The Agrinautica

   So yesterday I went up to visit the dashing Mr Matt "Papa Smurf" Wilkerson up at UCLA. It turns out he lives across the street from where my dad lived when he went to UCLA, and across a different street from where my mom did (its an intersection see) .. and just two or three buldings down from where I stayed there when I visited the UCLA Swedish department. Clearly this intersection is the cultural epicenter of the world.

   Anyway, shortly after we got there, Matt's roommate Arya came in and announced he was going to the UCLA Democrats vs UCLA Republicans debate, since he was speaking there. Matt & I decided to tag along as it was early and we didn't have anything else in particular to do. There we rendezvoused with Swati "Swat Team" Srivistava.
   While I'm a fan of intellectual discourse, I am not generally a fan of campus debates like this. Usually both sides manage to completely avoid eachothers points while hurling criticisms at eachother and everyone comes out a loser. This time didn't really appear to be an exception, although it didn't help that the moderator, the President of the UCLA Dems, frequently let "15 second response"s go on for as much as 45 seconds. I couldn't discern whether he was using such shoddy time keeping to his team's advantage or was just generally taking a lax approach to moderation, but I didn't think it boded well for the seriousness of the debate.

   We departed the debate as soon as Arya had spoken. Later we met up with Afshin Haghgoo, who had also staffed with Swati, Matt & I at AMPAC.
   We went to a party down the street, which happened to be in the same building I had stayed at when I last visited UCLA (!). There we ran into Nick "Luxurious Hair" Anduze, who had staffed with us at SDHSMUNC 2007 as well as been in Mara & I's committee at AMPAC 2006, as well as of course, been on MTV's Date My Mom.
   Also present was the Secretary-General of the upcoming UNA-USA MUN Conference that Matt's chairing and Swati is the Chief of Staff for. Incidently it has come to light that Swat Team has chaired no less than SEVENTEEN (17) conferences THIS YEAR. I previously thought my 23 chaired conferences was a pretty unassailably large number, but she's well-nigh caught up to me in a single year!! And to think it all started when she was a wee high school delegate in my committee at the first SDHSMUN Conference in 2004. I'm all for lots of MUN and all but.. someone should hold an intervention here!! (=

   Also I called my former roommate Grodecki, who lives in the area, but she was busy with a "Wrap Up Party" since they just finished shooting a TV series she was working on or something. Damn people and their real jobs.


Random Trojan Tangent
   In the morning I hopped on over to UCLA arch-rival USC. Now to go on a quick tangent about USC, USC's mascot is the "Trojans" right. There are also several high schools and such with the mascot of the "Trojans." What are Trojans famous for? GETTING TRICKED! That is ALL. They are the most famously bamboozled people in history! And academic institutions find it fashionable to portray them as role models?
   What else comes to mind when you think of "trojans?" Thats right, objects which nefariously insert soldiers within otherwise impregnable city walls with disasterious results. Which of course, is a brilliant thing to name a brand of condoms after, no?
/ Random Trojan Tangent


   Anyway, some 15 or so members of Phi Alpha Delta UC Davis had come down to tour USC and UCLA law schools, so I joined them for USC. By the time of their UCLA tour however I would be well on my way down to San Diego for the weekend. This evening the Davis delegation may join the so-cal delegations at the formal hosted by Cal State Northridge, which is being attended by most of the other so cal chapters.


   After USC I set forth to journey back down to my HQ in MV.
   However, I happened to get a call back for the paralegal position I had applied to in Long Beach. "When can you come up for an interview?" they asked "well, I'll be passing Long Beach in 15 minutes" says I. So I randomly took a job interview detour, and I think it actually went pretty well.


   Finally, Mara and I met up at MV HQ and carpooled on down to San Diego. And now I'm here.

   So this weekend I got flown down to UCLA, courtesty of the Scandanavian department.
   You see, I'm enrolled at UCLA now. Simulteniously enrolled at UCLA & UCD. I'm taking Swedish one at UCLA via videoconference, as you may recall.

   So Thursday morning I caught a flight from Sacremento to San Fransisco, changed planes, and flew to LAX. But seriously, who flies from Sac to SF?!?


