It's already Wednesday, almost a week since Thanksgiving. Third day back from break, and the memory is fading fast. Just a couple more weeks left in the semester, then Christmas and winter break, and then all the junior class goes away until fall.
For the freshmen, this was your first real collegiate vacation, and now you are back in your dorm rooms worrying about finals and all those Math 11 classes you skipped. For the upperclassmen, it's old hat, but still a worthwhile break - maybe more worthwhile for the people living in off-campus houses.
The best part of the break is probably just the fact that it's a break. Although I had as much work as usual, it feels good to relax and cool down. Enough on that. Here are the things that made this holiday so good for me and everyone else living off campus.
1) The food: it's enough that Thanksgiving is a holiday dedicated only to eating, but it is a necessity after 10 weeks of not having home-cooked food. Freshmen, you probably haven't gotten completely bored and disgusted by dining hall food yet. Carmichael is legitimately terrible, but Dewick has enough variety to keep you interested until reading period.
I have had to fend for myself everyday. I can't eat at Carmichael anymore - the only thing I can do is Tuesday night dinners, and not because of stir-fry, but because of steak and A-1. After last year, I'm bored of the campus center, and Hotung is gone.
Breakfast doesn't exist; lunch is usually Ramen or peanut butter and jelly. Dinner is different, lots of variety. I eat at Andrea's pretty much every night. But don't worry, I try to eat a wide range of foods and food groups when I go there. I usually choose between the buffalo chicken calzone, a steak bomb or a bacon pizza. Boloco will add a nice variety to the Boston Ave. dining community, but unfortunately it is not on Points.
I'm sure I don't need to tell you how amazing a Thanksgiving dinner is compared to my normal diet.
2) The second reason I liked this break so much was because of my mom. Don't read this the wrong way; I am about as much of a mama's boy as Michael from "The Wire," but it was great having her around.
It would have been enough for her to cook me food, but I also got dishes done. You faithful readers know how much I hate dishes, and it pains me to bring them up again in my column, but the feeling I got when I put a dirty dish into the sink and walked away was incredible. She offered to do it, so don't think I am taking advantage of my own mom. I started rinsing my plates and put them in the dishwasher (a wonderful luxury), but she made me stop.
In high school, I used to have to clean up after myself, but I guess after reading all of my columns (along with my dad, my professors and my grandmother, which is great when you write about getting drunk and wiping your ass with various objects) she decided that I could use some time off.
3) Things that work: nothing in my off-campus house works. The light bulbs and sockets are broken. The TV goes black if a feather is dropped on the floor upstairs. It's an art to get it to come back on. One has to do a combination of hitting it the right places, stomping on the floor and playing with the N64 power cord.
When the heat is on, the floor vibrates, and the pipes pound like they are going to burst. I don't even want to get started on the basement. Every time I walk down there, I am certain I am going to step through a stair.
Everything at my house works, which was actually hard to get used to. I was especially happy for the television, which I dutifully took advantage of. What kind of person would I be if I let a working TV go unwatched? I sampled all of the marathons, caught up on shows On Demand and watched almost more sports than I could handle.
A couple games to mention: the Pats beating the Bears despite losing almost a hundred yards to bogus calls; Florida falling to Kansas; and USC beating Charlie Weis's Notre Dame. Just thought they should be mentioned. I'm glad I'm not a Giants fan.
I could get sappy for the end of this column and say things like "4) friends, 5) family, 6) crisp red and yellow autumn leaves as they crunch under my wandering feet, 7) uh, my dog," but I'm not going to.
I give thanks for Christmas break, and that it is only three weeks away.
