High School Again ~ A New Year Story
I spent a really happy New Year's Eve with the original high school crew last night. Frankie, Cindy, Leeny, Norman, Bruce and Q. I was deliriously happy. Some things never change and our Boston Latin School crew happens to be one of them. It's hard to believe that we are now all seniors in college...eight years after we all met and officially became a hangout group in the 9th grade. We have all changed, but the group dynamics has (amazingly enough) remained the same. Frankie just graduated from McGill and is living with his family again. Cindy has decided to enroll in UPENN's program for a masters in engineering, which means that she'll be in Philly for another year and can put off the relentless job search. Aileen is studying for the MCATs and the rest of us are desperately looking for jobs. At times, I believed that I was growing apart from this core group of high school friends. But last night, I realized that when it comes to being comfortable and being myself in a group setting, I'd rather be with them than any group of college friends. I think that's why I felt so carefree, despite looming deadlines, exams and papers. Here's what we did:
4:00pm: Designated time for Snultimate (Snow + Ultimate!) Frisbee. No one is on time. Typical.
4:39pm: I'm in the Prudential Mall looking for warm gloves to replace the ones I lost in preparation for Snultimate. No luck. I head to Parkstreet for a quick run through Wet Seal. No luck - all their "gloves" seem to be pink and black striped and contain no fingers. As much as I love fashion, it REALLY ANNOYS ME sometimes :( Yet another reminder that fashion is not my true calling, as much as I want it to be).
5:25pm: I finally make it to the snow between the Commons and Public Gardens and prompted got tackled by the three bundled up shapes of Leeny, Cindy and Norman and an orange frisbee. Cindy: "I wanna go sledding!"
5:45pm- 6:30pm: We trek up the only hill on the Commons and proceed to plunge down it on 5 dollar "sleds" (blue sheets of hard plastic available at KB Toys). Frankie almost "Ethan Frome"s into a tree at least four times and we learn that the best way to go down a not-so-steep hill of not-so-packed snow is on our stomachs, which makes for a thrilling ride, except I always get flipped over and start going backwards downhill. Cindy and Frankie sled down the hill right onto the path in front of Park Rangers on their horses and I attempt to ride down the hill on a frisbee (it works for about 10 feet). We indulge passerbys by lending them our sled and watching them roll downhill laughing. We also try to ride down the hill with two people on one "sled", which only results in the "sled" stopping under our combined weights and us toppling over. I smell fry dough and suggest that its the smell of scallion pancakes wafting over from Chinatown. Our frozen butts clue Frankie and me to the fact that we should not have worn jeans to the sledding event.
6:30pm - 8:00pm: We meet Brucie at the "Gourmet Dumpling House" in Chinatown (Bruce is actually on time!). We order dishes as I try to speak (fail) and understand (moderately successful) Cantonese and squabble over the types of meat to order.
Frankie: "What about 麻婆豆腐？Norman: "I'm allergic to tofu!" Rest of the table: * Groan *
Aileen, "We should have a dish with rock salt and pepper - pork or squid?"
Me, Norman and Frankie simultaneously: "OOOH! SQUID! SQUID! SQUID!"
Me: "We are only five years old really"
When I chopstick a 小笼包 and it starts to leak, the whole table shouts: "OH NO! THE JUICE IS GETTING AWAY!" I roll my eyes, but they are right. I draw the line when Norman tries to pour the 小笼包 juice (all mixed up with soil sauce) into my rice bowl (the nerve :P).
Frankie: "Someone should go to the store and buy firecrackers before it closes. NOT IT!!!" Everyone puts their index fingers on their noses, except for Bruce, who says "What are firecrackers?" The fire cracker store turns out to be closed, as is the bakery, where we wanted to get egg tarts and Napoleon cakes to satisfied the hankering for the $6 cannolis at the stand on the Commons.
