Now entertain...

Hello everyone! New York has officially opened it's arms to us: it was not but three hours ago that we had to call paramedics to aid the passed-out drunken man lying on our stoop with a paper bagged can of beer. Other such adventures include the zoo, and a fun party in the East Village with a breathtaking view of the New York City skyline, which because I was not equipped to capture in photography, you'll have to picture in your mind's eye. It has since cooled down slightly here, thanks to Hurricane Bill, who is causing localized T-storms, sudden downpours and riptides so vicious that swimming is currently banned in the city of New York -- Surfing, however, is fine.
Shakespeare seems to be our current focus in school. Between reading "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" (a play which I would not recommend to anyone, ever) and memorizing the Act IV prologue from Henry V (I play I would recommend to everyone, always), we're fully saturated. It seems that the majority of my book budget was spent purchasing Shakespeare glossaries, his collected works, and the first folio. This is not a complaint. I love the Bard. It is slightly irritating, however, to deal with things which you learned in high school literature class. I imagine my boredom in the class will quickly dissipate as it always does. Mostly I'm complaining about a world in which people can graduate from high school without knowing the difference between alliteration and assonance.

Well, I must be getting back to some homework, so I'll leave you with a picture of Giordana, if she were the Hungriest Caterpillar. A scary thought indeed.

Garry

We're in!

Ladies and Gentiles: we made it. We are currently residing in East Harlem, on 123rd St. First thing we noticed: Our apartment is amazing. Second thing we noticed: It is way too hot and muggy here. Why, New York? Why must you be so uncomfortable? Giordana and I quickly filmed a short walk around the pad. As you probably gather from the grotesque grovelling noises I make in it, I love the kitchen. It's big and happy, and allows me to do wonderful things.
The neighbourhood is interesting, to say the least. Today, while going to Radioshack, I had a french fry thrown at me by a large woman who I did not hear attempt to attract my attention. Culture shock? I think so. That is not to say it's more dangerous than our old place. I would argue that the fact that the streets are constantly crowded provides a less 'sketchy' environment in which to travel.
Our local grocery store is a two minute walk away, and is an actual, for real, grocery store. It is open 24 hours a day, and filled with everything I could possibly need. It is perfect. Well, it's no Costco, but it gets the job done.
Our first of two roommates has moved in, which makes the apartment seem a lot more friendly, as opposed to a gaping white canvas. There is still an empty room, which is kind of sad. Giordana and I are anxious to have that filled. Hurry up John, and don't forget your N64 controllers.

Gate B11

So here we are, sitting in the Seattle international airport, leeching wi-fi off the executive lounge separated from us by a big steel door. Too bad they never configured a security key. Aw yeah. Our flight from Victoria was relatively painless -- Giordana attributes it to the breakfast with family, I attribute it to the fact that we're not flying Air Canada. Both claims are correct.

I'll be making an attempt to maintain this blog again this year. I know it's sort of a blogger cliche to claim that, but hey, I'll stand by it. We'll be arriving at our apartment around midnight Eastern time, probably without any real connection to the Internet. So Moms, Dads, don't expect a shout out from us until I can make my way to Madison Square park for the free wi-fi the next morning.

We cleared customs lickety-split, with the exception being of course that we needed to fill out another I-94. Of course! How could we have forgotten? So many people told us! I find often that I need to reinforce sarcasm on the Internet with a disclaimer: "That bit about the I-94 was sarcastic. No-one told us a damned thing." I don't think either of us are very much looking forward to the six hour long flight, with a very low-possibility of having those cool movie-touch screen things. Giordana has made it very clear that she will be infuriated if they try to make her pay for a movie again, but she may even make the sacrifice.

I feel much more secure this trip. I've lived in New York before, I've actually seen my future apartment, and I know a handful of people sprawled around the city. It was hard to wave goodbye, but it was comforting to know that this school year is split much more evenly, and Christmas is only a few months away. Who knows what the school year will bring? I am already beginning to prepare my Psyche for a voice and speech evaluation on the first day of classes. Just a heads up for anyone who wants to write to us: send me an email! The immediate family will be receiving an email once we get our cellphone numbers and all that jazz, but we really don't need to be related to you to love your care packages.

Sorry I have no pictures to really show you. We have pictures of our summer, but I figure that's a little counter productive.

Looking forward,
Garry.

P.S. Al and Nancy: Thanks for the help! Oh, Giordana already finished the book. The Tavern was the St. Fraunces Tavern, where we had our Thanksgiving dinner. It's a really cool place with more history than most places in the city. Also, the dish towels are always, ALWAYS welcome. We generally avoid paper towels for environmental and, let's face it, economical reasons, so the washcloths pick up the slack. Hurrah for frugality.