The Luncheon on the Grass

transitions are always grueling, and none is more excruciating than that from a 20-meal plan to a 10-meal one. at the beginning of this semester, as i struggled to provide for myself half of the meals that I used to take for granted (literally), the mckelvy house picnic came to my rescue and convinced me once and for all that my decision to switch meal plans could not have been wiser.

the picnic was extremely popular and well-received among the residents. to illustrate how coveted it was, i would like to recount one anecdote. when i came out of my room and marched towards the picnic site, i happened to bump into colin. i said hi to him and asked a question that i then thought was redundant: “are you going to the picnic?” to my surprise, his answer was: “picnic? there is a picnic? sure, why not!” so my supposedly rhetorical question, instead of being redundant, turned out to boost the turn-out of the already spectacularly attended event. obviously colin was up to some really exciting engagement, yet he forwent his prior commitment with a complete lack of hesitation and disturbance as if his original plan was as mundane as to eat at farinon. i believe no more words are required to demonstrate the unparalleled enthusiasm aroused among the residents.

i reached there a few minutes before the stipulated time because my hunger rendered staying in my room unbearable, though i pretended that my early arrival was due to my eagerness to help. my pretension was readily debunked because i forgot to also pretend i was not totally idiotic at cooking. staring at the preparation being done by prof. lee, lauren and eric (at that time i didn’t know the people very well, so i apologize if i forget anyone else who was also helping), i grew more hungry. when the food was all ready, i was elated to be assigned the noble mission of carrying some plates from prof. lee’s kitchen to the porch, a good distance of a few yards. though it wasn’t a particularly demanding undertaking, a sense of achievement overwhelmed my humble being and i began to regard myself as a useful member of society.

the moment of truth came with the revelation of the food. the conversations that ensued was so enthralling that nobody seemed to mind the absence of chairs. talking while fiddling with juicy chickens, however, certainly made the conversations appear less philosophical. on a side note, one of my most rewarding lessons from the picnic was that to think the set of all existent tablewares is sufficient to deal with chicken is a presumptuous over-generalization. another was that i refreshed my memory of the genuine taste of a watermelon, or the taste of a genuine watermelon, after a year’s experience with the chemical-rich ones from farinon.

i found it a little amusing that megan and colin didn’t know the other was also a marquis scholar after 3 and 4 years in the program. when dan mentioned that nobody showed up at the recent russian club meeting, only after i had laughed heartily did i realize that i was a member of that club. lexi kindly enlightened me on the exhilarating art of sarcasm (i really believed that “neuroscience is the best major ever” and congratulated her on her astute choice), which i still constantly failed to decipher up to this very day. i also learned that julie was going to study abroad at university of **** ******, which is very near to where i would go. i hesitated about mentioning julie’s study abroad destination: according to dr. michael jordan, disclosing that information is against the federal law; so i’m afraid that should i reveal it this humble post would not only be unconventional but also unconstitutional.

after the luncheon, the motivated residents participated in a keenly contested tournament of badminton. to my amazement, a random person also took part in the game. he showed a genuine interest in the sports because he did not take any of the food, just like those people who attended lunch talks without grabbing any pizza. only on the last day of class was i informed that the random person was actually prof. cefalu, who is in charge of the marquis scholar program. upon hearing this piece of intelligence, i was relieved that during the badminton game i suppressed my urge to relate to him an amusing incident i had just learned: the one about megan and colin not knowing the other was also a marquis scholar.