When will I ever get work done around here?

First a fun announcement - I heard that my new office in Oregon has been painted with the colors I picked out when I was there in June :) It is nice knowing that a place waits for me! My office has a sunset-facing window, and carpeting, so it is rather nice.

Today my host picked me up to take me around town after lunch. It was raining on and off, so we went to lots of sights, but didn't hike at any of them. I got some good pics though - I'll download them soon. I didn't get a pic of it, but a small rainbow (I did capture) later turned into a full double rainbow that spanned the city "bowl". The city sits nestled between the sea and a curve of mountains - and houses rise up the sides somewhat so the city takes on the shape of a bowl. Besides going up the various peaks to get the view of the city, we went to Camps bay which is an amazing "upscale" seaside town (apparently compared to the french riviera) just outside Cape Town, and another seaside town where we stopped and had some killer-rich chocolate cake and very smooth cappuccino.

It was an interesting evening - we spent some time at his house talking about research and teaching methods, but also about novels. I ended up borrowing 3 books - I don't know when I'll get time to read them, do this project, or any of the other things I had planned! Then we got carry out food and took it to his cousin's house. That family has 3 grown kids, and they were all very nice. After we ate, we played scrabble. I didn't want to play at all! Anyone who has ever asked to play with me knows I hate that game - I haven't played since I was a kid. They let me use a dictionary toward the end, and somehow I pulled all the big letters early on: Q, X, Z and J. Top that with the fact my host opened up a triple word score (was he trying to help me??) and I ended up winning. They gave me quite a hard time for lying about not being good at the game :)

But now I've stayed out until after midnight and still not managed to get any work done...

This is the 2nd time my host has taken me over to someone's house - it is kind of nice, because I get to see how some locals live. We stopped in to see someone on Thursday, too. She gave me a bottle of some lovely fizzy grape juice from a local vineyard. I hope to go to some vineyards while here. There is too much to do... I could probably spend the whole time being a tourist...

His cousin's wife said they were trying to show me a good time so I'd like it enough to come back someday. My host has mentioned the difficulty of attracting foreigners to work there - I wonder if there is a scheme going on? My mom would NOT approve of me living in South Africa! And she thought Oregon was far away :)

What all I have to do next week? Give a seminar, attend classes, probably teach Wed's class, work on the project, go to dinner with the dean, take the grad students out to lunch.... Plus now read these books and try to see some local sites!! It's a good thing I'm well rested from the summer!

Enjoying a simple life

I forget sometimes how little is needed in life. It is good to be reminded of that. The other night I wanted a sweet snack before bed. I heated some milk and added a small teaspoon of sugar - it tasted so yummy! It was almost like having chocolate milk. I hardly have any food in my dorm, but I still have more than I need. I'm eating out once per day, and breakfast is provided. So I only need snacks and light meals. Muesli, yogurt, soup, milk, juice, cheese and crackers, and my stand-by protein bars are more than enough. I've enjoyed every meal I've eaten out, too, so I feel like I'm eating like a king.

I woke up drowsy this morning, but after working out I felt healthy and strong. Now that I've had a big breakfast I'm anxious to get out and about. One unfortunate thing about being here is I've been strongly advised not to go anywhere alone, especially after dusk. I do feel a bit cooped up. My host says he normally climbs table mountain every Saturday - and we could do that this afternoon, but not if it may rain. And it looks like it may. Hopefully we'll find something else to do - I long to stretch my legs! Tomorrow should be good weather, and I'm being taken out by another prof and his wife and their 8 month old Oscar, who is very cute. I'll have to see what they suggest, but I would really enjoy a hike.

Last night I got back to my room early and decided to take a break by reading a bit more Harry Potter. I was at that crucial juncture, however, where one more chapter and it was clear I was heading into the climax of the book. I ended up reading the last 200 pages and not getting back to work at all! That still provided me time to catch up on some emails and get to bed early, and I wasn't quite tired yet, so I decided to read some more. The last person in my room left "Slaughterhouse 5" by Vonnegut. Although I brought some other books to read, I decided to take advantage of this gift and give it a try. I always intended to read Vonnegut - he just seems like one of those authors you have to try at least once. Chapter 1 down, and so far, so good. I have enjoyed reading this summer. I have read more books this summer than I have probably in any 2 year span since starting grad school. I completely don't miss TV - I am really glad about that. I haven't seen one all week, and I haven't watched one in over two at this point. I think three even, except a show I watched with my sister at her house: Top Chef. I don't even care who wins anymore.

