A walk down memory lane.... at MIT

Ok had some time for another post so thought that I take a walk down memory lane :)

Last weekend Athol and I went to MIT, where Athol did his MBA 1994-1996. We wanted to go to the shop where he did all his grocery shopping as a poor student (he used to buy milk and bagels to eat) and buy his favourite 'steak tip sub' but they didn't sell it anymore :( anyway, we got 'The Reactor' premium sub which was made up of sliced beef, mushrooms, onions and provolone cheese all toasted in a baguette, it was good! Here's Athol at Laverde's Market along Mass Ave.

We went to eat in the lounge where Athol slept for a couple of days when he arrived at MIT and had no place to sleep. He slept on one of the couches facing the window so that the security guard wouldn't see him. The one night, the security guard nudged him and told him to leave. The Catherine Stratton Lounge has recently been revamped so is quite nice now.

Athol came to Boston in 1994 with vitually nothing - a few dollars and some clothes - with no money to pay for tuition and no place to live!

He eventually convinced MIT Housing to let him sleep in a vacant dorm room until the student arrived. So he sleep in a dorm called Ashdown (they have changed the name of the building since) with a room mate. Here is Athol outside the window of his dorm.  He also eventually convinced a professor to create a scholarship especially for him so that he could study at MIT. He agreed to give Athol the scholarship depending on his grades every year. When deciding to come to MIT Athol had had a full scholarship from another American university which he had turned down to come to MIT.

Ashdown was just along Memorial Drive so he had a view of the Charles river and walked along the river everyday to get to the Sloan Building (MIT's business school). What a beautiful view! It was a lovely winter day, so we were enjoying every little bit of sunshine :)

We walked along the river up to the Alfred P. Sloan School where Athol had studied.

They have since built a big modern building next to the Sloan School.

We also walked to the MIT dome, this was the very place where Athol graduated in 1996.

Athol was also very fortunate to have a host family when he was here. They helped him where they could, they also gave him some linen for his bed as he was using his t-shirt as a pillow case and his clothes as a blanket! :)

Athol is such an inspiration, it took a lot of guts to come to MIT with no tuition and place to live. He has accomplished so much in his life and I am so proud of him. It was great to see where he lived and studied back then, a great walk memory lane with him :)

12.12.12

December, 12, 2012 or 12-12-12 will be the last date of its kind - when all three numericals in a date are the same - for the next 88 years. The next time this will happen is on January 1, 2101, or 01-01-01.

So I though that I'd dedicate this post to my 'lasts' for this year. Especially since the world is meant to end on 21 December 2012 according to the Mayan calendar :)

Today was my last tutoring session with Tina, today we discussed Christmas and New Year. We will continue our sessions next year in January.

On Monday was my last Mandarin lesson for the year, I will continue classes in Feb/March next year. For now, I will use my Rosetta Stone software which I've neglected because I am always busy with classes.

Last week Tuesday was my last Government & Politics of China class. I will have to look and see if there are any other interesting courses which I can audit for the next semester. I struggled to get a class to audit this past semester. As a Harvard spouse, I am allowed to audit classes however it depends on the lecturer and I discovered that many lecturers do not allow auditors or classes are oversubscribed especially at HKS and HBS. Athol will be doing 'J-Term' (i.e. January Term) 7-18 January 2013. Students can do a course during J-Term, it is an intense 2 weeks with lectures 9am-5pm every day with homework and readings. It counts as a course so most students will be doing this even if it probably is the coldest time of the year. Students needs to do a total of 8 'half' courses for the year.

Athol finished off lectures last week Friday and is now busy writing his final papers. He did 4 courses this semester - Social Capital, Human Rights, Public Narrative and Global Governance. He will be taking a course on Persuasion in the J-Term. Then he will need to do 3 courses in the Spring Term.

This will be my last post for the year. This year has flown by so quickly, but what an amazing time we have had so far in the US. Can't believe that we've been here 6 months already.

Next week we head off to the west coast - Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Fransisco - for a much needed break from the cold (although we have been very lucky with the weather, not too cold yet! keeping my fingers crossed) and to meet up with some family.  Looking forward to our Christmas in LA and New Year in San Fran :)

How Boston differs to South Africa.. part 6

Schools
-In the USA, there is Elementary School (grades 0-6), Middle School (grades 7-9) and High School (grades 10-12). Whereas in SA, there is Primary School (grades 0-7) and High School (grades 8-12)
- Here 'college' means a bachelors degree and 'university' means a postgraduate degree whereas in SA 'university' means bachelors and postgraduate degrees
- Public schools are free here. Mandarin is taught in Elemantary Schools
- The school year begins in September and ends in May/June. Whereas in SA, schools open in January and close in December. American schools don't tend to close over the Christmas break, their big break is in the Summer when they get off about 3 months to enjoy the sun
- Here the private universities like Harvard and MIT are the top universities in Boston, the public universities like UMass follow. This is in contrast to SA where the public universities like Wits and UCT  are generally better than the private ones (obviously some exceptions)
- At Harvard students are graded either A, A-, B+, B, B- where A is like our A in SA but their B- is like our E
- An MBA is much more expensive to do here, at Harvard and MIT tuition is about $60k for the degree (ie. R400k) whereas in SA they cost around R140k
- Online learning is becoming popular. BU offer an online MBA. MIT and Harvard are contemplating offering online courses in the future especially with the advancements in technology nowadays
- The majority of lecturers have Phd's
- Lecturers have TF's ie. teaching fellows who assist the lecturers with teaching, marking, etc.

Tax
- In different states they have tax free weekends.  In Massachusettes tax is about 13%. They have a weekend once a year in Aug, that is tax free on high value school/medical items bought

Tipping
- 15-18% in USA. Some restaurants charge 28% if more than 6 people. In SA, tipping is generally 10%, sometimes for large groups it is more

An evening with two great writers

It is not every day that one gets to see two Pulitzer Prize winners, one of which is also the recipient of a Nobel Prize for Literature. Last night, I was fortunate to attend two great literature events.

