I thought I'd take some time to write about why I love Boston. I tell everyone I talk to that I like living here, but I haven't really gone into the reasons.
First off, it has a very diverse populace. This is very refreshing after living in Utah valley for so long where it seems like 90% are white/caucasian. Also, diverse population equals diverse restaurants. You can go out for any type of food you want (except for Cafe Rio). Last week I went to an Ethiopian restaurant and the week before I ate at a Cambodian French restaurant. You run into people of all ethnicities. In my lab alone, there are over 10 different nationalities. I am also beginning to consider Bostonians as a race foreign to me. They've got that strange, but interesting accent going on. Allow me to demonstrate. "I need to pahk the cah next to Hahvahd." Not everyone speaks like that here, but when I do come across it, it catches my attention.
I have discovered the joys of public transportation. I ride the train to work everyday. It is very refreshing to take a power nap coming to or from work. The train system is called the T here in Boston. When I ride aboveground, I feel like I'm back in Russia riding around on a tramvai. Underground, I kind of feel like I'm in a movie. Especially when I'm waiting at a stop, impressions of Ghost or Matrix come to me. So far, thank heavens, I've managed to avoid running into Agent Smith.
There are a lot of opportunities to talk about your faith with those who may not have heard that much about it. On the one hand, it's fascinating because people out there are often times simply curious about what you believe in and what you do. Sometimes this can be scary as the cold truth sets in that you are not that good at answering basic questions. For instance, in my lab Richard and I were talking about going to the temple later that night and someone else overheard us and asked point blank, "What's a temple?" I honestly could not answer that at that moment so I left it to Richard. It's one thing to answer those kind of questions as a set apart missionary, but to answer something like that in a casual setting is a whole different story. I definitely have room for improvement as far as talking with outward onlookers about the church.
It's a very transient place. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing, but you ask someone where they are from and they usually will tell you where they currently live. I kid you not, I went to a dance at MIT and one of my default questions is "so are you from around here." Almost all of the responses were along the lines of "yeah, i've been going to MIT for 2 years." or "yeah I live in suburb x of boston." The reason why, as I've come to find out, is because there aren't too many people who have spent their whole lives here. To avoid complications, they interpret this question differently than what I'm used to.
There are less hangups here about age, I've noticed. One thing that I've noticed in this area is that single people engage in activities regardless of how old they are. For instance, I went to a swing dance the other night which included all ages. I loved going up to older women and asking them to dance. (And I'm pretty sure they loved it too. ;)) Contrast that with girls and guys in their early twenties in Provo flipping out about not being married yet. haha But on a more serious note, there is less of a tendency in this area to over-focus on marriage. To a degree, I think this is a good thing.
The precipitation and humidity results in quite the green surroundings. You seem to hear the same descriptions about humid climes, so much that they may even seem to get trite. But they are so true. When it is hot and humid, you sometimes have a feeling that you're in a greenhouse. It's this sweaty, wet feeling that's only going to increase as the summer progresses. I've also experienced a couple cold days, nothing like winter. But technically, in degrees it doesn't seem that cold. But because of the humidity, it chills you to the bone. I don't know if I necessarily like the humidity, but the advantages of lush, green vegetation is definitely worth it. I was standing outside the Boston temple, (without my camera :( ) and I just saw miles and miles of packed, green forests. I even saw a raccoon that day, which was cool. I'm excited to get more familiar with the New England outdoors this summer.
Boston also has some interesting smells. First off, tons of people smoke. I kind of thought, living in Utah for so long, that smoking in the United States was kind of dying off. At least here on the east coast, it is alive and well. But the smell of cigarettes actually doesn't bother me. I am not addicted to it, but I don't mind the faint or lingering smell of tobacco. The smell of coffee is also omnipresent. You can see either a Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks on almost any block in Boston, and that is no over-exaggeration. Also, because this city is so old, (founded in 1630) it's got some interesting odors on the streets. I have smelt some smells that I thought only wafted in Russian stairwells. This is good though as you can then better appreciate clean air.
Finally, this city has some history in it. Where else can you drink a Samuel Adams while looking at his grave? Or visit the tree under which General Washington first took command of the American Army? Or visit Paul Revere's house? Besides the plethora of historical sites to catch in the Boston area itself, there are also lots of sites in surrounding areas such as Pennsylvania, DC, etc.
