Class Note 1988
Issue
July-August 2021
Greetings, ’88s! I am excited to focus this issue’s column on news from several classmates living abroad.
First is Kendra (Lehnertz) Morgenstern, who lives in Tokyo. She lived in Japan for five years after graduation and, after returning in 1997 with Northwest Airlines “for 18 months or so,” she is still there. When I asked about a favorite part of the city, Kendra said she has had more time to walk during the pandemic and “the fun of this city is that almost none of the streets are straight and you can actually still get lost and find yourself at a hidden shrine or a tiny bakery or some other gem off the beaten path.” Kendra will travel to the United States this summer when her two children return to college and hopes to see classmates then.
Our next update is from Rudolph Stewart, who moved from Oman to Finland in 2020. He made the move after his partner, who is originally from Finland, went there in March 2020, only to have the borders close as a result of the pandemic. After Rudolph sought unsuccessfully to work remotely from Finland, he decided to move anyway. He lives in the old capital city of Turku and will start intensive Finnish classes after renovating a newly purchased flat. Rudolph hopes to give visiting classmates a warm tervetuloa (welcome).
Patrick Rutty also moved in 2020, from Denver to Edinburgh. He arranged with his employer to assume a new role and work remotely out of Scotland, arriving last February just before the lockdown began. He and his partner live in what Patrick describes as a Victorian tenement in central Edinburgh. In response to my question about a favorite part of the city, he highlighted Holyrood Park, which features both an extinct volcano and a castle. Patrick too looks forward to welcoming visitors, for whom he says he has the futon and his “modest whiskey collection” ready.
Our last two reports come from Australia. Tim Ambrose lives in a beautiful part of Sydney, overlooking Rushcutters Bay and park, and loves his work as a clinical psychologist. With the city’s coastal and harbor beaches, Tim regularly takes swims in the ocean and walks along the coast as well as on hilly footpaths. While he appreciates having lived in Australia for more than five years, he says he misses cultural and intellectual opportunities in New York City, as well as proximity to friends and family, and looks forward to traveling back to the United States soon. Melinda Harrington lives in New South Wales, where she has worked from home since March 2020. She reports feeling fortunate with the low number of local Covid cases and hopes to travel this year, perhaps to New Zealand. Melinda is passionate about ocean swimming, which she was able to resume last November, braving both pollution due to floods and a bluebottle sting. Her swimming group raises money for cancer research and so she persists, despite the obstacles.
Please send me your news and updates!
—Tory Woodin Chavey, 128 Steele Road, West Hartford, CT 06119; dartmouth88classnotes@gmail.com
First is Kendra (Lehnertz) Morgenstern, who lives in Tokyo. She lived in Japan for five years after graduation and, after returning in 1997 with Northwest Airlines “for 18 months or so,” she is still there. When I asked about a favorite part of the city, Kendra said she has had more time to walk during the pandemic and “the fun of this city is that almost none of the streets are straight and you can actually still get lost and find yourself at a hidden shrine or a tiny bakery or some other gem off the beaten path.” Kendra will travel to the United States this summer when her two children return to college and hopes to see classmates then.
Our next update is from Rudolph Stewart, who moved from Oman to Finland in 2020. He made the move after his partner, who is originally from Finland, went there in March 2020, only to have the borders close as a result of the pandemic. After Rudolph sought unsuccessfully to work remotely from Finland, he decided to move anyway. He lives in the old capital city of Turku and will start intensive Finnish classes after renovating a newly purchased flat. Rudolph hopes to give visiting classmates a warm tervetuloa (welcome).
Patrick Rutty also moved in 2020, from Denver to Edinburgh. He arranged with his employer to assume a new role and work remotely out of Scotland, arriving last February just before the lockdown began. He and his partner live in what Patrick describes as a Victorian tenement in central Edinburgh. In response to my question about a favorite part of the city, he highlighted Holyrood Park, which features both an extinct volcano and a castle. Patrick too looks forward to welcoming visitors, for whom he says he has the futon and his “modest whiskey collection” ready.
Our last two reports come from Australia. Tim Ambrose lives in a beautiful part of Sydney, overlooking Rushcutters Bay and park, and loves his work as a clinical psychologist. With the city’s coastal and harbor beaches, Tim regularly takes swims in the ocean and walks along the coast as well as on hilly footpaths. While he appreciates having lived in Australia for more than five years, he says he misses cultural and intellectual opportunities in New York City, as well as proximity to friends and family, and looks forward to traveling back to the United States soon. Melinda Harrington lives in New South Wales, where she has worked from home since March 2020. She reports feeling fortunate with the low number of local Covid cases and hopes to travel this year, perhaps to New Zealand. Melinda is passionate about ocean swimming, which she was able to resume last November, braving both pollution due to floods and a bluebottle sting. Her swimming group raises money for cancer research and so she persists, despite the obstacles.
Please send me your news and updates!
—Tory Woodin Chavey, 128 Steele Road, West Hartford, CT 06119; dartmouth88classnotes@gmail.com