The first was the 2012 Ingersoll Lecture at Harvard which took place at the Sanders Theatre. The speaker was Toni Morrison, who spoke on the topic of Immortality. She won the Nobel Prize in 1993 and in 1988 the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved. On 29 May 2012, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I was honored to be in her presence and hear her speak.

The second was a book launch and poetry reading by renowned poet C.K. Williams, which took place at The Castle at Boston University. It was great to hear some of his poetry. His poetry is simple and easy to understand and is about everyday human experiences and observations. He is a great story-teller.

Two great writers in one night!

A day in my life - My Thursdays

On Thursdays I have my second 'Government and Politics of China' lecture of the week from 13:00-14:00 at the Harvard Hall room 201.

Thereafter I head off to my second Mandarin lesson of the week at 15:00-16:30 at the Chinese Institute of Language and Arts. I spend my Wednesday nights and Thursday morning preparing for my test. The reading and writing is extremely difficult. You have to memorise a character for every word and the character is made up of many intricate strokes. The speaking is also difficult. The language is made up of 4 tones so depending on which tone you use, it means something completely different!

Some interesting things that I've learnt about Mandarin:
- In Mandarin there are no plurals and they don't use he/she - there is just one word 'Ta' (using the first tone which is flat) for both sexes
- They don't have past and future tense verbs only the current tense verb like 'run'.
- The grammar is completely different to English. For example: We would say 'Would you like anything else?'. In Mandarin, the direct translation is 'Also want other yes/no?'
- Pingyin is the is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into Latin script in the People's Republic of China, Republic of China (Taiwan), and Singapore. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and may be used as an input method to enter Chinese characters (汉字 / 漢字, hànzì ) into computers. Source: Wikipedia
- There is software to write Chinese characters in MS word which uses Pingyin then you can select the appropriate character
- With regards to the writing, there is the Traditional Chinese writing with more complicated strokes and the Simplified Chinese Writing which is simpler. The simplified writing is used more today
- There is no alphabet for the writing. Each word is made up of different strokes which originated from the actual picture of the object but you really do have to use your imagination! :)
- There are 9 common strokes used in Chinese writing, just used in different places in the character
- The general rule is to write a character starting top to bottom, left to right
- They use 'punctuation' like in English. You can put a question mark, exclamation mark, comma or fullstop

A day in my life - My Wednesdays

On Wednesdays I have my English tutoring session at the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Centre (BCNC).

During my year here in Boston, I thought that I'd do some volunteer work since I am not allowed to work on a 'spouse of student' visa. I am generally not one to 'give back' - 'Self extension' as my husband calls it  - I am typically a 'Self preservation' kind of person :) Back home, with work I don't have much time to 'give back' to society. Athol is an extremely self extending person (sometimes too generous I think!), in contrast to me, so he has inspired me to try be more like him in that sense :)

This year I have the opportunity to do something meaningful and make a difference ins someone's life. I came across BCNC which is a great NGO who help Chinese immigrants here in Boston. They offer English (as a second language) lessons, amongst other services to try make life a bit easier for them since there are so many chinese immigrants who cannot speak English. I started volunteering to tutor English to chinese immigrants since November. We had 12 hours of training in October, learning how to tutor, how to manage a tutee and how to prepare a lesson plan. Tutors have to commit to two hours a week for six months. So every Wednesday I head off to Chinatown (using the same route as my Mandarin lessons) and tutor English from 12:30 to 14:30. So on Wednesday mornings I spend time preparing for my lesson. My tutee, Tina, has been here in Boston for a year now and would like to get a job in banking one day. So I am helping her with new Banking/Finance/Accounting vocabulary. It really is a great feeling, to teach someone so that they will be more confident in society.

A day in my life - My Tuesdays

13:00-14:00 - On Tuesdays I have my lecture (the first of two during the week) which I am auditing at the School of Arts and Science at Harvard. It takes me about 10 mins to walk to the Harvard Yard - walking along Putnam Street then Mass Ave. The lecture starts at 13:07 - an odd time since this makes sure that there is time for the students of the previous lecture to exit the lecture room at 13:00. The course which I am auditing is called "Government and Politics of China" given by Prof. N. Dillon. It is very interesting, I have really enjoyed it! The course began with the history of China starting with the 1920 Revolution up to the current Contemporary China. It has been interesting to hear about all the uprising over the years with the peasant and student protests and the Cultural Revolution. I was amazed to learn that there are currently only 5 official religions in China and that children under 18 years and members of the Communist Party are not allowed to belong to a religion. Media is also strictly controlled in China. Facebook and Twitter is band but they have their own versions namely Renren and Weibo. There are about 40 students in the class and is lecture-based with discussion groups afterwards.

14:30 - I skype my parents living in Joburg (the first of two during the week). Technology is fantastic! It is 21:30 in South Africa so a 7 hour time difference. It is great to see and catch up on what is happening back home.

15:00 - I meet with my good Chinese friend Juan every Tuesday for tea and a chat. I met her at the Harvard Spouse's Get-together. I enjoy our weekly chats.

A day in my life - My Mondays

I thought that I'd document in detail what my days in Boston are like. Memories are so precious, even the little things mean so much and can be so easily forgotten.

This is a description of my typical Mondays, times are just rough guidelines to give you an idea. Mondays are my Mandarin lessons in Chinatown - a nice way to ease back into the week after a nice weekend.

7:15 - I am awoken by my alarm, I wake up hubby so that he can go do some homework. I snooze some more :)

8:00 - I wake up, quickily check emails. I make coffee and breakfast - usually fruit with yogurt sprinkled cashews (bananas, strawberries, grapes sometimes pear or apple) or Raisin Bran with milk. Have breakfast with hubby.

