College in the USA!
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2010
1
31
41
Trip End
Jan 10, 2011
Where I stayed
Minka's Dorm
Riley's, the casa de SSB
Tay's house of artistic awesomeness
The expensivest hostel in ze vurld
Bard College, New York
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Be kind, rewind. After NYC I cruised down to Baltimore to check out Johns (yes, the 's' at the end of Johns is intentional) Hopkins University. I took the bus down on Friday which was average to be honest. The real icing was that they dropped us off at Park & Ride, some mall shithole like an hour out of Baltimore. So got the bus in, got terrible directions, got lost, got found, then finally made it to my host's. Showered up, had a shave (bout time too) then headed straight to JHU. Unfortunately I spent a good half hour looking around for Kathy Jancuk who I had an appointment to see, one of the heads of faculty for the biomedical engineering department, only to finally reach her, find out she was at the other campus and about to leave. I was so downcast I felt like balling, instead I swallowed a cup of concrete and hardened the fuck up and went back to Riley's my host. Staying at Riley's was sick fun. He showed me around the inner harbour area, his favourite mexican restaurant which, I am chilled to say, served me up a meal so huge, so astronomically gigantic that even I, the stomach of steel, could not finish it in one go. I KNOW! Believe me, I felt humbled and unmanly. I very nearly took that chicken filled tortilla and beat myself to death with it, instead I ate it for dinner. I enjoyed chilling there for two nights, we hit up the SSB and he had an electric drumkit I had a mad mash on. Ringo Star, out of my grill-face! On sunday Riley went camping so I headed out to my next couchsurfing destination...
I was walking to the bus stop when I asked a couple at a restaurant where the bus stop was. They didn't know HOWEVER the people walking behind me did! So they directed me and I made it safely. I was sitting, waiting, watching when they cruised past again. They asked where I was going, I showed them the directions. They shook their heads and then offered me a lift, saying something about "busses mumble mumble Sunday mumble mumble". So they drove me down to the sports bar I was meeting my new host Taylor (Tay). She was still working, it was around 5, so I pulled out the diary #cough cough#, journal had me a write. She was still working like an hour later so she asked if I wanted a pizza. I said, "No (Yes in my head)". She convinced me, it wasn't hard, to get one so I chowed into a gigantic cheese pizza, mmmmmm. This I did manage to annihilate. So I sat there writing and chatting to the other guys around me till around 8:30 till Tay finished, then we headed to hers for a little chillsle with her house mate and friend, which turned into copious amounts of beer and many friends. I tried to show them the caterpillar and bunny on the moon, and they showed me the man on the moon. So stayed up till 5am, then crashed for 3 hrs before getting up and heading to JHU.
Walked Tay to her work then the rest of the way solo. Have to say, felt a little sketch. I would go from a nice neighbourhood to a sketch one in a few blocks. On the way up the AGB (After Grog Bog) decided that it didn't want to wait until I got to Hopkins. I frantically looked around for the nearest dunnie. Lets cut the crap, that Starbucks definitely lost a few customers that day.... So the campus for Hopkins was glorious. I started off chatting to Cathy Jancuk for around an hour, my brain almost melted as I attempted to sound smart after only a few hours sleep. I think it was a success. After I went on a tour of the campus, it was super nice and you could see the money and prestige. Post tour went to an info session, it was informative. Then I talked to the head of admissions. She told me I had a very good chance of being admitted given my record and what I am currently doing, however the financial side could be a problem, you know 50k is quite a bit per year.
Then I headed back down to Tay's work, by this point is was around 5pm and I was ficked. We cruised to one of her fav places in town, was actually a part of the river that went under a tunnel thing, it was pretty sweet. Then cruised back to hers where I crashed hard on the couch, i.e. my bed. Her cat, Whiskey, is officially the coolest cat in the history of felines. She nuzzled against me with her face, against my face, and we slept like that for an hour or so. Then that night more of the friends came over for much of the same. Crashed late after watching 'When Harry met Sally', funny flick. The gasm scene was legit. After slept like a log. A sleepy log that hadn't slept much lately so was extra sleepy.
Next day cruised out casually around midday, made it to the train station no problems. I was waiting for the train and like the ADD puppy I am I felt the need to socialise. So I bullshit conversation started with the two girls next to me. Anyway we got chatting, then arguing about Harry Potter. It got so heated all three of us missed the announcement that the train was boarding, final call, left. Oops. So we got the one an hour later. Cruised down to DC. Got in and checked my couchsurfing to get the address of where I was supposed to be staying. The chick had had a last minute paranoid, should-not-be-couchsurfing, freakout because I didn't have a phone. She said, and I quote/copy-paste: "Jaden, I wont be able to host you if I can't communicate. I am really sorry. If you dont have a phone it will be impossible for yo to know when I will be home and impossible for me to figure out when you will be coming by too during your stay. Apologies, Fa". Communicate, impossible...right. Ok then WHAT THE FUCK HAD WE BEEN DOING THE PAST FEW DAYS VIA EMAIL? DERSHHHHHH! So I sumbled around till I eventually found me a hostel. Set me back $50 for the first night, FUCK! Regardless probably not the worst thing. I met some cool chicks from England, a girl from Brisbane and even a dude from Ulverstone in Taz. So on the Wednesday the 3 girls and I went to the air and space museum, totally badass. There were all these space ships that were real. Also the original Wright Brothers plane amongst others. Then one of the chickas left so the 3 of us went to all the memorials around, i.e. the Washington, Lincoln (didn't have a monkey head, Planet of the Apes you LIED!) then the White House. To be honest it was kinda small and I think would have been more suited to a light shade of blue...
Next day went to the Capitol building, which was gigantic. The building was where they held congress and was a super important building for the USA. It was spectacular. We went for a look inside. No food or drink was allowed so we stashed our lunch in a bush, however upon returning the girls shizz was all fine, mine however had been mauled by a particularly ferocious squirrel then ants. NOOOOOO! Went to the hostel, got my shit together then headed out to the bus station con Kate, the Brizzie chick. We got the 4 hour bus ride to NYC, wait, wtf, why is the highway being diverted??? OH NOES 2 hr delay. Missed my train to Rhinecliff, had to trek down like 7 blocks to a Burger King to internet cafe message her. Isn't that weird, the only internet cafe I have found in the entire USA was in a Burger King... So I made it up to Rhinecliff eventually. I got called a 'nice young man' by an lod lady who I helped with her bag. Minka and her friend Vera picked me up and took me to Bard College. We cruised around for a bit, I met a bunch of her friends, they seemed nice enough, then I crashed on my make shift bed, a yoga mat, rolled up doona/comforter and a blanket over the top. Surprisingly comfy. Slept like a log. Just a log this time.
This morning went for a cruise with Minka to the Hudson River. Well more the Hudson swamp. Then after I snuck into the lunch hall and decimated everything in my path which leads me back to present.
