i went to downtown crossing this afternoon to meet jawei so i could take him to the museum of fine arts. he'd called earlier, asking if he could bring a friend. i got there a little bit early so i went to barnes & noble to do some book browsing. i wasn't planning on buying anything, but ended up getting two books, "sacred architecture" and "vision of the buddha". i also checked out some travel guides and i've decided where i'm going for my next vacation: nepal! my japanese friend horita is there right now, and from the photos i've seen of the place, it's very beautiful and unspoiled by the modern world. i hope to go by the start of next year if i can make enough money.

i went to jawei's school and called him from outside. his friend, a korean guy, went home earlier, so we waited for him to return to dtx. once he showed up, we took the green line from park street to the museum. it was an awkward combination, jawei's korean friend BJ could speak a little bit of english but not enough to have a conversation, and jawei didn't want to speak english at all, relying on me for constant translation help. we exchanged simple questions, like our age or how long we've lived in the US. i found out that BJ actually majored in vietnam studies back in seoul and i impressed him with the few vietnamese phrases i still remembered from my travels. this got the attention of a hispanic guy sitting behind us, "i couldn't help overhear, but you studied vietnamese?" he asked BJ. "how do you say, 'beautiful' in vietnamese?" he wondered. BJ told him. the hispanic guy sat back and repeated it to myself, lost in thought over his newfound language knowledge. "i'm either going to get a smile or get slapped," he told us.

by the time we got to the museum around 4pm, there was a long line of people waiting to get free tickets. there were a few school groups, as large body of young students shifted from gallery to gallery, their teachers explaining something artsy or historical to them. we started with artifacts from the ancient civilizations before moving on to the paintings. i now realize that museums like these are just a depository for stolen antiquity procured under the guise of research. i definitely saw some khmer statues that belong back in angkor wat, not in the MFA. BJ disappeared at one point, he seemed bored by the museum although i saw him taking the occasional photo. he ended up leaving early to attend a birthday party (jawei was invited too, but he didn't like the birthday boy and decided not to go), while jawei and i browsed the rest of the museum before taking the T back to cambridge.

my father delivered our dinner when we got back home around 8pm. all this food is spoiling me and i feel guilty receiving it, guilty and perhaps feeling i'm losing my independence as well. how many 31 year olds get food delivered to them every night from their parents?

one last thing: is it even worth mentioning? the red sox lost tonight, so now the yankees are finally back on top, and the hometown team finds itself in familiar territory, from the outside looking in. if the playoffs started today the red sox wouldn't even be in it. the yankees magic number is 11. brace yourselves, sox fans; it's going to be a rough next 2 weeks.