9:00 - Check emails and what is going on in the world. Check weather since living in Boston you need to be prepared. Weather.com give hourly forecasts with temperature and a "Feels like" temperature since with wind and snow it can be colder. http://www.weather.com

9:30 - Shower

10:00 - Do Mandarin homework and learn new vocabulary for test (including writing the characters). My Mandarin private tutor, Han, gives me a test every lesson.

10:30 - Remind hubby to shower and get ready for school. Athol has a habit of being late for everything so it's my job to make sure that he gets to class on time :) I pack a lunch for him - usually a bagel with cheese, tomatoe and ham with a small carton of orange juice.

11:15 - Hubby leaves for school. I do our usual 'goodbye' wave from our bedroom window (which is on the third floor) :)

I continue learning my new Mandarin vocabulary.

12:45 - Have lunch - usually a sandwich or leftovers from supper. I take something out of the freezer for supper.

14:00 - I leave for the Harvard T walking along Putnam Road then Mass Ave or Banks Street, then Grant Street, Holyoake Street then Mass Ave. It takes me about 10 min to get the the T. I catch the train from Harvard Square (Red line)  to Ashmont/Braintree passing Central-Kendall-Charles MGH-Park Street. I get off at Downtown Crossing and change to the Orange line towards Forest Hills.The train passes Chinatown and then I get off at Tufts University which is along Washington Street. I walk along Washington Street and turn right into Kneeland Street. The Chinese Institute of Language and Arts is along Kneeland Street. http://www.bostonchineseinstitute.com/directions.shtml. About a 5min walk from the T.

15:00-16:30 - I have my Mandarin lesson with Han

16:30 - By the time I get out the sun has already set! and this is even with daylights savings of 1 hour. I go back to the T and head back home using exactly the same route as I came.

17:20 - I arrive back home after the 10 min walk from the Harvard T

19:00 - Have supper with hubby. I usually make a stew, pasta, fish with vegetables, meat pie, grilled chicken mince or chicken korma. We either chat about our day or watch a sitcom, we are busy watching Frasier.

After supper, Athol will do some homework and I will just relax, do some Mandarin homework or prepare for my English tutoring sessions. We will re-convene later in the evening for coffee/tea play some Nintendo Wii (we play tennis and baseball everyday! it's very stress-relieving and fun :) ), maybe do a crossword puzzle or discuss philosophy with my philosophical husband :) It is amazing that even after 3 years of marriage, we still laugh every single day!

We sleep pretty late here, 23:00, midnight or sometimes even 1am.

I like my Mondays :)

My first American Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday 22 November - my first real American Thanksgiving.

This is one of the most important holidays in the USA. Schools and universities were closed for 3 days Wed-Fri and businesses closed Thurs-Fri so a lovely long weekend. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Everyone goes home for the holiday - I noticed a lot of students walking with their suitcase around Harvard Square and the T.

We were fortunate to be invited to a real American Thanksgiving at the Cohens - Athol's host family when he did his MBA at MIT in 1994, he has kept in touch with them all these years. It is amazing how much effort Americans put into this holiday - cooking the turkey since 8am, setting the table and cooking side dishes and desserts. The turkey was huge, I've never had turkey (except for coldmeat in SA) so this was a treat! There was mashed potatoe, green bean salad (made with mushroom soup and with fried onion rings on the top), steamed veggies, green salads, mashed pumpkin, stuffing (this is the stuffing that goes inside the turkey which is served seperately, made with bread and other things), gravy, and of course cranberry sauce - what a feast! For dessert, there was pecan pie, apple crumble and pumkin pie. Everything so so delicious, at the end of the evening I was stuffed :)

There were 14 of us in total. Jane even made us take part in their annual Thanksgiving Quiz which was great fun. There is usually a football game on Thanksgiving so all the men usually sit around and watch the TV.

Today Thanksgiving is celebrated to remind people of their blessings so that they are thankful for them. So yes I am extremely thankful and grateful for everything in my life - my wonderful and loving husband, my family and friends and for this amazing year in the US.

Looking back into history, Thanksgiving began because the Pilgrims were very thankful for their first harvest in 1621 and so celebrated for three days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving The food eaten is similar to that of the Native Americans, who had helped the pilgrims to cook and farm.  There is however another side to this story, the Native Americans in turn celebrate the 'National Day of Mourning' http://www.pilgrimhall.org/daymourn.htm because the pilgrims took away their land and destroyed their tradtions. So very interesting, there are always two sides to every story!

On a brighter note, yesterday was 'Black Friday' which is to mark the first day of shopping for Christmas so all stores have massive sales over the long weekend. Time is just flying by, before we know it, it will be Christmas.

What a day... Arsenal wins, Harvard beats Yale, Seinfeld Live and a visit to the Cheers Pub

Our day started off with our team Arsenal beating Tottenham 5-2 with Abedayor been sent off in the first half. Quite a rare thing these days to be a proud Gooner :)

Next we went to a Tailgate party organised by the HKS MC class at the Harvard Stadium. There was so much hype around "The Game" Harvard versus Yale - these tailgate parties start 2 hours before the game and then again after the game. Groups get together and drink beer, eat hamburgers, hotdogs, etc. The atmosphere is awesome. There is also friendly banter between the two rivals with 'Harvard sucks' t-shirts and plane banners. Two fighter jets flew over the stadium. Football is a strange game to get used to, it is similar to rugby except:
- it is more violent (not sure what exactly a foul is because it all looks so violent to me!)
- they have helmets and thick padding all over
- there are 4 quarters of 15 minutes each (with stop/start time)
- they have cheerleaders (after a touchdown they must do push-ups, whatever the score is)
- you can throw the ball forward (unlike rugby)
- there are so many players in the team, after every play (which last a minute or so) a new lot of players come on
- a touch down (like a rubgy try) gives you 6 points. There is a kick after a touch down (like in rugby) which gives you 3 points
- there are many referees (at least 6 each with a different letter on their back)
- at half time, each university gives a little performance and makes fun of the opposing team. The band will come on and play. Yale acted out a scene (with props) about the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar with an asteroid coming to hit the earth and the Harvard people were too lame to try and stop it, so the Yale people stopped it. Harvard had a whale (I guess Yale sounds like whale!) with a bulldog face (the bulldog is the mascot of Yale) and then all the Harvard people killed the whale. Both preformances were pretty lame.

