research January 29, 2010

I'm Back!! ...just kidding

So I actually made it back to California last Sunday! After two long weeks of interviewing at various places in the Eastern Time Zone, I flew back into LAX to the RAIN! I will not go on at length about that because you can read about the craziness in the other blogs, but let me say it was not what I was looking for after leaving a chilly, rainy day in NJ. Fortunately, we had off for MLK Day, so I was able to catch up and unpack before going back to class. And my did I go back to class?! OK I only went to one (Polymer Chemistry), but I was totally confused. I guess that’s what happens when you miss two weeks!I then was immersed in my TA’ing job. This term I’m TA’ing Ch 4a (an introductory chemistry lab). It’s fun to see the young chem majors get their first taste of the lab environment. And there are 6 TA’s total in the class of 20 or so. So in any given lab period there are 3 TA’s for about 10 students. What personal attention we give!

Fortunately Wednesday was a much more chill day. No class, so I could prepare for what was to come and then go enjoy Cooking class at night! I’m actually going to be posted to a new blog about Caltech’s Cooking Basics class, so I’ll keep that updated too! It was a fun time and I enjoyed the Mac and Cheese we made. I won’t forget my camera next week so I can show you all the fun that ensues! But wait? You may be asking why I’m “just kidding” about the being back. Well, because at 4 AM on Thursday I was picked up by the Super Shuttle to go to yet ANOTHER interview! Yup, after two days of school I was in the air again. I’m actually blogging right now from the warmth of my hotel room in COOOOOOLD Minnesota. I’m at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. It’s actually a “warm” winter right now. By warm I mean 30. Crazy, right!? Anyway, the Clinic is beautiful and it’s a lot to take in. And everything’s connected on the inside, so I didn’t have to go outside, but I’ll just say it’s not the prettiest of days out there.