   Arriving there, I got deja vu from the Scandinavian Department Lounge, and then I realized I'd been there once before, four years ago, when I was looking at prospective colleges (yes I visited the Scandinavian dept). Also the head of the department, one Mary-Kay Norsing (sp?), my mum had had as a teacher at UCLA about a million years ago (or around 30)? I hung out with my Swedish teacher (a grad student from Romania), and kicked around in the Scandinavian department lounge most of the day. Around four, students from my Swedish class and other classes of teh scandinavian dept starting showing up for the official department St Lucia party.
   There was ample amounts of glögg ("glugg," a warm apple cider with wine and other things added), as well as wine and cookies and other things, to make the party quite festive. Additionally the whole room was illuminated with candles. It was certainly not your average "on campus party."

   That evening, Schölotte, whom I was staying with, and her roommate Chrissy, decided to show me what a Thursday night at UCLA was like. First we stopped by Theta Xi of UCLA to see some friends of theirs and investigate the rumoured presence of jello shots. Finding none, we proceeded to a bar called Maloney's (which, I was told by someone else the next day, is the only thing to do). This of course was a highly cultural experience with me. After spending some time dutifully observing and taking notes, we escaped without further incident to report.


   Friday I spent most of the day bollocksing about on campus. I ran into Brian Jorgenson from high school ("hey I added you on thefacebook didn't ?" "yeah I think so" "awesome, see you later" (after explaining why I was there) ). Also ran into Chrissy again on campus, who incidently knows the infamous Chonchol Gupta, my friend from UCI.
   So I decided all the buildings on campus at UCLA make any of the building on campus at UCD look like crap. I was poking around in the UCLA library, thinking about how it looked like a catherdal, when I hear gregorian chanting. Up in the rotunda they had people performing medieval singing. I think we need gregorian chanting in the MU at Davis.
   I of course hunted down the student government of UCLA, and decided that like the other UCs I've looked into it doesn't seem as satisfactory as ours. Much as ours is wrought with allegations of corruption and malfeasance, I greatly prefer our constitutional monarchy based heavily on the US government (with three branches, senate, etc), then the loose system most other universities seem to have (just a bunch of commissioners in charge of various things - no senate, no clear deliniation of teh gov't branches). Their judicial branch DOES have a room though - at least, it shares a room with the Asian Pacific Student Association. At UCI the judicial branch had its OWN office. At Davis, we don't even have a dedicated filing cabinet.
   While thus skulking about, some confused student asked me how to get to Kerkoff Coffee House. I amused myself by being able to quickly and accurately direct them in teh right direction as if I was an actual student there.

   That evening six pm found myself and several other students sitting in the stairwell outside the scandinavian department while one of them played his guitar - because the acoustics in the stairwell were cool. Shortly more people arrived, including teacher, and we hung out and watched a Swedish movie (Tillsammans), with fewer professors and more alcohol than the night before (only Swedish vodka allowed though). O=


   Saturday morning my parents came up to LA to meet me. I met them outside of Schölotte's place on Landsfair st. They proceeded to walk about fifteen feet and announced "this is where we had our first kiss!" - which I met with the obligatory grossed out son's groan. Turns out just two or three houses down from where I had been staying were the respective co-ops me mum and dad had stayed at while at UCLA.
   So then I wandered around campus again with my parents while they pointed out various landmarks, we ate downtown, and then they returned my to LAX.
   At 4:35pm I left from LAX without incident, mere hours before the climatic UCLA/USC game would no doubt turn the area into a riotous inferno.


Related
   Mum's report on the same


Previously on EMOSNAIL
   Year Ago Friday: Vicki Swett & Resignations - RECENTLY DECLASSIFIED - another example of our reigning ASUCD monarch acting in reckless disregard for professionalism. I'll show HER "resignation."
   Year Ago Yesterday: The GASC Chair Has Peirced Nipples - and other revelations of an ASUCD Court hearing.
   Year Ago Today: Chancellor Vanderhoef READS THIS LIVEJOURNAL - Possibly my favourite entry EVER. Its entirely possible that I'll repost it in full within the upcoming few days.