A Foray into Tabletop Role-Playing Games Over IAP 25'

    This IAP, Christian 27’ and I organized a role-playing game with interested members of the house. To our pleasant surprise, a full 13 people (including us), expressed a desire to play, filling up two adventuring parties for Saturday and Sunday evenings. Nobody in the house had ever played, our experience with role-playing games was pretty much limited to the first five minutes of Stranger Things. To say the least, we were a little nervous, but the result blew away all expectations we had. 

The Magic of Role Playing Games

I started playing Magic: The Gathering in fourth grade, which turned into an obsession with Warhammer: Age of Sigmar in high school. These days I spend my time reading the instruction manuals of board games I will probably never play. The point is, I’ve played my fair share of board, card, and video games, but never have I engaged in an experience as unique as game-mastering a tabletop role-playing game. Allow me to share a bit of game from our second and third sessions:

After stealing a lockbox from a zombie pirate and fleeing from a Kraken, the party was ambushed by pirates, threatened by a humanoid draconic pirate wizard to open athe magical lockbox or else. After acquiring an arcane drill, Saurus the orc broke the seals of the lockbox, arousing an ancient demon lich from a 10,000 year slumber. In exchange for their help, the lich killed the threatening pirate, teleporting the dragonborn’s quite dead body to the forest clearing where my adventurers found themselves. Needing to dispose of the body, Woggle the thief suggested they throw it down a mineshaft, and one fooled dwarven guard later, the party skipped town, having both killed the most dangerous pirate of the Shimmering Seas and unknowingly commencing the apocalypse in the form of the demon lich Thradak’narr. 

What other piece of media can evoke such emotional highs, cinematic moments, and downright goofy shenanigans in the span of two hours? Best of all, the above game was entirely improved on my part as the game master. Going in, I was convinced the party would fight the dragon pirate, I had even planned a fun sea-battle. But the resulting narrative was miles more interesting than anything I could’ve dreamed of. 

Role-playing games are unique in that literally anything is possible. The game master allows for the players to react to the world in whatever way they chose, presenting a possibility space that is unparalleled even by the largest open-world video games or bloated Kickstarter board games. As a game master, I was constantly allowed to put players in interesting situations. Each session, I found myself preparing less and less content, gaining confidence in my players to propel the narrative with their own ideas. Sure, I had a general idea of a story in mind and possible encounters, but at the end of the day, the players were the ones who controlled the world, I simply wove together what they gave me. At any crossroads, I chose whatever was coolest, and when a bit of lore about our world came up, I turned to my players. “Althea, how widespread is the church of Theyrad?”, “Saurus, how do Orcs feel about magic?” This resulted in a simultaneously natural and engaging narrative. As I am writing this there are around 24 hours until my group’s final session, and I have only prepared about half a dozen bullet points of fun things that could occur. 

A Brief Aside: Dungeon World is really very good

I am by no means qualified to review this game. Dungeon World was my first foray into the hobby, and I have played for less than ten hours in total as only the game master, but still I feel compelled to say that this game is incredible. The game allows for an emphasis to be placed on what matters most: Having cool characters do cool things. By unburdening itself of the complex systems of other games, players can focus more on the collective theatre of the mind rather than the rules of the game. Players are focused on each other rather than the rules sheet in front of them. Every part of Dungeon World effortlessly propels the story forward, the Powered-By-The-Apocalypse system allowing things to happen

In Conclusion…

Role-playing games have a bit of a PR problem. Generally, these games tend to be perceived as complex affairs of many-sided dice, long tables, and rulebooks that look like fantasy spreadsheets. Sure, some games are like this, and those games have their respective audiences, but at the end of the day, role-playing games are about telling incredible collective stories. Anyone can enjoy these games, all that is required is a broad imagination and a willingness to be a little uncomfortable. And for those who think they could be a game master, I’d suggest going for it; there is truly no parallel experience in all of gaming. 