I should get to work. I have a lot to do! I am trying to download skype - if that works out I may have an easy/cheep way to talk to people, even from here.

Internet and strong winds

I FINALLY have internet - and a plug compatible with both my laptop and the outlets here. I can now use my laptop. I am so addicted to this thing - I hardly feel I can work without it. Unfortunately the internet connection is laboriously slow, which makes getting things done a lot slower. I hear it is much better around 6am, but the system gets overloaded during the day. I'm not likely to ever use the internet at 6am, so I'd better get used to the way it is :)

I also finally have some means of contacting people here. I have a local cell phone though at the moment I can only receive calls with it. It is great to have though, as finally I now know what time it is when I'm not in my dorm room. I don't wear a watch, and I had come to rely on my own cell phone as a clock. It was great to be at breakfast this morning and know when it was time to head out. Without a clock I could probably loose all day lost in my thoughts without realizing how much time had past...

Today the cold front is on top of us, which made it very hard for me to wake up. It's funny, because I can function on very little sleep when need be, but when fronts move in it totally knocks me out. I had to drag myself out of bed, and that was after nearly an hour of ignoring the fact that the radio alarm had turned on. Fortunately I am not feeling sick, though my congestion is still lingering a bit.

The wind is absolutely amazing today - it is rattling my office windows and making a horrible blustering sound that has me huddled in front of my heater. My host told me yesterday that it is due to the wind here that there is little pollution - so I will try to appreciate its presence. The air does seem very good here. The sky this morning was amazing - if I looked one way there was a huge patch of blue with big white clouds, while if I looked toward campus, Table Mountain was totally hidden in an ominous black cloud. If campus is a Shakespearean play, I must have been walking into the Tempest this morning. There have only been sprinkles of rain, and the temperature is not very cold - but still it does not look inviting outside at all.

It seems my host has a reputation around here (he has reported this to me as well) as being a bit disorganized. People keep asking if I have everything I need, and are helping out with things such as phone cards, internet, and where to go for things. I was invited to lunch today too, since my host wasn't around. I do know where he is though, and we had planned to go after his meeting - so I am not quite the afterthought people seem to fear :) It is nice that everyone is friendly, though. Apparently my visit was unannounced (though my host and I had done a lot of planning for the past few months), and the secretary was quite apologetic that things weren't set up for me before I arrived - but I have been comfortable, so there are no worries from my end.

Today's 11am tea was interesting. For most of it I was the only woman among a large group of men discussing detailed rules of golf. I had nothing to contribute! They were discussing what happens if the ball settles in one place, then starts rolling again. I wonder how anything gets done around here - there is a pleasant relaxed pace. Tea time twice a day, and everyone seems to go out for lunch. That makes 3 breaks between 10 and 5. I was here until after 6pm Wednesday evening, too, and the building seemed quite quiet. There is good research done here, so I am sure people work hard. I think I should bring a bit of this attitude back with me, though - tea time (maybe once per day?) is a great way to bring people together and ignore the pressures of the day.

Going down the cape

Today my host took me on an excursion around the cape. We saw many small towns and beautiful sites. See the following map for an idea of where we went:
http://www.thesafaricompany.co.za/images/Map-Cape-Peninsula.gif

We went all around the cape area south of cape town, but not all the way to cape point, because although it was a warm day, it was very windy. The wind is supposedly much worse at the end of the cape.

I requested seeing the penguins; there is a colony just south of Simon's Town. It was amazing - the colony was huge, and totally unafraid of the people. My host said when he was little they would go swimming there and the penguins were just part of the beach (like seagulls in the US, except they didn't try to steal your food!). Now it is a reserved area just for them. There were a bunch under the bushes making all sorts of noises. The used to be called jackass penguins (now African penguins) because they make sounds like donkeys. They also make cawing sounds, and sounds like when kids are mimicking motor boat motors. There were also some playing in the surf - I got some video of them in motion. There were other beautiful beaches as well, and a good number of people surfing.

