T-shirts I've seen here:

"Amsterdam"
"Some people are only alive because it's illegal to kill them"
super mario playing soccer (hello world cup!)
"Of course I am in love with you darling" with the I, am, l, y, ing in red (and yes, he had a girl on his arm)
"Good girls are good at lying"

LOVING the intellectual environment

I've given 2 talks so far and am about to give a 3rd tomorrow... I have no idea how it came to be that I could give 5 or so DIFFERENT 1-hour research talks based on my last 2 years of work... Yikes! No wonder I get overwhelmed sometimes :)

But being here, with my focus being on work, and the intellectual environment is amazing... Just this morning at breakfast I listened in on a powerful conversation about the importance of teaching cultural studies WITHIN the culture in question, as explained by a Jamaican scholar. I'm in a dorm with visiting scholars - all here to do research of one sort or another.

Today I'm going to the engineering education research meeting - they'll be discussing things right up my alley. Next week will be visiting the center for higher education - many people I know from past visits, all scholars of similar enough to myself that we can jump straight into the deep end discussions of our work.

Yes, there is a great environment at OSU, but this is like a mini-sabbatical - and just refreshes the brain in ways I can't express...

And oh so much more to do... 1 week nearly done, 2 to go, and a huge list of goals remaining!!!

Heat

Ok - so I wanted to be here and have sun, and avoid winter oregon rain - but seriously... how could weather.com tell me the highs would be around 80F when they're closer to 100F with the lows near 80!! I thought I was going to have heat stroke yesterday! NO JOKE! I ended up with a horrible heat-induced migrane and could barely stomach supper. I have no A/C in either my office or my dorm room, and it didn't cool down enough the previous two nights, and I woke up roasting at 5am. Safety has been thrown out the window - we're all opening our windows at night, hoping the single security guard nearby is enough to stop any criminals... Otherwise we'd suffocate in our rooms - so what can we do? Even the native Africans are having trouble bearing it. Today the heat seems to have broken, though I suspect it'll come back by late afternoon - at least we had a wonderful cool breeze in the evening and I got a good night sleep. My whole body aches :( I only worked from 9am to 6pm yesterday before heat sickness set in - and I berated myself for not being able to work more at night. I need to be easier on myself... Yes, I'm here to focus, but a 9 hour day in nearly 100 degree weather with no A/C was probably too much... (Photo is of the dorm - luckily I'm on the 2nd floor on the right side of the photo, those on the floor below are forced to keep their windows open in this heat and a robber could just walk right in the window!!)

Fashion

One thing I love about this campus is the diversity - people speaking all different languages, from all different cultures, all different fashions, styles, incomes, ages... Walking on campus to lunch is like moving through a living cultural museum. No one gives a 2nd glance at someone who is seemingly juxtaposed: the nearly-naked young 'chic' city girl next to the religious person in long robes and head covering, or the rapper-inspired kid next to the european fashion-plate...

The one odd thing - I never actually thought gladiator sandles caught on anywhere - I see them all over campus here - wow... Did we just miss out on this fad in oregon or did it pass quickly in all of the US?

symmetry and asymmetry

Symmetry: Today I took my camera with me to campus to capture photos. All these times I've walked up to campus it's the first time I noticed the exact symmetry of the central buildings, and the views established from certain key points. This place was designed by a master plan! It is so much more beautiful with the ivy growing (I've only ever been here in their winter), and so lively with all the students out and about. The moutain looms behind campus in the sun too - amazing how such a massive structure can be hidden behind clouds in the winter!


















Asymmetry: My veins have been hurting :( Not sure why - possibly the heat? But the tingling in my right arm caused me to look at both the right and left, and I never noticed before how different the vein structures are in the two arms. Completely different patterns and connections. Surprising! I wonder if that's true for everyone?

(my veins are fine, by the way - must have been the heat)

I love how things that are right in front of you on a daily basis can be noticed or re-discovered :)