Fall Family Weekend + Halloweekend

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When: Friday 28th - Sunday 30th October

What: a semesterly opportunity for the school to bring parents on campus and show them a slightly lovelier and more palatable side of the school (than the students see on a daily basis). Great guest speakers are brought in, and the school provides some programming, for example in this case academic department open houses.

Some of the lectures that went on:

• "The Economic Value of Good Teaching" - Economics Lecture with Jonah E. Rockoff '97
• focusing on systems for hiring new teachers, the effects of No Child Left Behind on students and schools, the impact of removing school desegregation orders, and how primary school teachers affect students’ outcomes in early adulthood.
• A Conversation with Former CIA Director John Deutch ‘60
• Director Deutch will discuss topics relating to intelligence in post-9/11 society, including the apprehension, detention, and interrogation of suspected hostiles, the role of paramilitary and unmanned aerial forces, and the need to balance security and privacy.
• no space for me = I didn't attend... similar situation 2 years ago as a pre-frosh when I tried (in vain) to attend a Nate Silver talk 

The issue with such high-profile talks at Amherst, however, is there isn't a large enough space on campus to house the number of interested parties for such events. For example, the largest such space, Johnson Chapel, which was used for my Convocation -- and which I didn't attend because I couldn't find a seat -- can only seat 600. Not great for a school of 1600 students.

What else: food tabling in Val from vendors in the area... 

apple sauce... me: "do I need to eat this with anything" ... them: "nope"

I now know the difference between apple cider and apple juice

maple syrup cookies -- so great!!!

roast beef and shrimp 

Anyways... although I'm an international student, I still had the great luck of having aunts and (an) uncle visit me! However, they had the bad luck of not booking hotels far in advance (>6m) and so had to suffer from the accomodation that was the Howard Johnson inn.

• Lesson: book hotels (e.g. Lord Jeffrey Inn, far in advance for large school events)

And we caught up, went shopping, and discovered some great places to eat in the area such as:

• Lumber Yard -- where the waiters and cooking staff were in costume!
• Gohyang -- great Korean
• Esselon Coffee Roasting -- mmmm

And of course, Halloweekend calls for some party/costume/celebration. Pics from Friday night, and Saturday night: