Well today was my first day of class at Hahvahd Law School, so I figure I’ll follow up my morning with a post about it and some observations (along with an irritatingly unhelpful narration).
I went to bed at 2:30 last night. My reasons were good, namely caught up in a great conversation that I was unable to let go of, and because I hadn’t done my 44-page reading as well as I had hoped (ie. super-gunner style, 3 times, highlighted, margin-briefed, and with typed booknotes.) So I was a little concerned about that, considering that my class was at 8:15, that the walk to school takes 25 minutes, and that I hadn’t slept well the night before. Luckily, I awoke at 6:30 am, slid out of bed with only a mild feeling of misery, put on a full cup of coffee, and did some quick reading before trudging off to class listening to the Muse cd with my large, unhip, headphones, and even more unhip cd player (which has batteries held in by a combination of cellophane tape and a broken chopstick).
The professor was fantastic. She’s young, intelligent, and seems to want us to learn and enjoy the material rather than scaring the shit out of us. The class was International Trade, a 2 hour lecture, which today was a dense, but interesting look at the same shit I’ve done in three separate economics classes…free trade, comparative advantage, and the reasons why we don’t actually have free trade. Nothing spectacular, although I did gain an insight that I will address in the next post. I figure I’ll be discussing some world issues or academic things on the blog too, hopefully to sharpen my ideas and get into some conversation eventually, which means feel free to respond…but chances are I’ll be talking to myself…as usual.
So…how was the first Harvard class…well the kids are definitely sharp. At least the ones who spoke. But then again, the kids who spoke today were clearly economics majors or econ specialists of some sort randomly spouting off shit about Pareto Efficiency and things of that nature. I didn’t feel terribly overwhelmed by the stuff that came out of their mouths, and thus far, the lecture didn’t make me feel stupid…so that’s a definite plus.
The thing I really noticed though, is that everyone who spoke today, and most of the students in the class were foreign. Random Euro kids, a bunch of Indians, a Chinese Muslim, several Africans, one black dude who spoke better Chinese than me, several Asians, and a couple of normal white kids. I don’t know why that is…whether it’s because it’s an international trade class…or because the make-up here is just that diverse. We shall see as I go to other classes…
Two things of note that really impressed me.
1) Outside the classroom, in the hallway, were huge tanks of Coffee with all the necessary coffee fixins so that we can just step outside the classroom and grab a cup of coffee. Nice.
2) The library I’m in now is incredible. The carrels are enormous with desk space at least 5’ x 3’ with ergonomic, soft, adjustable swivel chairs that rock, literally and colloquially. I got into a fight with A last night about the importance of work environment, claiming it wasn’t important. Once again, she was right, and I’m a douche for always fighting with her.
I’m in the library now…just preparing to read my 60+ pages for international trade before lunch. So I’m gonna go do that.
Oh yeah, and for the curious…my classes are as follows…
--Corporations
--International Trade
--Comparative Law: The Role of Law in Chinese Society
--Accounting (Pass/Fail)
--Whoredom in the Corporate World: My Seeming Descent into Something Very Wrong.
I’ll post later tonight.
Drinking:
Nothing. Harvard requires we use special, distributed spill-proof cups in the library and I don't have mine.
3 comments:
Ok, you are getting pissy cause nobody posts, so I am posting. Mainly because this is the first time I read your blog since your last post. Of course, thats because I am uber-important now cause I am working with the friggin ex-president of the United States (who we are going to hot box with the mary jane you left behind).
Your description of class sounds like that opening scene in Animal House, where the guys go to pledge Tau Omega, and end up talking to the loser crowd of exchange students.
You had a wine date with your girlfriend over the webcam. THat is either really pathetic, or romantic, I'm not sure which. But I assure you, I laughed in my head for about twenty minutes. I only stopped when your girlfriend suggested you and I have a beer date over the webcam. Thats like Richard Simmons gay. Ahhh, Ash is great. I'm even reducing her whining level, slowly but surely.
OK, watch out for smug alerts, and if you start talking with your eyes closed, I am going to beat you like the railroad building coolie your ancestors were (does LiLee read this?).
RS
P.S. - Just to reassure you, you are a douchebag
I'm not even sure how you found out about that wine date...I didn't post about it did I? I can only guess that she told you. In any case, no beer dates/events, unless it ends in some macho ritual that ends in monstrous amounts of blood or anger. Actually, that came out quite wrong...but I'm not going to re-edit it. And yes...that Animal House moment does sound like me...except, to your obvious and impending dismay, I haven't seen that movie either.
My mom just sent me: Bush Smack.
j
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