Impending Doom
It's still six days away and I'm already beginning to feel a sense of doom. I'm talking, of course, about the Wharton B-School Regatta. Even though I am only going (officially) to be coxswain, I beginning to worry about that (when it comes to steering on the huge windy swirly Schuylkill River, I ain't in Kansas any more...) and also have this sneaking suspicion that I will be co-opted to row at the eleventh hour. Knowing Lloyd and The Splash, they would think it a huge joke to secretly "volunteer" me to row behind my back. Oh well, hopefully the weather will be good.
Meanwhile I am trying to divert myself by projecting some of my doom onto Cutefirstyearrowing guy. He has never rowed in a race before - in fact, he's only been in a rowing shell about ten times in his life. He has no idea what's going to be waiting for him in Philadelphia. The fastest stroke rating CFYRG and TallPete have ever rowed at is about 17. So I had great fun informing him last night that the men's race will probably go off at about 32 and wind down to 28. I am not entirely cruel though. I am going to do him a huge favour, ie telling TheSplash to put him back onto port/stroke side. Asking anyone to switch sides three outings before a regatta is bad enough, but for a guy who only just learnt to row, it's too much. And I am not saying that just because CFYRG is cute, I'm saying it because I will probably be coxing and I do not want a crab mid-race. Plus, CFYRG might not look very cute with all his front teeth knocked out, as happened to ArmyBrian at the same regatta two years ago.
***
It's been a social week. Outing with ScaryCzechLady, TheSplash and EnglishGuy on Tuesday, then dinner and TNDC on Thursday, then a brief appearance at the DardenDays "welcome" event on Friday evening, then the big bash at Ash Lawn Highland last night.
I had never been to Ash Lawn Highland but it was very cool. It is the former home of President James Madison, the President that came after TJ. It helped that it was a beautiful evening with clear skies and spring blossom everywhere, of course, and that this year they hired a decent Bluegrass band to play. (Last year they hired a very dubious and noisy rock band. They were so loud, there was an exclusion zone of 100 yards around them. Plus, all the Mormon and born-again folks took huge offence at the content of their lyrics, and took their kids home after fifteen minutes.) With the great weather and excellent (and free) wine on tap, everyone was in good spirits. My only quibble with the evening would have been the appearance of the dreaded southern barbecue food (see February's postings on that). I went the whole way down the buffet line with an empty plate, until the very last dish which was lettuce leaves and tomatoes.
Anyway, it was good, met some cool admits, and, completely bizarrely, a partner of one of the admits who told me that CFYRG was her date to senior prom ten years ago. At one point I got stuck with a French dude called Pierre in the current First Year who I didn't take to at all-and of course who promptly came on to me like a steam train. Unshaven, bloodshot eyes, smoked like a chimney, dismissive of everything, talked very fast French for ages to another French guy right in front of me (v rude - and I could understand just enough to know that I was being mentioned...) I finally made my escape when an admit with a squint in both eyes came over and joined us: I mumbled something about getting myself a glass of water and legged it...
***
I didn't execute an entirely clean getaway however, because in charge of the bar was NoCatDan. He is the one who was talking before Spring Break about adopting NewKitty. I actually only met him in person for the first time the other night at TNDC. On that occasion, he pounced on me and asked if we could go back to my place to see NewKitty right there and then (it was about 11pm at this stage, and I live at 20 minutes drive away - I thanked him for his enthusiasm but politely declined the offer). I must say, I do seem to be having a run of bad luck lately - it seems to be the ones I really don't want pouncing on me that have been, with the possible exception of GayborhoodMike, but I think he had a girlfriend.
Anyway, one of the unusual things about NoCatDan - which he is very quick to tell you when you meet him - is that he got his undergrad degree from the University of Phoenix Online. When he told me this, within the first five minutes of running into him at TNDC, I wondered why he added "Online" to this statement. I mean, there isn't a U of Phoenix offline, so why bother highlighting the fact you got your degree online? Most British people who haven't watched as much American TV as I have wouldn't even know that the University of Phoenix is an internet university unless you told them.
Fortunately last night NoCatDan was safely on the other side of the bar, so pouncing opportunities were mercifully limited, and I was able to get away. It was then that I noticed I have become somewhat of a celebrity among the FYs, admittedly probably a dubious honour. LOTS of people came up and said, "Look, there's that girl who wrote the case". One FY introduced me to his friend as "she's the PhD who wrote the case" (rather flattering but untrue) and girl I'd never seen before who was wearing too much perfume came up and said "Aren't you the one who got BrianB_ into Darden?" (flattering again, but also complete fiction - it turns out that in 1995 I worked with a guy who, eight years later at a different bank, wrote BrianB_ a recommendation for business school...) Seems almost a shame, now I am famous, that I will shortly be leaving and in no position to cash in on my fame.
