Have I mentioned that PRISE fellows are simply the most awesome bunch of people I've ever met?!
By a strike of good fortune my birthday fell on a Sunday, a week after the start of the program. Though I was away from home and couldn't celebrate the day with my family, my PRISE buddies went out of their way to make by birthday a special, unforgettable occasion.
To start off the wonderful day, a group of us trekked to China Pearl Restaurant in Boston's Chinatown late morning to have its renowned dim sum.
Though the reservation I made the previous night was not observed by the restaurant workers, we were fairly quickly seated in the crowded, Cantonese-filled restaurant. The chatty and tumultuous atmosphere transported me back to China, where meals are one of the most interactive and vivacious activities of the day. We unabashedly ordered a broad variety of dishes, especially for those among us who were having dim sum for the first time in their lives. Every one seemed to enjoy the atmosphere, if not specifically the food, which made me even happier. I was planning to play for the bill at the end (which at ~$80 was relatively cheap for a group of nine), but the obstinate others refused to give me this honor, and even disallowed me to pay for my own share! Image how bad and freeloader-ish I felt! I deeply appreciate their gesture and thank them for being such phenomenal friends.
After dim sum, which lasted a good hour or more, some split off to take care of lab work and chores, while four of us remained to ride the T back to campus. Once we arrived, we headed to the newly opened JP Licks ice cream store (to which President Faust was recently seen to frequent). While we ate our not-so-cheap but fairly big scoops of ice cream, we lounged outside the store and talked about almost everything ranging from work to relationships :)
After another hour of interesting conversations, I headed back to Lev G, as it was starting to rain. Exhausted from happiness, I took a nap, and woke up an hour later to behold a liquid blue sky outside striated by dashes of afternoon sunlight. I then checked my email, and was pleasantly surprised by seeing Happy Birthday wishes splashed over the prise-list, though I also felt guilty for those who had to deal with the extra spam.
Later that evening a sizable group of us (15 or so) invaded Bertucci's and took over half of the restaurant, literally. Unbeknownst to me, there was a secret plot filtering around, which was to buy me a cake and have a group birthday sing-along, with waiters included! I couldn't contain my smile when that happened - my friends' thoughtfulness certainly moved me, and I definitely wanted to embrace all of them at once!
Thanks everyone for that special day! Wow...you guys make my life worth living!
By a strike of good fortune my birthday fell on a Sunday, a week after the start of the program. Though I was away from home and couldn't celebrate the day with my family, my PRISE buddies went out of their way to make by birthday a special, unforgettable occasion.
To start off the wonderful day, a group of us trekked to China Pearl Restaurant in Boston's Chinatown late morning to have its renowned dim sum.
Though the reservation I made the previous night was not observed by the restaurant workers, we were fairly quickly seated in the crowded, Cantonese-filled restaurant. The chatty and tumultuous atmosphere transported me back to China, where meals are one of the most interactive and vivacious activities of the day. We unabashedly ordered a broad variety of dishes, especially for those among us who were having dim sum for the first time in their lives. Every one seemed to enjoy the atmosphere, if not specifically the food, which made me even happier. I was planning to play for the bill at the end (which at ~$80 was relatively cheap for a group of nine), but the obstinate others refused to give me this honor, and even disallowed me to pay for my own share! Image how bad and freeloader-ish I felt! I deeply appreciate their gesture and thank them for being such phenomenal friends.
After dim sum, which lasted a good hour or more, some split off to take care of lab work and chores, while four of us remained to ride the T back to campus. Once we arrived, we headed to the newly opened JP Licks ice cream store (to which President Faust was recently seen to frequent). While we ate our not-so-cheap but fairly big scoops of ice cream, we lounged outside the store and talked about almost everything ranging from work to relationships :)
After another hour of interesting conversations, I headed back to Lev G, as it was starting to rain. Exhausted from happiness, I took a nap, and woke up an hour later to behold a liquid blue sky outside striated by dashes of afternoon sunlight. I then checked my email, and was pleasantly surprised by seeing Happy Birthday wishes splashed over the prise-list, though I also felt guilty for those who had to deal with the extra spam.
Later that evening a sizable group of us (15 or so) invaded Bertucci's and took over half of the restaurant, literally. Unbeknownst to me, there was a secret plot filtering around, which was to buy me a cake and have a group birthday sing-along, with waiters included! I couldn't contain my smile when that happened - my friends' thoughtfulness certainly moved me, and I definitely wanted to embrace all of them at once!
Thanks everyone for that special day! Wow...you guys make my life worth living!
No comments:
Post a Comment