New York!!

I just cannot imagine a six-week-stay in east coast without paying a visit to New York. Willing to admit or not, it's like the capital of the whole world.

We set out from Tufts early in the morning and I actually got up at five o'clock. Rushing all the way to the South Station, it wasn't until we went aboard the bus that we were finally able to take a rest. I was way too excited to compensate for my lack of sleep, though.




That was where we officially depart: Chinatown/South Station.




I know it's a creepy shot but just look at the skyscrapers--we are definitely approaching New York!



And same said the sign: Manhattan, babe~



Inside the metro. Compared with that in Boston, the NY one's significantly more complicated like a labyrinth. Lucky we had got Pen I guiding us and we didn't get lost.




The New York Times building. Once I dreamed of becoming a journalist working for New York Times, which seems pretty unlikely now. *sigh*




The Time Square. (We actually had pizza in the middle of the street.)




We have to say the cityscape's a lot different from that of Boston.




Just couldn't stop myself from clicking the camera like I was possessed or something.



Hard Rock!



The Lion King.






Our main purpose there: RENT. One of my favorite musicals. Yes I was in Broadway.




My ticket for Rent.

The Comedy Show @Improv Asylum

As far as it's a very American stuff, I didn't plan to miss it. :p

Location: The Improv Asylum was located in Little Italy.

Inside Improv Asylum.

This was how the stage looked like.

After the show, we went to Mike's Pastry. The pastry was really good.

Briefly put, the word "Improv" was derived from "improvisation." And an improvisation comedy was a comedy show in which the audience could actually participate. The actors would consult the audience for tips and turn them into a hilarious impromptu show. It was absolutely amazing, and challenging as well, for unlike in English classes, the actors would not slow down the way they speak only because part of the audience were foreigners.

The comedy, of course, reflected the social reality. "This is a story about a boy-girl." "Welcome to Massachusetts!" Gay marriage, trans-sexual, paranoia; and what Professor 寶儀 (my English Composition instructor) said flashed across my mind (as we were talking about an episode in Gimme Gimme) : A good comedy deals with heavy issues, while it makes people laugh, it drives people to think as well. Also I thought of Professor Vasileios Vagios, (one of the teachers in Literary Criticism class) who once requested us to come up with the social functions of a poet.

This show was definitely witty, it just never occurred to me that it could be that thought-provoking, that complimentary to what I had learned as a DFLL major as well. :)

The Museum of Fine Art

(I didn't really follow the chronological order since this visit actually took place after Shakespeare in Park but whatsoever.)

Now I really regret it that I didn't bring my camera that day! Still, I collected some pictures from Lin-chen's album, hopefully working as some compensation.

It was a great pity that she didn't take the picture of the Greek cups/jars. They were the most exciting objects on display-- at least for me. They were exactly the Greek cups/jars in Theocritus' time! Casting a look on them, I could almost visualize Thrysis and the goatherd, while the latter provided an exquisite cup and a fertile she-goat only to hear Thrysis' singing. I saw them in pictures-- black and white, since they were photocopied; and that I was actually standing right in front of them! Isn't that exciting? I could just die then.

There we were in the Egyptian district. The exhibition of Egyptian objects, honestly, did not really excite me. I had been to Egypt and I went into dozens of temples and tombs and Museums-- I even paid a visit to the Giza pyramids. Still, there were realistic simulations of the Egyptian tombs-- they were just as close and suffocating as those in Egypt. I felt like a claustrophobic and I couldn't stay long.

Now some nostalgic stuff-- Greek (and also Roman) gods!

Aprhodite (in Greek times) or Venus (in Roman times.)

Cupid (in Greek times) or Eros (in Roman times.)

I also remember seeing Dionysus and Pan (or Priapus judging from the size of his winkie-- gosh I'm vulgar! It's the most distinguishable part of him, though.) but no pictures, my apology.

The Shakespeare Festival

As a major of foreign language and literature, how could I possilbly miss such an event? I mean it's Shakespeare! And the play happened to be A Mid-Summer Night's Dream, which I had read closely through the script only a couple of months before. Anyway, that day I cut short my shopping at Galleria and simply rushed back to Davis so that I could join the RCs and actually participate in the Shakespeare Festival.



It was amazingly crowded in the park and I never knew that people nowadays are still that attached to Shakespeare-- guess it's because I was in New England, haha. :p Anyway I was like super excited for I had never seen a Shakespearean play on stage; all the Shakespearean plays I saw before were pretty much the film adoptions, including the more genuine ones like A Mid-Summer Night's Dream or some more "meta" ones like Romeo and Juliet (with Leonardo not Davinci) or even She's The Man (adopted from The Twelfth Night, aka Wit You Well.)



