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March 17, 2006
Best Friends & New Roommates
My oldest best friend in the world is officially in Guangzhou and that is super exciting. The illustrious Todd Siegel, my partner in crime since 2nd grade, is here with his awesome PiA-alum girlfriend and I am doing my best to show them the town in the limited amount of time we have. I picked them up at the airport on Monday night and bargained my way to an only mildly overpriced cab ride back into the city. At least the guy understood me when I said "uh uh--that's hella expensive."
So we chatted into the early morning Monday night and just caught up on things. I am extremely impressed by both Todd and Nancy being in the world of law, working serious with serious law firms in Connecticut. I have always considered Todd to be one of the smartest people I know and this has never changed. I know that he will do quite well for himself.
Todd's arrival works out really well in terms of timing because I was just starting to have some minor pangs of missing things home-related. I have officially been out of the country longer than I ever have before (7 months now) so it's nice to have an injection of the familiar. Todd knows me arguably better than anyone and from our days back at Solomon Schechter Day School to our adventures at Wesleyan, Cornell, or University of Edinburgh (where we both studied abroad), we have no shortage of ridiculous stories to reminisce about.
We had a tough time figuring out what to do this weekend but finally settled on heading up too Wuhan to crash with Tyler and Mal, the PiA rockstars there. Todd and Nancy decided to do a midweek Hong Kong trip in order to see the pinnacle of organization and modernity. It only seemed right to bring them to bring them to a city like Wuhan, the pinnacle of chaotic construction and progress towards modernity. If nothing else, the food rocks. Kelly decided to join me for the weekend adventure so the 4 of us are going to head out tonight on the sleeper train to Wuchang. Hubei Province- be aware.
I also got (semi-) official notification of my new roommate for next year which is very exciting. Steven is moving on to bigger and better things getting a masters in East Asian Studies from Berkeley so I get a rookie come August. I am unclear on whether or not he has accepted the fellowship yet, but from what I'm told he is a very cool guy. Here's hoping that he likes beer and movies! Matt, if you're out there reading, come to Guangzhou--it's awesome.
Finally, just a reminder to all of you out there who didn't make it to the end of the last blog that I now have a CT phone number that will reach me here. Feel free to call 860-967-3764 anytime, assuming it's not 4am here like someone did last night...
Posted by awolfe at March 17, 2006 10:35 AM
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Comments
Say hello to Todd and Nancy for us. Hope all you guys are having a fabulous time. Can't wait to hear more about your adventures together. We miss you here and can't wait to see you in June.
Posted by: Mom at March 17, 2006 8:52 PM
Ari,
It's been a long time since I read your "blog". For some crazy reason I loose the link and have to contact someone in your family. This time it was Ilana, who answered the email within a few seconds. Sounds like you are continuing to enjoy your overseas employment. Good luck with your course in Chinese.
Sayanara-oooooops that's Japanese.
Okay, Shalom.
Posted by: Roberta at April 23, 2006 9:57 AM