Stay home? HA!
I know, you thought my adventures were over. I'm safely on U.S. soil and have completed my travels, right? C'mon, you know me better than that. After a quick visit to Missouri and a nice Thanksgiving at home, I set out on an eight-day, seventeen-state voyage to visit seminaries. No traveling companions, just me, Jack (that's my Buick Century), twelve pages of Mapquest directions, and the road.
The U.S. is funny in its sheer size and strange diversity within a seemingly homogenous population. While everyone speaks the same language, words and accents vary from region to region. People drive more quickly or slowly in different states and billboards go from beer advertisements and movie posters on the east coast to a glimpse of the abortion debate on 30-foot signs in Missouri.
Day 1/2: I ventured across northern Ohio, Pennsylvania, and upstate New York to Boston, Mass. for a visit to Boston University. I was fortunate not to encounter any lake-effect snow, and Boston seemed almost to be having a heat-wave for late November. I stayed at an international house/bed and breakfast in the suburbs, then took the T (commuter train) into Boston for the visit to the seminary. Boston is a great city, similar to an overgrown college town due to the presence of more than fifty colleges and universities. I liked BU's Theological School, too.
Day 2/3: After the visit to BU, Jack and I trucked south through Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, and New York to Princeton, New Jersey. I stayed in a hotel, then visited the school. While it has a beautiful campus, it doesn't seem to be my kind of place.
Day 3/4: I fled Princeton in favor of my sister's warm welcome and the state of Maryland. After a brief visit, I continued FURTHER south to North Carolina, where I saw my wonderful aunt, uncle, and cousins.
Day 4/5: I spent the day visiting Duke Divinity school, which I found to be an excellent school, if not quite as welcoming as BU. When the day concluded, I hopped back into Jack and drove into the "deep south" to Atlanta.
Day 5/6: I was thoroughly spoiled during my visit to Atlanta by my aunt, who took me out to dinner and gave me a cooking lesson and showed me her wonderful hospitality. I also stopped to visit Candler School of Theology at Emory University, which was a wonderful school.
Day 6/7: I spent another LONG day on the road heading to Missouri, where I got to go to my first NFL game in Kansas City. Thanks to Chris's fabulousity, I got to see the Broncos vs. the Chiefs in Arrowhead stadium. The Broncos lost, but it was still a very good game.
Day 8/9: As "On the road again..." reverberated through my head, I drove to Evanston, IL to visit Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Again, I found the school to be quite agreeable. I was also well-taken-care-of by a family friend.
Day 10/11: On my way home from Garrett, I stopped off to visit my mom on a business trip and got to visit a Hershey factory. I then continued down the road with 45 lbs. of chocolate.
That's a quick summary of the actual geographical locations and quick visits of my trip. A few things I observed:
1) Driving in the northwest is NUTS. Truly, people are kamikazes.
2) Billboards can be extremely entertaining. In the northwest they mostly advertised alcoholic beverages and movies. Further south they became advertisements for restaurants and hotels, and along I-70, they involved a strange mix of anti-gambling signs and advertisements for adult entertainment (EW!).
3) No matter where you go, Starbucks is there. They're just like McDonalds these days. Am I the only one who finds that a little creepy?
4) You can't find Pepsi in Atlanta. If there's one problem with going to that school, it's the prevalence of Coke in the area. I'll have to think on that a bit...
5) Tolls: What happens if you don't realize it's a toll road and quite literally don't have the money on you. Particularly if you're at one of those computerized throw-change-in-the-bucket sort of tolls? Do little green men emerge from the pavement and carry you away? Do you just have to wait there until some kind soul or frustrated traveler behind you comes and provides you with correct change? Are you just stuck there forever like "The Man Who Never Returned" in that Kingston Trio song? WHAT HAPPENS?!?! If anyone knows the answer to this conundrum, please let me know.
6) I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of living in dorms as a graduate student. I wouldn't trade my years in FARC for anything, but I don't think I spend my early twenties in a dorm room with a community bathroom. I need to get used to living on my own. But if I choose a school that's predominantly residential, what then? I must continue weighing that one.
7) I need to come up with a way of maintaining better internet access. This whole on-the-road-with-no-computer thing is killing me. Not to mention the issue of our home computer refusing to acknowledge the internet. So please pardon my long delay in writing. I hope (hope is the operative word here) that it won't happen again. If it does, I'm sorry. Just don't give up, I'm still writing.