On our drive back north at the end of the day we saw people parked along the road pointing toward false bay, so we also looked. Sure enough there were whales. I saw three in all. I can't believe I've seen whales in the wild twice this summer, and at opposite ends of the earth! My host said once he went to some well known whale look out point, and while they saw none there, they saw many while in traffic on the road to get there!

For lunch we ate at a vegetarian Tibetan place, it was quite good. I think my host was a bit skeptical, but he seemed to really enjoy the meal as well. I had something like a crape filled with feta, potato and carrot and topped with some sort of seed. I would eat there again, given the chance.

I got a good view of various aspects of the cape: wealth, poverty, government areas where blacks were forced to live during the apartheid, tourist towns, and so forth. The area reminded me of a cross between India, the Caribbean, and some city in the south of France, depending on which way I looked. We also stopped briefly at a mall which could easily have been in the U.S. Fortunately we did not stop at the McDonald's out front of it!

The plant life is quite amazing. There is a lot of vegetation I've never seen. There are some native trees with leaves that are silver on one side and dark green on the other - they are quite beautiful, especially when the wind blows them and the silver flutters and shimmers. There are a lot of small shrubs that were in flower, too - they had small spiny leaves because that is efficient when there isn't much rain. I also saw some cacti.

Tomorrow it's back to work. This weekend is supposed to be cold - in fact the cold front has already moved in. Rain is supposed to follow as well...

Work-related thoughts

I had a great conversation with my host at the 11am department tea this morning. It is commonly viewed in my field that in order for students to learn, they must explicitly confront the way they are thinking about the world. For example, they should be asked to make a prediction about what will happen, then when something contradictory happens, they should reflect on how to modify their model for the way the world works. However, students often have this huge disconnect between physics and "the real world" - they think that what we do in class is just some hoops to clear in order to pass a test, and is not related to actual observations. It seems Eugenia's methods of teaching scientific abilities is a much better way to go. Here we teach students to make careful observations, to think about the assumptions they are making when using a model for that behavior, and to analyze the effects of those assumptions. This way students aren't first producing some bad idea which is strengthened by the firing of neurons in the brain - but instead are approaching the situation from a higher-order level of thinking. This method should arrive at the same result, having students think consistently about behavior, and more importantly, they should have a better understanding of the models they are using. This would probably also help them connect physics to the real world - or at least not be a barrier to that. I'm sure Eugenia knows this already - but it was none the less a great conversation for me and provides great food for thought.

Random Thoughts

First of all, CONGRATS to my best friend who defended his PhD today! I knew he would do it, even though I worried for him as if it were my own defense. Now he only has to find a job...

Now on to notes about Cape Town. My first thoughts are that this is a land of contradictions. Here are a few...

It is cold but then it's hot: It's 50's or 60's in the daytime here, and has fortunately been sunny (though it has been a rainy winter so far, the worst on record for cold and wet). So when sunny, and when outside I'm quite hot. However, there is no indoor heat, so inside on a shady side of a building it is quite cold. Everyone keeps coats and hats on to stay warm, and my feet and fingers are perpetually cold. On a rainy day when I can't just walk outside to warm up, it will be miserable. I was prepared for this though and have lots of warm clothes. They also found me a spare heater for my office, and I have a heater in my dorm room.

It's expensive but then it's cheep: last night we went for dinner at the harbor in a fancy part of town. The food was nearly the same price as it would be at an American place, and this was not a fancy restaurant. Then again, today for lunch I got a 3$ meal at a cart run by Harri Krishna's - a huge serving of veg. Indian food that filled me up all afternoon.

It's fashionable then it's hodge-podge: There are people on campus that clearly have money, and flaunt it (though not compared to what I saw at Holy Cross...), however, with the odd wool hats being worn inside, and coats left on not matching the outfits, it feels like a place too practical to be concerned with appearances. I for one, did not at all feel uncomfortable wearing black boots and a black scarf today with an outfit mostly consisting of brown. (Oh, the shock of it!)