GTL Germany 2025 Blog

I can't believe that GTL Germany is over. Part of me feels sad that the program has concluded, though I remind myself that I need to return to MIT and go back to taking classes and doing research. It was an unforgettable, fun, and rewarding experience. I not only learned a lot about science pedagogy, but also learned a lot about Germany. Another great part of GTL Germany for me was making friends with the other MIT students in my program and the people at the university. 

Project Overview 

For GTL Germany, I was assigned to teach chemistry and science lessons at St. Marien's Gymnasium, a Catholic school for girls in Regensburg, Bavaria. The project was a collaboration with the University of Regensburg's Chemistry Didactics Department, which consisted of two professors and two college students who intended to become chemistry teachers. There were 6 MIT students, including me, at Regensburg. Instead of host families, we lived in the dorms. The university collaboration and large group made our GTL Germany experience unique, as most GTL Germany assignments involve two students at one high school teaching classes alone. 

Teaching 

Unlike other GTL Germany assignments that are three weeks long from 1/6 to 1/24, ours started on Thursday 1/9 because of Epiphany and student holidays. We taught chemistry for 10th-grade students, and English for 10th-grade and 12th-grade. The chemistry topics included the following: surface tension, electronegativity, dipole molecules and interactions, solubility, water's properties, density, etc. For the English classes, we prepared lessons discussing science and technology. The lessons included artificial intelligence (real vs fake), space exploration, and gene editing. The English classes were more focused on discussions and debates on recent science topics instead of talking about the technical details. 

It was a delightful experience to teach the students. In the English classes, they were engaged in the debates about whether AI-generated art is real art, and also shared their thoughts on the ethics of space tourism. I was impressed by their fluency in English because students in the U.S. can learn Spanish or French ever since middle school, but do not acquire true proficiency by graduation. 

For the chemistry classes, I learned a lot about how to properly design lessons. Going over the lesson plans with the university professors was very helpful, as I got constructive feedback and had a deeper understanding of how to teach high school science effectively. My approach to teaching science this year was better compared to GTL Italy, as my partner and I used the think-pair-share method, and we went around to check on the students when they were doing the practice problems. One main takeaway I got from the teaching experience was teaching at a more reasonable pace and not pressuring myself to cover so many topics in a short timeframe. 

High School 

One thing I found interesting about the school was its bell schedule. Class started at 8:00, and ended at 12:50, which is insanely early. In the U.S., most high schools end between 3-4 p.m., depending on the start time (8-9 a.m.). The reason that students get out early is that they have six periods, and each period is 45 minutes long. There is no 5 or 10 minute passing period between classes except for the 20-minute midday break after third period. I don't really get why classes don't have a passing period, as it takes a few minutes for teachers or students to switch classrooms and settle down. 

Although lunch isn't served at school because students go back home to eat lunch, the school has a kiosk that sells breakfast and snack items. At the kiosk, I got to try Leberkäse (Bavarian meatloaf) with sweet mustard for the first time. 

What stood out about the high school was the murals in the hallways, as my high school did not allow murals. The murals added some color and vibrancy to the interior, which I liked. 

Travels 

Although I only had two weekends to travel to other places in Germany, I was happy I got to see the places I wanted to see. On the first weekend, my GTL friends and I went to Munich and saw the iconic sights. We did standard touristy things like eating a Bavarian meal at the famous beer hall. One of the highlights of Munich was visiting the Munich Residence, a palace for Bavarian dukes. I was amazed by the architecture and room decorations, especially the antiquarian. 

Marienplatz in Munich 

On the last week, we went to Nuremberg on Monday afternoon. The place was incredibly beautiful, and we spent a lot of time taking photos on top of the Imperial Castle because of its stunning panoramic view. The streets were quaint, and the river view was picturesque. 

View of Nuremberg from top of the Imperial Castle 

A local "travel" we did was exploring Regensburg by participating in the city tour and brewery tour. I learned a lot about Regensburg's history from the end of the Roman Empire to the present day. The view of the Danube River at Regensburg was scenic and pleasant, and so were the cobblestone streets near the bridge. Winter has its own charm, though I would love to visit Regensburg again during the summer. 

