Typhoons in July
Today it rained. And it rained. And after that, it rained some more.
You might recall a few days ago I said I wasn't scared of the walls crashing in. I wish to retract that comment.
Last night I got very little sleep due to the incessant howling of the wind. I figured out (only after I awoke this morning, of course) that my balcony door contributed mightily to the noise, and by opening it, the shrills went away. Of course then my blinds started flapping and rain slowly came in the room, but life is a bunch of tradeoffs. I chose the wet ground.
I've been informed by my fellow lab rats that this typhoon is supposed to last throughout the weekend. That puts a serious knot in my plans. Saturday I was planning to go to Danshui, an old historic town in northern Taipei and on Sunday I was going to go to Wulai, an area known for its indigenous crafts and hotsprings, in the south of Taipei. If it's pouring, I doubt I'll be doing either. This bums me to no end, as the weekends are really the only times I have to do day trips or serious exploring, but I don't intend on doing them in a wet and miserable state. And pretty much all the things I want to see and do involve hiking and/or outdoorsy things. If I am rained out, I'll have to comprise a back-up plan of a bunch of museums or the Taipei Sea World. Or I can consolidate all my living expenses so far on an Excel sheet--not.
It's probably obvious by now my weekday posts are a lot less illustrious than my weekend tales. Sorry, but that's the way it goes. Today I did give my first presentation to Dr. Yu and 6 other people, and I suppose overall it went well. There were a couple details I meant to clarify before presenting that I forgot about, but there's nothing I can do to go back and change it. Xiao Zhuo said I did a very good job and he could tell by looking at facial expressions that Dr. Yu was satisfied. Now I have to present that paper on TGF-B sometime in the near future, although I don't know when exactly that will be. I am going to redo my plasmid transfection all by myself and see if I can get better results, and then after that perhaps jump on a few projects going on in the lab. I don't think Dr. Yu has any cohesive plan for me, as he keeps emphasizing that this is "an open lab" and I should "explore and find something that interests me and get involved." I really like that idea in theory, but if I'm supposed to present a research paper when I get back to school, what am I going to present on?
Another tidbit of language exchange, which occurred yesterday:
Zhuo: Do you want to go to lunch?
Me: Yeah, just let me get my things. (Hao, qing deng yi xia.) (I come back, and start heading out with the others, noticing Zhuo isn't coming.)
Me: You're not coming? (Ni bu yao qu ma?)
Zhuo: No, I have to stay here and work. My lunch is, how do you say, will be FedEx-ed.
Me: Shenme???
Zhuo: Ping is bringing it back for me.
Me: Oh, you mean 'to go?'
Zhuo: Ah, yes! That is how you say it.
You might recall a few days ago I said I wasn't scared of the walls crashing in. I wish to retract that comment.
Last night I got very little sleep due to the incessant howling of the wind. I figured out (only after I awoke this morning, of course) that my balcony door contributed mightily to the noise, and by opening it, the shrills went away. Of course then my blinds started flapping and rain slowly came in the room, but life is a bunch of tradeoffs. I chose the wet ground.
I've been informed by my fellow lab rats that this typhoon is supposed to last throughout the weekend. That puts a serious knot in my plans. Saturday I was planning to go to Danshui, an old historic town in northern Taipei and on Sunday I was going to go to Wulai, an area known for its indigenous crafts and hotsprings, in the south of Taipei. If it's pouring, I doubt I'll be doing either. This bums me to no end, as the weekends are really the only times I have to do day trips or serious exploring, but I don't intend on doing them in a wet and miserable state. And pretty much all the things I want to see and do involve hiking and/or outdoorsy things. If I am rained out, I'll have to comprise a back-up plan of a bunch of museums or the Taipei Sea World. Or I can consolidate all my living expenses so far on an Excel sheet--not.
It's probably obvious by now my weekday posts are a lot less illustrious than my weekend tales. Sorry, but that's the way it goes. Today I did give my first presentation to Dr. Yu and 6 other people, and I suppose overall it went well. There were a couple details I meant to clarify before presenting that I forgot about, but there's nothing I can do to go back and change it. Xiao Zhuo said I did a very good job and he could tell by looking at facial expressions that Dr. Yu was satisfied. Now I have to present that paper on TGF-B sometime in the near future, although I don't know when exactly that will be. I am going to redo my plasmid transfection all by myself and see if I can get better results, and then after that perhaps jump on a few projects going on in the lab. I don't think Dr. Yu has any cohesive plan for me, as he keeps emphasizing that this is "an open lab" and I should "explore and find something that interests me and get involved." I really like that idea in theory, but if I'm supposed to present a research paper when I get back to school, what am I going to present on?
Another tidbit of language exchange, which occurred yesterday:
Zhuo: Do you want to go to lunch?
Me: Yeah, just let me get my things. (Hao, qing deng yi xia.) (I come back, and start heading out with the others, noticing Zhuo isn't coming.)
Me: You're not coming? (Ni bu yao qu ma?)
Zhuo: No, I have to stay here and work. My lunch is, how do you say, will be FedEx-ed.
Me: Shenme???
Zhuo: Ping is bringing it back for me.
Me: Oh, you mean 'to go?'
Zhuo: Ah, yes! That is how you say it.
posted by Shannon @ 9:29 PM
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