so i have this little obsession with looking up strange news on current events and different art exhibits and so on and i came across this lovely little piece of information - "Nils Olav, an Edinburgh Zoo penguin and Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian King's Guard, an elite unit tasked with protecting the Norwegian royal family, inspects soldiers of his regiment as they visit him in Edinburgh, Scotland, Friday Aug. 15, 2008, where he was presented with a medal"
i thought you all might enjoy that.
as far as the rest of my weekend went, orientation was what really got my brain working. it's been a while since i sat and participated in a lecture. there appeared to be a lot of grad students, however i couldn't really walk around and ask about who would make for a good roommate (which is still my biggest concern for the moment)... however... one gentleman was willing to interrupt the dean of graduate studies of san francisco state university and asked for anyone looking for housing to come meet him outside. so outside i went and was once again shut out of a place to live. everyone seemed to be looking for someone similar to themselves: polish, female or creepy... unfortunately... i do not fit into any of those categories.
i proceeded to walk around as an attempt to get a better feel for the campus. at my initial tour of the area, the walkway to the student center really caught my attention.
there's a quaint little koi pond to the site of the staircase which makes the building all the more interesting. it's named after cesar chavez because of the history of social change and student protest that has historically taken shape at my university.
by the way, do you notice the white sky? well, if you ever come to visit, you might want to bring a pair of sunglasses because it is foggy and bright outside of the tourist area. it's not exactly a bad thing, it just makes me feel like im on a different continent like antarctica or something. o yeah, bring a jacket, too. it can get a little windy. the temperature never really goes under 50, but the wind can make it seem a bit chilly. at least it'll never reach -3 with a wintry, snow and rain mixutre.
after orientation, i met up with songrui and brandi for dinner at squat and gobble, crepery in west portal. songrui is in her last semester at the program and quite unhappy because she has really enjoyed studying in san francisco. she is from beijing originally and was last there right before the massive earthquake that struck china. the earthquake didn't strike beijing, of course, but her mother said she could feel the ground move. we also talked about policies and different laws and had a lot of good conversation.
saturday consisted of a lot of walking around, house hunting, etc. i had a great offer for a house with a view of the pacific ocean, but $900 a month is a little out of my price range.
my advisor, vincent, took me to patxi's pizza near a place that i hopefully will be calling home.
the best part about it was when devendra banhart, this wonderfully freaky folk artist, casually walked in and grabbed some pies. the appeal about this place is that it's vegan, but they don't tell you so they dont scare away customers.
vincent and i parted ways and i was able to do some exploring on my own in the area where i might live. there were a lot of great little shops and cafes, but the overall atmosphere really made me want to find residency in the downtown area. otherwise, it wouldn't make sense to move to san francisco, because the downtown area IS san francisco.
it's sunday morning, and i am off to hopefully see obama at a fundraising event (weather permitting).
love and loyalty
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