Silicon2tanana reportage

debs said...

What would a typical night out back home have been, compared to what you'd do in Fairbanks? Do people do the same things, just with warmer clothes, or is the social life different?

I have personally had a change in lifestyle with my move, so a lot of what seems different to me are not due to the Fairbanks vs. Sili Valley thing. They are due to the student vs. working thing. Also, I'm probably not the best person to define "a night out" since I've always been a bit of a prude (living in sin and frequenting nude beaches notwithstanding). When I was in my early 20s I liked to go out to nightclubs and go dancing, but I generally left earlier than most (around 1 or 2 am at the latest) and returned home to my own bed (evidently not as common a thing to do as I had believed at the time).

Lately, Dan and I have had very tame nights out. For the aforementioned birthdays and symphony concerts, we'd just go to a nice restaurant and then go home early, haha that sounds so much like elderly folks. There were also our office holiday parties. Office holiday parties in the silicon valley are lavish affairs, even when the economy wasn't so good (I'm not sure how these parties are now, though, since the economy is even worse than during the downturn I experienced). Let's see, I've been to parties on boats, while cruising in the San Francisco Bay, in a giant tent on Treasure Island, with the lights of San Francisco as a backdrop, and of course, lots of ballrooms in lots of fancy hotels. There were platters of giant prawns and lobster tails, fountains of chocolate into which you dipped cookies of half a dozen shapes, gambling tables, elegant live music, and, best of all, the sight of my nerdy coworkers dressed up, the women generally looking beautiful and the men generally looking awkward. :)

A funny observation I made at most of these parties was that my engineering coworkers mostly had wives who were also engineers, and while they could certainly be attractive, they did not make "being attractive" the focus of their presence. They made intelligent conversation, and were warm and friendly. Most of the smarmy marketing guys' wives, in contrast, were trophy wives, and dressed accordingly--elaborate hair and makeup, silicone-enhanced breasts threatening to overflow elaborately beaded décolletage, which was clinging for dear life to the thinnest of spaghetti straps. Until I met them, I had no idea that women like that even existed in the Sili Valley. Most of them were coldly polite to each other, but overly warm to me (they saw me as a darling little boobless child, not as competition). They called me "honey" and put their freakishly tan, perfumy arms around me. I was both amazed and amused.

Here in Fairbanks, I have no idea what office parties are like, since I've never been to one. We grad students do get together quite often, but only in a very casual environment. We have potluck-type dinners at each others homes, and they are mostly casual and loosely planned. My friend Carl is in a band, so we often go see him play at various pubs around town. We never dress up. There is quite a lively music scene around here, with local bands playing at pubs and coffee houses, but to be honest, I've never seen any that aren't Carl's. :)

I haven't yet been to the Fairbanks Symphony, but I would bet that people don't dress up to go. I personally don't even think it's safe to wear high-heeled shoes on ice, and I absolutely don't feel safe driving around in a dress in this weather, even if I have a warm coat. What if the car breaks down and we need to walk out for help? Or what if I am alone and need to change a tire?