Before The Graduation Day: Portland, Freeport, and Brunswick!
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A few days before graduation, my boyfriend took a flight from San Diego to Maine to be my helper during graduation. I went to school at Bowdoin College in Maine, so did Poy, but he hadn’t really gone to Portland that often during his time at Bowdoin. So, on the second day of his visit, we went to Portland together! (Note: Portland is definitely not the capital city of Main, but a lovely city to visit.) We took a breeze bus to Portland and dropped off at the monument square. It was a nice and sunny day, luckily!
Then, we walked around and went to Bubblemania, the only bubble tea shop in town. Then, we walked down to the pier to see the beautiful blue ocean. Portland is still worried about its COVID situation, so many places shut the indoor dining zone. We then went for Gilbert’s chowder, the place where Al and Nita (Emma’s host) suggested. We sat outdoor and ordered a lobster roll and two seafood chowders. The food was amazing and not so costly compared to its quality!
We then walked around for a bit to see the water again and also some souvenir shops.
I was craving some donuts, and there was an amazing donut place called “Holy donut.” However, the shop had permanently closed due to the COVID-19, so I didn’t get to taste it for one last time before I left Maine. With a hint of disappointment, we thought we would go to our next stop: “Freeport.”
Freeport is where the LL bean outlet is located. Emma and I have been there a couple of times, but Poy and I never went there together before. We went to several shops to look for some gifts for my parents and some for me. I got a wallet for my mom from Coach and got a nice pair of Sketchers with a cat pattern for myself. After that, we decided we would go back to Brunswick and take some rest.
A couple of days after that, Poy was staying with John and Margaret, our host parents, while Emma and I had enjoyed the activities that our school prepared for the seniors. Traditionally, the last week before the graduation was called “the senior week,” but for this year, it was shortened to “the senior days.” Emma, Doris, Ruby, Alina, Rosemary, Hikma, Esther, and Belinda. We went to take the class photo together and rushed to the lobster bake. That was the last free lobster bake that I got from Bowdoin, and it was surprisingly better than the ones I had in the previous years! In fact, the point of Bowdoin lobster bakes is not for students to enjoy some signature food of Maine, but for us to take pictures together and have fun.
The day after, I had dinner with Poy, John, and Margaret. It had been so long since I had dinner with them in their house, but it did feel warm and fulfilling every time I was there. Actually, there were several things I did during my senior days, including a get-together with my Japanese squats, going to a renovated Wild Oats bakery house, having dinner with Emma and Poy at Little Tokyo on the Maine street, seeing Professor Tanabe in her office and talking for two hours, taking pictures in gown and cap, packing and sending stuff to my new place in IL, and basically enjoying my leftover time at Bowdoin.
And there came the graduation on May 29th, 2021. After the weird three semesters due to the pandemic, we came back to Maine for the last semester ever. It was fun to be back and see our friends. I love having my dear downstairs neighbors, Ruby and Alexia, come to and chill in my room. My Bowdoin experience was quite an experience, but I could not ask for a better one. Although it was raining and cold during the graduation, everyone looked happy than ever. Thanks for a great education and precious memories, Polar bears!
P.S. Okay, that was not the absolute end of my time in Maine before I departed to Thailand. I actually stored my luggage with John and Margaret, and Poy, Emma, and I drove to visit Acadia and Bar harbor!! See the next post for my trip over there!
In this family trip, we visited several famous places in northern Vietnam, namely, Sapa, Hanoi, and Ninh Binh. For some people, the more they see the world, the less impressive some places appear to them. We also did not find this part of Vietnam outstanding from all the places we have been together, yet it was still charming and gave us vacation vibes. I’d recommend those who like natures to visit Ninh Binh; Sapa is also beautiful, but it seems have some construction going on at the top of Fansipan mountain.
After having to postpone the Visa appointment for a year due to the pandemic situation, my parents have now got their first ever US Visa! A month right after they received their passports, now with the US Visa attached to, they flew from Thailand to the US to visit me in Illinois. To be more accurate, WE flew together from Thailand to Chicago, though on different flights. Our itinerary was to visit Chicago, Washington DC, NYC, and, of course, my beloved corn field city, Champaign.
The spring semester ended on May 12, marking the end of my first year as a Ph.D. student at UIUC. To celebrate the hard work, I invited my boyfriend to come visit me in Champaign. But since Champaign has nothing much to do, we also planned a short trip to Chicago and also Florida! Poy had never been to Disney World before, so we tried so hard to make it happen despite the price of Disney world’s tickets. Poy flew from England to Chicago, so our first short trip happened in Chicago! It was my second time in Chicago, so I tried to visit different places than the last time I went to in January.
I usually don’t travel over spring breaks as they are quite short and most schools in the US have spring breaks around the same time, so everywhere is just crowded. However, this break was special because I went to visit my boyfriend in England! We hadn’t seen each other for a while (aka 8 months at least), so I didn’t hesitate to go there when I had a chance. Though I had been to many countries in Europe, I had never visited England. I went there for 5 days not including the flight time, but I felt like I got a very rich British experience thanks to Poy.