The game was awesome, the final score was 34 - 24 to Harvard.

                                                Last 3 pics courtesy of our friend Winnie.

Then we went to the Wang Theater in Tremont Street in downtown Boston  to watch Seinfeld Live. He is still so funny. He made a few references to one of our favourite TV series Seinfeld. A great comedian.

Afterwards we went to dinner at the Cheers Pub, it had a replica of the bar used in the TV series.

All in all a great fun day!

The elections... pure entertainment!

The US elections were held two days ago and Obama won another 4 years in office as President. We were so fortunate to be here for the elections, I've never really followed the US elections, so this was interesting and fun to watch.

Having watched the third debate and election results, to me it seems like a big, over-the-top popularity contest, to see who can get the most "likes". I was surprised to find out that only about 100 million Americans voted - so this is only about a third of the total population! So if the winning party gets half the votes, in reality only 15% of the population voted for them and 85% of the population actually didn't. Surely a third of the population is not representative. I also learnt that not all the parties are listed on the ballot (like in South Africa where we list all 15 or so parties on a long ballot sheet), that they usually the 'top 2' - surely all parties deserve a space on the ballot sheet.

Apparently each of the top 2 parties spent about a billion dollars on their campaign - really exorbitant! espectially for a country that owes $16 trillion in debt.

The live debate reminded me of a Jerry Springer show where people are pointing the finger at others and taking stabs at each other. When Obama came out with his family to give his celebratory speech it felt like a rock concert - loud music, lights, party streamers, people jumping up and down chanting 'Four more years'. The celebration when he finished his speech was like the announcement of a reality TV show winner like Idols - balloons and party streamers all around, people coming onto the stage to congratulate the winner, etc.

I really do think that the live debates are a great way for the public to see the candidates in action. We do not have these live debates in South Africa, we really should. This really does give you a sense of the person's intelligence and ability to handle tough questions and accusations.

I suspect many people vote  based on who they like and not the policies which they believe in. I think that many people who voted for Obama last time have been disappointed but with Romney the only alternate (if he had won this would have caused a disruption in the current already-struggling government and his radical leadership is also bit unknown) they had no choice but to vote for Obama again. Similarly, many people who voted for the Republicans last time didn't want to vote for Romney so had no choice but to vote for Obama this time.

Good luck to the President, he has a big challenge ahead, with massive debt, resource shortages, frustrated citizens, China looming, natural disasters and many angry enemies.

First snowfall in Cambridge

I got off the T this afternoon at Harvard Square and I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful sight of snow. My first snow ever!

As I walked home, I watched the tiny snowflakes dance in the breeze. I haven't really seen snow before, we've only had some sleet in Johannesburg, although it snowed this year but we were here in Boston. It also snowed in September 1981 but I was only one years old so can't remember anything, luckily I have photos of my mom holding me in our garden - me wrapped up warmly in a yellow woolen poncho :)

It is still snowing, probably about 2-3 inches of snow has fallen. It is such a beautiful sight, the snow seems so bright - the reflection from the streetlights make it brighter. I guess that's how they got the saying... as white as snow! It really feels so magical, it's like we're in a Christmas card :)

 

Sandy... the aftermath

We experienced some hectic winds in Boston on Monday, but we were fortunate to have not been affected too much by Hurricane Sandy. There were leaves and some small branches on the floor but otherwise nothing serious. Several suburbs around us were without power - apparently about 230k homes in Boston.

New Jersey and New York suffered the most, with flooding, trees falling and power outages. Currently the death toll in the US is around 74. Apparently about 9m homes were without power in the US, and millions are still in the dark even after a few days. People were killed by flying debris, falling trees or electrified by loose power cables. Even people in Toronto had hectic winds of 80km/h - this shows the vastness of Sandy, making it the biggest storm ever in the Atlantic.

As the affected regions slowly recover and repair the damage, life goes on as usual for us in Boston. If the centre of the storm was further North closer to us, things would have been a different. We were very lucky.

Bracing ourselves for Hurricane Sandy

I've been tracking Hurricane Sandy over the last few days and finally it is here. This is the biggest storm ever in the Atlantic. The death toll is currently at about 60, in Haiti and Jamaica which we hit a few days ago.

Hurricane Sandy is a category 1 hurricane (wind speed >49mph) which will become a Tropical Storm once it comes inland, but has collided with a strong north-eastern winter storm as well as a jet-stream from Canada. It also happens to be high-tide so will be worst by the coast.

Hurricane Sandy is expected to make landfall this evening in south New Jersey and move west towards Philadelphia and then move north/north-east over the next few days into Canada. Fortunately, this is south from Boston but because of the intensity of Sandy the entire east coast will be affected. We are experiencing very bad winds and rain, there has been coastal flooding and more than 70k homes are without power. Shops, businesses and the T have been closed today so everyone is at home waiting for the storm to pass. The Governor declared a state of emergency on Saturday. Yesterday there was a panic at shops as many people were buying supplies. The wind is really intense at about 40 mph (63km/h) at the moment; the trees are waving about ferociously.  The whole of the East Coast seems to be taking battering. Even the crane on the new World Trade Center which they are building in lower Manhattan is loose and dangling.

The Massachuetts governor has been giving regular updates and been handling the situation in a professional manner thus reassuring. They have also learnt a lot from Hurricane Irene last year so hopefully are better prepared this year.

Am hoping that the damages will not be too bad. I really feel for those stuck in the heart of it all.

The worst however is yet to come….

Mother Nature... throwing a tantrum

Recently the weather has been very strange around the world.

