245 days done, 116 days to go

Wow, today I realised that we have been in Boston for 245 days (i.e. 8 months!). Time has really flwon by. We have done and seen so much, we are so blessed to be having an experience like this. Boston is really such a great place to live, and although we've had a lot of snow and experienced a low of -22C (with wind chill), we have enjoyed every minute of our adventure so far.

In the last 8 months, we've travelled to New York, Niagara Falls, Las Vegas, LA, Seattle and San Francisco. We went on the boat cruise around lower Manhattan, saw the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building, went on the Sightseeing bus around Manhattan, saw Times Square, walked around Central Park, went on the Maid of the Mist in Niagara, saw Old Vegas, went to Hollywood, drove through Beverley Hills, walked around Santa Monica, saw the Space Needle, saw the Cables Cars and Alcatraz, saw some of the Williams' in LV and LA and met some Locks (from Vancouver) for the first time.

Here in Boston, we've Seen the Red Sox play the NY Yankees, the Celtics play the NY Knicks and Harvard play Yale in football. We saw Bruce Springsteen perform at Fenway.We saw Jerry Seinfeld live at the Wang Theatre. We saw the 'Soup Nazi' from Seinfeld at Harvard Square. We had supper at the Cheers Pub. We saw the renowned author CK Williams at The Castle in Boston University. We've been up to the Skywalk Observatory at the Prudential Building in Boston. We've tried all the Boston foods like Clam Chowder, lobster, bagels with cream cheese, steak tips, buffalo chicken tenders, etc. We lived through historic Hurricane Sandy (largest Atlantic hurricane on record) and Blizzard Nemo (Boston's 5th biggest snowstorm with 24.9 inches of snow). We've explored Cambridge and Boston. Visited MIT. Visited the JFK Museum. Built our first snowman 'Sipho'. Eaten dumplings in Chinatown. Attended the Ig Nobel Awards. Attended a Bar Mitzvah. Met some amazing and interesting people. Made many new friends. Studied at Harvard. Celebrated our birthdays and 3rd Anniversary. Went on a harbour cruise. Had picnics along the Charles River. Saw the Head of the Charles Regatta (boat race). Watched the Fourth of July fireworks. Followed the 2012 US Elections and watched Obama's inauguration (second term in office). Saw the beautiful leaves during Fall. Had our first Thanksgiving at the Cohens. Heard that our new little niece Kirsten was born on 13 Febuary 2013.

So many happy memories! Now to enjoy the remaining 116 days :)

Below are some pictures from our Chinese New Year lunch (10 Feb13) hosted by my friend Juan. Celebrating Year of the Snake.

 

Winter Storm Nemo... 5th most snow in Boston

We've had a pretty mild winter so far (touch wood!) with occassional 1-2 inches of snow and the coldest day so far has been -14C (-22C with wind chill).

Winter Storm and Blizzard Nemo began on Friday at midday and snow fell consistently until Saturday 12:00. A record 24.9 inches fell in Boston, making it the 5th biggest snowstorm.

The Govenor of Massachusetts had declared a state of emergency on Friday, banning all cars off the street from 4pm. Schools, shops, the T were all closed on Friday as a safety precaution.

We watched as the snow pelted down and covered the ground. This was classified as a blizzard since the winds reached about 60km/h.

This was the most snow that I've ever seen, there was snow about 40cm on our balcony.

I even built a snowman, was a bit difficult as the snow was fine and kept on breaking up. After a lot of patience, this was the final product:-

Meet Sipho the South African Snowman :)

Luckily we didn't have to shovel any snow. Here they have all different kinds of snow machines (there's no such things in South Africa!). Good luck to them clearing all the snow!

Spring Term begins

Today, Spring Term at Harvard started (strange that they call this Spring term since is it technically is still Winter!).

So it's back to school for most students, including Athol, to do another semester. Time is really just flying by, we have 20 weeks left here in Boston before we go back home to Johannesburg. We are still loving every minute of our adventure here. So Athol will be doing four courses this semester (even though he will only need three for credit), there are just so many interesting courses available at Harvard. Fortunately, his lectures start after 10am and finish no later than 4pm (by intentional design) so at least we can enjoy breakfasts and suppers together. Compared to J-Term this should be much easier since the course is spread out and you don't have to be there 8am-6pm every day. Plus the weather should be getting warmer, sunset is now at 4:45pm :) Despite the recent sub-zero temperatures (as low as -22C with wind chill) the sun at least shines so it isn't too deathly. Thank goodness for good internal heating! We can even walk around in t-shirts.

