On Friday I was witness to a Bates tradition called the puddle jump. On the Bates campus there is a small pond, dubbed the puddle, and every winter a rectangle of ice is cut out of the center and bold students take the plunge. Of course, as this is a college campus, nudity is involved, as each year at least one member of each sex takes the plunge in the nude. I won’t elaborate further, let us just say that I had a great view. Any other crazy college traditions you can think of?

Although my roommate and I do not have cable, we do have an antenna so that we can pick up the networks. This weekend I saw some really fantastic programs. On Friday I watched Bill Moyers’ Journal, a show which is without a doubt the most intelligent news program on air. Bill talked with a range of guests, with insightful discussions about American tax policy and the hypocrisies of our push for democratization in the Middle East.

Tonight I caught a CBS News special about global warming which was surprisingly harsh against the Bush administration. The most shocking aspect of the hour-long report was the part about how science regarding global warming had been obfuscated by a White House political appointee, who was and now again is a lobbyist for the oil industry. Actual documents were shown which indicated the level of censorship, and scientists, one in particular from NASA, complained about how he had been restricted from speaking candidly with the media. It’s shameful how disdainful of science the Bush administration is, but I’m heartened that this news is finally taking center stage on a major network – it’s about time.

My other guilty pleasure was the Amazing Race. As far as TV entertainment is concerned, I find most of it awful, and for reality shows, doubly so. But the Amazing Race taps into so many themes that I like. Not only do participants get to see the world and engage in local traditions, but also each pair must come to terms with one another. As I’ve learned, spending a prolonged amount of time with another individual can bring out a whole slew of tensions, some of which can not always be dealt with. The drama of the show lies not within the race per se, but rather how each each pair copes under stress.

I’ll try not to write too much about TV, but now that I’m back in the US, I feel that my life is more normal than it has been in the past few years, and frankly, I don’t entirely mind.