Last Saturday there was a freak hail storm in Johannesburg. Hail, larger than golf balls pelted down in the Midrand and Edenvale areas. Here is a link to a video of the hail on JHB, there are also picture of the damage http://www.news24.com/Multimedia/South-Africa/Joburg-hail-storm-20121022. My one friend said that most of the windows in their house were smashed. My mom is currently using my car and it got damaged by the hail at her workplace in Germiston - the windscreen got smashed and there are big dents. The insurance companies must be swamped with claims right now. Never seen such a bad hailstorm like this before, it must have been so scary to be caught in such a storm. Below are some pictures of the damage, as reported on News24.

There are currently terrible floods in the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Roads have collapsed and houses have been damaged.

There was an earthquake in Maine on Tuesday 16 October 2012 measuring 4.0 on the Reichter Scale. We felt the tremor here in Boston.

Now there is also speculation of a Tropical Storm heading our way. Topical Storm Sandy will hit Jamaica and then possible head to North Eastern America as a hurricane or maybe just die down.

Scary stuff! Why is Mother Nature so angry?!

People have forecasted that this year will see a lot of strange weather activity. Linked to the Mayan calendar (amongst others) - forecasting that the world will end in Decemeber 2012. So let's just hope that all this freak weather stops and doesn't cause any deaths.

Boston Fall = South African Winter

It is the beginning of October and the weather in the Fall in Boston is like South Africa's Winter.

The minimum temperature ranges between 3 degrees celsius (min) and 14 degrees celcius (max). Jackets and scarves are out. Quite a dramatic change from the Summer which was extermely hot and humid. So am wondering what the Boston Winter is going to be like! Let's keep our fingers crossed.

The leaves are beginning to turn. Some leaves are bright red, orange or yellow - quite beautiful. You can see the bright colours in the Harvard yard and the streets.

Aung San Suu Kyi... a true inspiration

I was honoured to attend a talk at Harvard given by 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Wow, what a humble, intelligent and inspirational woman. She was put under house arrest in 1990 by the Burmese military soon after her party won the elections. She has always fought for democracy in her country. She was finally released in 2010 when she finally went to receive her Nobel Peace prize. Some more about her http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi

What amazed me the most was the fact that she shows no hate towards the people who put her under house arrest, she is focussing on the future and helping her people be free and fights for human rights. She reminds me a lot of Nelson Mandela who also fought for the people of South Africa.  Truely inspirational!

How Boston differs to South Africa... part 7

Lots happening - events, seminars, concerts, festivals, workshops, tours, etc.

Boston is such a diverse city. There are a lot of foreigners due to the many universities. There always seems to be lots going on eg. Boston Film Festival, Boston Arts Festival, African Festival, etc.  There's also a lot of experiments going on (you see the adverts in the subway) by universities asking for volunteers to participate.

A lot of things are also free. Harvard sponsors a lot of social get-togethers, public talks, etc. There is a Harvard Student Spouses Group, which get together for tea weekly and there are different groups e.g. music, arts, children's playgroup, men's group, etc. sponsored by Harvard. Even at the student housing there are welcome parties and other events constantly happening. Some museums are free for students and residents (and oh yes for military!).

The top universities attract a lot of politicians, international professors, speakers, presidents, celebrities, etc. and often they give a talk. The Dalai Lama will be visiting MIT in October. The presidents of Argentina and Greece have visited Harvard.

The Ig Nobel Prizes are fun awards given to academics (the prizes are presented by real Nobel Prize laureates). We attended the ceremony on 21 September 2012 at the Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, what a fun night filled with intelligent, off the wall humour! The 'Welcome, Welcome speech' was classic - as we all waited anxiously to hear the speech, the speaker took out her sheets of paper and started her speech, looked at the audience and said  'Welcome.........' then looked at the special guests on stage and said 'Welcome'. And that was it! Put away her papers and went to sit down... classic! The awards go to funny, interesting research eg. why a pony tail wags left to right while running instead of up and down, what happens to coffee when you are walking with a cup and to clever inventions like a bra than also acts as a gas mask in emergencies, a speech jammer which interrupts your speech with your own speech. Very smart ideas. There were 2 airplane deluges during the ceremony, where the audience must try throw paper airplanes into a human target on stage. Videos of the event are on youtube.

The age of instant gratification

Here there are so many choices - for brands, service providers, products, etc. Products also arrive when they say it will arrive, they provide constant updates either via email or sms. You can easily get your order the very next day, if you select that option.

I've used Grubhub, which is like Mr Delivery in SA. The one time our order was late so I called the customer service centre and they greeted me by name (must be caller ID!), asked me to hold while they call the owner of the restaurant and then apologised for order being late and said that they'd email me a $5 food voucher - what fantastic customer service. After every 3 orders, you get a chance to play 'Yummy Rummy' which allows you to pick a card from 4 cards and you can win a free drink or even a free meal.

We discovered that we can buy white board paper which clings onto walls with static - what a fantastic invention, Athol loves it, we've plastered his study walls with this paper so that he can go crazy writing up all his crazy ideas. Apparently, they even have white board paint, so you could paint all your walls with this special paint, so you can write on the walls since it has a white board finish - amazing!

Ordered ink from HP, it got delivered the very next day and shipping was free. It came with a free plastic envelope for me to put in my empty cartridges so I can post (free) them back to them for recycling... makes sense.

I've discovered that Amazon sell most things and often at good prices since they sell items on behalf of other companies. Also students get free 2 day shipping.

Returning items is easy, most shops allow you to print a return label or it is sent with the product then you can just drop it off at UPS or USPO. You can also return it at the store. No questions asked!

Amazon have Instant Video, so you can buy or rent TV episodes or movies and watch it via internet streaming. Youtube also have movies now that you can buy. Luckily interent is fast and reliable here so good enough for watching.

The Fall (or Autumn as we call it in South Africa)

People always rave about the colours of the Fall in Boston, so I was looking forward to seeing what all the hype was about. The other day I've noticed tree leaves which were very bright red, really beautiful! Our leaves back in SA just turn brown. Looking forward to watching all the leaves turn colour, the colours will be amazing.