It's European yet it's very African: there are so few things here that make me feel like I'm in Africa, yet when I see them, they hit hard. Tomorrow is "Women's day" celebrating women. The students have a demonstration up showcasing the country's "dirty laundry" in terms of women's issues - they are more serious than we usually face in the states. There is a painting of a little girl in the tunnel from the dorm side of campus to the academic side - she has a bullet hole painted in her head. Next to it is an anti-apartheid painting. I got a lot of history today from my host, but I am still totally confused about what makes one black, colored, or african. It seems they are government classifications left over that should be abandoned. The students I am working with are from traditionally disadvantaged groups, and start school with the plan of taking it at a slower pace and finishing a year longer than other students. Some of them try to be tough, but they are just kids. They were very hyper this morning in anticipation of the holiday and a day off school.

I have to say, I love the food both here and in Amsterdam - and when at the grocery store I didn't see a single thing containing high fructose corn syrup! Everything is fresh, minimal packaging, healthy, and less processed than what we eat in the states. I enjoyed the grocery store yesterday. I had my favorite stand-by dinner tonight: instant miso soup with swiss cheese and crackers, juice (some fruit I have no idea what it is - but quite yummy) and seltzer. It was comforting :) I also enjoyed the buffet lunch I had yesterday with some vegetables I've never heard of cooked in ways I've not seen. It was comfort food though, no grease, simply prepared, and very yummy.

It seems someone comes to clean my room - that is a nice and unexpected perk! Now I see why the closets have locks, though. I wish that didn't have to be a concern. Our breakfasts are also impressive - with eggs, toast, croissants, cereals and other treats. I met a few people this morning, and this evening met one of my flat-mates. He is from Zimbabwe, and is here to finish up his PhD. He works on social issues, something about why the world bank hasn't had a big impact on poverty in the areas it has given money to. I hope to meet more of the scholars here - I'm sure there must be some interesting stories and research among us.

My host talks fast, and tells me a lot of information. I'm still quite tired from the trip and think I may have caught a little cold on the plane. I'm trying to keep up but finding it difficult at times. I have now twice gone to the right side of his car to get in - he gives me a hard time about that. They drive on the left here, and the steering wheels are on the right of the car. I can't keep track of the people he's introduced me to, so I've started to make notes for myself about who I've met. I'll give a seminar next week, there is an informal one planned for the week after, and the possibility that I may fly to another part of the country to give a talk as well. It would be great to see a different area, but with all the work we have planned as well, this could be an exhausting few weeks!




















Tomorrow my host is going to take me to Cape Point - I hope the weather holds off, it is supposed to return to rain again. I have been lucky to have clear skies, and the view from my office is amazing. It was breathtaking to exit the tunnel this morning on my walk to campus and see table mountain looming above the academic buildings, as if the campus was a huge stage with the mountain acting as a huge velvet curtain which has been pulled aside to provide an exclusive view, and all the students were actors rehearsing Shakespearean lines.

Feeling Fabulous

By the way - I discovered the secret to feeling fabulous today... International travel. Just spend way too long on a flight with poor air circulation, and little bathroom access. You'll not feel good just yet. Follow it up by a good night's sleep, a bit of exercise, and a long hot shower - and trust me, you'll feel radiantly beautiful... I've never looked so good as I did around 11am this morning :)

Now that I've uploaded a pic for this post I feel rather silly having typed it... Pictures just never seem to do justice to the feeling! Perhaps it's the fact I was trying to take the pic myself in the mirror of my poorly lit bathroom?

First day in Cape Town

I'm staying at the "All Africa" house - which is University of Cape Town's guest housing. Apparently the place is filled with visiting scholars, though I have yet to meet anyone. I took a picture today - I should post it here. I have a dorm room that looks like a hotel room except for the lack of decorations and the painted brick walls. I have a private bath. There are 10 rooms in my "flat" with a shared kitchen. There are about 6 or more of these in this building, and we have a common space like a big living room and a dining area that serves breakfast each morning. I missed it this morning, maybe tomorrow I'll go and see some people.

The university is nice - it feels very European. It is easy to be here. I listened to the radio this morning and the DJ mostly spoke in English (I learned this evening that each area has 3 official languages and English is one of them throughout the country). I heard music from Barkley's "crazy" (which always reminds me of Nicole and St. John's, she blasted it at the wedding reception and we all danced by the pool...) to Duran Duran.