Meanwhile I am trying to divert myself by projecting some of my doom onto Cutefirstyearrowing guy. He has never rowed in a race before - in fact, he's only been in a rowing shell about ten times in his life. He has no idea what's going to be waiting for him in Philadelphia. The fastest stroke rating CFYRG and TallPete have ever rowed at is about 17. So I had great fun informing him last night that the men's race will probably go off at about 32 and wind down to 28. I am not entirely cruel though. I am going to do him a huge favour, ie telling TheSplash to put him back onto port/stroke side. Asking anyone to switch sides three outings before a regatta is bad enough, but for a guy who only just learnt to row, it's too much. And I am not saying that just because CFYRG is cute, I'm saying it because I will probably be coxing and I do not want a crab mid-race. Plus, CFYRG might not look very cute with all his front teeth knocked out, as happened to ArmyBrian at the same regatta two years ago.
***
It's been a social week. Outing with ScaryCzechLady, TheSplash and EnglishGuy on Tuesday, then dinner and TNDC on Thursday, then a brief appearance at the DardenDays "welcome" event on Friday evening, then the big bash at Ash Lawn Highland last night.
I had never been to Ash Lawn Highland but it was very cool. It is the former home of President James Madison, the President that came after TJ. It helped that it was a beautiful evening with clear skies and spring blossom everywhere, of course, and that this year they hired a decent Bluegrass band to play. (Last year they hired a very dubious and noisy rock band. They were so loud, there was an exclusion zone of 100 yards around them. Plus, all the Mormon and born-again folks took huge offence at the content of their lyrics, and took their kids home after fifteen minutes.) With the great weather and excellent (and free) wine on tap, everyone was in good spirits. My only quibble with the evening would have been the appearance of the dreaded southern barbecue food (see February's postings on that). I went the whole way down the buffet line with an empty plate, until the very last dish which was lettuce leaves and tomatoes.
Anyway, it was good, met some cool admits, and, completely bizarrely, a partner of one of the admits who told me that CFYRG was her date to senior prom ten years ago. At one point I got stuck with a French dude called Pierre in the current First Year who I didn't take to at all-and of course who promptly came on to me like a steam train. Unshaven, bloodshot eyes, smoked like a chimney, dismissive of everything, talked very fast French for ages to another French guy right in front of me (v rude - and I could understand just enough to know that I was being mentioned...) I finally made my escape when an admit with a squint in both eyes came over and joined us: I mumbled something about getting myself a glass of water and legged it...
***
I didn't execute an entirely clean getaway however, because in charge of the bar was NoCatDan. He is the one who was talking before Spring Break about adopting NewKitty. I actually only met him in person for the first time the other night at TNDC. On that occasion, he pounced on me and asked if we could go back to my place to see NewKitty right there and then (it was about 11pm at this stage, and I live at 20 minutes drive away - I thanked him for his enthusiasm but politely declined the offer). I must say, I do seem to be having a run of bad luck lately - it seems to be the ones I really don't want pouncing on me that have been, with the possible exception of GayborhoodMike, but I think he had a girlfriend.
Anyway, one of the unusual things about NoCatDan - which he is very quick to tell you when you meet him - is that he got his undergrad degree from the University of Phoenix Online. When he told me this, within the first five minutes of running into him at TNDC, I wondered why he added "Online" to this statement. I mean, there isn't a U of Phoenix offline, so why bother highlighting the fact you got your degree online? Most British people who haven't watched as much American TV as I have wouldn't even know that the University of Phoenix is an internet university unless you told them.
Fortunately last night NoCatDan was safely on the other side of the bar, so pouncing opportunities were mercifully limited, and I was able to get away. It was then that I noticed I have become somewhat of a celebrity among the FYs, admittedly probably a dubious honour. LOTS of people came up and said, "Look, there's that girl who wrote the case". One FY introduced me to his friend as "she's the PhD who wrote the case" (rather flattering but untrue) and girl I'd never seen before who was wearing too much perfume came up and said "Aren't you the one who got BrianB_ into Darden?" (flattering again, but also complete fiction - it turns out that in 1995 I worked with a guy who, eight years later at a different bank, wrote BrianB_ a recommendation for business school...) Seems almost a shame, now I am famous, that I will shortly be leaving and in no position to cash in on my fame.
posted by alranson | 11:40 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home