The Danube River 

Food and Drink 

Before coming to Germany, I realized that I had little to no exposure to German food growing up. The only time I ate at a German restaurant was in this historic German town in Australia as a kid. I remember little except for the large portion sizes. Overall, I liked the food in Germany. I got to eat pork shoulder, schnitzel, and white sausage. I am not much of a meat person, but they were well done. Besides meat, I really liked the bread in Germany. It wasn't until I ate the bread and pastries here that I realized how much better the baked goods in Germany are compared to the U.S. Also, they are cheaper, as each item was between €1-3. I am going to miss the baked goods in Germany. 

Pork shoulder and knödel at the beer hall

I also loved the sweets aisle in the supermarkets, despite the fact that I didn't really buy any chocolates for myself. After eating the German chocolate brands like Ritter Sport and Merci, I realized that the chocolate I ate in the U.S. is overly sweet and doesn't have enough cocoa. On the other hand, the German chocolates have a more balanced taste. I am still astounded by the countless number of chocolates on the aisles, from Milka to Toblerone to Kinder. 

In terms of alcohol, I got to sample beer at a local brewery in Regensburg, and got to learn about the differences between light and dark beers and noticed subtle differences in their tastes. Beer is a big part of Bavarian culture and daily life, so much so that the university cafeteria and dorm has a beer vending machine, something that I never imagined before coming here! In Germany, the drinking age for beer and wine is 16, while spirits is 18. Also, a standard beer drink is 500 mL, whereas in the U.S. it is 350 mL. Besides sampling beer, I got to enjoy some cocktails I had at restaurants and bars. 

The Negroni that became an inside joke

Culture 

One special aspect of GTL Germany is the cultural exchange. The questions that the German students and professors had about the U.S. made us laugh because they revealed problems in the U.S., like health insurance and gun safety. These discussions made me look at my country from an outsider's point of view. I can't think of any culture shock, though some small things stand out, like how Germany does a good job with recycling, something that the U.S. can really learn from. One other difference was that people in Germany don't really talk on buses or trains, or if they do, it is at a whisper level. On the other hand, I feel like people in the U.S. aren't aware of their volume, or don't really care if others hear their conversations.  

Now that I have thought about this question more, I guess the biggest culture shock was that a lot of stores on Sunday close, like supermarkets and pharmacies. Although one could argue that this makes life more inconvenient, one could counter that by saying that you can do all the shopping on Saturday so you can truly relax and do nothing on Sunday. 

Conclusion 

GTL Germany was one of the best experiences I had at MIT, and I say this without any exaggeration. I became close friends with the other MIT students within a couple of weeks, and I got to immerse myself in a different culture. GTL Germany has once again reminded me that there is so much to learn from other people around the world, and that I benefit a lot from global experiences. 

MIT LMF Fall 2024 Report

 Introduction 

The 2024 fall semester for LMF was eventful. We welcomed 9 2028s, 2 2027s, and 2 2025s. The semester began with the 50th anniversary reunion, and concluded with Dîner de Nöel. Although the 2024s graduated in May, seeing many of them come back and visit us in December was wonderful! 

LMF 50th Anniversary Reunion 

Although LMF had its 50th anniversary celebration in May during Tech Reunions weekend, I decided to organize a second reunion during the Labor Day weekend for the residents and other alums. We had around 25 people attend the event, and it was a pleasure to see some alums come to the event (Jim '76, Barbara '76, Dan '78, Keith '03, Allison '09). There was cake, snacks, and refreshments in the MPR, then a house tour for the alums, since New House got renovated in the 2017-2018 school year. 

Half-sheet cake for the celebration 

It was fun to hear the alums share stories of their times at LMF, and learn how much LMF has changed over the last 50 years, from our first year in Ashdown with German House in 1974 to the present day. A fun fact is that Jim and Barbara are the first LMF couple! 

A group photo of the LMF 50th anniversary reunion

LMF Wedding 

Daniela '18 and Jakob '20 got married this summer by the ocean, which makes them the 14th LMF marriage! Cece '21 was the officiant. We can't wait to hear about future LMF marriages in the coming years! 