Alright, I'll cut to the chase in case I bore the readers (if any.) The play started at eight and for almost an hour I was literally squirming at my seat-- which, realistically speaking, was mere a few sheets of newspaper on the grass-- while everyone else had grabbed a chair or at least some towels. I didn't have my supper for I was in a rush (traveling from Kendal to Davis and then Park Street) and there were a hell lot of people there were holding picnics while they were waiting. The play, though, kept me excited and contributed quite a bit, as far as I believed, to my adrenaline.




The cast was a significant combination. While Demetrius and Lysander were both husky, handsome (I bet, though I was watching them from a distance) Afro-Americans, Helena and Hermia were WASP like ladies. I didn't know about the director's intention but I suppose it was indicating some concept like racial diversity so that the play itself could be politically correct?



A hilarious interpretation of the Pyramus and Thisbe crew. Besides the actors' American accent, it was another thing that reminded me of where I was-- America!




Sorry for the blurry picture but this shot was actually of Oberon and Titania-- the fairy king and fairy queen! I love the flashy balloons that depicted of the nice fancy stuff representing the fairy world-- even the fight between the fairy king and fairy queen sounded less frightening.



See the balddy on the right-hand corner? It was Puck! That very Puck who transformed Bottom into an ass-head. "Thou art translated!" That was way Ovid and I found it really amusing.


This was one of my most memorable excursions during my stay in Boston. Over all, I felt even more proud to be a major of foreign language and literature-- thanks to the courses I took that I got to study Shakespeare, I was able to wholly understand the play while the lines up to 90 percent, and the Shakespearean language was even infamously delicate.

@ Newport

I was actually kind of looking forward to this field trip since Newport's located in Rhode Island, (the tiniest state among US, I suppose?) which happened to have left a strong impression on me from Holly Wood movies like "Me Myself & Irene" and "Ms Congeniality"-- two of my fave comedy films.

What I saw in Newport was, however, neither hilarious nor comic. What Newport had to offer (I mean those I've grabbed a chance to savor within the limited time we spent there) was basically Vandeville's House and Gift Shops. (Just imagine we missed the sunset! What a pity!) Still. it's a place people find it especially easy to relax and somehow every step I made felt even more light-hearted than usual.

The Vandeville's House. (Not sure about the spelling, tho.) At first I thought it's a city municipal or something, yet it turned out to be a mansion-- a very British one.

Inside the house, the layout was simply luxurious-- in a very European way. Statues, tapestries, the decorated vault, and I literally exclaimed when I saw the pillars and beams with really delicate carvings of Greek and Roman Gods (I remember seeing Eros)-- Gosh these people were wasps. Most definitely they were. It's a pity, tho, that no photo-taking was allowed.

That was the only spot we were allowed to take pictures-- from a balcony. What a view!

The Vandeville's mansion. The garden was lovely!

After the Vandeville's tour, we took a walk around the Newport. Don't you love this scene!

The gift shops lined up in Newport. Love the red trail a lot. :D

There's one shop especially appealed to me: the layout was simply amazing. Cute but modern, with a certain degree of sarcasm, or I should put "witty." I took quite a few shots because I believed that Flora's gonna love it.

Here's one rather funny gift card. Wry humor.

And here's another romantic one. When I saw this one I was like, "ohhhhh..."

A lovely set of china. It was rather mirk in the second floor, tho.

An overlooking view from the 2nd floor.

A closer look at the china.

What a posture! :P

This rooster reminded me of an animation film-- "Nick Park."

My fave corner in the shop.

On the way back to Tufts.

Whale Watch

That was a brand-new experience for me-- going on a whale watch trip! Had never seen a REAL whale before (except in an Aquarium) in my entire life and I was really looking forward to that activity.

Got off at Aquarium.

And perfect weather for Whale Watch-- great visibility!

It was like d*mn windy on the third deck, by I chose staying there since it was granted the greatest view. The landscape was simply breathtaking-- would you believe that? I have lived on an island for almost twenty years and I actually never really enjoyed a view of a port. I seldom went to the sea as long as I could remember. Boy, where have I been all these years?

That was an extremely long sail (just look at how far away the shore seemed, when I took that picture the sail had barely started) before we really spotted a whale for the very first time. I was shivering, the wind was getting me headache and my legs were dead stiff. Just a second after I gave up and sat down on the deck, the whale popped out!

That was AMAZING! At first it was a mere spout, later a tiny part of the body emerged, and then it was like, the whaleS actually swam past me! It paid to stick to the third deck!

I felt I could touch them!

And what a BEAUTIFUL tail! Like a heart shape or something... absolutely gorgeous.