To sum it all up, Boston is cool. Come and visit if you have never experienced it. I'll leave the light on for you.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Buff Woman
Last night, I was working out at the gym and I saw the most interesting human being. At first glance, it was clearly female. The earrings, long hair tucked in on itself, feminine facial features gave this away. However, I couldn't help noticing the bulging muscles. This individual had biceps, triceps, and shoulder muscles that I would be proud to tout. I couldn't believe that this person was a woman so I found myself staring at her intermittently, trying not to come across as creepy. I would casually glance over at her and hold my gaze for a few seconds at a time in disbelief. As to his/her age, I would guess around 40. It was evident that she had spent many years working on this powerful figure of hers. Previous to this experience, I thought such ripped, burly mamas are only to be found at body-building competitions. Apparently they are sometimes in your neighborhood gym.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Mitt Romney's blunders
I don't want to be too much of a critic, but I saw a couple things in the second debate that I didn't really like about Mitt Romney. Don't get me wrong; I think that he is the best Republican candidate. I also think that he did a fabulous job in the first debate. But the second debate was more competitive and a lot of more difficult issues were raised. Let me tell you what irked me in the second debate.
On the hypothetical terrorist situation, I don't think that Romney's response would lead to a better America. I will have to say that he did a good job of prefacing this botched answer with an approach to prevent attacks from ever happening. That would be the ideal situation. I am no expert on international relations, but I certainly liked Ron Paul's insight. By the way, I found each of his answers well-educated and intelligent. There is some truth to what he said about the US provoking attacks towards itself. Instead of us clinging to the notion that we never make mistakes, and everyone else in the world should fall into place with our ideals, maybe we should look into some of the underlying reasons why some other countries hate us. To me, this is going to the heart of the issue. If you follow Mitt's policy on doubling Guantanamo and continuing to use enhanced interrogation techniques, I don't believe attacks against us will stop. We are all human beings on this earth and we as Americans should start treating others with the respect that they deserve. I attended Dick Cheney's commencement address and he talked about being grateful for second chances. I believe that many of these terrorists are in need of second chances. We know that many of these terrorists are simply brainwashed patriots believing that they are doing the right thing. To the extent that we can rise above the terrorists in baseness, the world will become a better place. Senator McCain, as an experienced veteran, understood this fact and did a good job of explaining his views on torture. Also, I didn't understand how Romney can claim that we don't torture, but yet it is fine to engage in enhanced interrogation techniques. Some techniques that I found included in this category seemed like torture to me. Check out this article if you want to see the 6 techniques that fall under this category. Torture is defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. If, through these interrogation methods, one can die, (as has happened in Iraq) I don't think it is appropriate for us to continue.
In conclusion, I don't want to be inconsiderate of those who have been affected by the terrorist acts in recent years. We all want justice for those behind such deadly attacks. However, in our pursuit of making sure that this doesn't happen again, we can't stoop to their level. I feel like this is something that the infamous VP Daniels on 24 would do and it would only lead the United States to be more isolated and hated in the world. We must rise above the terrorists in our treatment of others in the world. I believe that through diplomacy and international talks, the world will rise above terrorism. TO
On the hypothetical terrorist situation, I don't think that Romney's response would lead to a better America. I will have to say that he did a good job of prefacing this botched answer with an approach to prevent attacks from ever happening. That would be the ideal situation. I am no expert on international relations, but I certainly liked Ron Paul's insight. By the way, I found each of his answers well-educated and intelligent. There is some truth to what he said about the US provoking attacks towards itself. Instead of us clinging to the notion that we never make mistakes, and everyone else in the world should fall into place with our ideals, maybe we should look into some of the underlying reasons why some other countries hate us. To me, this is going to the heart of the issue. If you follow Mitt's policy on doubling Guantanamo and continuing to use enhanced interrogation techniques, I don't believe attacks against us will stop. We are all human beings on this earth and we as Americans should start treating others with the respect that they deserve. I attended Dick Cheney's commencement address and he talked about being grateful for second chances. I believe that many of these terrorists are in need of second chances. We know that many of these terrorists are simply brainwashed patriots believing that they are doing the right thing. To the extent that we can rise above the terrorists in baseness, the world will become a better place. Senator McCain, as an experienced veteran, understood this fact and did a good job of explaining his views on torture. Also, I didn't understand how Romney can claim that we don't torture, but yet it is fine to engage in enhanced interrogation techniques. Some techniques that I found included in this category seemed like torture to me. Check out this article if you want to see the 6 techniques that fall under this category. Torture is defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. If, through these interrogation methods, one can die, (as has happened in Iraq) I don't think it is appropriate for us to continue.