I will be auditing a Corporate Finance course at the Harvard School of Economics on Tuesdays and Thursdays - should be useful for my job back home.  I need to touch up on my stats and microeconomics as it's been a while :) I have my English tutoring on Wednesdays and I will resume my mandarin lessons soon.

So looking forward to another semester in this great city!

Watching the Boston Celtics play the New York Knicks

Last night we watched the Celtics play the Knicks at the TD Garden in Boston. What an incredible game! It was nail-biting till the last few seconds - the final score was 89-86 to the Knicks.

Back in the day, I used to play basketball for a Chinese club in JHB. I admit I was (and still am) a bit of a tom-boy - I love sports and adventure :) I started playing when I was about 10 years old (I can't really remember exactly when it all began!). My dad had bought my brother and I a basketball and I remember I used to practice passing the ball with my dad in the passage in our house.  Later my dad had built a basketball board and ring and had set it up in our yard where we used to spend many hours playing. My dad also used to take my brother and I to the basketball courts at Wits or my High School, Sir John Adamson so that we could play. I was a big NBA fan, I used to follow it on TV, I had posters and banners of Michael Jordan in my room, I had the playing cards which you could swap, had the t-shirts, etc. I initially played for the Chung Wah 'Mini's' basketball team (under 13 years old) then I had joined the 'Ladies' team. We practiced every week at the Braamfontein Recreation Centre. We played in the Portugese League, I remember playing at the Uniao Hall in Turfontein and also in Boksburg and Kibler Park. We also used to play against Tigers - another Chinese club. I could play any position - centre, wing or back. We weren't the best team and we used to lose terribly sometimes but it was all in the name of fun. I remember one Mini's game we lost about 100-6! One of our disadvantages... Chinese tend to be on the short side compared to others, I was always one of the tall players in our team!  There is an annual Chinese Sports Easter Tournament every year which is held in different city in SA - JHB, CT, PE, Pretoria. It is a lot of fun as Chinese from around SA (teams include Southern Gauteng (or Southern Transvaal as it was called back in the day), Northern Gauteng, Eastern Province, Western Province, Free State, and Zimbabwe) unite to play various sports such as basketball, softball, table tennis, badmington, tennis, soccer, etc. The tournament takes place on the long Easter weekend. I played in a few of these tournaments and it was such fun. Such good old days! Sadly I stopped playing when I was at university and haven't really been following the NBA since.

So having the opportunity to go to a live NBA game last night was one of my childhood dreams come true :)

Co-incidently, Athol was in Boston doing his MBA in the mid-90's and followed the NBA so we recently reminisced about the old days when Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Shaq, Reggie Miller, Hakeem Olajuwan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman (who always dyed his hair different colours), Karl 'The Mailman' Malone, Stockton, etc. were playing. We were surprised to see that Jason Kidd (Knicks), Kevin Garnett (Celtics) and Paul Pierce (Celtics) who played back in the day, still play today! Wow, can't believe that they have been playing for about 15-18 years! so it was so amazing to see them play. I can only imagine what it must have been like to watch  a legend like Michael Jordan play.

Entering TD Garden was amazing, the atmosphere at sporting events are incredible, we were fortunate to get good corner seats - we could clearly see the faces of the players and even see their names and number on their backs. There was a jumbotron in the centre and electronic advertisements all around the stadium. There was a small section in front of us where the journalists sat with their laptops, typing away and doing their twitter/facebook updates.

 

We watched the players warm up, then the national anthem was sung, then the players were all called on. Tip off was at 8pm. It was great to see these skilled players hit a three, 'swish' the ball and slam dunk with such speed and grace. The well-known 'D-fence' and 'Let's go Celtics' chants were played throughout the game. They even have a 'Noise monitor' which they show on the screens to show how loud the crowds are cheering. Was great seeing the foul shots.

