Introduction
As a graduating senior, this is my last report as historian. I am still processing the fact that my time at French House has passed by so quickly. Although I will be doing the MEng in the fall, it still feels like graduation because I am leaving French House. My last semester at French House had many new events, which made it memorable indeed.
Giani and Jacob's French Marathon
At the start of the semester, roommates Giani '28 and Jacob '28 started a bet of who could speak solely French to each other in LMF the longest. Giani asked for LMF residents to contribute ideas on what the loser should do if they lost, and Kailyn's idea of wearing the French flag as a cape for a week was chosen.
The French marathon between Giani and Jacob last for about a week, and then Giani lost when he said, "I have to call my mom," in English by accident. As a result, Giani had to wear the French flag as a cape for a week where ever he went. Giani said that he got some strange looks from people on campus, but that's the point of wearing the cape.
Caption: A selfie of Giani with his French flag cape
In the past, French House did French marathons in which people had to speak French in LMF grounds except in their rooms, which had mixed results. Keith Winstein '03 was a big advocate of this challenge.
LMF x DH Mixer
In late February, French House and German House had a mixer, which was hosted in the French House kitchen. The mixer was indeed a mixer, as people in French House got to talk with German House residents. The event had many snacks and all kinds of drinks. The mixer was memorable for interesting conversation topics that I won't describe in detail. People who were there probably know what I mean. I will just say it was indeed a special night, as I learned about random things that I never knew before.
Intramural Volleyball
Kailyn '26 and Wes '28 organized an LMF intramural volleyball team this spring! The team played a number of games, and also included players outside of LMF on our team.
Tobi and Lowell's Dog
One of the biggest changes in LMF life was that Tobi '26 and Lowell '26 got an adorable Maltese puppy called Marty, who joined LMF in March. Marty is a friendly, sociable dog who likes hanging out with everyone in LMF! He loves running down the hallway to chase a tennis ball at night, and has definitely added vibrancy and joy to the life of LMF residents. Tobi has made many cute memes of Marty, such as the one below:
I have not asked alumni in the past about pets, but it is possible that Marty may be the first LMF dog!
May Meme Mania
In late April, Tony '27 organized a meme competition in May, which was called "May Meme Mania." Although last year's spring semester also had quite a few memes posted on the fridge wall, we did not have a competition. The main rule was that memes had to be related to LMF, such as nettoyages, cooking, or mice in the kitchen. We had many memes submitted by a number of LMF residents, which ranged from LMF's lack of knowledge about French language and culture to jokes about the $100 menu budget.
The competition consisted of tournament brackets, and the ultimate winner of the meme competition was Alysha's '28 meme of Tony in a maid costume, with Teo's '26 menu budget meme being the runner up in the meme competition. The competition encouraged residents to exercise their humor and creativity, and I hope the competition happens again next year!
Caption: The final bracket of the two memes (left: Teo's meme, right: Alysha's meme)
Senior Menus
The senior menus were delicious and were diverse for the types of foods and tastes. Lila did a passport-themed menu with three desserts: midori cake, matcha shortbread cookies, and a guava jam cake. Kate's menu was memorable for having an insane amount of steak along with some red wine. Michelle '25 went to Worcester to acquire lulo juice for their Colombian menu, which showed incredible dedication. In short, all the menus were yummy.
Caption: Lila's senior menu desserts
Caption: Grace's Chinese food senior menu, featuring chive pockets
Senior Brunch
Senior brunch began with a hearty meal of items including shakshouka, fruit salad, and sausage with potatoes. All the underclassmen gave wonderful toasts for the seniors. Unfortunately, the weather was not good that day, but we still managed to take a nice group picture in the New House lobby.
Quiet Lounge Findings
Although I have already written in the spring 2024 report about archives that I found in the quiet lounge, I decided to rummage through the quiet lounge again to organize documents. I came across a box full of old receipts and delivery orders. Before we used Instacart, we used Peapod delivery services. We also purchased many bulk items through Sysco. Most of the receipts and orders were mundane, but I came across a couple of interesting documents, in particular treasurer documents.
Before the age of the internet (late 80s, early 90s), the LMF treasurer had to manually record each person's expenses across different categories in an accounting book. This meant writing each number and each description neatly, column by column, and line by line. Based on a record from the late 90s, the treasurer had to go to the local bank to withdraw and deposit money. Nowadays, things are much easier with engage.mit.edu for purchasing the meal plans, though we were still using checks as recent as 2022!
Another interesting document was finding old dinner attendance spreadsheets. Back then, an X was used to mark a person who ate a meal, and a G meant a garde. According to Mary Ross '03, some people wrote multiple Gs if they wanted to get more food (G for grand). In the late 90s, people also had to record the number of units of milk or juice they drank by filling out a circle. It is good we don't do that anymore and go off of an honor code trust system for drinking communal items like milk or juice.
Closing Thoughts
It has been a pleasure being the historian of French House for the past two years, and I will hand off the role to Alex '27. My best memories at MIT have been at French House, and I am very grateful for the friendly, welcoming community. I hope that French House continues to document its history, and look forward to visiting French House as an alum.