In conclusion, I don't want to be inconsiderate of those who have been affected by the terrorist acts in recent years. We all want justice for those behind such deadly attacks. However, in our pursuit of making sure that this doesn't happen again, we can't stoop to their level. I feel like this is something that the infamous VP Daniels on 24 would do and it would only lead the United States to be more isolated and hated in the world. We must rise above the terrorists in our treatment of others in the world. I believe that through diplomacy and international talks, the world will rise above terrorism. TO
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Moving to Boston
I accepted a job offer far away from home in a magical land called Boston, Massachusetts. My job title will be a research assistant in a lab at Harvard Medical School. I am so stoked. It is well known that much about getting a job is in connections you make. This job was no different. Richard Carey, the current lab assistant whom I will be replacing, was my connection. He graduated from BYU in Bioinformatics a year ago. Undoubtedly, he did a great job as he was able to recommend me to Dr. Gygi. Steve Gygi, the professor in whose lab I will be working, is in the Department of Cell Biology. He gave me the unofficial job offer a week or two ago and I was excited to accept. I will most probably be working with a team of bioinformatists in his lab writing programs and analyzing his database. The kind of work is right up my alley and I feel I will do a stellar job. I want to work in this capacity for a year and then go to law school. It's gonna be sweet applying a lot of the things I learned at school to real-life problems. What also makes me excited about this transition in my life is that I will be living in Boston, one of the coolest cities. This city is home of the Red Sox, tons of historical sites, and Harvard. There's gonna be so much to see and do! I plan on making the trip over there by car as this is the cheapest mode of me getting over there with all my stuff. Because I am expected to be there on the 14th of May, I will probably be leaving Provo next Thursday. If anyone wants to accompany me on my trek across the United States feel free to let me know. It will take at least 40 hours of driving, but on the bright side, we will check out scenery from all across the United States.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Is Provo Really for Lovers?
Recently, I've been thinking about something interesting that's going on in Provo. What first sparked this train of thought is me thinking about leaving Provo single. As I'm wrapping up school here this April, job opportunities and graduate school may entice me to leave the surroundings that I've called home for so many years. I've thought about how and where would be best for me to find Miss Right. The obvious answer that I initially thought was right here in Provo. However, after more contemplation, I've come to an interesting conclusion. You could even call it a hypothesis. This is what I've noticed: While Provo is probably the best place for a young Latter-day Saint to find someone with whom he or she is most compatible, I believe that the setting is counterproductive in many situations and actually creates a problem for students to get married.
My first argument in support of this is that BYU students don't get into relationships very often. I believe this is due to commitment issues induced by Provo. I used to have false perceptions about BYU when I first started. One perception was that the majority of single BYU students have a girlfriend or a boyfriend. You always see students holding hands across campus and making love to each other at random locations. However, the more I've gotten to know the student body here at BYU, the more I've noticed that this is only the minority that gets into these kinds of "official" relationships. I've wondered if there are such cool people in Provo, why couples don't happen more often. The answer is probably complex, but may have to do with commitment. I have noticed that because of the caliber of prospects in Provo, the commitment level goes down as everyone is keeping their eyes out for their eternal companion instead of someone to date. This in turn lowers the motivation for people to hook up into relationships. I've heard girls say they won't kiss a guy until they know she's sure she'd marry him. It may be, however, that by being so uptight about dating, students are missing out on valuable experiences. By 'holding out' for that special someone, there are probably a lot of good relationships that are being passed up. Consequently, without people getting into relationships, another step up the romance ladder gets whacked—marriage. I know many students who got married or are getting married to their first relationship. First off, I think that is weird. Second, I think it is unwise. I honestly don't believe that you are doing your future spouse a favor by 'holding out' on getting into relationships. Depending on the person, it may just make things awkward when you really do find that special someone.
