Alex, Montreal

I am currently in the computer lab in the basement of Burnside Hall, a.k.a. one of the ugliest buildings on campus (if not the ugliest). My mother lived in burnside once upon a time, when she was a math major. I remember the first time I came here, before I was actually a student, and didn't know which building it was. She advised: "The ugliest building you see, that's Burnside Hall". Her advice worked. Think a solid concrete block on the outside and a bland mesh of metal and concrete, though mostly concrete, in dull grey and brown shades, on the inside. If a warehouse and a dungeon had a baby, Burnside would be it. Although they did try to spruce the place up with tasteful aubergine couches and nifty computers, it still is, and always will be, Burnside Hall. Lili and I both theorize that the classical mindset (math, physics, etc.) prefers function over form, while the arts students prefer form over function. This is evident by the buildings on campus, with the beautiful Arts building, the Architecture Building, Morrice Hall (Theatre + Islamic Studies Library) and Dawson Hall, to name a few, while the Pure Science students live in downtrodden concrete blocks with weird abstract statues if they are lucky. They are probably too busy thinking about equations to really care much, though.

I am actually enjoying McGill, though I was depressed as hell when it was the only decent school I got into that I could afford without my parents having to take a second mortgage to send me there. It really does feel like an ivy league campus, with the stately (e)roddick gates, a pathway full of hanging rosebushes, a flowerbed bearing the University's crest, and lots of trees, statues, grassy knolls and gardens. I not only love my professors, despite those pesky 600-people classes (though Leacock 132 is a pretty well-designed space given how much cattle, erm, I mean students they have to herd into it), I am also quite lucky in that I have a nice entourage of friends (The Joint Honours M&T kids have totally adopted me as their token "Not") and mentors. I already have two research gigs lined up, one for this fall and one for next fall and got invited to a prof's place for beer and to Thompson House for lunch with another prof (okay, the last one's my cousin, but who's keeping track?) I haven't been as fortunate in Theatre, however, having netted solid rejections from both Savoy and AUTS. Fortunately, if I don't make it to the final play I auditioned for (The Oresteia... how I love greek plays!) I hope I can get to work on the play's Creative Team.

Anyways, if I don't leave now, I'm probably going to be late for my voice lesson. Stay tuned!

Cheers,

Alex