Another **Congratulations **for you!
Thanks, all, for the congratulations–and for the ideas about sightseeing while I’m there! My wife is a huge history nerd, and I’m a minor history nerd, so these suggestions are great.
You know who else went to Harvard!!! Oh wait… no he didn’t. Nevermind.
Congrats Left Hand!
Lime rickeys!
Enjoy the time up there, LHoD. Did a seven-year stint in Radcliffe Yard, so I’ll second the whole Cambridge Common/Freedom Trail/Charlestown/Harvard Yard advice.
Where are you staying? In the Radcliffe Quad? I worked a couple of summer institutes and they tended to house lots of summer visitors over there.
Congratulations!!! I’m just sorry I won’t be here over the summer to greet you. Please stop by the Divinity School, if you have a chance. There are always interesting events there, although I don’t know what their summer schedule is like, there are students doing the summer language programs so I’m sure they must have something.
A professor you might be interested in meeting (if he is around) is Dr. Michael Jackson who teaches the Politics of Storytelling, among other interesting classes. He also wrote a book on the subject that’s on Amazon. I haven’t taken him but many of my classmates seem to really like him.
Get some coffee at the Thinking Cup next to the Boston Common when you go on the Freedom Trail. It’s surprisingly good.
Near Harvard, the best Chinese food is at Zoe’s.
I’ll think of more later. Harvard has really been a special place for me.
Have fun in Cambridge. If you like science fiction, drop into the MIT Science Fiction Society Library on the 4th floor of the MIT Student Center right before the Haavahd Bridge on Mass. Ave. It’s been 40 years since I ran the place, but I read their minutes and it is still going strong. I assume they have hours posted - it depends on which keyholders are taking duty over the summer.
Congratulations! It sounds like you will have a wonderful time.
I recommend Mary Chung’s on Mass Ave in Central Square (it’s sort of an MIT hangout - not sure if that’s a plus or a minus for you). Order the suan la chow show.
???
Does Zoe’s even serve Chinese Food?
My best suggestion is to treat yourself to a hot chocolate (or iced chocolate in the summer) from Burdicks in Harvard Square. If you have deep pockets, get one early in your stay. If you don’t have deep pockets, get one at the end of your visit. They are expensive and delicious.
If you don’t like chocolate, ignore the above.
Assuming you’ll be staying on campus (since that’s an option) don’t bring a car. Get a Zipcar membership. When you’re leaving the city, pick up a car at the T endpoint in the direction you’re headed. E.g. if you’re headed to Lexington & Concord, book a car at Alewife. Headed to the south shore, book one at Quincy Adams. Headed to Salem - just take the T. Headed to the north shore, book one at Wellington. Etc.
Yes. Is there another Zoe’s I’m not aware of?
I order off the Sichuan section of the menu. It’s not as spicy hot as “authentic” Sichuan food, but it definitely reminds me of my time in China.
Bump. I just finished this course. To be fair, I think I had unrealistically high expectations for it: it really didn’t have a chance to live up to my fantasy image of what it could be like.
It far surpassed them. This was the most incredible academic experience I’ve ever had.
I’ll post some more about it when I get home, maybe start a thread on fairy tales or something.
Awesome.
Glad you enjoyed it, and please do tell!
Waiting to hear those stories!
Early when I got here, I found out about a change to the syllabus. Instead of meeting from 2-5 on the first Thursday, we’d meet from 2-5, then take a break for dinner, then meet again at 6 to get on a bus and go on a field trip.
Gregory Maguire met us at his house, with a wine-and-cheese spread he’d laid out. He took us on a tour of his writing spaces both literal and figurative: the tiny house in the back yard he writes in when he mustn’t be disturbed, the study he writes in when he gets an idea in the middle of the night, and his mental writing space. He talked about his childhood experiences with reworking The Wizard of Oz among his siblings and friends, and about his friendship with Maurice Sendak, and more. We closed the evening with a book-signing, of books he just gave to us.
I’d never read any of his works before, and was made an instant fan. The man is incredible. I just started Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and am transported by his writing.