Also the weather has become quite cold and it is not even winter yet. Its almost like our winters in SA. So from an extremely hot and humid Boston summer, we've moved swiftly to what I call 'SA winter' where the min temperature is about 10 degrees celsius and max 18 degrees - and it is only mid September! Am keeping my fingers crossed for a mild winter :)

Is South Africa heading towards a revolution?

I have been tracking news articles regarding the current unrest in South Africa with all the strikes and killings, and to be honest I am really concerned and afraid for the future of my home country. Yes I am not currently in South Africa to experience it all first hand (and yes I know that the news here in the US is probably not entirely objective but I've being reading news24 too) but from what I've heard and read from afar, the future of South Africa does not look good. Is South Africa heading towards a revolution?

I have been fortunate to audit a Harvard class as a spouse this Fall. The course is on government and politics in china. The history is very interesting. This is where my grandparents came from, so very honored to be able to attend these lectures. I am learning about the 1911 Revolution, which marked the end of imperialism (after 2000 years) and the establishment of the Republic of China. The Nationalists then ruled for a period but with much uprising and rebellion. Learning about the unrest in China and hearing all the stories currently in South Africa makes me afraid. Is my home country on the brink of a revolution?

A revolution according to Karl Marx happens when it is inevitable since the masses are unhappy. In China, under Nationlism, the peasants were suppressed and extremely unhappy. Government did not worry about the masses of poor people only the elite. This led to the end of Nationalism and ultimately the birth of Communism in 1949.

Now in South Africa, the miners are striking, it started with the Lonmin strikers demanding a salary of R12k pm. 34 people were killed in these strikes in August. Now AngloPlat and Goldfields miners are on strike, AngloPlat miners demanding R16k pm and Malema trying to turn the soldiers against government. This seems like just the beginning of the unrest in SA. With inflation rising, petrol prices increasing and the increasing gap between rich and poor these angry people are only going to get more angry. The mining companies cannot afford to give the workers all 300% raise, and even if they do it will have a domino effect in the entire mining industry.

The fact that the miners are even willing to go on strike without pay at the risk of jeopardising their job shows the desperation of these miners. I admit that a salary of R4k pm is too little, definately not worth it since you risk your life working in mines
BUT is it necessary to use violence and force...
I really do hope that this will be resolved, government needs to take control of the situation and the mining companies need to take responsibility for their employees - if mining companies didn't exploit workers in the first place, this wouldn't have happened. South Africa has come such a long way, it is such a beautiful country, with such wonderful people we must not let chaos reside.

The magestic Niagara Falls

We spent a couple of days in Niagara Falls, about 30 min drive from Buffalo International Airport.

Niagara Falls is a small town, the main attraction being the Falls. The Falls is along the NY and Ontario Canada border. The Rainbow Bridge connects the two countries. From our hotel room we could see Canada, which is much more built up, there are many hotels, casinos, amusements parks, etc. visible on the Canadian side, it is all lit up, looks a bit like a mini Las Vegas. Canada does have a better view of both the American and Horsechoe Falls however on the NY side you get to 'feel' the falls more because you can stand near to the rapids before they fall off the edge. The Maid of the Mist boat operates from both the NY and Canadian sides, and the boat takes you right infront both falls - amazing! you can feel the mist and hear the roar of the waters crashing down. They supply plastic blue rain ponchos because you do get wet.

The town is rather down, there aren't much big name restaurants only small owner run restaurants. Many restaurants were closed, and this was peak summer vacation. There was a casino which was quite busy, Seneca Niagara. We suspected that the restaurants at the casino were stealing business from the struggling small restuarants elsewhere.

It is a popular wedding and honeymoon spot, there are lots of things to do like helicopter rides, cave of the winds (allows you to walk close to the falls), walking behind the falls, IMAX show about the falls, museums, etc.

At night the falls are illuminated which is quite beautiful. In summer, there are firework displays every Friday and Sunday night at 10pm - a spectacular display over the falls. Surprisingly, the fireworks as well as entrance to the state parks were free - not sure how they make their money.

An amazing and fun trip to Niagara falls!

The Big Apple

We went to NYC for a couple of days, even though Athol and I were sick we still had a great time.

New York is the name of the city (i.e. New York City which is made up of 5 boroughs including Manhattan and Brookline) as well as the name of the state New York, hence New York, New York.

Manhattan is where everything happens, we see it on TV and in movies - Central Park, the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Wall Street, etc. It is a city filled with people, lights, shops, restaurants, high-rise buildings and tourists :) In Times Square, there are so many lights and advertisements.

Central Park is huge, amazing how amidst all the dense buildings is a beautiful large open park.

We visited Strawberry Fields which is a landscaped area dedicated to the late John Lennon, there is a mosaic with the words 'Imagine' in the centre. Just opposite the park is Dakota Hotel, this is where John Lennon had lived and was shot in 1980.

We went on a 90 min boat cruise around lower Manhattan, really amazing views of the city. The open roof bus tour was also great. And of course, the Statue of Liberty, which is being renovated so entrance inside is restricted until next year.

Quite amazing been at Ground Zero where it all happened - September the 11th - a day non of us will ever forget. They are busy building two waterfalls where the twin towers stood with the names of those who died on plaques around them. They are also building two new tall buildings.

Food portions were large, the pizza slices are huge! one slice is enough for me :)

There are yellow NY taxi's, apparently 13,200 of them in Manhattan alone.

There are so many shops. The Garment District is filled with fabric shops. Macy's, a departmental store, took up a whole block and had 6 floors filled with clothes. A paradise for shoppers.

The day after we had left, there was a shooting near the Empire State building, close to where we stayed. A man shot his ex-boss/colleague, the police then shot him. Many bystanders were injured. To think that we could have been there when this happened.

Only spent 4 nights in NYC but we had so much fun, a great trip! It is very busy and there's a lot going on, great for a holiday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two months

I can't believe that it has been already 2 months that we've been living here in Cambridge. I guess that time does fly by when you are having fun.

