From travel to feasts to family, students share their memories and experiences from vacation.
Madeleine Levine '07
My Thanksgiving break began with a six-and-a-half-hour train ride; many Amherst people were on the train, and I enjoyed catching up with them. My basic goal for vacation was to sleep a lot, eat a lot of good food and get a lot of work done. Only the first two things happened to the extent to which I had desired. Tuesday, I went back to my old school, Baldwin, for the Thanksgiving Assembly. During the assembly, the kindergarten sings an adorable song, and it's tradition for seniors and alums who were at Baldwin for 13 years to join in. I made a fool of myself with one of my best friends doing the song along with choreography in front of the whole school. Before and after the assembly, I had a chance to see friends from Baldwin and my favorite teachers. Going back and seeing everyone was definitely the highlight of my vacation. The next day my mother had scheduled several doctor's appointments for me-I spent four hours in the same medical building being poked, prodded, x-rayed and given shots. Why do mothers always schedule such appointments over vacations?! Thanksgiving itself was a bit of a disappointment, as the people we usually have dinner with were at a Bar Mitzvah in Florida. However, this most certainly did not prevent me from enjoying some traditional American Black Friday shopping with my mother.
Matthew Hui '08
As I walked into the family room on Thanksgiving Day to greet everyone, I was accosted by my mother's best friend who is currently learning Mandarin. She was talking to my grandmother, trying to improve her Mandarin speaking skills. To my luck, she mentioned to my paternal grandmother that I taking first-year Chinese at school. I soon had the longest conversation I ever had with my grandmother, not to mention the longest conversation that I've had in Mandarin. I must admit, it was more of her asking questions that I didn't understand than a real conversation. Meanwhile, all my aunts and uncles were sitting nearby and being amused by my flawed attempts at Mandarin. The humiliation was halted by food. Eating is a very big deal in my father's family, as it is with many Chinese families. With two chefs in the family, I have been accustomed to good Chinese food, not that crap called General Tso's Chicken. Among the many Chinese dishes that were on the table were, of course, turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy. The only thing I really remember after eating was sleeping very well that night. Overall, the food was great and the lobster was amazing. It is saddening, almost depressing, to know that such Chinese food is out of reach here in Amherst, especially for a freshman with no car.
Cassidy Fitzpatrick '08
I slept. The room was quiet and dark, and I was alone. I had missed that. I saw "The Incredibles," which I highly recommend; it's like a real movie, except with animated characters. The characters are perfect, down to the middle-aged wife's enormous butt to the short control-freak boss who tortures Mr. Incredible.
Throughout all this I attempted to reconnect with high school friends. Before I went home, I was really excited to see as many people as possible; however, I realized that only a select few mattered. We got together several times, played ridiculous mind games and asked the same questions over and over to one another. Thanksgiving day was spent with insane family members and the talk was completely based on two topics: my father's latest business conference and my mother's latest work with a nonprofit organization. I'm pretty sure that the situation couldn't be more clichéd.
Erin Murphy '05
Over my Thanksgiving Break I discovered a passion for "The West Wing" and found a new role model: C.J., the White House Press Secretary. After eating piles of mashed potatoes and entire pies, I decided that one of the best things in life is sitting down in front of the TV and pretending that I could actually work in the White House. Anyway, aside from all of "The West Wing" I braved holiday shopping on Black Friday. I think holiday shopping has come to an extreme low point: I heard that Target was offering wake up calls to people because their store opened at some un-godly hour in the morning. Since when did Target become an upscale hotel? Pretty soon they will be offering beds to people after Thanksgiving dinner. Talk about tryptophan-induced craziness.
Mahesha
Subbaraman '06
I'm a bit of an oddity in the fact that I spent my entire Thanksgiving vacation here at Amherst even though I'm neither a international student nor completely senile (at least not yet). So, how exactly did I maintain my sanity for an entire week without the usual litany of Amherst class readings and papers to keep me on my toes? Short answer: sleep, and lots of it. That plus catching five hours of a 12-hour "Law and Order" TV marathon, watching two great movies with close friends and trying in vain to write a 600-page novel all made for a very relaxing week. As for Thanksgiving Day itself, even though I didn't dine on turkey, I still expressed thanks for the following: (1) not being a college senior and (2) not finishing anything on the long "to-do" list I'd written before break.
Now, as fascinating as this all might seem, it still doesn't convey what staying on a deserted college campus in the middle of the secluded Pioneer Valley for an entire week is like. While I had a lot of school work left to do, there just weren't the usual (and much-needed) distractions to keep me from doing it. Dropping in on friends' rooms was now impossible along with staying in the library until early morning. The Campus Center and Schwemm's were also closed for much of break, which meant no mail or tuna-melt sandwiches. Finally, the rainy coldness of November in Massachusetts served to remind me that my time would be better spent indoors where an umbrella would not be needed. To sum up: There are plenty of good reasons for spending Thanksgiving Break at Amherst, even if it really means watching "Die Hard 2" on cable for the 14th time."