A certain frame exists in Provo that is harmful to initiating relationships. I haven't socialized that much outside of Happy Valley, but I imagine the process of getting into relationships would be a little more conducive. A hypothetical situation will illustrate my point. Imagine a guy living in some city with a relatively small LDS population. Let's say he comes upon a beautiful girl. They start talking and he finds out that she is LDS. This peaks the guy's interest. At this point, the guy would probably be trying to qualify this girl, looking for reasons why this girl is good for him. On the other end of the spectrum, let's picture this same guy in the Provo scene. He meets a beautiful girl in Provo randomly (it's not hard to do this on any day of the week.), they get talking and the whole time he is critiquing her, disqualifying her due to trivial things, and in the end isn't feeling it with her because he knows that there are plenty more where she came from. Provo is a setting that makes it hard to fall in love, because your frame is all whacked from living in Provo so long. We have certain ideals, and we get good at disqualifying people. I imagine it's easier to fall in love with someone when they are not so quick to rule out candidates.
The Provo scene is good if you know what you want. Recently I conducted a survey to 33 female individuals with the intent to confirm my hypothesis. One interesting result was that by far the majority of girls had their personal expectation bar in guys raised while living here in Provo. This is to be expected. Staying in Provo tends to raise the bar. Therefore it should make sense that those who have spent the least amount of time in Provo should be least inclined to follow these trends. I believe to a degree it's true. Freshman girls and returned missionaries I supposed would have the lowest expectations. I remember when I first got back from my mission and I got excited at any decent looking girl who showed interest in me. But it has since elevated. Because I already assumed the overall expectation level was being increased, I was interested in finding out which things are becoming more important. One of the most interesting parts to my study was that girls are looking for impressive attributes in guys more than I expected. This entails exterior and interior traits. Girls want someone impressive for them. Although I don't have the data to support this, I believe the exact same is true with guys. Part of the reason why expectations rise in us is because we find out interesting things in others that we like. For instance, a girl could become enthralled at a guy with another language under his belt and hours of missionary stories. We are continually discovering our interests. When we come in contact with others of the opposite sex with impressive skills, attributes, or traits, we are drawn to them. Provo is interesting because some of the most creative, interesting, and talented LDS single adults are here. What a blessing to have such selection in such a predominately LDS community as Provo. I believe competition can bring out the best in us. We become interested in more things, look better, and are more interpersonally intelligent by living here. However, the longer you stay in Provo, the more you may realize that there are impressive people all around. You might even notice that impressive attributes become less impressive the longer you live in Provo. It's not that someone's bar has been raised too high, it's that the bar for Provo has been raised too high and this individual is going along with it. Instead of wanting what is best for him or her, many just want what is best. Our generation has been classified as the generation me. I think that we Provoites can be called the 'Mormon generation me.' We have been called the greatest generation until our egos are off the charts. I feel that because the selection and prospects are so good here in Provo, it can confuse many of us so that we don't really know what we want.
I have noticed that people nonetheless do seem to get married and I have noticed three ways in which this happens. A lot of times it only takes one person to really like the other person for this 'love thing' to get rolling. There is something to be said of showing interest to another person. For the most part I found that girls find that attractive. Here are the three types of people that get married in my eyes:
1) Those who find someone who meets their ideals. I previously stated that Provo hinders this from happening; however it does not altogether halt the process. I know plenty of people who fall in love and get married to that special someone. It seems to me that these couples are very good for each other.
2) Those that hook up and marry young into their tenure in Provo. Such individuals go for an unsuspecting freshman/returned missionary who hasn't been indoctrinated in the Provo grass-always-greener-on-the-other-side-of-the-fence mentality. This point shows that a lot of times, people are ready to get married, all they need is someone to fall in love with. Many times, when young, logic goes out the window and love takes place more easily.
3) Those who throw away some of their ideals. They ask, "Why expect my future spouse to be amazing at everything?" Provo has been compared to a candy bar aisle with so many options. Some of us like a lot of styles of candy and rarely does one have all that we're looking for. I respect people who realize what they can get, and go for it. I give props to those who fall in love with someone who is good for them and not necessarily good for their friends, good for their parents, or good for their ego. To their credit, it should be acknowledged that there are very few who have it all. There is also a life time ahead to grow and develop together.
