A Different Sunday

I could finally woke up later than usual today. I ate a simple breakfast, and got ready to meet Ms.Scott at the RISD museum. The RISD museum is affiliated with the Rhode Island School of Design, and it has a collection of more than 91,000 objects.

The Green Posters

The Fonts

We walked on to the third floor, where the modern art and designs were exhibited. On that floor, there were two main topics that really caught my eyes. One of them was the Green Patriot Posters. On those posters, the artist used different images and symbols to create the urgency and importance of acting green. There was a poster on the rising sea level, another one was on the trash that we created, and another one was saving energy. These posters did have a great impact on me, and I would definitely act greener than before. Another topic was the modern innovations of numerous types of fonts. These designs for fonts might also had a great impact on the commercial world. There was a font that was used in the World Cup sponsored by Adidas, and it was then seen by billions of people around the world. It was astonishing.

Greek Water Jar

The second floor, I also saw some modern designs, but the exhibition started to go from modern to the 18th and 19th century. There were photographs from Andy Warhol, and there was also a dress designed by Calvin Klein, one of my favorite brand for clothing. The dress had a simple design and simple use of color, but it successfully showed the model's body lines and elegance.

Next, I saw the Greek exhibition. When I saw one of the water jar, I suddenly thought about the Disney movie, Hercules, because of the similar patterns and colors on the jar. Then I saw many different objects used in different occasions, from symposium, everyday life, burial, to gifts for God. I found them interesting because they had various shapes and patterns that represented different occasions, but at the same time, they had the same color and style that could tell us that they were from the same period of time, and those were their characteristics.


Kept going on, I saw an Egyptian mummy lying in the case. I clearly saw the patterns on the mummy; the facial expression, and materials, and even the small details all grabbed my eyes. I thought, "I am looking at and object that is so famous in human history!" After I looked at my watch, I realized that it was almost twelve o'clock, so I went downstairs to meet with the group.

Roger Williams National Memorial

Our next stop was the first Baptist church, but unfortunately it was not opened today. We kept going on and we arrived at the Roger Williams National Memorial. Roger Williams was the founder of Providence, and he advocated for religious freedom and communication with the Native Americans. He wrote a book called  A Key Into the Language of America, which covered the language use of Native Americans. He was an important figure in the U.S. history; his idea of religious tolerance is still present in the modern day, and it is even stated in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

After our morning tour, we headed back to have a simple dinner and go back to dorm to be prepared for the long-waited fancy dinner at Siena.

After a week of dorm food, I was really excited for this dinner. Because we left the dorm late and the bus arrived late, when we got out off the bus, we ran. Now I think about it, it was really funny because imaging five people wearing suits and running on the street was ridiculous. Fortunately, we made it. Coincidentally, some of the people on the bus were some of the students present in today's dinner.


People we met included alumni and current students. I sat with Juan, Helen, Richard, and Julio. Juan and Julio are class of 2012, Helen just graduated this year, and Richard is a rising junior. Juan and Julio are from Southern California, Helen is from Connecticut, and Julio is from Texas. We had conversations on various topics ranging from admission, high school, extracurricular, dorms, sports, favorite books, and even comics. I asked them what did they like the most about Brown University, and they all said the openness of learning in the campus. Since Brown University has the system of open curriculum, students do not have to follow certain course requirements, but discover what they really like by taking classes from all departments. They even said that it was easy to take classes ranged from over ten departments. Because of the learning freedom, they could learn new things everyday from classes, conversations with peers, and from activities in the school.

Aragosta Ciopino

At the same time, I had my Aragosta Ciopino, a dish with lobster, shrimp, baby mussels, swordfish, sea scallops, and calamari. At the bottom, there was a big piece of  Tuscan crostini that was eaten with the soup/sauce. The collocation was just wonderful. Every piece of seafood was tender, and the sauce was seasoned with the perfect amount of spice, salt, and tomatoes. That dish was perfect.

Beside the academic aspect of the university, we changed our topics into some entertaining topics. I said I like manga, and Julio and Juan said they like Avatar and X-men. After seeing their excitement on Avatar and X-men, I should read the comics just to see how interesting these series are. We also talked about sports. I participated in tennis, and Helen participated in track and field.

Tiramisu

While talking, I had my tiramisu, which was my favorite of all sweet desserts. There were two layers, and the design of the dessert was different than the ones I tried before. The serving was huge, but I managed to finish because it was too delicious. After the meal, I was so full, but I was really happy and grateful.

Happy time passed by fast. It was already eight o'clock. We wrapped the meaningful gathering, and they all agreed that we should start our college applications earlier just to have more time to be prepared. They walked us back to the Brown campus and even back to dorm. We shook hand and said goodbye, and our lovely evening ended there.

I am still full now, but all the memories were sweet as the tiramisu. I hope I will also have a dream sweet as the tiramisu. Good night, and don't forget that tomorrow is Monday again.