Ithaca is Gorges

Yes the joke is overused, but very true. As you can guess I got back from visiting Cornell.

My host was a first year student in the OR department. She was really nice as well as knowledgeable. One for the first things I mentioned to her was that I expected Ithaca to be a lot colder. I could have gone the whole visit without my jacket (which was a hassle when dealing with airports/airplanes). She was quick to inform me that I was lucky and had chosen one of the warmer days for my visit. Just two weeks ago they had heavy snow fall, and I'm sure I would have died if I had to go through it. Also I got lucky in the fact that most of the walking areas had the snow and ice cleared at the time. My shoes had no traction what so ever; looking back I wish I had brought my Vans instead of the Adidas. Sure there would have been no extra traction, but they would have gone better with my outfit and I wouldn't be bothered by the tongue (I really should buy a new pair or just cut them off).
On the first night I got to meet some of my host's friends. One was a first year graduate student in CAM (Center for Applied Mathematics), they met each other through one of their classes. A plus in my book since it just shows that there is interaction between the ma

The town itself is pretty small, so that will take some getting used to if I decided to go to Cornell. In terms of size I feel that it is somewhere between Holland and Gainesville. The only thing worse than being a small town is the hills. To all you Floridians out there, you have no idea what a hill is. Compared to the hills in Ithaca, Florida "hills" are just slightly inclined paths. On the bright side though, I will get in shape...or die trying. Needless to say riding a bicycle is totally out of the question.
As I said in the first sentence (well the title really) the town is gorgeous. Just think of all those Christmas cards or postcards of small towns covered in snow with the sun either setting or rising. Ithaca is much better than those. For some reason while I was there I kept making connections to buildings I saw to those in the Harry Potter movies. There was a portion of one building that reminded me of the Quidditch towers for spectators in the movie. I guess this is a 'happier' comparison than my sister and I made between one of the towers at WashU and the one in Mordor.

The OR department was fantastic. The building looked amazing, and you don't get the feeling of being trapped inside a lab. Also it is kind of a big circle so it is pretty hard to get lost and easy to learn you way about (which is always good when you're on your own). The faculty were all nice and easy to talk to, so no problems there. The graduate students were just as easy to talk to and they all seemed to get along with each other. They said that for the most part there isn't much competition (if any) amongst the first year students, because what is there to compete for really? However, this does depend on the class. On Sunday I had dinner with my host at a Korean restaurant, while I had lunch and dinner with the rest of graduate students on Monday. It seemed as if every other restaurant was an Asian restaurant. This actually isn't a problem since I LOVE Asian food, the more authentic the better actually. However, I don't think I saw a Thai place, so I will have to continue my search.

Overall it was a nice trip, and I think I could be happy in Ithaca even though it would take some getting used to. Good news is that there is a bus that goes to NYC so if I ever really need to get out of town (and have the time to do so) I can always go there.
Now I'm just waiting for my Duke visit. I've been told that it is one of the most beautiful campuses I will ever see, but I think it will be pretty hard to beat Cornell.