neighborhood. Having not grown up in a place with a subway system, I'm still kind of charmed by the idea of commuting via subway (shoot, the T! the T!) every morning. I will likely grow less appreciative as I get used to it, but for now it's a novelty and I'm the MBTA's biggest fan.

I spent most of yesterday taking care of various administrative business around Emerson and walking around campus trying to pre-orient myself before orientation, which I'll get to in a second. I'm thrilled the weather post-Irene has been so cooperative so that I can walk around and find fun new places in Boston without fighting the inevitable rain/snow/sleet/ice that I certainly will have to combat in due time.

So today was orientation for me and my fellow graduate students. We all gathered in the Paramount Center (they called it the Big House! What?!) which is the theater I'll be working in for most of my career here, and had our ears talked off by various school officials about...just about everything. That was the boring part, and afterward we had our break-out sessions for our academic programs, which was more enjoyable by FAR. Mostly because it meant I was sitting in a black box theater with free food and a bunch of other theatre-y people. Always a good time. We played ice-breaker games (secretly I LOVE THEM but shhh I'm trying this new thing where I'm cool and not a nerd) and got to know the faculty a little bit. There are 36 people in my incoming class, and we have a wide range of age and experience and expertise in this group. I'm really looking forward to working with everyone, which is good because I'm pretty sure it's IMPOSSIBLE to avoid anyone in a program this small.

Things I Learned About Emerson at Orientation:

• HIPSTERS ABOUND. And yet...
• Everyone is weirdly fashionable. It's like if the RC actually cared what it looked like.
• Undergrads are suddenly annoying. It feels so wrong and hypocritical. Who am I? I don't even know anymore.
• Professors = Peers. I feel like this should seem natural after the RC, but it's clear that our professors believe that they can learn as much from us as we can learn from them. They aren't authority figures anymore; they're intellectual and academic resources and counterparts. This will be the thing I appreciate the most about being a grad student, I think.
• I am going to like it here. And I am going to be so so so grateful that I get to do what I love every day. :)