Getting a Christmas Tree

A couple of weeks ago we headed out to the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas symbols. Our Christmas Tree. Ain't she a beaut.

Honorary Italian

One big difference I notice between New York and Oregon is that New Yorkers are very in tune to their ethnic backgrounds. Many New Yorkers are just a generation or two removed from their home country and still practice honored traditions. Maybe Oregon is just too far west and all the traditions got lost on the trail or maybe I just don't personally feel an ethnic connection because of my mutt status. (I'm Finnish and Scottish on my mother's side but my dad's side is a mystery. Even if I were to celebrate my heritage, what do people in Finland do anyway?) In Rochester, neighborhoods are clustered around heritage (the German Swillburg), certain businesses are owned and frequented by transplants (Italian Martuchiello's Bakery) and several festivals honor homeland traditions (Greek Fest).

Jay's father, Richard, was first generation Irish. Jay's mother, Teri, is first generation Italian. This last year I've been introduced to a lot of Catholic and Italian traditions. Rubino's, our favorite Italian Deli, features tasty Italian fare such as pizzelle's (an anise flavored wafer cookie), soppersada (salami), canolli (a delicious cheese filled dessert), an intense olive bar and of course plenty of espresso. Any given day you are likely to meet several older Italians converging over a provolone and tomato sandwich and speaking Italian.

I've also been exploring Catholic traditions and asking myself, what does it mean to be protestant? (We rock out and don't do the sign of the cross) Tomorrow for Christmas Eve we'll be eating 7 fishes (and I'm not a big fish person). The contrasts are interesting and make me redifine and rediscover myself.


But on the whole, I think I'm being accepted. I can down a cannolli in seconds flat, I say "mingya" to add emphasis, and on a recent quiz identifying types of pasta, I got a 9 out of 10. Plus, I've found my missing brethren, out here, everyone has big noses! Though I'll never lose my roots, I'm becoming an honorary Italian.

Jay's 30th Birthday

On November 7th we celebrated Jay's 30th birthday. We rented a cottage on one of the Finger lakes about an hour south of here. We had a nice relaxing time cooking family meals, sitting by the fire and wine tasting.




Jay received some gifts to help him ease into his old man status...
A walker:




A package of Depends which conveniently pointed out that they are not to be used with boxer shorts:

A magnifying glass:

Whoa, put that thing down. It's dangerous.

Teri and Jay showing off his new set of cookware.

Our cottage:

The view of Seneca Lake:

Here's to 30 more years of great views like this one!

Happy Birthday Jay!

First Snow

This was the view outside our window this morning. The first snow has arrived! In fact, it's not going away...

I'm a little excited right now to see all the fuss. Part of me really doesn't believe them when they say we'll get blizzards and several feet of snow. Though by April, I'll be cursing it.

University of Rochester

Next week will mark my 2 month anniversary as a Career Counselor in the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester. I work with about 60 Master of Science in Business students. The program is a year long and allows students to focus on one of several topics including Accounting, Finance and Marketing. A majority of the students are international, mainly from China and India. These students face a lot of challenges such as, gaining visa status to work in the U.S., competing against students with MBAs and the economy. I love working here though because the students are very focused and motivated. I also love learning about other cultures and interacting with diverse people. My coworkers are also very welcoming and have gone out of their way to help me get acclimated. I've attached some pictures so you can see the beautiful campus (and for my family...my office). University of Rochester is a small private school like my undergrad institution, University of Evansville in Indiana which makes it feel very familiar and cozy.

The library. The dome is iconic, you can see it from downtown Rochester.




The student union.






The Gleason building, home of the Career Management Center for the Simon Graduate School of Business.


The lobby of Gleason.


Come in!


What you see when you walk in the CMC.


Our waiting room.


My office from the hallway.

My office!

Halloween 2008

Well, do we have a lot to talk about! Jay and I are finally getting settled in Rochester and hopefully I'll have more time to keep my fellow Oregonians (and other friends) updated on my new Northeast adventures. I'm going to start more recent and then play catch up with other happenings.

Last weekend Jay and I went to a Halloween party hosted by some Rochester friends. I dressed as a Geisha and was lucky to have Cousin Eddie from Christmas vacation as my date. Richard Simmons (aka Jay's brother Justin), a fierce female gangster (aka Justin's girlfriend Deanne) and a cowboy riding on Frankenstein's shoulders (aka Jay's brother Scott) all joined us. Enjoy..

My Students

The majority of the time my students act like the devil’s personal minions of torture but once in a while they do something that makes me chuckle. A few weeks ago I was lecturing to my freshmen about the Mughal Empire in India. One of the greatest Mughal Empire leaders was Akbar. He was known for his religious tolerance. In fact, he invented his own religion, a combination of Hindu, Islam and Christianity. I gave the students an assignment to create their own personal religions based on some values and ideals that were really important to them. What would your religion be called? What are some of your beliefs and rituals? This is what they came up with…word for word.

“My religion would be called Marlianism because we would worship Bob Marley. Instead of Father we would call him Uncle Bob. Smoking marijuana would be optional.”

“God would be called ‘The Great.’ The followers are called ‘The Greaters.’ The book of this religion would be called ‘The Holy Book of the Great.’ This book would have some rules that must be followed in order to be a good Greater.”

“In my religion there would exist at least two or three holy books. The first I would call ‘The Book of Life,’ the second would be ‘How to Survive with Big Mistakes’ and the third, ‘How to Die in Peace.’

I know you’re thinking: “Where do I get my hands on those holy books, especially, ‘How to Survive with Big Mistakes.’” I asked my student and it turns out that publication is indefinitely delayed due to a hold up in the editing department and apparently there’s a disclaimer on the front page of ‘How to Die in Peace’ that says if you have kids, if you rely on the U.S. dollar or if you are a Republican…too bad, you’re SOL. (he he he...just kidding!)

Below are some pictures of my freshmen at the Renaissance Fair. For my class they had to choose one famous Renaissance person to study and then create an information booth with activities meant to teach others about the impact their person made.

Despite the rotten students, some days this job can be very rewarding.

-Jen




Doesn´t Jay make a handsome Copernicus?

Does Anyone Else Hear Wedding Bells?

Last week we enjoyed a romantic and relaxing weekend in Canoa, a small beach town about 12 hours south of Quito. This small town has only a few main streets which are made of sand...perfect for exploring the town barefoot (except at high noon when you were likely to burn your feet!) Every day we went swimming or body boarding twice because the waves were so perfect. Our favorite activities including watching the ocean while we swung in the hammocks on our porch at the hostel and eating delicious selections of frech seafood. Every night we watched the sunset reflected in the waves. On Wednesday, while we were enjoying the last rays of twilight and the first stars hovering above, Jenny proposed to Jay... and he said yes. It´s official! Jenny gave Jay a silver ring engraved on the inside with "Mi vida, mi amor, para siempre" which means "My life, my love, forever." We are planning on getting married in August 2009 in Oregon. We´re so happy and excited to share this special news with you, our family and friends.







Our official engagement photo:

Hugs and Kisses to all. xoxoxoxoxoox

-JBird and JRo

Woo Hoo No School!

Apparently the rainy season this year has been worse than normal. Landslides abound especially in our neighborhood which rests on a steep hill. Despite a 2 week vacation we just finished, school is cancelled today and tomorrow because of this monstrosity:













This sink hole is 20 meters wide, 50 meters deep and strategically placed on a main road which prevents our students from arriving at school. Darn.