In conclusion, if you are a guy or a girl who wants to get married, but it isn't working for you here in Provo, don't feel bad about leaving. You might find that you are looked at in a more positive light, have turned into a better person after being here in Provo for so long, and more marketable to someone suited well for you. I love the notion that I can "shoot for the stars" and I also love Provo. What a blessing it is to be able to interact with and meet so many amazing people. I just wonder if the atmosphere and attitudes of Provo are destructive to potential relationships. If it's happy marriages that we're shooting for, maybe upping the number of relationships formed rather than dates is the key. Why can't getting into relationships be more casual? Challenge to all: Don't let the marriage paradigm occupy your mind until you are in a relationship.
My first argument in support of this is that BYU students don't get into relationships very often. I believe this is due to commitment issues induced by Provo. I used to have false perceptions about BYU when I first started. One perception was that the majority of single BYU students have a girlfriend or a boyfriend. You always see students holding hands across campus and making love to each other at random locations. However, the more I've gotten to know the student body here at BYU, the more I've noticed that this is only the minority that gets into these kinds of "official" relationships. I've wondered if there are such cool people in Provo, why couples don't happen more often. The answer is probably complex, but may have to do with commitment. I have noticed that because of the caliber of prospects in Provo, the commitment level goes down as everyone is keeping their eyes out for their eternal companion instead of someone to date. This in turn lowers the motivation for people to hook up into relationships. I've heard girls say they won't kiss a guy until they know she's sure she'd marry him. It may be, however, that by being so uptight about dating, students are missing out on valuable experiences. By 'holding out' for that special someone, there are probably a lot of good relationships that are being passed up. Consequently, without people getting into relationships, another step up the romance ladder gets whacked—marriage. I know many students who got married or are getting married to their first relationship. First off, I think that is weird. Second, I think it is unwise. I honestly don't believe that you are doing your future spouse a favor by 'holding out' on getting into relationships. Depending on the person, it may just make things awkward when you really do find that special someone.
A certain frame exists in Provo that is harmful to initiating relationships. I haven't socialized that much outside of Happy Valley, but I imagine the process of getting into relationships would be a little more conducive. A hypothetical situation will illustrate my point. Imagine a guy living in some city with a relatively small LDS population. Let's say he comes upon a beautiful girl. They start talking and he finds out that she is LDS. This peaks the guy's interest. At this point, the guy would probably be trying to qualify this girl, looking for reasons why this girl is good for him. On the other end of the spectrum, let's picture this same guy in the Provo scene. He meets a beautiful girl in Provo randomly (it's not hard to do this on any day of the week.), they get talking and the whole time he is critiquing her, disqualifying her due to trivial things, and in the end isn't feeling it with her because he knows that there are plenty more where she came from. Provo is a setting that makes it hard to fall in love, because your frame is all whacked from living in Provo so long. We have certain ideals, and we get good at disqualifying people. I imagine it's easier to fall in love with someone when they are not so quick to rule out candidates.
The Provo scene is good if you know what you want. Recently I conducted a survey to 33 female individuals with the intent to confirm my hypothesis. One interesting result was that by far the majority of girls had their personal expectation bar in guys raised while living here in Provo. This is to be expected. Staying in Provo tends to raise the bar. Therefore it should make sense that those who have spent the least amount of time in Provo should be least inclined to follow these trends. I believe to a degree it's true. Freshman girls and returned missionaries I supposed would have the lowest expectations. I remember when I first got back from my mission and I got excited at any decent looking girl who showed interest in me. But it has since elevated. Because I already assumed the overall expectation level was being increased, I was interested in finding out which things are becoming more important. One of the most interesting parts to my study was that girls are looking for impressive attributes in guys more than I expected. This entails exterior and interior traits. Girls want someone impressive for them. Although I don't have the data to support this, I believe the exact same is true with guys. Part of the reason why expectations rise in us is because we find out interesting things in others that we like. For instance, a girl could become enthralled at a guy with another language under his belt and hours of missionary stories. We are continually discovering our interests. When we come in contact with others of the opposite sex with impressive skills, attributes, or traits, we are drawn to them. Provo is interesting because some of the most creative, interesting, and talented LDS single adults are here. What a blessing to have such selection in such a predominately LDS community as Provo. I believe competition can bring out the best in us. We become interested in more things, look better, and are more interpersonally intelligent by living here. However, the longer you stay in Provo, the more you may realize that there are impressive people all around. You might even notice that impressive attributes become less impressive the longer you live in Provo. It's not that someone's bar has been raised too high, it's that the bar for Provo has been raised too high and this individual is going along with it. Instead of wanting what is best for him or her, many just want what is best. Our generation has been classified as the generation me. I think that we Provoites can be called the 'Mormon generation me.' We have been called the greatest generation until our egos are off the charts. I feel that because the selection and prospects are so good here in Provo, it can confuse many of us so that we don't really know what we want.
