Year in review part II

APRIL
1: Tapas with a great bunch of Cornell students.
2: Not being stranded in New York overnight! I took three domestic flights while in the US, missing two and almost missing one (by which I mean I arrived too late to check in, but reached the gate before boarding so was allowed on). While flying from Ithaca to Chicago, I missed my connection at La Guardia due to bad weather. The following flight was cancelled (!) but I made the last one of the night.
3: Impressive evening at a Mexican restaurant (the margaritas flowed freely), then 'The Second City' comedy show. Everyone was very friendly, but I particularly remember Sam, who reminded me enormously of Aditya.
4: Walking around inner Chicago and deciding I had found a university and city I really would be happy in.
5: Entering Canada, only the fifth country in which I have set foot.
6: Looking out over the Niagara River, as the mist rolled in. It was one of the most beautiful sights I've seen, and I wish my camera hadn't been broken. I found the downstream wilderness area far more pleasant than the waterfalls. Waterfalls are nice, but once you've seen one, you've seen it. Unlike forest, they're not conducive to being walked through.
7: Sitting in Prof. Levitov's office, where he said to me, not 'these are our research interests, they're so great because... blah, blah, blah', but 'what are your research interests? Who can I put you in touch with?'. Deciding to come to MIT wasn't a single moment decision, but that was the closest moment.
8: Talking to Martin (who is now my supervisor). I've previously mentioned why I wanted to work with him, and talking to him after Prof. Kardar convinced me that I would have multiple options at MIT, so I could make a choice depending on what was important to me.
9: Sitting in Boston Common, looking at the duck pond, thinking that it might be a place I frequent frequently. In fact I've only returned once (on my way to the station to go to Providence), and haven't even walked past much. I don't go to Boston all that much, and when I do, it's mostly to the symphony, which is towards the Cambridge end of town.
11: Seeing Mum and Tom at Jolimont.
12-17: I was at the April training of the olympiad team.
18: Tom's birthday party at an Italian restaurant in Kaleen (I've already been listed in a Canberra food guide once, thanks to my 'eating the fish' post - will this be another?).
24: I went to Thailand. Oh, actually, I didn't, because it was too dangerous (I wasn't the one making the decision).
25, 26: Patrick visited.
27: I visited Lisa after lunch. I can't work out if there was a particular reason: Monday seems like a slightly odd day. Perhaps it was after she was asleep in her room, so I banged on her door as hard as possible (literally - I mean, kicking it, slamming my body with a run-up), then left when the fire alarm went off and she didn't come out. Yes, she slept through everything. I guess I just had managed to catch up with most of my other friends, and wanted to see her as well. Actually, it just occurred to me that that was a public holiday, so it's not odd for me to visit a friend.
28,29: Big days in my research. On the 28th I switched from an eigenfunction to a lattice approach to solving my problem. That was the crucial change that made everything work well. On the 29th, I stayed at uni until dark for the first time that autumn.

MAY
2-4: A weekend in Yass.
8: Vanessa's surprise birthday party.
10: Mother's Day afternoon with Mum, Dad, Tom, Nanna, Bede and Charlie. My impossible pie proved popular (although it was eaten later, not then). By the way, can you please send me that recipe, Mum or Jacqui.
13: Jacqui's birthday dinner, at Bollywood Dimensions restaurant. She has very good taste in friends.
14: Star Wards, the hilarious ANU med school revue.
16: Patrick's birthday party. His friends drink rather more than Jacqui's.
17: Brunch with Anna and Yu Heng should be listed here, because seeing them (YH for the first time in a long time) was a definite highlight. Only by implication is this event listed (I had marked that I was due to lead the prayers of the faithful at church, but that I swapped, and it was to see them and Patrick).
18: Sick :-(
19: Patrick's actual birthday.
20: I went with Jacqui to see a movie. I can't remember what it was called, but it was about a young boy whose parents owned a retirement home. Writing this review is fun: it brings back so many memories from the year. Before starting, I didn't remember that I had seen any movies at the cinema, and this is the second.
21: Dinner with olympiad staff at Lemon Grass (a very nice Thai restaurant in Civic).
23: Nanna's birthday dinner. I cooked an apple cake, which wasn't as good as my Mother's Day cake.
25: Coffee with a few people from the St John's chapel.
26, 27: The olympiad team announcement, dinner and then presentation at Parliament House (and National Press Club lunch).
30: I finally got around to using the remainder of my birthday present from Phil, Molis and Auro (a JB Hi Fi voucher), on some CDs that I really liked.

JUNE
Well, in June I began my blog. Much of the calendar is full of my Part I revision schedule (which I didn't stick to at all). Other highlights are
3, 4: A trip to Sydney. I met Felicia and Anna, took a ferry ride, did some walking between the harbour and the ocean, visited St Mary's Cathedral for the first time, went to the Australian Museum, hung out at a 'cool' bookshop, including a very disturbing English phrasebook meant to make your speech more interesting, dinner at Masuya's seafood restaurant, interesting Australian cooking at Anna's place, typical Australian TV for Felicia (The Glass House), pancake breakfast, visa application, olympiad exam meeting at the University of Sydney, was late for lunch with Patrick, wandered through the city, was asked "are you a professor, or a scientist?" at the train station - it's not that obvious, is it? All that, and back in Canberra within 36 hours of leaving.
13: Another trip to Sydney, to finish off the olympiad exam and have family photos taken.
19-22: A trip to Adelaide, to visit my relatives who still lived there (I think I've mentioned this before).
26: I gave a seminar to the applied maths department on the work I'd been doing.