During the quarters, the Celtics Girls (and guys!) did their dancing (they changed outfits every time they came on!) and they showed the audience on the jumbotron - this was very amusing seeing the crazy fans dancing (even doing the gangnam style!). There was a shooting contest where an audience member got to try shoot the balls into large drums of various distances, he managed to get three and won himself $500. At half time, the Celtics kids did some dancing, very cute.

Celtics led in the beginning but then the Knicks led till the end. It was very close. The Celtics missed a few baskets and made the occassional bad pass which the Knicks intercepted. In the end, the Knicks won by 3 points. What a fun evening! another great all-american experience with my wonderful husband :)

Inauguration of the 44th American President

Today I watched the inauguration of Barrack H. Obama, this is the 57th inauguration of America's 44th President.

Obama has won another 4 year term in the office with Joe Biden as his Vice President.

The inauguration co-incided with Martin Luther King Jnr Day (which is a public holiday here in the US).

Thousands of people travelled to Washington to watch the inauguration. There was performances by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Kelly Clarkson, Poet Robert Blanco, Beyonce (who sang the national anthem) amongst others. Watched the First Daughters then First Lady then the Vice President then the President walk in - all very dramatic and extravagant. The President and Vice President were sworn in, apparently this was the first time that a President has worn on two bibles as opposed to traditionally one. Listening to Obama's speech, he said all the right things that a President would be expected to say - stricter gun laws, gay rights, better immigration policies, better welfare for all, better education, a end to wars, etc.

Watching the ceremony and celebrations on screen, I couldn't help think what a waste of money this all was, surely this money could be better spent on feeding the poor, building houses or settling part of the country's $16 trillion debt. Sure it is nice to celebrate but is it really necessary to have such a grand event especially for a re-election?



God save these United States of America!

Taryn and the Chocolate Factory :)

Yesterday I went to the Taza Chocolate Factory in Sommerville. It was a tour arranged by the Harvard Spouses group. http://www.tazachocolate.com/

I had never heard of this chocolate brand before so it was interested to learn how their chocolate was made. The tour was 45 minutes long. We were given a private tour through the factory with a couple of tasting samples. We were also given stylish hair nets to wear in the factory :)

It was a small factory with a lovely shop where you could buy some of their delicious chocolate after the tour.

Photo courtesy of Helen C

We learnt how the cacao beans are farmed, roasted, winnowed, grinded, tempered and mixed. We watched how the workers hand packed the bars - the job must require a lot of willpower!

The process from bean to bar is 2 days! Their chocolate is organic, doesn't contain any dairy products (not even milk) and come in a variety of flavours (chilli, almond, cinnamon, etc.). They specialize in dark healthy chocolate. I do prefer sweeter chocolate (love white chocolate) but really enjoyed their chocolate, it has a gritty texture since it is stone ground, but is really nice. When they say 60% dark it means that the chocolate contains 60% cacao bean and 40% sugar hence the higher it is the less sweet it is but more healthier. They make chocholate bars in slabs and round shaped bars - these are used to make hot chocolate. They also sell chocolate nibs which are little pieces of the cacao bean covered in chocolate which can be eaten as a snack or sprinkled on desserts/cereals.

So a lovely trip to the chocolate factory.

The incredible age of technology

I can remember when cellphones first came out... Boy, I sound like an old person here, but this was merely 15 years ago!

In 1998, I was in matric and cellphones had just come out. At that time there was no such thing as smartphones, tablets, laptops, email, the internet, flat screen HD televisions, Macs, etc. I recall there were beepers (like we see the doctors been beeped on old school TV shows) and PDAs - remember those old TV's with the big box attached to the back, overhead projectors, cameras with film, large video cameras, Beta and VHS tapes, LP records, tape recorders, walkmans? Wow, what a different time it was. Children and even teenagers nowadays would laugh if they saw the things which we used back in the day :)

