One week until I go back to MIT. It's a little sad. I spend most of the school year a little homesick, wanting mom's cooking, and stuff. But now, at the end of summer, I really really want to get back to MIT.
It's not that I'm sick of home. All in all, home's pretty great. But I do miss a lot of things about MIT. The second biggest is probably the freedom of movement. (Biggest is, obviously, friends, so I won't mention that in detail.) I love nor-cal, don't get me wrong, but it's so hard to -get- anywhere. For someone (finally) used to the subway system and the bus routes (kinda), I come home, and I'm trapped here, unless someone wants to drive me anywhere. The nearest BART station (that's our public transportation) is 15 minutes drive away. There is a bus system, but I think the bus comes around to the bottom of my hill about once... an hour. Basically, I never see the bus, and I never see anyone waiting for the bus.
Another thing I miss is my room there, actually. It's smaller than my room at home (of course), and not as furnished, or nice, or anything, but I do like my room there. It's cozy, and I know where everything is. Of course, having less things there helps out with that quite a bit.
And of course the food. I love my mom's cooking. I don't mind eating it every day. I just wish there was more of it. Honest. So my mom's put me on a diet since I got home. It worked, I've lost some... well, many many pounds since I got home, but at the end of the day, I'm still hungry, and I really want some rice. Of course, the freedom to choose what I want to eat will be nice too.
Hmm, it's funny you should mention you dislike how there's no mobility here in Nor-Cal. I was of that belief too for a long time until, you guessed it!, this summer. Now that I (1) can drive competently and (2) have a car to myself, I don't feel the strains of immobility at all. Of course, there are times I wished my friends were closer by, but it doesn't bother me that the closest supermarket is 30 min walk aka 5 min drive instead of being a 3 min walk from my dorm (+ elevator waiting time). I think once you start actively driving, you'll enjoy being in Nor Cal more. There are a lot of benefits, imo, to living here: it's nice to not be surrounded by the constant noise of cities and having your own space of serenity/silence (aka your house).
ReplyDelete:) On the food thing, I can sympathize/agree; on the friends issue, I definitely agree. It's been great spending time with you and Fandri, but (1) miss my philly friends too and (2) nice to get to see friends daily again. (Again, blame the fact we live so far away; why can't you live next door to me? :< ) And, I also agree on the room. Haha! I just had to cover them all since policy debate drilled into me the importance of a line by line. :) Cheers!