I have my own office in the physics department, though nothing is set up in it yet. I should have internet once we get a plug for my laptop. There is a common area for faculty with afternoon tea - that is nice. Oddly we left the lab section today to go have tea - I wonder if the prof usually does that, or if it was just because I was there? I felt the students could use help, but I will be there more days to come.

Everything here is locked - I have keys for my food cupboard, the flat door, my room door, my closet, my office... and I don't yet have keys to the physics building or the bathroom - so there are more to come. Crime is an issue here. Apparently there was a bank in the Chemistry building for a while and it was robbed monthly so they moved it. When we gave out stop watches in lab, too, we had to collect student ID cards to make sure we got them back. Overall the campus feels like a regular campus, and the students were good to work with. They seemed shy with me, but they also seemed to enjoy talking to me, and were friendly. For most students in this class English is their 2nd or 3rd language, and they were shy to express their ideas. I will have to strike a balance between being an authority and being someone they can be comfortable talking to. It is good practice for me.

My host took me into the downtown for dinner, at a really nice waterfront area. It is beautiful there - but much like any beautiful city waterfront. The difference is the striking mountains that loom over the city. The best part of dinner, though, was that we finally had a chance to really discuss what I will do while I'm here. We had so many ideas once we got the ball rolling - we could be working on this project for a long time if things go well. It is a great start to my career to have this research connection. I really respect the work of my host. Before taking me back to the dorm I got some groceries, so now I'll be a little more independent, too.

We are both interested in writing in physics. We are going to look at a lot of related issues while I'm here, and see what comes of them. We discussed looking at how students are reading the text book, how they are writing required chapter summaries, and how they are taking notes, both in and out of class. I will do interviews with students, give them surveys, perhaps do a small study on reading and note taking, and collect their summaries. There are 120 students in this class - these will not be small tasks.

It is now 11pm, I have work to do, and I hope to get up early. I want to maintain my new exercise routine. My goal is to be able to do proper push ups, and maybe try another pull up when I get back to the states. I have toned upper ab muscles, and would like to be able to see the lower ones, too - which will require more crunches and the loss of 5-10 lbs. These next three weeks are as good a time as any to work on this. But I have to get up early to make it work.

It's funny, I enjoyed the summer so much, and felt the joy and freedom of doing whatever, whenever. But I think I especially enjoyed having new goals and learning/experiencing new things. I wondered if I would enjoy getting back to work - but the conference last week, and the dinner tonight both reminded me that I am passionate about what I do. I would not have survived through the PhD had that not been the case. I hope to maintain balance and exuberance in the future, but I also look forward to the return to my work.

Getting to Cape Town

I don't think it really hit me that I was going to Africa until the pilot announced that we were heading over the coast near Algiers. I was suddenly elated - my heart started racing and I thought - wow, I'm really doing something. I went to the bathroom several times through the flight (maybe thanks to the fact I drank a bottle of milk, a bottle of water, a bottle of apple juice AND a mug of tea BEFORE boarding my flight that morning!!!) and each time I stood staring out the window in the back of the plain for as long as I felt I could get away with blocking the view. There were vast brown stretches with small rows of trees, and a rough hewn topography. I suddenly regretted taking the easy route, and going to Cape Town - probably the easiest city one could visit in Africa. But no regrets. I will be back to Africa again one day.

There was a lot of turbulance - at one point it felt we were on a roller coaster and we all popped out of our seats. People gasped. Somehow I wasn't afraid. I trusted in the large craft, and in the calm of the flight attendants. However, I shouldn't have trusted in my own sense of balance, for I spilled a glass of water down my lap. It unfortunately ran between my legs, from my crotch nearly to my knees! It looked exactly as if I'd peed my pants! Fortunately the people next to me saw it happen, and though we had no common language, we had a good laugh together. It dried within a few hours...

The flight was easy - KLM had those individual video monitors with lots of movies and shows to choose from. I also had the new Harry Potter book. I read nearly half of it and watched two movies. I wasn't bored at all, though it sure did feel good to move once we landed!

Welcome to my first blog!