I remember the very first large Nokia cellphones which came out - it looked like a brick compared to the tiny slim cellphones on offer today :) Screens were only black and white, no colour screens like we have today and the keypad was limited to the numbers 0-9 where each number represented 3 letters so you had to press 1 once if you wanted to type an A, press twice if you wanted a B and press three times if you wanted a C, etc. They didn't have a camera or the ability to connect to the internet (since the internet was around yet) they had basic functions like making a call or sms with a couple of games. A year or two later, they came out with smaller cellphones, flip-phones were the in thing. Then they came out with colour screens, then later on with cameras, then later on with music, then later on with internet, then the slide-phones were in fashion... now the cellphones are getting bigger as they have more functionality (better graphics, more features, faster speed, better cameras, more storage space). Now touch screens are in fashion, some phones scan barcodes, you can bluetooth a picture to another phone/laptop, you can view a pdf document, you can BBM/Whatsapp your friends, you can instantly take a photo and upload it onto Twitter/Facebook (my, my, how did we live without social media before!), you can use GPS,  check the weather, book a hotel, do a money transaction... the list goes on! Cellphones have become mini computers.

Once upon a time, there were car phones but are non-existent now since everyone has a cellphone.

Computers - Back in the day, desktop computers were huge, the graphics weren't good and it was not very user friendly. Remember Netscape and that funny game where you draw vector diagrams using command statements? Remember floppy ad stiffy disks? Haha, the godd old days :) When I was at university, I was introduced to email and the internet, nowadays we can't imagine a world without it. Remember good old fashioned snail mail? when you had to actually hand write a letter and post it :) Remember when you had to go to the library to use the encyclopedias for class assignments? and then you had to photocopy the pages :) Gosh, nowadays you just google it on your phone or laptop and get an answer instantly! Now there are fancy laptops and tablets (which are really just small laptops since now they come with an attachable keyboard!).

Television - Remember Beta tapes? Then VHS followed, then DVDs. TV's initially were big boxes and only in black and white. TV's came out in SA in the early 80's I think. Nowadays, TVs come in either Plasma, LCD, LED or 3D and range from small thin screen monitors to about 52 inches. The clarity is amazing nowadays. A great invention has been PVR - pausing live TV, rewinding and recording... amazing (so useful especially nowadays since there are so many advertisements!)

Music - Back in the day, music was played on LP record players. Then tapes followed (with walkmans as the portable version), then CD's (with Discmans as the portable version) and DVD's. Now music comes in MP3 format and can be downloaded easily and play on laptops, cellphones, iPods, etc.

TV Games - I remember the days when I used to play games on our Commodore 64 where we had to load the game which was on a tape. I remember Atari with joysticks - with games like Pacman. I remember TV games with the console and the cartridges - with games like Super Mario Brothers! I remember the good old arcade games, my cousins and I used to play a lot at my grandparents shop in Port Elizabeth. I remember those little hand held games with games like King Kong. Gosh, those were the days :) Nowadays, there is xBox and Nintendo Wii (our personal favourite past-time) with life-like graphics and the ability to play others around the world. You can even use the internet through these game consoles so that you can get the latest news and weather and even watch videos on Youtube.

Cameras - Back in the day, we used those cameras with film and then you had to go develop the photos and keep the negatives in case you want reprints in future. Today, the entry level digital camera is 16MB with lots of storage so you can happily click and away, and whatever you don't like you can just delete with a click of a button.

Typewriters - Remember these? We had an old typewriter, I used to use this for my school assignments. It was so noisy when you typed and when you made a mistake you had to go back and go over it with a tipex strip. I remember that one could type in black or red. When you wanted to go onto the next line you had to pull the lever. Now typewriters are antiques :)

Overhead projectors - My teachers used to write on transparencies and then project them on the projectors. Nowadays, lessons are projected via laptops and presenters can change slides at a click of a button.

Technology has taken over the world! in just 15 years, the way people live has completely changed. Access to information has never been this quick and easy. The internet connects the world. Technology will only continue to improve and evolve. Even children are using iPads and cellphones. What next?  What will the future hold for us?

Along with the good there is also a lot of bad things that technology has brought about. People have become dependent on this technology (some addicted) and have the need for instant gratification. Information can be so easily accessed ideal for hackers, stalkers and fraudsters. Social Media is changing society and how people interact - adults and children are becoming more phyically anti-social as they friend people in chatrooms and on facebook.

To think about it... life was a lot simpler 15 years ago. We weren't distracted by all this new technology - you weren't physically attached to your cellphone and constantly checking for messages, tweets or facebook updates. Children could just be children and play outside. People could just live their life and appreciate the little simple things in life without distractions.