Going Home

Going Home Im currently sitting in the SeaTac airport, waiting for my flight back to Boston thats been delayed for ~2 hours. One part of me is ecstatic to get back to campus after a much needed break, to see my MIT friends again and thoroughly enjoy IAP. But another part of me is mourning my early departure from the west coast while my closest high school friends remain here for another couple of weeks. That, and my family will be going to Seahawks playoff game(s) while Im stuck yelling at a TV about 3,051 miles away. I think if you were to ask me point blank, Where is home? I would say Kirkland, Washington. Its where Ive spent most of my life, where my family is and I return for the holidays, where I can get behind the wheel after six months of no driving and navigate the roads by a map carved into my memory. A home base, if you will; a place where Ill always be able to return no matter where my adventures take me. And because of this sense of stability, this idea that Ill always have somewhere safe in the world, Ive never been that afraid of uprooting my life and continuing to grow elsewhere. The idea of flying 6 hours (+/- the 3 hour time zone shift) away from everywhere Ive known was far less frightening than the idea of finding out my careful college decision was wrongthat MIT was not the right school for me, after all. Establishing MIT as a second home hasnt been the easiest idea to pound into my often-stubborn brain, to be honest. I didnt immediately have the IHTFP (of the paradise-variety) mentality. This past semester, especially, made me question my motivation, talent, future goals, mental health, and decision to stay enrolled in an expensive school while my parents are funding my education. While the strong friendships Ive forged over the past year and a half are a wonderful support system, I spent a lot of time introspectively thinking what I, personally, needed/wanted from a school and as a next stage in life. And Im still not sure I have an answer. What I did decide: my friends here are awesome and I wouldnt trade them for anything; theyre what make me laugh and remember to adventure and miss the school (for example, in a single day post-finals there was derpy reindeer piñata-makinghis name is Clarenceand spontaneous snowman construction, both pictured below) MITs very very flexible policy on switching majors is wonderful and I shouldnt be afraid to experiment you dont have to emerge from this school as an engineer… especially at the cost of your happiness (cannot stress this enough) anywhere can become a home if youre ready to accept it as one (cheesy, yes, but also true)   Anyway, my flight is boarding in approximately 5 minutes, I think Ive hit the deep thoughts limit for this post, and Im ready to read a couple of books and get back to my on-campus family. Update: My flight did not actually board in approximately 5 minutes. Because of the ruthlessness of bad luck, it was cancelled and I had to stand in a line with 300 other people until 2am trying to rebook. Not because of the weather, mind you, but because the first officer didnt show up. Oh well back to campus as soon as possible! Going Home Pan-Fried Chicken with Rice and Vegetables 3 chicken legs Rice (basmati or jasmine works pretty well) Carrots, snow peas (or assorted vegetables) Garlic and onion for saute Oil (for saute and pan-frying the chicken) Cumin Pepper 1. Coat chicken legs with cumin and black pepper (add garlic powder if desired). 2. Chop garlic, onion, and carrots. Wash snow peas. 3. Heat skillet, and add oil once heated. 4. Shake off excess cumin and pepper, and place chicken legs, skin down, on the oil to pan-fry. 5. Once chicken skin begins to change color/aroma begins to develop, add garlic and onion to the skillet to fry along with the chicken. 6. When the onion begins to take on a golden shade, add water to the skillet so that the chicken legs are 3/4 submerged in the water. 7. Place lid on skillet, and allow to steam until almost all the water has evaporated (10-20 minutes). 8. While the chicken is cooking, begin preparing rice. 9. Wash rice once or twice with cold water, and add 1.5 to 2 times as much water as there is rice. 10. Place rice on stove at high heat (uncovered) until the water boils. 11. Once the water boils, immediately reduce heat to simmer, and cover the pan. 12. Allow the water to evaporate until you begin to see crater-like indentations in your rice about the size of half a penny. Once you see this and determined that most of the water had evaporated, take the rice off the stove. 13. Continue to steam the rice off the stove, with the lid on for ~15 to 20 minutes. After this, take the lid off and fluff up the rice. 14. Sometime during the steaming process, the chicken should be ready. You should see the chicken and a condensed sauce at the bottom of the skillet. Remove the chicken and place on freshly steamed rice (when the rice is ready). Be careful not to leave the chicken on the stove too long as the sauce can easily burn once theres no more water left. 15. After youve taken out the chicken, you can use the remaining sauce to stir-fry the vegetables that youve prepared. (if the sauce is too salty from the cumin you can either use a portion of the sauce and add water or just boil/stir-fry the vegetables without sauce). It may help to place the carrots in boiling water for a couple minutes before stir-frying, as it helps to cook faster. Dont add the snow peas in too early as it only really takes ~1 minute to finish stir-frying it if your skillet is hot enough. 16. Serve with chicken, rice, and vegetables :) Its 6:45 AM, and Ive spent all of last night packing up the room and my last day enjoying Boston (which is amazingly gorgeous right now, albeit actually HOT (?!?! it was 90 degrees out)). My 24-hour journey back to Taiwan begins at 9:30 AM and Im heading off to Logan in about 30 minutes. This semester was the most intense semester I had (and coincidentally, also with the worst grades if you discount frosh first semester). This probably explains my absence from substantive entries and my random blog outbursts during finals week. =p Ive learned that Im okay at biology, but yes, it does suck to be a premed at MIT (mainly because of the grading scale, unless you are just really really smart and can stay on top of it =p). I know I complain a lot on the blogs (especially orgo =p), so heres an apology to all of you that were like PSSSH PREMEDS. Trust me, I dont like the premed mindset either but you gotta do what you gotta do. Maybe Ill get around to writing about my semester once Im back in sunny Taiwan and has caught up on sleep (I probably have about a 75-hour deficit at this point ). So, my friends, I leave Cambridge with this. If you dont like HSM, too bad. ^___^V