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April 05, 2006

If Lauren had her way, we would spend all our free time visiting other colleges

We're back from our little vacation. Actually, we've been back for almost 48 hours now, but I've been in denial. It was so nice to get away from here together. Lauren was able to truly take a brain-break from work. Of course, the trip ended up being a student affairs geek college-tour-o-rama... We saw 8 colleges in one day -- it would have been 9 if we had remembered that Trinity was in Hartford -- and Lauren had the time of her life.

We spent Saturday late afternoon/early evening checking out Northampton before getting a snack in town and then going to dinner and a Nields concert at the famous Iron Horse. On Sunday we had the yummiest brunch on the planet and then began our whirlwind college tour... We saw Smith, then drove over to the synagogue in Amherst to see how far away it was and checked out Amherst and UMass on the way, and then we ended up at Hampshire because I'm crazy and had some weird need to check out a market near their campus. I have to stop for a second and say that I cannot BELIEVE that I applied to Hampshire. That place is nuts! I also officially believe that Obies have no commitment. They can't commit to being hipsters, like the people in Northampton have, and they can't commit to being crunchy hippies, like the Hampshire students do.

After that we managed to find Mt. Holyoke despite not having directions. It was eerily like St. Kate's, but I think I prefer St. Kate's. We made a quick stop back in Northampton for ice cream and then decided we were ready to depart and took off for Hartford. After checking into our hotel, Lauren decided she HAD to see Yale, so we headed out again, and we stopped along the way to see Wesleyan and Quinnipiac. And as I said above, we forgot Trinity.

And that was our trip. It was really nice. I definitely feel like I have a good feel for Northampton now. I can honestly say that I wish I had gone to Smith for college... I think it would have been the perfect fit for me, both in terms of the college and the town. It seems to have everything I got from Oberlin plus all the stuff I didn't get from Oberlin.

And I can also say that Northampton would be about a million times better than Oberlin if we end up there next year. It's sooooooo much bigger and more lively, and the food.... oh, the food. I expected something about the size of Oberlin, but I was pleasantly surprised. But it's also not what we're dreaming of. It's still more remote than we'd really like, and to be honest, it's a bit too hip for us. We're kind of stodgey and homebody-ish and I wear jeans and sweatshirts every single day and... We felt very uncool there. It seems like a good place to raise kids, though. And the fricking NIELDS live there! And the folk music! We'll never get that kind of folk scene in Minnesota.

So we have our answer. Minneapolis is home. Northampton isn't a bad 2nd choice, but it's not in contention for a top choice spot. I will say, though, that New England is gorgeous, and if we ever have to move away from Minneapolis, it's definitely on our radar.

Posted to Miscellaneous at April 5, 2006 10:52 AM

Comments

Posted by: deena at April 5, 2006 11:28 AM

Posted by: Jeanie at April 5, 2006 12:34 PM