8:00pm - 9:30pm: We walk from Chinatown to the Park Street Church, where there's a concert (but more importantly, hot cider and hot chocolate). Along the way, our face starts to hurt from the windchill and I cover mine with both of Norman's ski gloves, which are about the size of my face anyways. The church is filled with welcoming people and the concert is beautiful. Aileen resists blowing her New Year's horn (the size of a baseball bat). Hanneke, the fiddler from last year, fills the church with beautiful Scottish (and Chinese) tunes, both original and traditional. But Frankie and Bruce both start to fall asleep on Norman's shoulders (and anything church related gives Frankie the "heebie-jeebies") and so we head toward Copley for the DANCE PARTY (!!!) in front of the Old Library with Leeny's Brandeis roommate Amy.
9:30pm - 10:30pm: No one else is at the dance party - we're a bit on the early side. I get the "Numa Numa Song" stuck in my head as a result of the word "dance party" and we wriggle our way across the street to see the ice sculptures and take pictures on the tortoise/hair statues.
10:30pm - 11:30pm: Frankie suggests defrosting at the Uno's in Copley. Norman and I get excited at the prospect of a Brownie Dish. Leeny tells me to "chill...out" in the middle of my "Numa Numa sexy dance" and I obey (because when Aileen tells you to chill out, something is seriously wrong with you). Right when we were seated, Leeny suddenly realizes that she has lost her bag. Norman pulls out his camera and looks for pictures of the bag in question, which was last seen in the picture of Leeny, Cindy and Frankie squishing together on the turtle statue. As Aileen rushes back to find it, Frankie and Norman spend at least 20 minutes analyzing (to death) the two pictures of Aileen and her lost bag in very serious detective-like voices. Leeny returns, dejeted, bagless, and we eat our food (the fries were the best) before heading back. to the dance party. Bruce keeps wanting more food, even though he is no longer hungry after buffalo wings, mozarella sticks and fries. The only downside? Hot chocolate with Bailey's is NOT worth 9 dollars!
11:40: We recover Leeny's bag from the Boston Police with everything still in it! REJOICE! Aileen resists urge to * HUG * the police.
11:40pm - 12:05am (January 1, 2009!): We join the now crowded dance party, which is rocking. We hop up and down, bump into each other, and pose for silly pictures on Norman's camera and * GROUP HUG * as sad looking confetti drifts, ringing in 2009. It was rather anti-climatic without the fireworks (due to high winds), but very enjoyable nonetheless.
Aileen, Frankie and I resolve that we're going to finally grow up next year and throw a New Years Party at one of our awesome to-be apartments. We concluded that it's time to stop roaming the freezing streets for 6 hours in the manner of high schoolers and actually attend a sophisticated party involving champagne. Group New Year Resolution? To finally become adults in 2009 :D
!HAPPY NEW YEAR! (now...back to work)
4:00pm: Designated time for Snultimate (Snow + Ultimate!) Frisbee. No one is on time. Typical.
4:39pm: I'm in the Prudential Mall looking for warm gloves to replace the ones I lost in preparation for Snultimate. No luck. I head to Parkstreet for a quick run through Wet Seal. No luck - all their "gloves" seem to be pink and black striped and contain no fingers. As much as I love fashion, it REALLY ANNOYS ME sometimes :( Yet another reminder that fashion is not my true calling, as much as I want it to be).
5:25pm: I finally make it to the snow between the Commons and Public Gardens and prompted got tackled by the three bundled up shapes of Leeny, Cindy and Norman and an orange frisbee. Cindy: "I wanna go sledding!"
5:45pm- 6:30pm: We trek up the only hill on the Commons and proceed to plunge down it on 5 dollar "sleds" (blue sheets of hard plastic available at KB Toys). Frankie almost "Ethan Frome"s into a tree at least four times and we learn that the best way to go down a not-so-steep hill of not-so-packed snow is on our stomachs, which makes for a thrilling ride, except I always get flipped over and start going backwards downhill. Cindy and Frankie sled down the hill right onto the path in front of Park Rangers on their horses and I attempt to ride down the hill on a frisbee (it works for about 10 feet). We indulge passerbys by lending them our sled and watching them roll downhill laughing. We also try to ride down the hill with two people on one "sled", which only results in the "sled" stopping under our combined weights and us toppling over. I smell fry dough and suggest that its the smell of scallion pancakes wafting over from Chinatown. Our frozen butts clue Frankie and me to the fact that we should not have worn jeans to the sledding event.
