New Haven Update

We've now been in New Haven for a little over three months. I'm truly thankful for the range of experiences available here. I've met people from all over the world and have gotten to try a lot of new things so far.

Here's some of what I've learned so far...

September 30th--Sake Tasting
I like sake and cheese. I do not like sake and tofu. I like anything with dark chocolate.

October 5th--The Stampfli Express

The longest rowing shell in the world is as long as a grown blue whale and its calf--just over 144 feet. Once assembled, it sits 24 rowers (called scullers because each person pulls two oars instead of one) and a coxswain.

Catching crabs is a rowing term for getting your oar stuck in the current that is created as the boat moves forward in the water. I caught a lot of crabs.

(Want to see the boat put together? Here are pictures from the event in New Haven.)

October 8th--The Last Ninja in the World
Ninjitsu refers to combat and ambush techniques developed in rural Japanese farming communities. We met the man who many call the last true ninja in the world. He could defend himself against a samurai warrior using only the items found in an elementary school child's desk. He is also quite funny--

"This is a pen with a sharp point." (Imagine the kind used with inkwells.) "If a ninja throws this at his opponent, it will not come out. However, any time he throws it, it will stick." (Pause for dramatic effect.) "It can also used to stitch clothing."

October 14th--Celebrity Sightings
Ina Garten's husband tying his shoe on a bench at the business school. I said "Hello." What I meant was, "Would you please invite me to dinner in the Hamptons?" Lady Gaga and the US Surgeon General have also been on campus this semester, but I missed/didn't have access to those events.

October 28th--Genre of the Sentence(my writing class this semester)
It is difficult to write a sentence that describes the human body in motion without sounding like a game of Mr. Potato Head. Try imagining this sentence in the most literal way possible--

She slowly picked herself up off the ground. Her arms felt heavy--they were difficult to lift, but she managed. Holding her head high, she marched through the staring crowd. 

November 6th--Volunteering at the Yale Farm
Turnips can be red as well as white. Carrots can be purple. The little lettuce leaves that are so expensive to buy packaged in the store? Those are a lot of work to harvest...

A scuffle hoe (sounds like scuffalo in conversation) is a farming tool used to break up weeds at the surface of the soil before their root systems fully develop.

Pizza topped with pesto, roasted sweet potatoes, and mozzarella cheese is delicious.