I have noticed that people nonetheless do seem to get married and I have noticed three ways in which this happens. A lot of times it only takes one person to really like the other person for this 'love thing' to get rolling. There is something to be said of showing interest to another person. For the most part I found that girls find that attractive. Here are the three types of people that get married in my eyes:
1) Those who find someone who meets their ideals. I previously stated that Provo hinders this from happening; however it does not altogether halt the process. I know plenty of people who fall in love and get married to that special someone. It seems to me that these couples are very good for each other.
2) Those that hook up and marry young into their tenure in Provo. Such individuals go for an unsuspecting freshman/returned missionary who hasn't been indoctrinated in the Provo grass-always-greener-on-the-other-side-of-the-fence mentality. This point shows that a lot of times, people are ready to get married, all they need is someone to fall in love with. Many times, when young, logic goes out the window and love takes place more easily.
3) Those who throw away some of their ideals. They ask, "Why expect my future spouse to be amazing at everything?" Provo has been compared to a candy bar aisle with so many options. Some of us like a lot of styles of candy and rarely does one have all that we're looking for. I respect people who realize what they can get, and go for it. I give props to those who fall in love with someone who is good for them and not necessarily good for their friends, good for their parents, or good for their ego. To their credit, it should be acknowledged that there are very few who have it all. There is also a life time ahead to grow and develop together.
In conclusion, if you are a guy or a girl who wants to get married, but it isn't working for you here in Provo, don't feel bad about leaving. You might find that you are looked at in a more positive light, have turned into a better person after being here in Provo for so long, and more marketable to someone suited well for you. I love the notion that I can "shoot for the stars" and I also love Provo. What a blessing it is to be able to interact with and meet so many amazing people. I just wonder if the atmosphere and attitudes of Provo are destructive to potential relationships. If it's happy marriages that we're shooting for, maybe upping the number of relationships formed rather than dates is the key. Why can't getting into relationships be more casual? Challenge to all: Don't let the marriage paradigm occupy your mind until you are in a relationship.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Christmas in Russia
A lot of people have asked me what Russia is like. I've decided to write about a day in Russia - Christmas. The 25th of December is not too important for Russians in general. According to the old calendar, Christmas is on the 7th of January so this date holds more importance to Christmas than the 25th of December. However, we as missionaries tried to make Christmas fun and memorable. The day I will be writing about took place in the small city of Balokova when I was only three months into Russia. Christmas Eve was not so productive in regards to missionary work, but that can kind of be expected. There's only one Christmas eve a year! I did receive two packages: one from my grandparents and one from my family. I was pleasantly surprised to find certain American products that did not exist in Russia including some candy, Peanut Butter, and Beef Jerky. To say the least, I was happy. To finish the day off, we prepared some potatoes to cook for the feast that we planned for tomorrow. The next morning I was awakened by the phone which my companion, Elder Pratt, answered. The call came at 3:57 A.M. our time. Elder Pratt, my companion, picked up the phone. I can imagine my dad happily and enthusiastically asking, "Is Trent there?" I can still hear him saying ничего страшного(nichevo strashnovo), which means 'don't worry about it' in Russian. Sleepily, I flipped on the light switch and it blew a fuse. This was a common occurrence in this particular apartment that I was living in at the time. In such an urgent situation as this, I couldn't mess with the fuse, and my companion happily returned to his warm bed, so I just ended up talking in the dark. The room was cold, I didn't have any clothes on, but sometimes you don't think about trivial things like that. I was going to be talking with my family! I loved talking to my family members, especially