So Amherst College has this fancy dinner event, named as Pindar Dinner, which apparently serves to encourage "students of different academic and social backgrounds" to mingle around with one another. Apparently, the students of Amherst receive the chance to attend such dinners at random. It as another opportunity to eat good food (although it was the same guy in Val who cooked it, the food was really good!), to suit up (I'm kinda surprised that I have as little opportunity to dress fancily here in the States as I had back then in Singapore), and to meet up with new friends, so I replied yes without batting an eyelid.
Therefore, after a long week (3 tests, 3 quizzes, and a few more essays to write) I walked to Lord Jeff's Inn in the fanciest attire I could possibly don, which is a dark blue suit, a neon blue skinny tie, a light blue shirt, black pants, and a pair of black pantoufles. It was awkward in the beginning because the dinner is flooded by upperclassmen and I barely know any of them, and I was stuck with Matthew, another freshman who frequents my dorm. It's fortunate he was there though, because he helped me fix the tie.
We were assigned into seven tables, and I got the table number seven. Again, it was kinda awkward in the beginning as I tried to start a conversation with the two ladies sitting by my side, but they got very responsive after a while. On my left was Stephanie, a junior in the swimming team who speaks fluent Spanish. She is super friendly, and was one of the primary conversation keeper in the table. Jennifer was sitting on my right, she's a sophomore from Korea who apparently had plenty of friends from the Raffles Institution of Singapore, and whose primary hobby is partying.
Oh right, the dinner began with a speaker. A particular history professor with a very difficult surname (therefore I couldn't remember it, sorry prof!) shared her experience and the lessons she learned as she tried to earn money in Alaska by working in the fishing industry. It was outrageous. She had friends who came together with her, but she was alone in the end. She slept in a tent for the six months of her job, and she worked for 16 hours everyday in all conditions. As I hear her story, I remembered that I read somewhere: Bad decisions make good stories. Her decision was not bad, it was bold and brave, and it really made a good story.
Anyway, as the dinner progressed, the conversation expanded to throughout the whole table. We actually went around and introduced ourselves, in the midst of drinking several non alcoholic "wines" (yes, in the States, the legal age for alcohols is 21 years old) which are supposed to serve as aperitifs paired with the crab cake, salad, chicken, and the mousse we had. I am lucky to be placed in the table no. 7. Not only the people are talkative, funny, and friendly, the ladies are rather cute as well. So on Stephanie's left was Ike Zhang, a sophomore from Canada who sings for DQ. (Double Quartets, Amherst College's famous acapella group) Next to Ike was Arthri, a superb violinist, then there was Emily (I have met her, she volunteered for Splash before), and Gabriel, a super friendly sophomore originally from Bolivia who moved a lot as he grew up. Next to Gabriel was Seewai, who looks like a halfie and is an English major. Next to Seewai was George Tepe, who was the president of Amherst's Students Association, and a very charming overall. After that, we are back to Jeniffer.
It was truly fun. I learned first hand on how Americans can be super passionate about calzones, that calzones are not quite substitutes for pizza (wow). I also learned that Valentine used to be way worse than it is today (I am in fact a big fan of valentine, but not when I miss Asian food though), and also how grab and go only started to exist last year. To those unfamiliar to Amherst, Grab n Go is a lunch alternative provided in Amherst College, where you grab a sandwich/salad, three sides, and a drink, and you can nom your food while doing work. It is a godsend. I have a pact with Jordan to barter my three sides and one drink for another sandwich or salad, which I think is way more worth it, but more about it someday.
Anyway, thank you very much for the dinner. I really enjoyed it, and hopefully I will get to know the people I met better.
-Truly Indonesia's Finest
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