Hi all,

This is my first blog. I decided that I have all these ideas in my head - observations, reactions, and what not, that I'd like to put them into writing. Perhaps this will be a nice place for family to keep up with what I'm doing, too.

Oddly, having a blog was inspired somewhat by my day in Amsterdam and going to the Anne Frank house. Her diaries were so meaningful. I did not know prior to my visit that her father was the only surviving person that hid in that house. I also learned that he was quite taken aback by the content of her diaries - with the depth of thought and maturity that she displayed in them. I can not promise greatness with this blog - but it is inspiring none the less.

Blogging is also of interest to me for another reason - I think it might be a great way to introduce writing into large lecture courses... That and wikis. I'm not the only one of this opinion, in fact for the first time there was such a session at the AAPT (American Association of Physics Teachers) conferece last week. It was a short/small session - I'm sure it will grow each year.
I wish I had thought of starting this blog at the start of summer - it has been such an amazing summer, and I have had so much to reflect on. However, I say "better late than never" - so let's get started!

Enjoy!

Amsterdam - you'll never guess who I ran into!

On Saturday, August 4th (or something like that - I've never really been sure about dates all summer...) I headed off to Cape Town, via Amsterdam. Due to the way I booked my flights, trying to optimise the use of my frequent flyer miles, I ended up with a 24 hour layover in Amsterdam. I might not have saved much money that way - but hey, Amsterdam is fun, and it made the trip a lot nicer. It was great having a break to get used to the jet lag before getting to work, too.

I had a great start to my day in Amsterdam - I arrived at 10am (after an overnight flight) and went to the exercise room to do my personalized yoga-based workout. It felt great to move and stretch. Then I decided to take a little nap before showing and hitting the town. Much to my dismay, I slept 3 hours!!! I rushed to get ready so I didn't miss the museums. I have this crazy short haircut right now, and bless it - it is so easy to take care of.

So here is the funny side story about my hair. My bangs were just below my eyebrows and I didn't want to fuss with them while in Cape Town, so I went to the hairdresser for a quick bang trim before the trip. She BUTCHERED them! I now have pixie bangs and they are cute, but not so much. I always wandered if pixie bangs would look cute on me - now I know. At least there is that. And I also now have a haircut that only needs to be towel dried - not even brushed. It's that easy. I do look a bit silly, though. One thing is for sure, I will NOT need a trim while in Cape Town!!!

So I got into the city in time to go to the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank house before they closed (fortunately the Anne Frank house is open until 9pm on Sundays in the summer). Then I was wondering back toward the train station looking for a place to have dinner. Much to my surprise, who did I see walking down the street toward me but my good friend Emel!! What a shock! I knew she was in Germany for a conference, and she knew I was heading for Cape Town - but she did not know about my layover. Apparently she got bored in Munich and decided to make a side trip just the previous day. How random that was. I wasn't even on a busy street - just a random side street not near any tourist attractions. She was with a friend, so I joined the two of them, or rather they joined me for dinner. Then we walked around before heading back to our respective hotels. I was enjoying my travels alone, but having company for dinner was nice. I think the trill of that, though, was how random it was. It reminds me what a small world it really can be sometimes.

Amsterdam, by the way, is lovely. I would enjoy living in Europe again... I loved the variety of people, how fit they were, the lovely food, hearing the different languages, the old architecture...

Behind me in line for the Anne Frank house was a really funny guy - a gay flight attendant. It was gay pride weekend in Amsterdam. There were happy male couples all over town. I happened by one club with a fancy drag queen outside in a great leopard print, too - but I think most of the festivities had been Saturday. Anyway, this guy was with a female flight attendant he seemed to work with. He was fussy with her to not stand too close, while he flirted with men passing by on the sidewalk. We got mooned - big time. It was the fullest moon I've ever seen :) This guy was hopelessly unaware of Anne Frank's story - bless him for going to the museum. He was also aware of how much he sounded like a dumb american. He made friends with the man working the line and got the inside scoop on the museum, then offered information to all sorts of people who came up to check out the line. It was great seeing someone so comfortable with himself, and so outgoing.

The only thing I didn't like about Amsterdam was the totally geeky or old looking people who were obviously just there for the drugs - do you have to walk around the city in rasta hats and shirts with the leaf print on them???