Word: europeanize
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Mimicking the attitude of most provincial Americans with regards to Europe, typical River-dwellers marginalize the Quad as "a nice place to visit--but I wouldn't want to live there." The Quad, like a stereotypical European town, has been pastoralized as a picturesque locale lacking the modern conveniences of urban (Square) life--i.e., 24 hour drug store, cash machine, parking garage. In actuality, the absence of these so-called amenities promotes a more relaxed lifestyle. In Europe, as in the Quad, a sense of community flourishes at a safe distance from standard consumer hubbub. Out here on the margins...
...aforementioned sense of community, doubted among outsiders, is a very real and powerful kinship arising from shared experience. Whereas the River Houses lack continuity, the Quad is a united federation like the European Union. On one hand we are composed of autonomous nations--Great Britain, France, Spain--and distinct and independent Houses--Currier, Cabot, Pforzhemier. On the other hand, we are linked by the documents we carry in order to travel: the common Euro passport and, in our case, the indispensable Shuttle schedule. We also, therefore, tend to identify ourselves in this supranational context; one often says "I live...
This culinary misconception, a paradox widely known but rarely admitted in polite conversation, is a carbon copy of the European counterpart. In the US we adore fresh Italian pasta and rich French desserts to no end, while Europeans, especially the youth, flock to crowded McDonald's for the phony Le Big Mac and outrageously overpriced American soft drinks. As far as we are concerned, River folk should indulge their xenophobia at the over-commercialized Friday's Americana Bar and leave us to enjoy traditional European pub life at Christopher's and Cambridge Common...
Among the more obvious similarities is the fact that Europe and the Quad both experience some ambiguous delay in receiving new developments. For example, it is said that European music is stuck in the '80s. Though perhaps we're not a full decade behind, the Quad is surely last to be hit by Harvard's emerging trends. It takes us longer to receive University mail, hear gossip and contract flu epidemics that strike the River weeks before. When things eventually arrive on our distant shores, they are never quite the same as the original product. For example, Temple...
...veritable sport in these parts (Tour de Quad?). On the other hand, maybe our mysterious physical and intellectual appeal results from a feeling of alienation which elevates our existentialist sensitivities. During our leisurely strolls to and from the Yard, our minds ponder how these sentiments were expressed by European literary geniuses from Unamuno to Malraux. Which brings me to my next point: Quadlings are undeniably well-read. But really, how could any Quad resident resist frequenting the Hilles scene, its penthouse teaming with well-suited recruiters and sultry social studies concentrators...