going back to college

i'm back in w-town for an alumni career panel for asian american heritage month. the panel was pretty large and had a diverse group of alums from class of 84 to 02 (that would be me). people were from all different backgrounds and overall it was a pretty interesting dialogue.

what's almost more important was that this was my first time back to the school since i graduated seven years ago.

i got in friday night and went out to dinner in n. adams... on the drive over the entire way i read all the signs and a flood of memories of school came back to me.

super stop and shop
friendly's
mt. greylock bowling
mass moca
dunkin donuts
mcdonalds

it was weird to be back i have to say... a lot has changed, new buildings everywhere and some old ones are gone. baxter hall - the student center i was in when i saw what happened on the morning of 9/11 is gone. is till remember exactly where i was when i realized what had happen. but now i'm near that place in the new student center (which is stunning) thinking about old times gone by. and coming here so far from home (be it LA, korea or chicago) still this place feels like home. i've missed not working about locking your door, not eating fast food (cause there is none), not buying anything because the five stores in the town all close at 5pm (makes e-town look like NYC btw).

but most of all i miss the stars. there are almost no lights in w-town at night. and if you go for a walk down to cole field - which i used to do all the time, you can see so many stars. the only place i remember having a more beautiful night sky was in patagonia - but it wasn't fair because it was the southern sky, so the newness of the stars and their position caught me off guard.

it may be a little too cold to go for a night walk out to cole field, but it's nice to know that some things never change.