cosmonaut's day

So Tuesday April 12 is the official anniversary of the first man in space - Yuri somebody who did an orbit or two and then crashed down somewhere in Siberia I think. To celebrate, my space physics prof always has a gathering in the physics common room, followed by an entertaining little story-telling "lecture," and then moves on to an asian restaurant cleverly called "the Asian." It was kinda cool to go out for dinner with my prof and the other students in a relaxed atmosphere. Of course he may have been a bit too relaxed... memorable quotes from the evening included "Now before I get too shitfaced, I just wanted to say..." and class the next morning began with "Man I feel... poor."

Interestingly the day after cosmonaut's day is the anniversary of the first launch of the space shuttle, so upon leaving the asian we had to find a pub to hang out in until the appropriate time (which was something like 12:30 in the morning converted to New Zealand time). Being the only American left in the crowd I felt obligated to sing the national anthem.