my dad. They asked me a whole bunch of questions and I was just shootin' the breeze with them. The next thing I knew, I looked at my watch and it was 5:20 A.M. Time had really flown by. The phone card that my dad bought was for 2 hours and besides an occasional awkward silence, the whole conversation was way fun for me. Graden seemed to be doing really well, Weston too, Race had a voice change, and Jennica seemed to be doing well also. They filled me in on a lot of things that were happening at home and in the world. I was informed that my cousin Stan got a girlfriend. That bit of news shocked me. Because of the excitement of talking to them, I didn't feel tired at all. I did share a lot of stuff about mission life and some mission stories. I really just propped up mission life and what it's like here. I didn't sugar coat it. I told it how it really is--just leaving out the bad things. The only drawback to the conversation was that I didn't get to say goodbye to them because I wasn't keeping precise track of the time. Well after that was over, we listened to a talk on tape, 'The Name that Matters Most' by Chris Heimerdinger. Listening to tapes was a common occurence to my companionships in Russia. It was a perfect special occasion type of companionship study. This particular tape I received at a Christmas Zone Conference a few days earlier as a white elephant gift. Then we made our food. I focused my efforts on the potatoes. I boiled cut peeled potatoes and then mashed them with butter, milk, cheese, salt, and then grilled garlic and onions. My companion made Apple Crisp. My dad told me that he put $200 in my account. We then went to the bank where I pulled out plenty of money for a much-needed camera. The dollar at the time went a long ways in Russia. It was 31 rubles to the dollar when I was in Russia. The next stage of the day was to buy some gifts for our planned party. I bought cheap Russian cologne for Elder Zmolek and I included some saved Cracker Jack from the MTC. After meeting everyone (we had six elders in this city: Wright, Jepson, Zmolek, Gordon, Pratt and I) we hit up the Banya. The Banya is an interesting element in Russian culture. If you don't know what a Russian banya is, it is very popular for Russians. It's also really cheap to rent a banya; I think it was $1.50 per hour per person. We often as missionaries found our way to the banya and Christmas was no exception. There are three parts to the banya: The changing room, the sauna, and the large basin of cold water. Everyone in the group gets naked (don't worry, we never went to the banya with the sister missionaries.) then you go
into the sauna. In the sauna, rocks are heated in a barrel. The more water you splash on these rocks, the hotter the air gets. At times it got really hot, I'm guessing over 150 degrees. You could hardly breathe as the hot air burned your lungs. If you were sitting up too high in such temperatures, you're skin would burn. After a while of sitting in the hot room, your skin becomes wet with your sweat. It is interesting to see the individual droplets of sweat accumulating on your body. The next part involves jumping your hot body into the cold pool of water. It is a thrill to experience such extremes of temperature, but it's good for you. That's at least what the Russians told us. But then again, what do the Russians know about what's good for you? The process is cyclical and you repeat it until you are sick of it. The banya takes a lot out of your body: energy, water, nutrients. So after this, we went to go have our feast at Elder Wright's. This dinner was probably the best I had ever eaten in Russia. The potatoes I made were so good and Wright complemented them with some gravy and roast beef. We also had corn and bread for the meal. Russian bread is very dear to my heart. I made a point of eating a lot of it, and bragging to others that I ate the most bread. We topped our main course off with dessert which included Apple Crisp, banana bread, and lemon poppy seed muffins. I don't think I've have ever been fuller than I was after that meal. Wow, good times. We then went to the jazz orchestra. For someone so uncultured in musical productions as I was, I was really liking it and getting into it. The band members just played with all their heart and emotion. My companion was expecting a phone call so we had to leave early. It was pretty cold on the streets that day, I remember. Not like the day before where it was above freezing. This was a true Russian kind of cold. I'll remember this as my first, but not last, Christmas in Russia.
