<p>Let’s exchange some fun stories about the cool, unusual things are college kids are doing - things they couldn’t do at home. Things that we know they’ll remember for ever. Things that make us excited for them. I’ll start</p>
<p>My D, born & raised in Colorado, is taking the “Chinatown bus” from Boston to NYC today. There, she’ll reconnect with four close Denver friends, all of whom are living/studying in different parts of the northeast. They’ll stay with yet another Denver girl, now student at NYU and they’ll spend a long weekend going to museums, hanging out, shopping, and eating Indian food. They will go to the top of the Empire State Building and take pictures of each other with the Manhattan skyline in the background. They will relive their childhoods and talk about their new schools, boys, room-mates and mid terms. And they’ll party like you can only party with people you’ve known practically your whole life: wholeheartedly. And yes, I’m living vicariously through them this weekend. I’m allowed. I financed it. ;)</p>
<p>I might have advised against the Fung Wah, but the rest of her weekend sounds absolutely terrific! My favorite thing in the world…reconnecting with old friends! Hope they have a blast.</p>
<p>We have the nicest, coolest young lady staying at our rental house for the next few days - my daughter’s former roommate and one of her very best friends, and now with her country’s national team in their sport. </p>
<p>She’s having some career confusion - wants to stay with the team and hopefully complete in the Olympics; parents want her to get a nice, stable job; she’s considering going back to school for a masters, or a second undergrad in an entirely different field. It’s not the bad sort of confusion though - it’s the good sort - so many opportunities, so many choices, all doors wide open. </p>
<p>It’s so cool watching the two of them examine all of their seemingly endless options…</p>
<p>My DD and her best friend flew out to California last week and rented a car to tool around during spring break. They had a great time … were in the audience at the Ellen show, went to Disneyland, Universal, Chinatown, Hollywood, Rodeo Drive, etc. Her best friend has cousins who live in L.A., so they were able to visit with some of them, too. It’s a trip they’ll never forget. I never did anything like that when I was their age. I’m so happy they are able to do so. These girls have been practically connected at the hip since they were weeks old and there is no doubt in my mind they will remain life-long friends.</p>
<p>I know everyone has Fung Wah stories, but my kids have had fine experiences with it.</p>
<p>Actually, the other main bus line between boston and NYC, Peter Pan, has given my D nothing but grief. On one trip home, “Princess Tiger Lily” and “MIchael and John” (and possibly one other–Nana? tinkerbell?) broke down along the way.</p>
<p>DD, 16, went to Europe with a friend who lives there for break. The trip includes staying in London, visiting her cousin who is studying in France and also going to Spain.</p>
<p>I told her today that I had no concept of these places when I was her age past what movies showed. Her childhood could not be more different than mine was. I love watching her come of age…</p>
<p>D is at this very minute spending her spring break in El Salvador building houses (actually just part of one house) for Habitat for Humanity.</p>
<p>I find it slightly frightening to think of her flying off to a distant, foreign land that is not exactly known for its political stability. But I figure its gotta be a safer and far worthier way to spend spring break than on the traditional alcohol and sex-fueled road trip to some beach town in Florida.</p>
<p>Allmusic – what’s wrong with the Fung Wah? – yours is the second post I’ve seen of that nature. Now you’ve got me worried…</p>
<p>My daughter is probably on that bus, round trip, on average once every 3-4 weeks – she’s got a bf in Boston and if she’s not riding up to see him, then he’s coming down to see her. So I know she’s on the bus frequently, and I know that she often gets back to NY quite late. (If I know/suspect she is traveling, I call her and always ask her to let me know when she has arrived safely back at her dorm… but I don’t always know her plans because it is hard for me to keep track of the every-other-weekend schedule the two have adopted for seeing each other. )</p>
<p>Oh well… thank god for cell phones. I just wish I had some sort of geo-tracking device attached to hers …</p>
<p>S just got back from Spain where, between high school and college friends spending their year or semester abroad, he was able to travel on his own to four cities, and have someone to stay with in each. He had a great time and I managed not to inquire whether or not he got any homework done.</p>
<p>I worried about him a lot more last Spring break when he dug out muck from houses in New Orleans, having lied on the form that asked “do you have any allergies to mold?”</p>
<p>My daughter has also spent many hours on the couch reading, which I think is a distinct improvement over the anticipated [by me] many hours sleeping on the couch. For “excitement” this week, she and a friend headed up to our state capital to knock on the doors of state legislators and lobby on behalf of charter high schools in general, and her old HS in particular. She said it was “exhausting but fun”…at times like this, I wonder if LSATs are in her future.</p>
<p>The entry you fill out to enter a NCAA basketball tournament pool. You predict who will win each game and advance to the next round, etc.</p>
<p>Obv x-post.</p>
<p>As for the Chinatown bus, for our West Coast fans, there are illegal busses that run between Boston and Philly and NYC, Chinatown-to-Chinatown, with inconvenient stops along the way. They are dirt cheap, uninsured, unregulated, and often unreliable, but of course wildly popular. From Philly to NYC it costs $10, which is about half of what the next-cheapest way to get there costs.</p>
<p>The Fung Wah has been subject to all kinds of inquiry, due to all kinds of things I am not going to worry you about tonight, since probably 99% of their trips are just fine. </p>
<p>However, I do think thast it is worth going with a licensed and insured bus line, and it isn’t all THAT much more expensive.</p>
Oh yeah, March Madness! Uh huh. That was on too. lol</p>