Getting to Harvard

4 Sep 2009 Left Gisborne on NZ2134 at 1555 (209 miles), the Auckland on NZ8 to San Francisco (6531 miles) just after 1900. Was lucky enough to get an upgrade to business economy, with the lie flat beds. It is a great way to fly. Watched a couple of movies the only memorable one was Hangover, which was very funny and refreshingly different to the typical cliché riddled American comedies that rely on forced jokes and a named star to pull funny faces. I owe Bridgette an apology as she suggested we go and watch it a few weeks ago and I wasn't keen. Got a shuttle in from San Francisco airport to my hotel, which is the Holiday Inn Fishermen’s Wharf http://www.hifishermanswharf.com/ Had a rest for a couple of hours, then went for a walk for about an hour west along the parade around Fort Mason, with some stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the harbour and the city. Came back had a shower and will go out for something to eat. 5 Sep 2009 Left hotel in Fishermen’s Wharf and took a shuttle to the airport. United Airlines UA176 departed at 1115 and took about 5.5 hours to get to Boston (2698miles), which is three hours in front of the West Coast, so it was about 2000 when I arrived. Got a cab into Cambridge which is where Harvard University is (couldn't see much at night), and checked into the hotel. I am staying at The Inn at Harvard Hotel for two nights before going to McArthur Hall where we will stay for the remainder of the course. http://www.hotelsinharvardsquare.com/ Walked into town and found a meal (lobster risotto) which was very nice, was going to get up early this morning and go for a run (or at least a decent walk). 6 Sep 2009 I woke up at 6:00am then immediately fell back to sleep and didn’t really wake up and didn’t get out of bed to midday!! Hopefully that means I have shrugged off any effects of jet lag. Cambridge is really beautiful, it reminds me a bit of Christchurch with lots of trees and old stone buildings (of course much older than Christchurch). Walked into town and found a Mexican restaurant for some lunch. There is quite a bit of pre-work to do for the course and I have been slowly working my way through it. Being captured on two airplanes for 18 hours was a great way to force yourself to read stuff that is a bit tedious. Went for a jog along the Charles River, which only proved how unfit I am, but that is one goal I intend to address while away. There is an invitation to meet any other course participants in the lobby of the hotel at 1830 this evening for dinner, which will be the first time I have any indication of who the people are on the course. Every time I come to America and I have been a few times now as far back as the early 1990s I am amazed at the predilection for quantity over quality and efficiency. As an example the cab I got in from Boston Logan Airport to Harvard was this huge V8 Ford, with phallic bonnet and equally large boot (trunk), but the room in the back seat was, while not exactly cramped, far from spacious, then they add a security shield which cribs a few inches of your space and the whole experience seems more like the back of a plice car on a B grade movie. I am not joking when I say that a Bridgette's Ford Focus would be have much more room in the back. There are 3 million taxicabs in the USA, so there is one easy way of reducing carbon emissions and congestion. Then there is the obsession with giant sized portions of food, crap food. The pleasure and satisfaction of food seems to be measured by the pound for mainstream America. Quantity always seems to win over quality at a given price point. The sun is out and it is about 19 degrees here today, which is apparently 66 degrees Fahrenheit (funny I can work pretty well in both metric and imperial until it comes to temperature).