The Globetrotting Geek

Monday – Day 46

September 7, 2012

Today was pouring with rain and as per usual, I had a bit of a frolic in it getting various things done in the morning and though the student clubs fair was cancelled due to the inclement weather, I made the most of my early hours. I made a mad dash for breakfast was Thea Walton, a fellow aussie, and we munched ferociously outside on the benches during a break in the storm before we were soon overwhelming by battering winds and refreshed rains.

After returning to my room to dry off, I headed out on a trolley tour of the city. The photos that follow are still from my phone but, I am pleased to report that after the end of this day, I soon had my camera charger back!

First up on the tour was a visit to the White House that was established in Philadelphia before the relocation to Washington D.C. It was interesting as at least for our tour guide it represented the forming of ‘a more perfect union’ of the states however, black slaves still toiled under its roof, representing an imperfect freedom.

Just across the road was the line to enter to see the Liberty Bell. Suddenly it began to pour and we made a beeline for the limited shelter provided by the pavilion housing the bell.

After a short wait in the queue and a brief discussion over its significance as a symbol of liberation and freedom, I stood before the bell with its hallmark crack (actually formed during attempted repairs of a hairline split) and had the requisite photo in front of it.

Just opposite the pavilion was the first full court-house of the United States and also stood a building that I recognized; Independence Hall, featured in National Treasure and quite a well known monument, though no longer in use.

After that the rest of the group needed lunch and so they headed to yet another location for a cheesesteak. By this point in my trip I was quite tiring of the whole cheesesteak thing yet, dutifully followed them to wait in the queue at a supposedly famous location ‘Joe’s’ or something of that ilk.

After a good twenty minute wait, it was back on the trolley to see Reading Terminal Market and the railroad station above it. Unfortunately due to labor day, on our arrival we found it closed and so were forced to see the remnants of the train terminal from behind bars up at the Philadelphia Convention Center, a half of the repurposed terminal.

Next was a trip inside a neighboring hotel where atop it we could see a grand view of the city’s skyline.

From there we could also see the large statue of William Penn standing on top of city hall.

Our guide then told to us the story of “The Curse of William Penn”, a tale by now familiar to me. The statues of Penn atop the City Hall stood above every building in the city, watching over the welfare of Philadelphia and the success of its sporting teams. After hundreds of years, in the mid eighties, skyscrapers were built that surpassed Penn’s height. From that moment onwards, no local sports team was able to secure a major title. Loss after loss, year after year, the cities teams were destitute of victory.

Finally, in 2008, a new tallest building in the city was under construction: the Comcast Tower. A disgruntled engineer, upset by the curse hatched a plan. While working on the top of the tower he relieved himself of duty to go down to City Hall to purchase a mini souvenir William Penn statue. Having done that he returned to the top of the tower and welded it on to the top so that once more William Penn and his hat were again above all in the city. That very year ‘The Phillies’, the local baseball team, took out the national title.

A fascinating note about Philly is that all major building projects must contribute 1%  of their budget to public art. Comcast being a media firm running cable TV channels spent over three hundred million dollars building its skyscraper and so we headed over to the building to see how they reinvested into the city.

In typical American fashion, they had spent three million dollars on the installation of the world’s largest LED television with a resolution far surpassing that of any other television in existence. When we walked into the building to see it on display this is what we saw.

A regular wall with not much of interest on it. However, moments later the scene changed abruptly.

The wall darkened to reveal itself as the multi-million dollar screen in question. We stayed to watch for a few minutes, oohing and ahhing at the amazing pictures. However, I still felt that all that money could’ve been better invested.

After returning home to Rodin House, it was a quick change to get ready for the last social event of NSO: A Night At the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Transported on school buses, the entire crowd of exchange, transfer and freshman students, all dressed up in their best and finest headed to the gallery for dinner, a dance and, a chance to view the exhibition privately. Rumours flowed freely as to the cost of the event and none of them were below six figures.

The atmosphere in the gallery was rather odd, as in the main atrium loud dance music was playing between the people dancing next to marble pillars and a sumptuous buffet. I personally took this as a great opportunity to learn from the curators and guides within the museum and was soon exploring all it had to offer.

Inside I met a few Art History majors and also gleaned a little more knowledge from them, albeit laughing at their description of a fauvist painting as ‘pokemon-esque’. Later I met up with a lovely japanese girl Saya and her friend Royston to explore the Asian and Indian sections of the gallery before heading back home.