Wedding photo of Daniela and Jakob 

Wet Wednesday 

On Wednesday 9/11, German House invited LMF and La Casa to their Wet Wednesday mixer that happened from 10-1 a.m. Around 10 LMF residents attended the social event. The event was kind of loud and chaotic, but it was nice getting to know other cultural house residents. Our social batteries were on the lower end though, and we ended up just chatting in the New House courtyard. 

2028s Day Trip 

The 2028s organized a Newburyport day trip during the long weekend in mid-October. The group took the commuter rail, and explored the shops in the town. Some highlights of the trip included strolling around a fancy olive oil and vinegar store, getting ice cream, and having fun! 

Top row (left to right): Giani '28, Jacob '28, Libi '28

Bottom row (left to right): Alysha '28, Fiona '28

Fall Retreat 

 During Veteran's Day weekend, 12 LMF residents went to Vermont. Christian '27 and Greta '27 organized the retreat, and everyone had a great time. Here is what Christian '27 has to share about the trip: 

For the fall retreat, we rented 3 cars and went with 12 people to hike the Lonesome Lake Trail in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. We left Friday morning and stopped by a restaurant along the way for some quick food and then made it to the White Mountains after another hour. We hiked the trail, it was really pretty and as we kept going higher and higher, more and more snow appeared which was cool.

 Eventually, we got to the lake for which the trail was named and it was beautiful. We took a bunch of pictures and then started going down. Eventually, we got everyone and made it to the Airbnb which was in Vermont. We made dinner, watched movies, made smores, and just had a good time. We left early the next morning after making breakfast and then went back to the white mountains to stop by a scenic waterfall. Then we came home and made it back around 5 pm on Saturday. 

Dinner Plate 

One new thing that LMF has started doing this semester is taking dinner plate pictures, 0.5x lens portraits in which the head chef takes a picture of their plate. Zoomed-in shots of the plate were also taken. Social media chairs Eileen '26 and Greta '27 started the idea, and it quickly became part of cook team. As a result, the #dinner channel on the LMF slack is more populated, and there is more visual documentation of the meals that people cook in LMF, which is great! The dinner plate photos were also posted on the MIT LMF Instagram account at mit_lmf. 

Teo's '26 British food menu 

Giani's '28 Uruguayan food menu 

Thanksgiving 

Although the majority of LMF residents went back home for Thanksgiving, about a third stayed on campus. An LMF friendsgiving happened on Thanksgiving, which had a lot of good food, from Tobi's '26  pies to Teo's '26 large Swedish sandwich. Although turkey was not served at the friendsgiving, there was steamed fish. 

On Saturday, Kate '25 invited some LMF residents to her family's friendsgiving. Delicious Thanksgiving food was served at the event, which included Turkey and mashed potatoes. After the meal, the residents got to explore Kate's house. Overall, it was great to leave the MIT bubble and spend time with Kate's family and friends. 

Thanksgiving food at the Ellison's 

December Holiday Treat Challenge 

Tobi '26 started the December holiday treat challenge, which began on 12/1 and ended on 12/21. Each day was a different dessert. Although the majority of the desserts were cookies, there were also other desserts such as Fiona's '28 matcha pistachio muffins (swamp bread) and Alysha's '28 gluten-free chocolate lava cake. Many LMF residents participated in the challenge, and it was great to try a vast array of desserts, from the churro cheesecake cookie that Eileen '26 baked to the brown butter chai cookies that Anita '28 made. Overall, it was impressive to see LMF residents put their baking skills to the test. 

Another nice aspect of the challenge was that it added some festive spirit to the environment, especially the cookie decorating event and the gingerbread man cookies on the last day of finals. I hope this challenge returns in the next coming years and becomes a LMF tradition! 

Dîner de Nöel

This year's dîner went well! We had a total of 11 alums (2 2022s, 9 2024s) attend dîner, which is a record turnout. Teo '26 was the head chef, and Fiona '28 was the sous chef. The two did a fabulous job of planning the event. There were a lot of dishes, including many desserts such as the classic bûche de nöel and basque cheesecake. Unlike previous years, we did chicken skewers instead of roasted duck/turkey for the main meat dish. The chicken skewers were a success! 