6:30pm - 8:00pm: We meet Brucie at the "Gourmet Dumpling House" in Chinatown (Bruce is actually on time!). We order dishes as I try to speak (fail) and understand (moderately successful) Cantonese and squabble over the types of meat to order.
Frankie: "What about 麻婆豆腐？Norman: "I'm allergic to tofu!" Rest of the table: * Groan *
Aileen, "We should have a dish with rock salt and pepper - pork or squid?"
Me, Norman and Frankie simultaneously: "OOOH! SQUID! SQUID! SQUID!"
Me: "We are only five years old really"
When I chopstick a 小笼包 and it starts to leak, the whole table shouts: "OH NO! THE JUICE IS GETTING AWAY!" I roll my eyes, but they are right. I draw the line when Norman tries to pour the 小笼包 juice (all mixed up with soil sauce) into my rice bowl (the nerve :P).
Frankie: "Someone should go to the store and buy firecrackers before it closes. NOT IT!!!" Everyone puts their index fingers on their noses, except for Bruce, who says "What are firecrackers?" The fire cracker store turns out to be closed, as is the bakery, where we wanted to get egg tarts and Napoleon cakes to satisfied the hankering for the $6 cannolis at the stand on the Commons.
8:00pm - 9:30pm: We walk from Chinatown to the Park Street Church, where there's a concert (but more importantly, hot cider and hot chocolate). Along the way, our face starts to hurt from the windchill and I cover mine with both of Norman's ski gloves, which are about the size of my face anyways. The church is filled with welcoming people and the concert is beautiful. Aileen resists blowing her New Year's horn (the size of a baseball bat). Hanneke, the fiddler from last year, fills the church with beautiful Scottish (and Chinese) tunes, both original and traditional. But Frankie and Bruce both start to fall asleep on Norman's shoulders (and anything church related gives Frankie the "heebie-jeebies") and so we head toward Copley for the DANCE PARTY (!!!) in front of the Old Library with Leeny's Brandeis roommate Amy.
9:30pm - 10:30pm: No one else is at the dance party - we're a bit on the early side. I get the "Numa Numa Song" stuck in my head as a result of the word "dance party" and we wriggle our way across the street to see the ice sculptures and take pictures on the tortoise/hair statues.
10:30pm - 11:30pm: Frankie suggests defrosting at the Uno's in Copley. Norman and I get excited at the prospect of a Brownie Dish. Leeny tells me to "chill...out" in the middle of my "Numa Numa sexy dance" and I obey (because when Aileen tells you to chill out, something is seriously wrong with you). Right when we were seated, Leeny suddenly realizes that she has lost her bag. Norman pulls out his camera and looks for pictures of the bag in question, which was last seen in the picture of Leeny, Cindy and Frankie squishing together on the turtle statue. As Aileen rushes back to find it, Frankie and Norman spend at least 20 minutes analyzing (to death) the two pictures of Aileen and her lost bag in very serious detective-like voices. Leeny returns, dejeted, bagless, and we eat our food (the fries were the best) before heading back. to the dance party. Bruce keeps wanting more food, even though he is no longer hungry after buffalo wings, mozarella sticks and fries. The only downside? Hot chocolate with Bailey's is NOT worth 9 dollars!
11:40: We recover Leeny's bag from the Boston Police with everything still in it! REJOICE! Aileen resists urge to * HUG * the police.
11:40pm - 12:05am (January 1, 2009!): We join the now crowded dance party, which is rocking. We hop up and down, bump into each other, and pose for silly pictures on Norman's camera and * GROUP HUG * as sad looking confetti drifts, ringing in 2009. It was rather anti-climatic without the fireworks (due to high winds), but very enjoyable nonetheless.
Aileen, Frankie and I resolve that we're going to finally grow up next year and throw a New Years Party at one of our awesome to-be apartments. We concluded that it's time to stop roaming the freezing streets for 6 hours in the manner of high schoolers and actually attend a sophisticated party involving champagne. Group New Year Resolution? To finally become adults in 2009 :D
!HAPPY NEW YEAR! (now...back to work)