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| My First Semester..it's like the title of a Scrubs episode. While "studying" for finals this semester, I have also managed to watch a lot of TV via my new (but annoying) friend Hulu.com and some other websites. If you want to talk about.. The Office, 30 Rock, Grey's, Ugly Betty, Scrubs, Arrested Development, BBC's Robin Hood (THE BEST!) or the occasional SNL/Late Night bits, come find me. I guess that's kind of disgusting hahah sorry. I'm great at utilizing my time, as you can see.
Anyway, somewhere between all those episodes I finished my 2 exams (econ and statistics) and submitted my last papers (3-page statistics memo analyzing a large dataset re: inequitable salaries for minorities; 10-page policy memo funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and the PEPFAR reauthorization; and a 30-page group paper written with three other people on tribal politics and land distribution in Kenya). Now I'm done! And here's a mock interview, anticipating the questions that I'm sure you're all dying to know.
"So, how do you feel now that you're done with your first semester of grad school?"
Well, when I saw the "Grad Alley" NYU sets up for its graduating class, replete with entertainers and free food and graduates and their families wearing purple Statue of Liberty foam crowns, I really wished I was done too. Instead, I have 4 semesters left. /asdhf;almkdf. It is really nice (and slightly strange) to be done in May for once though. I'm definitely a semester system fan.
"Do you like New York? Are you a New Yorker?"
I'm not sure if anyone reads that comic strip Piled Higher and Deeper (I think I found it through Tihua's Xanga like 3 years ago), but the one I always remember is one where there's a detailed map of the campus and the dorm where a character lives. There's a straight line drawn from the dorm to the character's lab that shows the path that he takes every day; basically, that grad students don't do anything.
Now, imagine the whole of New York City and my place. Draw a straight line (that somehow includes a subway ride) from where I live to NYU. That's my life.
The spring has been lovely, with cherry blossoms and tulips and daffodils everywhere and minimal humidity. I love not driving and I love walking. The shopping isn't bad, on the rare occasion I buy clothes. I'm more used to the rushed attitude and the people, but I still have a big CALIFORNIA-shaped soft spot in my heart.
"What are you doing this summer?"
My current plans are to come back home. My flight is Friday morning. However, I managed to finagle a job interview for myself on Thursday; if that goes well, then I could be coming back as early as the end of May. If not, I will probably be hanging around in San Diego until August 16, when I start RA training (I'm a grad student RA next year!).
"Anything else?"
No. I don't know why I'm doing this when I actually have FREE TIME to spend in NYC. I have to pack, clean my place, prep for my interview, explore the city, celebrate the end of the semester, eat lunch and take a shower. Bye!
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| No wonder I'm un-employable..I submitted a cover letter for an internship yesterday.
Date: April 9, 1008.
No wonder nobody will hire me.
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| So Sneaky..I had to fax a request to UCSD for my immunization records or else I can't register for classes next semester! Anyway, private school tuition aside, nobody would let me use their fax machine for a long distance fax. I trudged over to the Kinko's to suck it up and pay to fax something, which seems really lame to me.. you're not talking to someone, it takes less than a minute, and you're not even printing anything!
The long-distance price was $2.49 for initial page and some smaller amount for every page thereafter. I faxed my 2-page request without a cover sheet and wondered why the total amount stayed at $2.49... because they let you fax the cover sheet for free! So I got a free page in! I am so sneaky, I will (try) never to use cover sheets again!
.. I guess I'm a little bit too proud of myself for this one haha.
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| Minor New York Adventures..After beginning the week with a bad experience with one of New York's worst, the rest of the week has redeemed itself through some not-so-random "celebrity" sightings
- Jhumpa Lahiri, author of The Namesake (turned into a movie of the same name, starring everyone's favorite Indian actor Kal Penn) and her new novel of short stories, Unaccustomed Earth.
She was doing a reading at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square, so I stopped by to hear her after class/studying. It was packed and I didn't get anywhere near her, but I saw her from afar and thoroughly enjoyed the excerpt she read. I usually hate short stories, but after hearing her I wanted to find a cozy corner and finish it off somewhere. Julie Andrews, of Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, etc. was also at that Barnes and Noble tonight to read from her new book, but I couldn't go because I was at the event below...
- Hung (Season 3 winner!), Lee Anne (Season 1), and Marcel (Season 2) from Top Chef.
Hung and Lee Anne were part of a panel talking about "a new generation of Asian chefs in the spotlight" at the Asia Society and Museum. Marcel was in the audience, with shorter hair and still a jerk-y attitude (he asked a pretty self-aggrandizing question, I thought). There was a reception afterward that served frozen dumplings hahah, but I talked to Lee Anne a little bit. It was pretty weird to see them in person after seeing them on TV all this time, let alone to talk to one of them. Hung was also around but I didn't really know what to say to him, so I didn't go introduce myself. Not exactly movie stars, but the most famous people I've seen and met here so far.
One other cool, but not as famous, person there was this Chinese woman who used to work at Food Network and produced Barefoot Contessa, Everyday Italian, etc. She's now working with Martha Stewart's company producing shows for Everyday Food!
- Yankees game on Friday versus Tampa Bay. It's yet to come, will take forever to get there/come home because it's up in the Bronx, will probably be freezing, but it's my second Yankees game and first where I actually know a little bit about and care about baseball. It's also the last season in their stadium so it will be exciting to take part in a little bit of history, hopefully :)
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| Toilet Seat Covers: A New AppreciationSo, toilet seat covers do NOT come standard in NYC. They are so rare, in fact, that I get quite excited when a bathroom does have them.
I know that they're technically too thin to really do anything and I wasn't obsessed with them in California, so maybe the absence of the covers is just indicative of the fact that bathrooms here tend to be gross.
1. School bathrooms: the bathrooms at the Puck Building, where my school is housed and where Grace from Will and Grace works, are actually quite nice. They are sans covers or even empty cover dispensers, but clean stainless steel stalls and nice sinks with automatic faucets.
The bathrooms at Bobst Library, however, are gross.. like the Harvest floor bathrooms at Geisel at the end of the day during finals week gross. BLehh. What's worse is that they actually do have toilet seat cover dispensers, but they are NEVER filled. What a tease.
2. Starbucks bathrooms: the old reliable, McDonald's-alternative standby to clean and accessible bathrooms. NOT SO! A huge, quite lovely Starbucks at Astor Place, where Felicity from Felicity got her hair chopped off, has one unisex bathroom. Those one stall/room unisex bathrooms usually never bode well in the first place, although sometimes it's not as bad if there are two of them.
This Starbucks only has one, and it was beach-bathroom, hold your breath, wet floors, toilet paper roll propped onto handicapped railing because TP dispenser is broken with useless hand-dryer gross. There was at least a 5 minute line to get in.
Well, I don't know, end rant??
In other news, a funny blog that my friend showed me: Stuff White People Like. See how much of it is applicable to you! Mine include: graduate school, multilingual children, and study abroad.
And, if you made it down here, congrats. Your reward: I will be home for spring break March 15 - March 22 and probably in SD Tuesday to Friday. The list of things I want to do: enjoy any weather above 50 degrees with the Samdog. Join us if you like.
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