Group photo of 2024-2025 LMF residents at dîner

Although dîner itself was memorable, what was just as or even more memorable was the cooking that happened before dîner. Maya '26 was responsible for the hummus, which required boiling a large quantity of chickpeas to serve over 50 people. Maya used a pressure cooker to speed up the boiling process for some time, and then released steam from the pressure cooker. What followed was incessant steam that made the hood grates and the electric stovetop wet. Thankfully, the steam eventually came to an end and the electric stovetop worked despite the water buildup. 

A video of the pressure cooker incident

Another chaotic cooking incident was the chicken skewers. The chicken skewers were fried on a pan, and this led to a lot of smoke, so much that it went to the dining section of the kitchen. Lowell '26 had to hold up a fan near the stove to drive away the smoke. Thankfully, the chicken skewers did not result in setting off the fire alarm. 

Conclusion 

This may sound like the introduction, but a lot of events happened this semester. Like the alums, I still find it slightly crazy that LMF is 50 years old. We have had LMF siblings, LMF mom/daughter pair, LMF married couples, the list goes on. I have no idea what LMF will look like in the next 25 or 50 years, but I hope that the cooking/baking traditions and sense of community remain strong after all of us graduate. 

Stories from LMF Alums

On Thursday, May 30, around 25 LMF alums attended the LMF 50th anniversary online reunion on Zoom. Attendees came from various class years, from 1976 to 2020. Hearing alums share all kinds of stories was a great and enriching experience. Although Zoom isn't the same as in-person, the reunion was fun and is something that LMF should do every year right around Tech Reunions, considering that not everyone can make it in person. 

This blog is a compilation of interesting stories alums shared. I did not transcribe the meeting, so the stories below are based on the notes I took. I am not sure how to organize these stories, but for simplicity's sake, I will organize them in chronological order based on people's graduating years. Unfortunately, this blog does not include all the interesting stories told in the Zoom reunion. Nevertheless, I think it's a good selection of stories. 

Barbara Miller '76 

What makes Barbara's story interesting is that she was originally in Russian House for two years, but decided to move to French House for her last two years. Barbara took Russian and French, and was "ready for change." Considering that the dorm community was founded in 1974, the early years of French House had few upperclassmen, as Barbara said that there were "four juniors that year."

 Construction of New House wasn't completed by the fall of 1974, so French House and German House stayed in Ashdown (now Maseeh) for the 1974-1975 academic year. French House and German House shared the same kitchen, but not surprisingly sat in separate rooms to eat. 

A funny story that Barbara shared is that French House and Russian House came together to invade German House because France and Russia were allies in World War II. At this time, WWII happened around 30 years ago, which meant that WWII was still considered as recent history for people in the 70s. 

Barbara met her husband Jim Miller '76 at French House, making them the first LMF couple! They enjoy long-distance cycling, and will bike across the U.S. this summer. 

Dan Halbert '78 

Dan was one of French House earliest residents and lived in Ashdown his first year. He jokingly said that French House "outnumbered the Germans quickly" in Ashdown, so it was called French-German House instead of the other way around. As the food steward, Dan went to the Stop N Shop along Memorial Drive (now Microcenter). Buying groceries was quite an ordeal, since he had to walk to the grocery store, fill the shopping cart with lots of groceries, then call the taxi to go back to New House. Nowadays, the food stewards order groceries online, which makes logistics easier. 

Jon Morrow '85

Jon talked about water games/wars in French House during his time, which we don't do nowadays. Back then, MIT had a tradition of "showering" the freshmen at the start of the school year, which meant surprising the freshmen by bringing them to the showers and getting them wet. He said that there was a "strict social code that you could not get water in people's room, but everything else was fair game." Jon also mentioned that people used rubber hoses and surgical tubing to make "industrial" water balloons, which could be "sprayed at the enemy." Although French House does not take part in that kind of tomfoolery nowadays, we still enjoy doing silly things such as meme posters. 

