What a riot; I lived on Stewart Ave too, 30 years ago, between State and Seneca. And I would have LOVED to have had Greenstar up in Collegetown. I only had a bike and State St. was a tough ride home, LOL. I made it all the way up Buffalo once too, without stopping. Boy I wish I were that fit again.
@2018dad - your D will love Melbourne. It’s a great city with many activities, things to see, sporting events, museums, the coast and beaches, etc. Melbourne Uni is an excellent school. Melbourne is a very livable city with an excellent tram and bus network. Just remember that July there is like January here as the seasons are reversed. While Melbourne doesn’t get snow, the winters can be like those in London - cool and rainy. It can get down to 5C or so but most winter days are in the 45F to 55F range based on our experience there, (DW is a Melbourne native and we have been back to visit family several times.) The best thing about July in southern Australia is that August and September bring spring there.
@mdcmom & @crowlady – I have no recall of what we cooked or where we bought food. There was an IGA down College Ave (perhaps in the same area as the new co-op), but I can’t recall when it closed, although think it was some time during my stay there.
I think a lot of bagels were consumed for almost any meal.
State Street was a challenging walk uphill; I can’t imagine biking it. At one point during school, I had my hair cut very short, requiring monthly trims. I do not know how I ended up at a hair salon on The Commons, but made that trek from sorority on North to the Commons. Meanwhile, the students all have bus passes now to get to class from North.
Happy news! DD’14 just received her acceptance into CET’s Intensive Chinese program in Harbin. She’s SO happy and excited. So I’m starting the hunt for airline tickets 
.
Has anyone here worked with CET, specifically the Travel-On agency that they arrange flights through? Is it better to book our own flights or work with their agency? The agency’s quote form doesn’t seem to give a lot of options.
@mdcmom, that’s exciting! I would definitely shop around on the airline tickets since the costs can vary a lot. It’s possible that their agency have a reasonable competitive rate though.
DS is pursing a Chinese minor and had had 4 semesters of Chinese. Is this a self-funded program and can the credits be transferred to home college?
Last exam of the year finished this morning. DS is a Junior! Crazy.
@4beardolls It’s a semester abroad through her college (Cornell). The credits do count toward her home college credits. It’s funded through her FA at Cornell; we’re feeling very very blessed.
@mdcmom, how wonderful! Your D’s Chinese fluency will improve by leaps and bound. Both my DD and DS went to NSLY-Y summer program while in high school and had incredible experiences.
@CT1417 @crowlady @mdcmom So many Cornellians here! I lived in Ithaca (or surrounds) from1984 until 200o. Lived on Seneca St. for a summer in 1984, while working at Cornell. Hiked up the hill a few times… I might be stopping there to visit old friends on the way to Scotland in the fall, probably won’t recognize Collegetown. Anyone know if The Nines is still there? (I actually remember its sister restaurant, The Chariot, which was on Eddy St. and closed in the 90s.) I remember when the first highrise went up in CTown, we all thought it was the end of the world.
I can’t believe our kids are almost halfway through college. Didn’t we just start this thread about 5 minutes ago?
The Nines is still there, and I remember The Chariot too. (Ithacan from 1983-1996). Collegetown is so different, but I’m happy that Aladdin’s is still there. But that place on College Ave. where I used to get ice cream and still on a chair in the window up above the sidewalk (I don’t remember the name) is now a real estate office.
So, my son has been home from college for more than a week … and we are still putting items away, selecting what will go to charity and picking out other clothing that will be given to family friends and neighbors. We already have started to chat about what does not need to go to school in the fall, so I am hoping this will make it easier to keep his room cleaner. Right.
He starts his internship in another week, but he does have a chance to make a little extra coin. One of the English teachers at my school was looking for someone to tutor her daughter in SAT math. I volunteered my son before asking him. Her daughter will meet with my son for four sessions before she takes the June SAT. She would like to bump her overall score 60 to 100 points, because she would get some nice merit money.
