I am so confused, that I must study the urban dictionary

I am so confused, that I must study the urban dictionary.

A new, a new country, a new home, a new set of audio equipment, some new friends, so many new restaurants to visit, oh, life is nice. But I still miss S, friends in Finland and elsewhere, some places in many other parts of the world. I do consider missing good - if one does not miss anything, one leads an empty life devoid of any real meaning. And such a life is not for me. What follows is a random collection of events, observations, and descriptions of daily life, both mental and not.

I finally moved in my new home in Back Bay, Boston, this morning. Milton and Mirja, by whom I have had the priviledge to spend this weeks, gave me and my luggage a lift. I also got to know a bit of the principal sights here - local people are great guides. I also received my bicycle after waiting for it for 5 days. Or, actually, most of it: the front wheel is missing. Fortunately Air France promised to give me money for a new one. Otherwise the bike seems to be in good shape. It seems that someone had simply removed the front wheel, maybe in order to fit the bike in some small space, and then later forgotten to assemble the bike.

I live in Back Bay, one of the most expensive areas in Boston. This is a nice place, with quiet streets, not too much traffic. Beacon Street, in which I live, does not have any stores, but 3 blocks away in Newbury street there are enough shops, restaurants, cafes, laundries, food stores, pharmacies, art galleries, hardware stores, etc, to meet all my commericial needs. One block further, in Boylston Street, one can visit some large shopping malls, cinemas, and one superb food store. So, the only thing for which I have to leave Back Bay, is MIT, to which it takes 25 minutes by foot. Or then one can take the subway, which takes also about 25 minutes, as one has to change trains once. The nearest cheap restaurant, Pho Pasteur, serves inexpensive Vietname food until 11.30 pm. For example, a large bowl of seafood noodle soup cost 7 dollars, which means that, after all, there is no pressing need to cook at home. But I have bought some cooking untencils anyway, and even cooked some pasta for myself today. Cooking is nice, but also a great way to feel lonely.

I bought a new stereo-set: Model Two and Model Cd from Tivoli Audio. Their sound is as good as they promised. Excellent engineering by an MIT-graduate. Strongly recommended. The radio has great reception and the sound quality is surprisingly natural for such a small system.

In USA, or at least in Boston, one must put one's garbage bags outside one's door on Mondays and Thursday. One must not do that on any other day, neither must one try to take the garbage bags outside oneself. In China, one could put the garbage bags outside one's door any day. In Finland, one must take the garbage bags to the garbage bin of the property. Small things, but it does take some time to get used to all of them, when one moves around the world.

The subway stations have both revolving door and normal doors. The normal doors are automatic and, basicly, reserved for those using wheelchairs. But I have noticed several people who cannot anymore fit through the revolving door. So they are using the automatic doors. Boston Globe told yesterday, that the number of obese people has almous doubles in the last 13 years. So, soon the revolving doors will be useless. The not-so-anorectic men here have a funny beard-fashion: they sport a thin line of beard making the place where the chin should be, but is not. It is rather funny.

Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs January 2005".