I really like it here in Boston, it has been great experiencing life here.

The summer has been hot and extremely humid with occassional thunder showers. The humidity has been a killer expecially without aircon, we have two fans permanently blowing. The only problem is that you have to take the fan into whichever room that you are in plus the fan blows all your papers around :) I however am not complaining about the heat because I am dreadding the ice cold winters! There was a day or two in the summer when my feet were freezing. Need to go do all my winter clothing shopping soon - rain boots, hats, gloves, scarves, coats and thermal wear. Hopefully it will be a mild winter, apparently last winter was one of the mildest in years.

Security, like I've mentioned in my previous posts, is not an issue here and I really enjoy living without fear.

I've noticed that there are a lot of free things and places are very open. If I was a beggar and I could choose anywhere in the world to live, it would have be in the USA. There are always events with free food and drinks. Shops at Harvard Square are always giving away free chocloates, drinks, etc. Most places including the universities (Harvard and MIT) are very open, you don't need a student card to get into the grounds, there aren't even walls around the institutions. Anyone can walk into the university and sit under one of the lovely trees, most buildings are unlocked. There is free entertainment - free movies/live music at the Esplanade, benches everywhere along the Charles River or at the parks, musicians at Harvard Square, etc. Freed hand sanitizer at most institutions and shops. Free unwanted furniture or household goods are left outside houses by people. There is free wi-fi at some spots. You could join a public library for free and get passes to go to various museums. There are free newspapers. There are so many parks with pools, jungle gyms, basketball courts, etc. Education is free (except for the private schools). Free firework displays on holidays like 4th of July.

Things can be a bit pricey, especially if you are like me and convert the UD dollars in SA rands. Rent is expensive, eating out is relatively pricey (waiters/taxi drivers expect at least a 15% tip), theatre shows, concerts and sports games are expensive, clothing is fairly expensive unless you get it on sale or at a factory/discount outlet, furniture is fairly cheap and electronics and cars are very cheap.

Public transport (subway and bus) is very good. They have Zip Cars. A bus trip from Boston to NY can cost $13! The driving on the right hand side is still very strange to me, don't think I'll try it.

People are reasonably friendly however Cambridge has a lot of foreigners who are studying here.

I've completed my Level 1 in Mandarin at the Boston Language Institute so I can speak, read and write the basics. Am enjoying it, the writing is very tough. Will do Level 2 in September.

So overall I am loving the experience. Almost everything is somewhat different! Different brands, types of cars, lighting, mattreses, shops, etc.

Boston is a beautiful city. Been to the Quincy market, Fanueil Hall, Cambridgeside Galleria, JFK Park, Boston Common, Public Garden, Downtown, Prudential Skywalk Observatory, Red Sox game at Fenway Park, JFK Museum, Bruce Springsteen concert at Fenway Park, sunset harbour cruise on the Boston harbour, saw the 'Soup Nazi' from Seinfeld, walked around Harvard and MIT, had picnics along the Charles river, tried clam chowder, lobster, steak tips, pulled pork, buffalo tenders, Drakes coffee cakes, ....  to name a few of the great memories I have so far :)

So blessed to have this great adventure and to share it with my wonderful husband. Sometimes, it seems a bit surreal. I look forward to the next 10 months!

Fear of a different kind

We've been living in Cambridge for almost 2 months now. Although the crime here is vitually non-existent there has been some petty theft and the occational freak mass killing! So there is fear here, fear of a different kind.

There has been a lot of petty theft like bike and bag theft at the university as well as at residences. Three of Athol's classmates' bicycles were stolen in 2 days! as well as someone's backpack. These bicycles were locked up and the backpack was taken during a class break. One classmate had left her expensive mattress in the lobby (with a sign not to remove) for an hour while waiting for the delivery company to arrive, when she came back the mattress was gone. There is a fine line to all of this, today bicycles/bags/mattresses... tomorrow your car or jewellery. Apparently a lady was raped at Harvard yesterday! Not so safe as I thought.

A couple of weeks ago at the Batman screening in Colorado there was a mass killing where at least 12 people (including an infant) were killed and many injured. Innocent people just going to watch a movie and some crazy person goes on a shooting spree - really sad.

Last week, there was another shootout at a Sihk temple in Milwaukee, at least 6 people were killed. Again, innocent people just going to pray.

Sadly, this seems to be a common occurence here in the US - crazy gunmen going on a shooting spree killing many innocent people. And these killers appear to be ordinary people like you and I. The Colorado killer was a student.

So what causes people to do this?

To me, it seems that there is a lot of anger and unhappiness amongst the youth. Not only in the US but also in places like London (remember the youth riots last Aug) and even Norway (remember the student who also went on a killing spree last year). Clearly, there is something mentally wrong with these people. It is society's responsibility to identify these individuals who require help. I really think that tv/computer games with guns and killing should be banned, surely if children are playing these games eventually it will become normal for them. The world would be a better place without violence, guns, bombs and weapons of mass destruction. Also, people need to stop labelling themselves (by religion, country, race, school, profession), we are ALL humans! Here is a great poem by a great poet AE Ballakisten called 'World Peace' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7My-TtjEN5U

Sometimes life seems a bit random....

We could be the most cautious people just living our lives and then we just happen to be in the wrong place the wrong time. Sometimes things just seem so random and so unfair.

Here in the US, you could die of heat exhaustion, you could be at work and planes smash into the buildings, you could be going to pray or watch a movie and get shot or you be killed in a flood or a tonado....

In SA, you could be knocked down and killed by a truck walking to the shops or killed by your own car which rolled in your steep driveway or killed by a falling rock off a mountain in Cape Town while you are cycling or killed by a bolt of lightning while mountain climbing. This sadly has happened before.