The U.S. is funny in its sheer size and strange diversity within a seemingly homogenous population. While everyone speaks the same language, words and accents vary from region to region. People drive more quickly or slowly in different states and billboards go from beer advertisements and movie posters on the east coast to a glimpse of the abortion debate on 30-foot signs in Missouri.
Day 1/2: I ventured across northern Ohio, Pennsylvania, and upstate New York to Boston, Mass. for a visit to Boston University. I was fortunate not to encounter any lake-effect snow, and Boston seemed almost to be having a heat-wave for late November. I stayed at an international house/bed and breakfast in the suburbs, then took the T (commuter train) into Boston for the visit to the seminary. Boston is a great city, similar to an overgrown college town due to the presence of more than fifty colleges and universities. I liked BU's Theological School, too.
Day 2/3: After the visit to BU, Jack and I trucked south through Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, and New York to Princeton, New Jersey. I stayed in a hotel, then visited the school. While it has a beautiful campus, it doesn't seem to be my kind of place.
Day 3/4: I fled Princeton in favor of my sister's warm welcome and the state of Maryland. After a brief visit, I continued FURTHER south to North Carolina, where I saw my wonderful aunt, uncle, and cousins.
Day 4/5: I spent the day visiting Duke Divinity school, which I found to be an excellent school, if not quite as welcoming as BU. When the day concluded, I hopped back into Jack and drove into the "deep south" to Atlanta.
Day 5/6: I was thoroughly spoiled during my visit to Atlanta by my aunt, who took me out to dinner and gave me a cooking lesson and showed me her wonderful hospitality. I also stopped to visit Candler School of Theology at Emory University, which was a wonderful school.
Day 6/7: I spent another LONG day on the road heading to Missouri, where I got to go to my first NFL game in Kansas City. Thanks to Chris's fabulousity, I got to see the Broncos vs. the Chiefs in Arrowhead stadium. The Broncos lost, but it was still a very good game.
Day 8/9: As "On the road again..." reverberated through my head, I drove to Evanston, IL to visit Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Again, I found the school to be quite agreeable. I was also well-taken-care-of by a family friend.
Day 10/11: On my way home from Garrett, I stopped off to visit my mom on a business trip and got to visit a Hershey factory. I then continued down the road with 45 lbs. of chocolate.
That's a quick summary of the actual geographical locations and quick visits of my trip. A few things I observed:
1) Driving in the northwest is NUTS. Truly, people are kamikazes.
2) Billboards can be extremely entertaining. In the northwest they mostly advertised alcoholic beverages and movies. Further south they became advertisements for restaurants and hotels, and along I-70, they involved a strange mix of anti-gambling signs and advertisements for adult entertainment (EW!).
3) No matter where you go, Starbucks is there. They're just like McDonalds these days. Am I the only one who finds that a little creepy?
4) You can't find Pepsi in Atlanta. If there's one problem with going to that school, it's the prevalence of Coke in the area. I'll have to think on that a bit...
5) Tolls: What happens if you don't realize it's a toll road and quite literally don't have the money on you. Particularly if you're at one of those computerized throw-change-in-the-bucket sort of tolls? Do little green men emerge from the pavement and carry you away? Do you just have to wait there until some kind soul or frustrated traveler behind you comes and provides you with correct change? Are you just stuck there forever like "The Man Who Never Returned" in that Kingston Trio song? WHAT HAPPENS?!?! If anyone knows the answer to this conundrum, please let me know.
6) I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of living in dorms as a graduate student. I wouldn't trade my years in FARC for anything, but I don't think I spend my early twenties in a dorm room with a community bathroom. I need to get used to living on my own. But if I choose a school that's predominantly residential, what then? I must continue weighing that one.
7) I need to come up with a way of maintaining better internet access. This whole on-the-road-with-no-computer thing is killing me. Not to mention the issue of our home computer refusing to acknowledge the internet. So please pardon my long delay in writing. I hope (hope is the operative word here) that it won't happen again. If it does, I'm sorry. Just don't give up, I'm still writing.
posted by Lauren at
8:41 AM
1 Comments:
Yeah. You won't find Pepsi at all in Atlanta thanks to it being the birthplace of Coke and all. You have to go probably about 20 miles out of Atlanta to even think about seeing some Pepsi.
By
zmoty9, at 6:35 AM
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