However, that wasn’t it for the night! The office of alumni programs was hosted a ‘host your own murder mystery’ game and I headed out to that, narrowly missing the first session to start. And so, in typical Shaanan fashion, I had a little play around on the grand piano in the waiting area. Soon a number of people were gathered round and I was fielding song requests. Just before leaving into the next session I was recommended by the head of the office to apply to play in a band and music competition for homecoming, the largest gathering of the year wherein alumni return to join with students in watching the Penn football team play a home game.

After that it was a round of the murder mystery and then quickly to sleep, before dropping from what was a seriously busy day.

 

The Frat Party – Thursday – Day 42

September 3, 2012

I still haven’t gotten my camera charger back but it’s on the way, so please hold on a little longer!

Something starkly noticeable about Penn is the quality of the people. This was nowhere more evident than my first time meeting the overall freshman cohort at the Provost’s welcome breakfast. There I met tens of people, most of the whose names I can’t remember. However, one girl who stuck out was Anne Stack from Zimbabwe, who along with numerous others, helped to make up a large African contingent. After a brief welcome to the class of 2016, the exchange students were shuttled off to a nearby building for introductory briefings.

From here on we began NSO: “New Students’ Orientation”

The first session was an introduction to studying in the USA and special mention was given to the large Australian cohort, the biggest that was present. After forty minutes of rattling on we were then passed over to a security briefing. Penn has the second largest private police force in the United States, which after a moment’s thought, seemed quite significant. Even walking around campus, one feels secure and watched at all times, with many cameras and guards on every corner. To my knowledge the total force is over five-hundred officers serving the campus area. Following that was the Penn Traditions Picnic where I first encountered the marching band.

Then back to the lecture theater, ho hum. This time for a speaker on sexual conduct on campus and abuse. Nothing that made me grip to the edge of my seat. “Call It What It Is” was the overarching theme and there could be heard more than a few giggles from the auditorium which, mystified the speaker greatly.

After a brief tour of campus given by student volunteers, it was off to my room to prepare for a dinner cruise that we were to embark on in the evening. Meeting up with everyone to walk to the bus, I was dressed up in my finest and walked alongside my new japanese friend Kaya to get to the bus. We arrived at the dock and boarded ‘The Spirit of Philadelphia’ for a cruise on which there was even kosher food! My table unsurprisingly for me, was composed entirely of members of the female gender but featured a fantastic international twist with representatives from five countries on board.

The rest of the cruise was dedicated to socializing, showing it off on the dance floor and, taking in the spectacular views of Philly that were to be had from the upper deck.

After we returned home, the exchange students decided that the time was ripe for our first off-campus night out on the town, which in this case meant trying to get into a frat party.

Walking down the streets next to Penn we came across numerous ‘sketchy’ frats, however none of them seemed to be taking people in. However, we followed the noise and foul smells down the street to arrive at a small, dilapidated gated house which was guarded by two built, topless blokes. When we tried to enter we were quizzed about our adherence to the night’s ‘ratio’, a sickening concept by which boys are admitted into parties on the basis of the number of girls they bring with them.

This is different to the Australian nightclub practices by the fact that it was made so explicit. The frat boys let us know that everyone was looking for some action and that we would likely spoil there chances. A charming and pretty french girl by the name of Marion dragged me in with a friend and I fulfilled the 2:1 ratio requirement. Inside was a mass of heaving, drunken bodies, swaying in a humid mixture of sweat, alcoholic vapors and smoke. Marion, a new boy she’d picked up inside and I entered the house to find the bar.

The bar served only two things, a very strong vodka and gatorade mixture and what must be the world’s worst beer. I tried a little of both and liked neither. The only benefit being that I didn’t have to shell out anything for the pleasure of drinking and perspiring in a forsaken hellhole. Don’t get me wrong, I am very pleased I went however, the experience was almost cinematic in its adherence to the frat party stereotypes. I have since been informed that not all frat parties are that bad but, it was definitely an experience to remember.

Wednesday – Day 41

September 2, 2012

The morning was a lot of moving in, getting my stuff all organized and generally learning the ropes at Penn. I sorted out my immigration and eagerly waited for my roommate to arrive at 11.

