The Globetrotting Geek

Friday – Day 43

September 4, 2012

After partying hard Thursday night I deserved a late wake-up on Friday! After a late wakeup I rushed to Hill (a dormitory building) for breakfast, however arrived too late to sit down and have some proper toast, as I had further information sessions for exchange that morning. The lecture was rather useless and inspired me to naught.

Following that, I, a Japanese friend (Kaya Doi) and a Malaysian friend Theng, decided to visit the bookstore and give it a thorough run down. Of greatest interest inside was the large array of Penn merchandise, taking up approximately half the entire store. Particularly catching my eye was a UPenn tie for the tidy sum of $60, well beyond my current tie budget. Though, I did promise myself to at least buy a ‘sweater’ with the logo on it. No doubt by the time I return I will have acquired a full wardrobe of Penn related items.

Immediately after, it was back to an information session on safe living at Penn with the entire freshman class, the class of 2016. I made a few more fresher friends along the way but mostly that session was again, a complete waste of time, albeit with a few amusing moments courtesy of the poorly constructed “Tell It Like It Is” anti-sexual violence campaign.

I walked the freshmen back to their dorms and then was somewhat at a loss as to what to do next so I walked down spruce and eventually came across a food truck ‘Chez Yasmine’ which caught my idea for its different style. As I was looking at the menu, which featured a variety of cuisines from North African to Vietnamese the owner, one Jihed Chehimi accosted me and began talking in depth about the inspiration behind the truck, which followed his life story through the medium of food. Fascinated I decided to order a simple sandwich and listen further. Over the next fifteen minutes (a long but worthwhile wait) my sandwich was prepared by the friendly staff member inside the truck and Jihed told me a great many stories from his life whilst inquiring into mine. At his insistence I was also presented with a delicious quinoa salad and a fresh baguette, to ‘fatten up a skinny boy’. I was then informed that every customer is provided with a fresh piece of fruit and water with every order, however as they were out of fruit I was to receive a can of San Pellegrino instead.

Feeling bad for them I tried to pay more than the requisite six dollars but was forcibly told I would be banned from the food truck were I to manage to pay more than the value of my food. I highly recommend visiting the truck as much for the experience as for the food.

Following that, I prepared for Shabbat in my room and played piano for a few hours before heading out to the library social just as the sun was lowering in the sky. Looking at my watch, I saw I had about thirty minutes at the social before I needed to take my leave and go to synagogue in the Hillel (Jewish Students Building). The library social was really something to see. Over one thousand students packed into a library racing like mad on a scavenger hunt for a free tshirt which I managed to snag as well. Inside the hallowed halls was also a DJ playing typical dance music and the masses gyrated alongside columns and shelves of books.

Leaving just as Shabbat began, I walked briskly to the Hillel where the OCP (Orthodox Community at Penn) minyan (prayer service) was already in full-swing. Strong melodies arose from the room and I took a free seat at the back and enjoyed singing and listening to the powerful voices.

Following that it was dinner with the Jewish freshmen, which was a pleasant experience though nothing special to report. More of note is the sheer size of the Jewish population at Penn, over 25% of the student population. Though, I was delighted to meet one Abby Jablansky, Executive VP of the Hillel with whom I connected on a number of different levels.

After dinner I met a few freshman upstairs to hear a performance by Penn’s Jewish acapella group, the Shabbattones. While most people were severely impressed, I thought that though they were highly entertaining, their pitch could have been better. However, as a first experience of college acapella it was fantastic.

Alexis and her friends, some freshmen that I had met then walked with me to their dorm and as they decided to go out and party, I made a bit of a retreat back to Rodin, climbed up my eight floors of stairs and took a good nights sleep.

Monday – Day 39

August 30, 2012

Today started off baking drop cookies with the girls, and though the drop part didn’t work so much the cookies were still quite tasty.

Following that it was out to walk the streets of New York City. First stop, the bagel store for a giant cream cheese and lox bagel. Just as I ducked into the store it started to pour with rain. Little did it bother me and I just keep walking through the storm, eating my delicious bagel that was so full it was hard to fit into my mouth. I walked along Fifth Avenue and after a brief detour into central park, made it to the famous New York Apple Store, dripping wet. I went inside briefly and was uninspired and thus continued to FAO Schwartz next door. FAO Schwartz is a giant toy store that unfortunately over time has become less impressive, however, still on display was a massive teddy that although tempting I did not purchase.

Note by this point my camera battery had run out and I was left with my phone as my battery charger I had unfortunately left with Gus in CT. Don’t expect nice photos for a few more days.

