Thanksgiving 2013

It's been 5 years since we've left the Bo' (going on 6) and every year, we've tried to have a Thanksgiving meal together.  It's a challenging feat because we're never all in the same city on Thanksgiving (though the Wongs were kind enough to adopt me one year) and the season gets so clogged with other holiday events.  The "we" also shifts year by year.  But the Bo' Thanksgiving meal was one of those rare moments when we all acknowledged that these friendships and familiarity we shared felt like family and ate together in celebration of that (and the abundant meat that was served in the usually protein-stingy dining halls).  I think we managed to eat our (pre) Thanksgiving meal actually before Thanksgiving just once.  Last year was the first time it happened in January.  And this year followed the model set by 2011.  Except with oysters.

Do you see what a thing of beauty this is?  I can't believe I went to the same school as the guy that made this happen.  Turns out, you can learn how to start your own oyster business with a liberal arts education.  Nic brought oysters (he claims that winter is a great time for them because they're nice a fat, though if you ask him in a few months, he'll also tell you that summer is the best season for oysters...) and we all ate to our hearts' content.  I had never gotten full from oysters before.  Nor have I had so many sweet, plump, and fresh oysters.  But I did yesterday.

I get that almost everyone loved their college experience.  And most people liked their colleges, too.  But I am convinced that the Bo' is just a little bit special.  There's a loyalty and closeness that I don't see elsewhere (hence the record breaking reunion attendance).  We talked for hours yesterday, not just about each other, and the goofy things we did, but we talked nerdily, of courses that stumped us and professors that shaped us, for no other reason than because those memories are blended in with "good college times."

(on her freshman year history class)

LT: That was such a hard class.  If you guys ever-

Joe: If we ever what?

Nic: Don't take that class for a grade?  If we're ever taking classes at Bowdoin College again?

We did pretty well in our gathering yesterday.  We had econ, psychology, environmental studies, chemistry, biology, and sociology represented.  Among us, only Dr. Regis is practicing medicine (though no longer in med school).  It seemed, however, that everyone else in our class is on their way to becoming a doctor.  "Whatever happened to so-and-so?"  "Really?  Med school?" we kept asking ourselves, "Wasn't he a romance language major?"  "Wasn't he going to be an economist?"  "Didn't he swim around the world?"  Maybe med schools aren't as selective as they let on.