At approximately 11:03AM I heard the key in the door turning and opened it to see the beaming face of Anil Chitrapu and his equally enthused parents. After some introductions I set to helping him move in. His parents were incredibly genial and generous and offered to provide me with any of the dormitory essentials I was missing, eventually settling on just bringing me a quilt with a microwave for the room to follow. I was invited to lunch with them and told I now had a place to stay should I need one. I was also under strict instruction to let my parents know I was being taken care of properly. Anil himself is a fantastic guy, cheery, musical, intelligent and easy to get along with. He matches my standards of cleanliness and sociability and overall I think I couldn’t have found a better roommate.

Following the move-in, it was photo time with Me, Anil, and his mother.

Subsequently they departed for lunch and I prepared for a food tour of Philly that I was to be taking with the International Students’ Organisation.

The food tour was organized by “Best of Philly – City Food Tours”  with guide and co-owner, Robert Weinberg, a delightful fellow with a sharp wit and a keen sense of street smarts.

Our first stop after his multi-lingual introduction (hello in plenty of different languages) was Tony JR’s for another (vegan) cheese steak. This time it was much better and cheese fries were provided too. I tried to avoid the sticky yellow chips in front of me but decided eventually to try a few of them, not going to happen again. At the same time we were told the story of this dish, originally a true street food, that had developed over time from a standard hot-dog into a steak sandwich, to finally, a Philly Cheese-steak.

Next up was Tomato Pie, a somewhat pizza like concoction with a thick base and a large helping of tomato paste and an interesting sauce. This happened around the corner in a store filled with what were clearly a few locals. I liked the pie a good deal more and gratefully accepted a second slice from Robert.

Following that it was time for a delicious treat, fresh, hot, soft Philly pretzel with hot horseradish mustard! This was had at the Philly Pretzel Factory, a local bakery and distributor of the product. Such a fresh pretzel almost tasted like a european bread with a crisp salty outside, moderated by a tangy mustard laced with a hint of heat. Inside was soft and almost melted in the mouth.

As we walked along the main street in Philly we came to Del Frisco’s where although we didn’t stop to savour their food, we admired their architecture and interior. Del Frisco’s is housed inside a converted bank, with the lower floor featuring event space inside the bank’s vault, with the original door intact. Their wine collection took up vast vacuums inside  the vault and within the staircases and was a sight to see.

Dessert time! We headed to Reading Terminal Market inside the old train station where we found Chocolate by Mueller which, featured chocolate in the anatomically correct shapes of organs (kidneys included). From there we took away bags of chocolate coated pretzels that although were cute, didn’t taste as good as they looked. However, next we came to the final and my favorite stop; Flying Monkey Bakery. There we had small chocolate coated chocolate cakes which, though incredibly rich, were by far the most delicious item of the tour.

Following the tour, it was a quick race back to Rodin to get into some warmer clothes and then back to the Office of International Programs to embark on a trip to a ‘Philies’ baseball game, versus the New York Mets. Again our SEPTA tokens were handed out and we headed off to the Citizen Bank Stadium to watch the match. The first thing I noticed when we arrived was the size of the stadium, larger than most Australian stadiums I had seen, however I was soon corrected by one of the staff members who informed me that I was in fact looking at the football field. Which was surrounding by energetic baseball fans. Looking across the road I then saw Citizens Bank Park, the baseball stadium, that was packing with over forty-thousand screaming Phillies fans, all guzzling down cheese steaks, beer and hot dogs. By this point in time the oily food already didn’t appeal to me too much and unfortunately this meant a very meager dinner of the only salad I could find!

Our seats were located at the very top, at the very back of the stadium and we soon settled in to watch the first few innings.

Craig; a Scottish lad, a friendly Indian graduate student and I decided after about four innings to  go downstairs and try and get a closer look at the action. Guards were checking tickets and I waited till one of them left for a break before sneaking into the pricier section of the stadium. At this point our Indian friend decided he needed a bathroom break so he snuck off and out. Unfortunately when he returned it was made clear to the guard that neither he nor us had tickets and so we were kicked out and sent back to the regular area of the stadium. We walked around on the bottom floor for a bit more and came to a restaurant (serving greasy food) with seating facing the action and decided to buy some drinks and fries so as to be allowed to seat ourselves close to the action.

Unfortunately, the game was very low scoring with the tally at 3:2 to the Mets by the bottom of the eighth. We returned upstairs to watch the rest of the game and meet up with the rest of the crew. The game unfortunately ended with a Mets victory with the final tally the same as before.

Afterwards it was off to the top of one of the high-rise residences for a few drinks with the Brits and Belgians before a good night’s sleep.