Year number six

It's hard to believe it, but this fall marks the beginning of my sixth (yes sixth) year in Massachusetts. (Consequently, this also means I just had my fifth anniversary with the city of Boston, which is apparently the wood anniversary. I actually just got a pair of wooden salad tongs from Kenya from my sister, so don't worry about sending any gifts, I'm all set.) While this place has definitely grown on me, I can't ever forget my roots.

So I'd like to take a moment to compare and contrast six facets (Six! Get it? It's like a theme) of life in California and Boston.
Politics:
Yeah, they're both pretty liberal. But let's look at the men in charge. Both governors are republicans, both are pretty boys, and both had no prior experience in government. Both also made millions of dollars in Hollywood starring in a bunch of blockbuster mega-hits. Oh wait, no they didn't. Point to Arnold (and CA).

Baseball:
We all know baseball is a religion in Boston. Blah blah blah, curse, blah blah, hope springs eternal, blah blah. Well the Giants and the Sox are both hideous at the moment. I think everyone would rather not talk about it. No points for anyone.

Diplomas:
I got two really sweet diplomas out of all those hard years of studying. Tufts had the prime minister of Greece speaking at graduation, LAHS had the principal (the fourth in four years no less) so it's kind of tough to pick a clear winner... But Tufts was willing to put my middle name on the diploma while LAHS wouldn't... so point to Tufts (and consequently Boston) on that one.

Mexican food:
--Boston's got Anna's Taqueria. They make really great burritos.
--California's got about a million taquerias that blow Anna's out of the water. Sorry. Point CA.

Coming of age:
Going away to college means learning academics, learning about life, and learning to drink. I've seen Boston's bars, and most of them were nice establishments. Being 21 here is fun. But even more fun than turning 21 is turning 13 as a little Jewish boy. I mean do you have any idea how many gift certificates I got for Tower Records? Plus I just found a $25 savings bond packed away in a drawer that's worth $32.58 right now! From a purely financial standpoint (hey, I work in accounts payable) the bar mitzvah was a pretty good coming of age. Mazel tov California. You get a point.

Running:
Tough one. I grew up running in great weather on some great trails out west. But Boston's a running city. From a "hardware" standpoint, I earned a boatload in California starting with six first place ribbons in the Junior Olympics (three-peat in the 1320 yard run and three-peat with the Almond Elementary 4x880 yard relay), and most recently a ribbon for a first place finish in the 2006 Donner Lake International Triathlon Relay. Lots of ribbons. Tufts, on the other hand is responsible for the All-American award. Point to Boston. (CA you can have a ribbon for the good effort.)


So I guess it's a pretty close competition... But Boston gets a bonus point because I'm still here, so the final score is 3-3. It's a tie! Everyone's a winner!