|
When you come to Boston this Fall don’t make the same mistake I made five years ago on October 20, 2004. I was coming back from a date to my dorm when a wild group of delirious students beat through the doors, all yelling like in an improvised chant that suddenly everyone knew by heart:
“The Red Sox beat the Yankees!”
“The Red Sox beat THE Yankeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!”
“World Series, BABY!!!!!!!!”
“World Series, ALL THE WAY!”
I stood there, amused, but… I couldn’t care less. After all, I was from a country where soccer was king, where the name Babe Ruth didn’t ring even the tiniest of bells, and where baseball was seen as America’s deliberate, almost evil, self-imposed seclusion from world culture.
So I followed the traditional pattern for an international student in America:
Make fun of baseball, deride it.
Then, upon experiencing multiple awkward moments where you realize the jokes begin to hurt some people’s feelings, control yourself, only uncorking the baseball jokes amidst your foreign groupies. It becomes the “in” thing, you know.
Then finally, ignore baseball altogether, arrogantly – like some Belgian royalty mistakenly teleported to a gin joint in rural Missouri and sat in a bar stool right in front of a crummy black-and-white TV showing a baseball game. Better to blow the dust off your nails than watch that pitiful spectacle, right? (When can we go home? Can we just get this over with?) All while downloading early-season games between obscure teams in the Bulgarian minor league.
No biggie, I was only ignoring a team questioning the existence of God while battling to overcome an eighty-six year-old championship draught. In Game 7 of the most heated rivalry of America’s most beloved sport. The fans all around me were going to that special place where all fans go when their team wins a championship after generations and generations before came to pass without seeing one. And I didn’t go. No biggie at all… No biggie at all…
Yes, I was that person. And yes, I did commit that arrogantly ignorant mistake of not partaking in one of the most passionate, soulful, supporting, loving fan bases not only in America, but the entire world. Without a doubt, ignoring the Red Sox in only their most important moment in history is undeniably the biggest mistake I will have made in my entire life in Boston. Even if I go bonkers stuck in traffic on Route 2 and decide to run a person over.
Don’t make this same mistake, even if the Red Sox don’t win the championship this year. Partake in the experience. Revel in the joy. Get a game ticket and hang out in the bars by Fenway until doors close. Boston will embrace you.
But, OK, I realize this may have been just a HUGE tangent for you. If you’re a non-Bostonian American who’s applied already for citizenship in the Red Sox Nation just from the vicarious effect of it all, or if you’re an international who just happens to like baseball – which is supremely strange and probably didn’t win you any dates in high school, but hey, this is MIT! – here are some warm leads for things to enjoy in Boston. Only if you’re a cross between a goofball, an intellectual and a romantic. But aren’t we all?
- On your first date, go to Wally’s, the jazz bar on the Boston side of Mass Ave a few blocks past the Berklee College of Music. It’s no secret in town that Berklee students can really light it up on the night scene at the bar. So why not enchant your date with that Friday night when all colors, sounds and motions at Wally’s combine to magic-wand your scotch with that alluring shine?
- For the date when you are beginning to fall in love, there’s a restaurant inside the Museum of Fine Arts. It’s called Bravo. Well, let’s just say there’s nothing like a fancy dinner date after you’ve just seen a great exhibit. What’s more, there’s a guy there running the bar – though I’m not sure if he’s still around – who makes mojitos that truly define this fine highball. And he’s in-the-moment kind of guy, too. He’ll always mix in a few words and smiles here and there that’ll make you look great in front of your date.
- Take a bike ride to Walden Pond. Again, date-related, but doesn’t have to be. It can equally be a trip to reconnect with buddies or a trip to ensconce from the city with your visiting friends or relatives who may have accidentally visited New York City on their way to you. Go there when it’s still warm, the 14 mile ride will get you fired up and there’ll be nothing like jumping in the water. You may even see some fish swim between your legs – it’s that clear and beautiful – and feel like a child all over again. (People need that at MIT). The scenery all the way there will be fantastic too.
You’re in the right place, so enjoy. And I don’t mean MIT, not just yet. But Boston. So there.
Ps. The focus on dating in the advice column was completely unintentional – just cranking out what’s been memorable. But to atone, I might just mention that the best part about Boston is that the beach is just a few T rides away, and not more than 40 minutes from MIT’s Kendall station. Just get to Park Street and take the Blue Line to Revere. But then again, you can go there on a date, too.
|
