Back in NY

 

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Central Park East Crossover - 7:00am

Good morning!  I'm back in NYC after spending my weekend on a winter get-away in Killington, Vermont.  I went up with a bunch of my grad school friends for a weekend of skiing and such.  It was a fantastic time.  My 3 friends Shashi, Kihyun, and Ritama (they are all fellow Immunology first years) all roomed together.  We left at 5am on Saturday morning and drove for about 4.5 hours to get to Killington.  Most everyone slept but I was wide awake - reading about Catherine the Great and watching the absolutely spectacular sunrise.  I took some pictures but the bus was moving so they aren't great :(  So we got to Vermont - grabbed some coffee and dropped our stuff at the lodge, then immediately went to the mountain to ski.  

I was a little bummed that my closest friends were all taking the beginner lesson but I found some other friends in the biochemistry program that I know from biochem last semester and skiied with them all day.  It was a laughably bad day on the mountain.  It was so warm that the snow was all melty and choppy and covering up just a terrible sheet of ice.  By mid-afternoon most of the slopes were sheer ice because all the snow that they were blowing had been whisked off by skiiers not knowing how to ski on the ice (they exacerbate the situation because they slide down in the only non-icy parts and push all the snow off the only good spots just sliding down).  I still enjoyed myself because a mountain is better than no mountain, right?  

That night we went out for dinner at this little spot in Rutland - I'm used to the city - it was nothing to write home about but the beer was really cheap (2.50 to 3$ a beer! As opposed to the 6-8 you'll spend here).  We stayed up that night and watched the shining with Dane (first year Immunology guy).  None of my Indian or Korean friends had seen it so they were scared shitless & it was very entertaining.  

The next day was much better on the mountain - better conditions so I had a great time.  I spent the morning kind of teaching my friend Kihyun but then met up with my biochem friends at the end of the day to do some more challenging runs.  

It was a great weekend & lots of fun - but I've learned that skiing is just not the same without my Mom.  We are the best match for skiing because we get up at 6 am and go all day (they got up at 8:30 and to the mountain by 10:30) - eat massive breakfasts w/ lots of coffee (they wanted toast and black tea) - we ski hard and don't take breaks (constant coordinating to go in to the lodge) - and Mom is just a damn good skiier.  I actually thought to myself - I don't think I'll ever go on a ski trip again without my Mom!  (Obviously we're also always on a far better mountain, which helps, too). 

Today is back to the grind - got up for a beautiful morning in the park with Sofie.  Glad to be back to another week with Brian and little Sof.  

Have a great day!