Catch-up

Hey everybody (my handful of readers - that's one hand)!

Wow, it's been a really long time since I've written in my blog! See... I knew I wouldn't be able to keep an account on Facebook. However, I may change my mind as I am no longer in Ann Arbor. Boohoo! Notice the new location of Mayz on the sidebar.

Well, after I defended and officially turned in the final version of my dissertation, oh yeah, I officially turned my dissertation at the beginning of September. Hooray! Am Doctor! Nobody really cares... :P Anyway, after tying up loose ends and turning in my dissertation, I met up with Audrey in Miami for our trip to South America! First time for the both of us! We spent 16 days abroad, running ourselves ragged with traveling in Peru and Argentina, but it was a great time and you can read more about it here. Audrey is always so good with recounting trip details, especially since she has all the pictures. Why does she have all the pictures? Because my camera got stolen. *sigh* *double sigh*

Anyway, after I got back, I had to quickly pack my stuff up to head to NYC! I was both excited and very sad, both emotions that accompany every transition I guess. I got back on Friday, and had to quickly get some souvenirs together to give to my advisors as thank you gifts. I got to their offices in time, gave them their gifts, and I have to say it was pretty weird to be saying an official goodbye. I spent Saturday procrastinating a little, went through my mail, etc., and started packing. I made another trip to lab to gather my things, and that's when the tears starting coming. I spent 4 years sitting at that desk! I remembered all the work that I did in that corner, all the times that I yelled over to my labmate Kevin and mentor Oliver, and I couldn't believe that it was all over.

It was SO hard to say goodbye to all my friends in Ann Arbor because they have shared such an important time in my life. I remember my friend Bev saying that her mom thought that grad school was the happiest time in her life. When I got to U of M, I couldn't understand it, but now I can. I have to say that it has been the happiest time in my life. College was great, but I didn't have the freedom that I did in grad school. It's a semi-job in that you get paid, but on the other hand, you are able to dictate how you spend your time, your pace, and direction. I got to travel a lot, something that was impossible in college b/c I was taking classes. This was also the first time that I felt that I had control. Now this is both a good and bad thing, as I have often been jealous of those in law/business/med school for being told what you need to do and know. It's all mapped out! I have also been pretty happy to not study for tests or do homework. Everything has a tradeoff. I have met some pretty amazing people in grad school. I hold a lot of respect for the vast majority of them :P. I loved it how well we were able to relate to each other, in both our personal and academic lives. The field of biomedical engineering encompasses a lot of different kinds of engineers, and despite how different our research was, everybody showed interest in what each other was doing. Genuinely. We would spend our spare time talking about it -- this does not count as shop-talk or nerdy. Okay, maybe a little nerdy. It has been such a FANTASTIC experience.

So I left Ann Arbor in tears, thinking about the great friends that I have and the good times we've had together. I had a good 10 hour car ride to think about it! Pete got a one-way ticket to help me pack and drive with me to NYC. Actually he drove the whole way. The car was pretty cramped. Stuffed to capacity, and well, I was pretty impressed that we could fit all that in. Then a few days later, I was all settled in my new little sublet. I only have 2 months to find a job; otherwise, back to California I go!

My first day living in the big city consisted of (1) man driving truck hollering at me, and then stopping to get out of truck to talk to me, ick, I was able to keep walking without having to talk to him (2) 30 something man taking my hand in the subway and looking me up and down! Eeeewww! And that's exactly what I said out loud. Disgusting!! I was caught without my antibacterial soap. I washed my hands the first chance that I got. Nasty nasty man.

Then yesterday, I went for a run in Central Park. For my birthday, Nadder got me a Nike+ chip, so I tried it out. Very very cool. Haha... I only set my goal for 2 miles as I haven't been working out, but a female on my iPod talks to me and encourages me, and tells me how much distance I have left. 400 m left, 200 m left. Congratulations, you have met your goal. Why THANK you!!! Anyway, I discovered how difficult it is to run on the streets in Midtown. Basically impossible with so many people walking around. All I was doing was trying to get to the park to run. And, btw, I thought that it would be pretty pleasant to run in the park, but every now and then I got whiffs of horse poop. Nice. It's okay though, I know that there are more trails there, perhaps less horse presence, but I just didn't want to get lost in Cenral Park my first time.

Today, I'm going to see if I can get into a premiere at the New York Film Festival. It's a movie by the Coen brothers so I hope that 3 hours til showtime is enough to claim some standby tickets. I mean, ticket. I gotta get me some friends. :P Wish me luck!