My D has only a week between the end of spring semester and the start of summer term when she’ll continue research with a professor. He got her a stipend that will more than pay her living expenses and she finally locked down a place to live. She’ll be coming home for that week, for which I’m grateful! Between the end of summer session and the beginning of classes for the fall (junior year! How did that happen???), she’ll be an orientation advisor.
Our apartment was painted a couple of weeks ago and I had to box up the Museum of D so I could push all the furniture to the middle of the room. I am sure she’ll toss a lot of stuff! I certainly did.
@CT1417
Thanks for the info about the coop that will open in College Town. My DD will live in a College Town apartment after her semester in University of Melbourne.
@AvonHSDad
Thank you. We are hoping that it will not be cold and rainy when we are there first week of July. It would be interesting how I will be able to drive on the other side of the road. One of my college close friends lives there and she’s already giving us pointers and places to visit. Which one do you think is a must see? This will probably the first time and last time that we’ll be in Melbourne.
Congrats @mdcmom - how exciting!
@Sweetbeet – The Nines may be the only completely unchanged establishment on College Ave. And I remember the Chariot also, and the endless debate of Chariot vs. Nines.
Rulloff’s reopened after change of ownership. Chapter House gutted by fire. Construction was supposed to have started this past school year, but it was recently sold to a different owner/developer so not sure when construction will begin.
I had not been back in between my 5th Reunion and my son’s college search days, so the changes were shocking.
@mdcmom – I don’t remember Aladdin’s. Can’t recall the name of the ice cream shop but know the place you are talking about.
“Aladdin’s is still there. But that place on College Ave. where I used to get ice cream and still on a chair in the window up above the sidewalk (I don’t remember the name) is now a real estate office.”
Apologies to the rest of this thread with our Cornell conversations. I cannot believe they are (almost) halfway through.
My son is finally home! Worked an extra week at his co-op semester and then made the long 13-hour drive home without any layovers. So great to have him home for an extended stay for the first time in nearly two years. He has to take a community college class over the summer, but aside from that, I’m fine with his being a “bum” for a couple of months. He commuted 70 miles each way all semester long to get to his job, and he is understandbly bushed!
I was pleased to hear that his goal upon graduation is to find a job directly under a Professional Engineer, so he can work towards earning his PE license, a certification that will allow him to work in engineering design.
@LucieTheLakie Wow! So nice to have a kid who knows where he wants to go with regards to a career. Ask mine and she just shrugs and says she has no idea, other than she’d rather go to work than grad school.
@ordinarylives, it’s really ironic because this is the kid who asked me at the end of junior year of HS if he “had to go” to college. I’m the last to suggest that everyone should go to college (including another one of my children), but in this case, it was really nonnegotiable. We’d invested a small fortune in his education up to that point, and there was really no other option that made sense for him. He’d never had a passion for any career, so I suggested he consider engineering, since he’d always been a strong math student and an engineering degree was more likely to enable him to get a decent job without graduate studies. Whaddyaknow? Mom was right again. 
Hope everyone is enjoying time with their kiddies. My son is still sleeping a lot – I am wondering if this is because all it does here is rain. Or is he that tired from his semester? He has come over to my school (his former high school) twice and tutored my friend’s daughter in SAT math. He has a week off from that, because he has to go to training for his internship. What we did not know was that he had to drive two hours away from home. The banking group is putting him up in a five-star hotel for a week during this training. I told him to enjoy every moment of this experience. They are paying for his meals and mileage, too. And it is paid training! He just may like this company, and want to work there after graduation. Probably not, as he is now considering a masters degree in finance. I told him he should shop around for some schools and maybe take the GRE or GMAT this fall.
@Agentninetynine My Barnard Girl has a consulting job in Washington DC which she will start in the fall. She’s interning in NYC this summer. But, the bank of Mom will be closed come Fall! Woohoo!