The Globetrotting Geek

In Which I Encounter the Spizzwinks(?)

November 24, 2014

Saturday I woke up, just as Sai was leaving the house to go to the accelerator, but I was far to tired to make a move. However, after a minutes thought and just as the door closed, I sprung up. I realized that this would be my only opportunity to explore Yale! I quickly got dressed and started sprinting in the direction of the science park hoping to make the 10:30 free tour. I arrived a few minutes late due to the lack of a map or a sense of where I was going. When I got there I saw a long long line, stretching all the way around the car back and looping back. As I had nothing better to be doing, I joined and waited, trying to spot Sai in the crowd. A member of the crowd then informed me that this was the line for the 11:30 tour, the 10:30 tour never existed! I now felt lucky that Sai had gotten the time wrong! About fifteen minutes later, I saw her join the line at the end and invited her over so that I had someone to talk to and could get to know her better. We chatted until just after 11:30 when we were finally let in. The accelerator was great, though not the most impressive I had ever seen. Things like that remind me why I choose to study physics.

After the tour, we both walked back to the apartment for lunch, and then I sat down to read again for most of the afternoon. As the sun was setting, it was time to head to the hall where we would be performing. When the Glee Club entered, we realized that the stage was far too small for most of our production numbers, and only barely fit the band and all of us. We quickly rejiggered our show to make the most of it, and soon the lights were down and the stage was set.

The New Blue of Yale were up first, and Liz completely blew the crowd away with a giant voice, that surprised many as coming from someone of below average stature.

They were really in tune, and quite fun to watch perform!

Next up was a standard Glee Club set, some choral numbers, vocal jazz, a little barbershop. However following that the Penn Pipers (including me) had a chance to show off some of what we had most recently been working on. Including some fun staging to ‘Goodbye My Coney Island’.

When we left the stage there was a large whoop as the Spizzwinks(?) (sic) ran on. Dressed up in black and white, they both looked and sounded mighty fine. While stylistically they were very different from us, I truly enjoyed their performance. Their sound was more modern, and they chose more recent pieces. However, one way in which they outshone us was in energy and variety of facial and bodily expression. Hopefully I wasn’t the only one to take note.

After the show, everyone went their own way. The residents of my suite went back and had a few drinks together and I stayed chatting with them for a few hours, before making sure I was well enough rested for a full day of work on Sunday.

In Which I Go Out On the Town

October 13, 2014

The next day was another long sleep in. More board games and relaxing and then a walk back to Chabad fourty-five minutes away. The Friday night service was pleasant but not nearly as wonderful as the Rosh Hashana ones. Dinner however, was even better than the time before. More new friends and a few more exciting occurrences.

The first amusing moment was when the Rebbetzin moved me from my seat to ensure that I wasn’t sitting amongst women other than the one that was ‘mine’, ie; Rocky. This was already a little amusing however, it escalated far more when the Rabbi started to give a speech about welcoming ‘the new couple in town’ and Rocky yelled out “we’re not dating!”. Her face turned bright red as the Rabbi addressed her and informed her that he was in fact speaking of a couple on the other side of the room.

The other great moment of the night was the sing-off, initiated by the Rabbi when he discovered that a number of people in the room were semi-professional musicians.  First off we heard a little upbeat pop music, followed by a rap about a guy’s movement towards Judaism. I then sung ‘Fly Me To the Moon’, that was very well received. Following me, the Rabbi’s son sung a song by Jewish RnB artist Matisyahu and Im Eshkachech Yerushalayim, which almost brought Rocky to tears. However, the highlight of the night was the performance by a man into his eighties singing “How Lucky Am I” to his wife, crooning beautifully with the voice left to him at his age.

After many hours hanging out, we helped reset the room for services in the house the next day and then walked back to the apartment, tired again, but happy.

The next day we continued our track record of sleeping in, Rocky missing her Yoga class yet again. When we woke up, we madly prepared for lunch as guests were to be arriving at 1PM. I was excited to meet some of Rocky’s friends and she told me about them as we prepared. Just after the o’clock, there was a knock on the door and a average height, blonde girl walked in the door with a smile. I soon learnt here name was Jeannine and from her accent guessed she was Dutch. I asked her and she seemed pleased that I was able to figure out where she was from correctly without any more guessing.

Next walked in two Norwegians, Erik Ericsson and his girlfriend whose name escapes me. She was a little worried about the lack of meat at our meal but they had both brought beer along so that at least we’d be ‘doing something right’.

The final guests to arrive was an apartments worth of guys with whom Rocky had stayed before she was able to find a room. They were all relatively chilled, though didn’t stay for too long after lunch.

Following the meal, everyone left sat around to play Settlers again, with Rocky narrowly missing out on the victory, which instead passed to Jeannine. I had originally assumed that she was around Rocky’s age, but learned soon after the game that she was in fact only a few months from my age and not yet a PhD student.

