Topper's TravelsTopper Kain's blog. Topper Kain is a world-famous kazoo player and traditional norwegian food chef. He wants you to use the comments. Thursday, August 18, 2005Mostly taken from an e-mail to an old boss updating my life:I guess this update starts at the finish of two GRUELING years at Harvey Mudd. Despite quite a bit of hard work, schmoozing, and flat out begging I was unable to procure a job prior to start of summer vacation, so I went home to Bremerton. I was preparing to work at a restaurant or construction site or some other such college job but, no sooner did I return home than did I receive three separate interview offers, two of which resulted in job offers. Go figure, I finally give up on getting a job and I end up getting the two best employment packages amongst all of my friends. I eventually accepted the offer made by Northrop Grumman- Electronic Systems, Azusa, California which seemed like a mouthful at first but quickly came to seem very succinct compared to the projects I ended up supporting. These anagramastrophes included management support for SBIRS (Space Based Infrared Systems, an air force satellite system that can detect and report the heat signature of a missile launch anywhere in the world in less than 10 seconds; it is rumored to be capable of even detecting planes taking off, and being able to determine which type of plane), working with the software engineering department implementing CMMI (Capability Model Maturation Integration, and I still don’t know what that means; it’s a software engineering system the government really likes), and my personal favorite, coding software for a satellite simulator, ATMS (short for ATMS NPOESS, short for Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder, National Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite System, easily the winner for the project name least likely to fit on my resume). Working at Northrop was extremely interesting and a lot of fun, as was making money. It was so much fun actually, that it finally prodded me to do something I’d been meaning to do since high school: take a gap year. I decided that I was going to take a year off from Harvey Mudd and work, travel, and be merry. Unfortunately this meant I had to immediately move out of the dorm room I’d been living in during the summer. After a desperate search for lodging before becoming homeless, one of my friends, a Marine Corps Reserve Iraq War vet, offered to let me move onto the couch in the living room of his apartment for the duration of my stay in California. We ended up having a great time, and as the apartment was about a 30 minute walk from campus I was able to live like a college student without homework, and with money. As interesting work was starting at Northrop was starting to dry up (you think they would of changed to acronym after “Office Space”, but they were having me collect and analyze, “TPS reports”), I decided to fulfill my promise to some high school friends going to WSU to live with them before they went to Iraq with the Marines, an organization that my friends have been strangely attracted to. I went up there expecting to be able to experience a taste of life at a large university, and I was not disappointed. The football games were incredible, the university itself was far too big and impersonal, and the town was incredibly small. Regardless, I had a fantastic time, although my friends plans to get me a job working with him at Walmart fell through so I ended up with a lot of free time on my hands. Despite the release of Halo 2, I was able to put this to good work. Amongst other things, I learned how to cook (decently), learned about investing, wrote the start of what may become a business plan, and got really really good at beating my roommates on the x-box. I also started voraciously reading history and politics textbooks, which made me realize how much I love those subjects. I am now getting a second major in Politics and International Relations through Scripps College (the women’s college, which I find hilarious) to go along with my Computer Science degree at Mudd. Being up in Pullman was great for another reason: I was able to be the best man at my best friends wedding. It was a lovely ceremony, despite the fact that he had only known the girl for four months (don’t ask, we don’t). My speech at the reception was extremely well received, and the draft I read from is apparently framed in their house. I even got a few people to shed a some tears, which I consider a very high mark of quality. And then a month later he left for Iraq. So it goes. Because of said marriage and deployments to Iraq, I moved home for a about a month and a half before I continued on to my next adventure, studying abroad in Australia. Time at home was fairly uneventful, but my family loved me being there even if I occasionally felt a little out of place. It went by very quickly though, and I was soon off to Australia. Australia was, and is, and probably ever will be AMAZING. The wild life is unique and beautiful, the people are down to Earth and friendly, the cities and neighborhoods have a real sense of community, and, most important to a college student, they have public transit. More than anything else though I defiantly fell in love with the people there. Both the Aussie blokes and Sheilas were friendly, interesting, and companionable. They go out of there way to be inclusive of strangers in almost any environment and love having a good time. The work ethic was a real adjustment though; I am not used to offices that supposed to be open till 5 closing at 4:15 with no notice, nor was I prepared for being able to finish my entire scholastic workload in under 30 hours a week, although I was happily surprised. I felt constantly guilty that I wasn’t working hard enough, but in the end I got great grades in my courses, which I guess vindicates me. The feature of Australia that impressed me the most though was the pub scene. My parents accuse me of having become a horrific alcoholic when I say that, but it’s true. Australian pubs function as a sort of community center for Australians, and they work. At times some of the pubs reminded me of church picnics, with kids of all ages running around and everyone just talking, milling about and having a bit to eat. And many of these pubs were like this everyday. The sense of community they engender to the populations they served was a completely positive thing, much in contrast to what seems to be the stereotypical view of pubs and bars in the US. Australia wasn’t all positive for me. Early on I had a tremendous sense of guilt for being there while my friends were in Iraq, but I one of them cured me of when he told me online that “Goddamnit Topper, if you don’t have some better stories next time I talk to you, when I come home I am going to kick your ass,” or something like that. And as I mentioned before the Aussie work ethic could be maddening. The Aussie guys were prone to a lot of fighting, and although I never got involved in any I had a few close calls. The Australians also have some pretty resilient strains of sexism and racism in their culture, although they are ultimately fading away. All in all, I loved Australia and am hoping to go back. Okay, there is also some stuff about my side trip to Malaysia, but it is mostly me blabbering on about how beautiful it is. I will say that Malaysia really opened my eyes about how the US has neither sole claim to multiculturalism, nor is the US’s solution to it the only way. Overall the year off has I think reinvigorated my love of learning and readied me to perform well at Mudd in a way that I was lacking before. I understand both my place in the world and my own goals and aspirations much better, as well as the purpose of my education. And, most importantly, something is occurring that hasn’t happened since I left Bremeton in August three years ago: I’m excited to go back to school. .: posted by Topper 10:15 PM
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