into the sauna. In the sauna, rocks are heated in a barrel. The more water you splash on these rocks, the hotter the air gets. At times it got really hot, I'm guessing over 150 degrees. You could hardly breathe as the hot air burned your lungs. If you were sitting up too high in such temperatures, you're skin would burn. After a while of sitting in the hot room, your skin becomes wet with your sweat. It is interesting to see the individual droplets of sweat accumulating on your body. The next part involves jumping your hot body into the cold pool of water. It is a thrill to experience such extremes of temperature, but it's good for you. That's at least what the Russians told us. But then again, what do the Russians know about what's good for you? The process is cyclical and you repeat it until you are sick of it. The banya takes a lot out of your body: energy, water, nutrients. So after this, we went to go have our feast at Elder Wright's. This dinner was probably the best I had ever eaten in Russia. The potatoes I made were so good and Wright complemented them with some gravy and roast beef. We also had corn and bread for the meal. Russian bread is very dear to my heart. I made a point of eating a lot of it, and bragging to others that I ate the most bread. We topped our main course off with dessert which included Apple Crisp, banana bread, and lemon poppy seed muffins. I don't think I've have ever been fuller than I was after that meal. Wow, good times. We then went to the jazz orchestra. For someone so uncultured in musical productions as I was, I was really liking it and getting into it. The band members just played with all their heart and emotion. My companion was expecting a phone call so we had to leave early. It was pretty cold on the streets that day, I remember. Not like the day before where it was above freezing. This was a true Russian kind of cold. I'll remember this as my first, but not last, Christmas in Russia.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
New website
The History of http://what2doatbyu.com
Last summer I started dabbling with web development. The concept of creating web pages fascinated me and I was hooked. I am studying Bioinformatics right now at BYU and so I have a decent amount of experience with computer programming. However, as I took these classes, they always bored me and I didn't find joy in what I was doing. But when I started coding on the web, my desire to learn and apply my programming concepts was definitely there! My friend, Rich Millar, was living with me at the time. Even though he didn't have a clue about web programming, he had an idea during this summer about making a website. I mean nothing against Rich, whom I love deeply (in a non-romantic way of course). He has come a long ways since those humble beginnings and nowadays, he helps me with some of the internet programming.
This website would focus on activities and things to do in Provo, Utah. The said city is where we currently live in. It is often noted for being a barren wasteland of fun things to do, especially in the Winter when it is too cold to enjoy the mountains. (I am omitting snowboarding, of course, because that is a granted activity that is fun and that can be done in the mountains of Utah.) So I started becoming more and more familiar with internet languages. I had done a little programming on the internet before, but the learning experience that I was to go through was nothing like I expected. Towards the end of September, 2006, our website was looking good and my web programming skills were improving. I then got a job doing web development projects on campus - the best job of my life by the way. I started learning much more especially about mysql, php, and flash. Rich and I found a guy who had some graphic skills and he agreed to help us. Our site started looking good. Rich searched out all the actual content for the website. Slowly, but steadily, we formed and created this website. If you want to go check it out, the url is http://what2doatbyu.com. It's a great site, hopefully it will help people out there who are looking for fun things to do in Utah Valley, but know not where to go.
Last summer I started dabbling with web development. The concept of creating web pages fascinated me and I was hooked. I am studying Bioinformatics right now at BYU and so I have a decent amount of experience with computer programming. However, as I took these classes, they always bored me and I didn't find joy in what I was doing. But when I started coding on the web, my desire to learn and apply my programming concepts was definitely there! My friend, Rich Millar, was living with me at the time. Even though he didn't have a clue about web programming, he had an idea during this summer about making a website. I mean nothing against Rich, whom I love deeply (in a non-romantic way of course). He has come a long ways since those humble beginnings and nowadays, he helps me with some of the internet programming.
This website would focus on activities and things to do in Provo, Utah. The said city is where we currently live in. It is often noted for being a barren wasteland of fun things to do, especially in the Winter when it is too cold to enjoy the mountains. (I am omitting snowboarding, of course, because that is a granted activity that is fun and that can be done in the mountains of Utah.) So I started becoming more and more familiar with internet languages. I had done a little programming on the internet before, but the learning experience that I was to go through was nothing like I expected. Towards the end of September, 2006, our website was looking good and my web programming skills were improving. I then got a job doing web development projects on campus - the best job of my life by the way. I started learning much more especially about mysql, php, and flash. Rich and I found a guy who had some graphic skills and he agreed to help us. Our site started looking good. Rich searched out all the actual content for the website. Slowly, but steadily, we formed and created this website. If you want to go check it out, the url is http://what2doatbyu.com. It's a great site, hopefully it will help people out there who are looking for fun things to do in Utah Valley, but know not where to go.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