After the game, Jeannine was the only one who hang around, and we chatted for a few hours until Shabbat ended. When it did, Rocky suddenly went into overdrive getting dressed up fancily and arranging plans for the evening. We weren’t told exactly where we were going but she pulled Jeannine and I into an Uber and we were off. After a somewhat meandering route, we arrived at a fancy apartment at the party of one of Rocky’s friends. I won’t spill all the details publicly but it was quite exciting and again, we met many new people.

Next destination was a fancy restaurant with a few celebrities on the loose around us. We stayed a while, having drinks of various varieties while I chatted mostly to Jeannine (Rocky was off at the center of attention). From that location we were whisked off again by Rocky, this time to a club with a line that wasn’t moving anywhere fast. After a little maneuver pulled by Rocky and her friends, we were soon inside. Clubs definitely aren’t my normal destination, but I had a fairly good time despite that. After we danced away a few more hours, it was back in a cab home and given the time Jeannine came back too.

Back at the apartment we chilled for a little while and Rocky brought out her guitar. We sang a number of songs to Jeannine, ranging from Missy Higgins to a really nice mashup of ‘Radioactive’ and ‘Pumped Up Kicks’. Finally, after about an hour of music we were all ready to drop our heads and fall fast asleep.

In Which I Rush For the Shana

October 5, 2014

Up early in the morning I caught a cab to the airport. I was a little rushed but thanks to my newly acquired Star Alliance Gold Status, I sped quickly through security and onto the lounge. After an orange juice and the morning paper, I was well refreshed for my flight into Chicago. The flight itself was uneventful and I landed safely at O’Hare airport within two and a half hours of leaving. Getting in at a little after nine, I texted Rocky Neumann (a youth counselor of mine from Hineni when I was in grade four) and asked her for directions as to how to get to her.

At first the instruction was to catch the train and then a bus to her place. Dutifully I hopped on and started on my way. A few minutes into the ride I received another text that things weren’t quite running to schedule and that I should head into the city and meet her at Wellington Station. On arriving there I was redirected yet again! This time to Michigan Avenue. Though I had visited Chicago before it was far more beautiful in the autumn than in the dead of winter. Walking through the streets, gazing at the architecture I ambled along till I reached the road when I called Rocky for more instructions. As it turned out she was running so late that I now needed to navigate a system of underground tunnels to find my own way via express train to the University of Chicago. When I arrived, Rocky was no longer able to meet me, having had to enter an important meeting. With my knapsack on my back, I wandered around till I found the Hillel and then texted Tova, another good friend in Chicago. She immediately offered to take me to her apartment for me to relax. I walked there for a few minutes and met her outside, when she realized that she’d locked us both out and that her roommate was out too and thus couldn’t unlock the door for us.

After a minute or two of pondering, we decided to do the shopping for the chag (festival) and so we walked together to Hyde Park Produce and wheeled back eighty dollars of food in a shopping trolley, enough to feed a good number. After finally getting into the apartment we now found ourselves with not enough time to relax so it was off for more errands; to pick up some challah and then to another supermarket for regular groceries. By the time we were at the checkout counter, I realized I was running late to meet back up with Rocky. Hurriedly I raced back to meet her on the corner and both of us stressed an me fairly exhausted, we caught the bus back up to Lakeview in the north of Chicago.

It was now a race against the sun, we had to make it to the shul (synagogue) in time to pick up tickets for services over the next two days. I was a little uncomfortable with the idea of a synagogue charging people to attend, however it was apparently the norm across the United States. Everything here is so commercialized, even religion! It was at this time that I also started to realize quite how sick and exhausted I was. After acquiring the tickets and a little more shopping, we finally arrived at Rocky’s studio apartment, where I would be staying over the next four nights. Pretty quickly I collapsed on the couch, only to be woken a few hours later, told that it was time to get dressed and was quickly rushed out.

We barely made it to shul on time. Tonight was at Chabad Gold Coast (which amusingly is also a major Chabad in Australia) and the service was conducted by the Rabbi’s son who had one of the most beautiful untrained voices I’d ever heard. A tenor with a naturally pure tone, his songs lifted up the mood in the room. While the Rabbi’s sermon went for quite some time, it was well natured and we were kindly invited back to their place for the meal. The meal itself was highly enjoyable, with people from around the world and of all different ages crammed in. A particular highlight was the Rebbetzin’s  (Rabbi’s Wife’s) challah, that was fresh and homemade. The ambiance was warm, much like the people we were with and after the meal we were invited back for another on Friday night. We graciously accepted having had such a nice evening amongst very open people.

The walk home took around forty-five minutes, but it all seemed too fast for me as I was enjoying the time with Rocky. We had years worth to catch up on and being so far away from home, we had a lot to share. When we made it back neither of us had any more stamina to stay awake, so in short order we were both asleep.