Another story Jon shared was how French House convinced the regional telephone company to install a telephone closet near the dining room in House 6 by convincing the company that New House was an apartment with a room number. While calling fees were expensive during this time, after 11 pm, they went down to "10 cents a minute," causing "everyone to use the phone during that time." Given that so many residents used the phone, the treasurer was also responsible for keeping track of people's phone bills. 

James Wooten '93

James discussed various things about French House, from French House's language requirement to French House's relation with the other language houses. 

Back in the old days, French House was a lot more serious about speaking French. French was spoken not only during dinners, but also in house meetings. French House held a French marathon, a language game in which the person who outlasted everyone else by only speaking French won the game. The basic rule was that the public area (kitchen, lounges) were French only. If you spoke "two words in a row in another language (except asking for definition)," you were out of the competition. The game ended up going on for several days, and finally ended when two residents were declared as winners. James credited Yves '94 as a great resource for French because Yves is a native French speaker. As Yves once said, "There's French French, and French House French." 

French House interacted quite a bit with German House and Spanish House, something that we should consider doing more in the future. French House shared a broken oar with Spanish House because French House and Spanish House had a joint intramural crew team. Spanish House liked taking the broken oar, causing French House to go to Spanish House every Friday at midnight to get the oar back. In terms of German House, French House shared a border with German House that was nicknamed the "Alsace" stairwell boundary because Alsace is a region in France that borders Germany. 

One memorable dish James made that Krista '93 said was the "best dessert ever" was a dessert he learned from his grandma. Consisting of four layers, the dessert contained butter, pecans, flour, cream cheese, and chocolate pudding. I wish I had an image of the dessert in my mind, but based on James' description, I can agree with Krista that it must be a delicious dessert. 

Allison Patton '09

Allison shared a hilarious story about a German House prank that caused a lot of French House German House drama to the point that French House president Michael '09 considered talking to the housemaster about the situation. In the wee hours of the morning, German House removed the shower doors in the French House bathrooms. This angered the French House residents because they couldn't shower, though German House assumed that French House residents would go somewhere else like German House to shower. The incident led to a very long email thread, which involved calling for a "peace summit" with German House. 

Daniel Levine '12 

Active in Dormcon, Daniel helped convince HRS to renovate the kitchens in New House, because back then the kitchens were smaller and unideal for cooking large meals. New House didn't undergo major renovations during this time, but the kitchens were renovated before the building renovation in 2017. 

Daniel said something about the French House experience that struck me for being reminiscent: "French House was a very formative part of my life. It was so in the moment and felt like a timeless thing. But you are gone after four years and everything is different." 

Alan Xu '13

Alan shared a funny memory about an interhouse event that a German House resident organized. The event was "Swiss-themed" because Switzerland speaks French and German. The guy in German House got stinky blue cheese that took up the entire fridge, which had a pungent smell. 

An interesting fact is that Alan introduced the French House GRA opportunity to Rebecca Kleinberger, a PhD student at the Media Lab. Rebecca was a great GRA and helped with the move out of LMF in March 2020 when COVID was declared an emergency. Uyen '22 remembers Rebecca for her fun charcuterie board event. 

Jesse Chang '18 

Jesse shared a lot of insightful information about what it was like to experience the New House renovations in the 2017-2018 school year. None of us current residents saw New House pre-renovations, but New House was structurally quite different compared to now. Before, New House allowed each house to paint a section of the column on the ground floor. Now, New House doesn't allow murals. 

As part of the negotiations between houses, French House moved from the fifth floor of towers 5 and 6 to the fourth floor of towers 1, 2, and 3. The renovations have connected all the towers, which makes the numbering of them outdated. In other words, current French House occupies the eastern side of the fourth floor. Although the renovation year had challenges, French House was fortunate to stay in New House during this time, though this meant having to move from towers 5/6 to 1/2 during IAP. For context, renovations were staggered, so parts of New House were still inhabited. 

Conclusion

LMF has a rich history of 50 years, from its early days to recent years. It was wonderful to hear people share all kinds of stories, from the German House rivalry to memorable meals. I will be graduating in a year, which means that I will step down from historian in 2025. Despite this, I hope that my interest in learning about French House's past will be passed down to future class years.