My return to New York this fall brought with it a new housing situation: I am residing in an international abode, with about 500 other students from 94 different countries, studying everything from opera to peace teaching to organizational sociology. Dinner this evening consisted of steak fajitas and conversation about interntional criminal justice with a Belgian. This afternoon I said hello to a resident from Ghana on my way to check my mail, and earlier this morning I read the paper next to two musicians from Germany. I live down the hall from a structural engineer, a classical singer, and a German banker.
Life is good.
The house itself is complete with a fitness facility, dining hall and staffed kitchen, music practice rooms, commons rooms, library, gymnasium, parlors, auditorium, a rooftop terrace, a private park, furnished bedrooms, wi-fi, and a pub. It's rather easy to find something to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
The history of the house itself dates back to the 1920s, when Harry Edmunds met a lonely Chinese student on the steps of the Columbia Library and invited him to supper. Thus began a simple tradition which blossomed into a global community: one supper turned into many suppers, and one guest turned into nearly 500. The venue shifted from a single house to a Rockefeller-sponsored mansion, and yet the tradition continues on Sundays as per usual.
Being among so many professionals (the average age is 27 - taken from a range of 21-52), and experiencing how many different ways of living and learning are possible gives me hope for my own path. The feeling is one of being in the "right place at the right time"....
I recently attended a Community Weekend, at a camp north of Manhattan, and there were about 40 of us for an overnight stay. Bonfires, boating, team-building (ropes course), and games galore. It was encouraging to see and hear how everyone was eager to meet one another, to engage in a meaningful dialogue about who they were and where they were from, and make a new friend...or forty. No sense of timidity or closed-off behavior - these were people who take to heart the idea that life is an adventure, and to approach it with open arms.
My only disappointment is that I cannot spend more time inside the house, getting to know everyone - alas, my school schedule keeps me busy to the hilt, and with the recent addition of being cast in the Fall production (yay!) I don't expect to have a lot of free socializing time until later in the semester. There are a whole host of programs that will boggle the mind: language exchanges, community mentorships, jazz evenings, open mic nights, dance classes, intramurals, study groups, and field trips galore! Living here could be someone's full-time job.
Yet, I'm looking forward to this coming Sunday, which will mark the 100th anniversary of the supper tradition. (Again, right place, right time....)
The guest speaker is an environmental journalist from the New York Times - so I'm brushing up on my nature news.
Truth be told, I'll probably just go down to the 3rd floor and ask one of the Australian residents to get me up to speed over some coffee tomorrow....