So the moral of the story is to enjoy life, live it to the fullest! Here are some inspirational words by an inspirational poet :) One Finite Life  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwYlBktN_q0

How Boston differs to South Africa... part 5

Higher standard of living
- When is rains and you walk into a library, they give you a plastic bag to put your umbrella in
- There are hand sanitizers for customers freely available at most shop counters and all medical centres

Food/drinks
- They have a Boston Cream cake. A delicious sponge cake filled with custard cream and covered in chocolate
- Their corn on a cob (or mielies as we call them in SA) is yellow but has random lighter kernels so they look spotted!
- Their orange juices come with 'no pulp' or 'low pulp'
- Dunkin' Donuts is very common, you see them all over, the Boston Kreme donut is the best I reckon
- We've noticed that that restaurants give those little sealed plastic containers of milk when you order coffee. In SA, you get cold/hot fresh milk in a jug

Bus/T
- The CharlieCard is the card which you use to load up money for use on the buses or subway (like the Oyster card in London). You pay a discounted fee if you have a CharlieCard
- Fees are a flat rate irrespective of where you are travelling to (no zones like London). One bus trip costs $2 and a subway trip costs $2.50. Can't really compare to SA since I have never taken the bus :) I guess the Gautrain is comparable to the T - the Gautrain network is very small with limited routes, the T has 5 lines

Housing
- In Cambridge it is common for people to leave unwanted house items (furniture, etc) outside on the street for anyone to take. I guess that this has something to do with the high number of students moving/leaving here every year
- There are very few brick houses. Below is what a typical American street with houses looks like

Other interesting things I've noticed
- There are no parking guards. Street parking operates with meters
- There are no people at traffic lights selling things or trying to wash your windscreen
- There are no people selling newspapers at traffic lights. Newspapers are available in "boxes" in streets - some free and some coin-operated
- Fenway Park, where the Boston Red Sox play, can also be converted to a football stadium. Liverpool were on tour here last week and played at Fenway Park. There seems to be a couple of Liverpool supporters here. The team were training at Harvard University
- You can get weather alerts (for rain, severe thunderstorms, etc) emailed or via sms. Weather is a popular topic here

Complete peace of mind / Why should we have to live in fear

A stark difference between Johannesburg and Boston is safety.

In Johannesburg, we have layers of security. Our houses have security gates/bars, electric fences, regular patrol cars in certain areas and alarms with panic buttons and even beams in the garden. Some houses are in an estate (with/without a security guard) in a boomed off road. It is almost like living in a jail. There are some areas (like hillbrow) which you avoid completely. You don't dare walk anywhere alone at night! not even down the road. When you stop at a robot at night, you must look around for any suspicious activity (there are even warning signs for this at certain robots). Smash and Grab is very common. When you walk around anywhere you need to hold onto your handbag just in case you get mugged (even at church ladies take their handbags with them when they go up for communion!). When you drive home, you check to see if anyone is following you. This all might seem a bit paranoid and some people may disagree but this has been my experience and you'd rather be safe than sorry!

We live in fear - It is amazing to just to think about how we are living in Johannesburg. Everyday we live with the fear of being robbed/mugged/hijacked/raped/murdered. The fear of this happening to a loved one. What has society become?

Here in Boston, there are not even walls around houses/flats. There are no security gates/bars, electric fences, alarms, etc. You just don't have to worry about your safety at all. Sure there is theft and freak incidients (like the recent Batman massacre in Colorado) but in general you don't really have to worry about crime living in Boston. I walk around at night alone and use the public transport... without fear. Children even do this. I have complete peace of mind.  Isn't this how we are meant to live? without fear of one's safety? and to rather just enjoy life?

So the question is - how do we make South Africa safe??? Certainly some radical changes are required and this will be a long term solution but we need to start somewhere! we know it is possible

How Boston differs to South Africa...part 4

Cars and Transport
- Cars are somewhat familiar, they have car makes similiar to SA like Toyota, Saburu, BMW, etc. however the model names are different to those in SA. There are a couple American brand cars. Cars are not as big in size as I expected
- Cars and gas (we call it petrol!) are fairly cheap. Parking can be expensive. Steering wheels are on the left side of the car (on the right side in SA!)
- Most cars are parked in the street, since they don't have a garage (in Cambridge)
- Apparently there is a lot of bicycle theft, the thiefs know which are the expensive bikes and steal the whole bike or the tyres
- Apparently there is also a lot of petty theft on the subway, thiefs will snatch a cellphone/MP3 player/camera from a person just before the doors close and run off

Shops (in Cambridge)
- They have CVS which is their big pharmacy type shop like SA's Clicks. I've even seen a drive-thru in one suburb
- The big grocery shops are (like SA's PnP) is Stop n Shop. Whole Foods although has more organic food is similar to SA's Woolworth foods
- The big appliance shops are (like SA's Game) is Best Buys
- The big mega store who sell almost anything from furniture to bedding (like SA's Macro) is Target and IKEA
- The big departmental shops (like SA's Edgars) is Sears and Macy's
- The big computer shop (like SA's Incredible Connection) is Micro Center
- The big stationery shop (like SA's CNA) is Staples
- Most cashiers ask you whether you want an email receipt, email and print receipt or print only receipt (email receipts, what a great way to save paper!)

Some obvious differences:
- Their metric system is different:
 they use Farenheit for temperature (1 degree celcius = 33.8 degrees farenheit)
 they use Miles for distance (1 km = 0.62 miles)
 they use fluid Ounces (oz) for liquids (1 oz. = 28 grams)
 they use Pounds for weight  (1 kg = 2.2 pounds/lb)
- US Clothing and shoe sizes are different! I need to figure out what my US size is :)
- I've mentioned this before but their plugs are different, see pic below. I brought my travel hairdryer from SA due because the voltage is different, the power of the hairdryer is so weak! landed up buying a new one else it will take hours to dry my hair in winter :)

Stationery
- They call files, 'binders' and use 3 holed punches (in SA, our files have two holes)
- Their paper size is slightly different (shorter than our A4 size) and come in white or yellow
- They call prestik, 'sticky tack' and it comes in orange!