After that it was down Broadway again and past Times Square. As I was walking down a side street, the number of Jews suddenly increased exponentially and, as I walked down I saw why. Jeweller’s Alley, full of merchants buying and selling gold, jewels and diamonds, many of them Jewish. With store names such as Stein and Sons or Mendel’s Gold Emporium, the Jews had certainly kept up their traditional trade in this part of the city.

From there I walked to B&H, a store whose name stands for “Be’ezrat Hashem” (with the help of g-d), a store run by a certain sect of Hassidic Jews. However, don’t think that this is some little operation. B&H Photo is the largest photo store in NYC and is impressive for its huge range of professional electric equipment, staffed almost entirely by Hassidic Jews.

After that I finished walking downtown to J&R electronics, another Jewish owned electronics megastore and by then was tired enough to return home for an hour before my last trip in NYC.

The night brought me to celebrating Irit Shachari, my house-mother from ISSI’s birthday with a theatre production called Puppet Kitchen in the East Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York. The show was themed ‘divas’ and featured numerous performers expressing their art through puppetry and song. Following that a quick jaunt to a local ice cream bar with fully organic, locally sourced, interesting flavors.

Back to Yoni and Rivki’s I struggled to fix the internet and eventually, for once, defeated, retired to sleep.

 

Zurich – Day Two

July 20, 2012

Today began with a large breakfast with the Empting family with whom I’m staying. It consisted of many different cheeses, artisanal breads, berries, fruit and cereals. There was on particular cheese of interest that translated roughly to ‘Frenchman’s Head’ cheese that was scraped off with a circular blade to form a shape somewhat like that of farfalle pasta. After the adults retired, Eva and I happily polished off the leftover punnets of raspberries and blueberries.

From there I traveled by train to Tiefenbrunnen station, about 30min walk out of the CBD. There exists a charming walking path along the banks of Lake Zurich, and I thoroughly enjoyed my walk (see pictures below). Making it into the city center, I walked along the main shopping street, Bahnhofstrassen and tried to get a feel for the place. Most striking were the wide streets with generous foliage along the sides.
At 12:00 I was to meet Eva at another station by a fountain, which after a little searching and a detour into a music store I found. For lunch Eva took me out to a fantastic vegetarian buffet place, that charges by weight. Lunch as displayed below, was delicious and I left wholly satisfied. Mmmm… vegetarian bolognese.

Eva then returned to her university, ETH Zurich, with me in tow. On the way we found a letter written to a family here, on display in a window. Eva then informed me that Einstien had in fact studied at the same university as her when he was younger! As she discussed her courses I realized that though she is in first year, the standards here are high such that she is studying the equivalent material for our  second year. For those keeping track this means 2nd year level mechanics (Lagrangian Dynamics etc.), an analysis course (Real Analysis) and, other equivalent courses.

The afternoon I spent wandering around again, sampling a lovely piano in the aforementioned music store for a good twenty minutes and, visiting numerous chocolate shops. I treated myself to a Swiss Movenpick Icecream: strawberry, 4.50CHF. Of note is the dessert shop Sprungli, which is from the same family as Lindt & Sprungli, separated since a few hundred years ago.

I met Eva at the hauptbahnhof at 3:45 to catch a train to Baden, where I was to surprise my friend Carmen who, working in a hospital full time, had no time in which to see me. This was a troubling affair for me as she worked in a small hospital in a rural town! For 20CHF I purchased a return ticket and went to Baden. However, when I got there I had little idea how to catch a bus to the hospital. Luckily, I heard two women speaking Hebrew as I was exiting the train and asked them for advice. They took me under their wing, even going so far as to board the bus to the hospital with me, being happy to help a young, Israeli tourist.

Once in the hospital I was challenged to explain in swiss german, that I wanted to find Carmen Flury, an employee in some unknown part of the hospital. I was first directed to the 11th floor where they puzzled for a minute trying to figure out what I wanted. Eventually, an english speaking intern came in and redirected me to the palliative care unit a floor below. It was there I was presented with the opportunity to give Carmen a near heart attack, as she didn’t know I was coming! I spent as much time as possible with her before returning to Eva in Kusnacht at 6PM.

Once back in Kusnacht I knocked on Eva’s door to find it answered by her boyfriend Jonothan. A lovely guy who spoke good English. I, Eva, Jonothan and her family, then proceeded to dinner at a Kosher restaurant in the Jewish quarter, located inside the community center. The guard at the door was very suspicious at first and wouldn’t let us in until I spoke to him in Hebrew, reassuring him that we had good reason for seeking out a kosher restaurant, despite most of us not being Jewish, flustering the Empting family somewhat. For dinner I tried a Swiss dish, some kind of sausage, that was fine, if a bit heavy for my liking. Following dinner we returned to walk along Lake Zurich before going home.

My last few hours of consciousness were spent talking to a few people around the world, sorting out a mess or two, and reconnecting a bit with home.