The results of my first experiment are here. There are a lot of numbers to analyze. My previous supervisor from back when I was doing my master study contacted me asking if there's any common interest between my current supervisor with hers. During the lab meeting I talked about that to my supervisor, and I acted as the 'cupid' for both through an informal email that contains two links (the funding and lab homepage of my previous supervisor). The day ended with an invitation to celebrate Umo's sister's birthday. We went to a sushi restaurant that is going to be out-of-business next month. Honestly, it was not bad. There were a lot of people still coming. They've run the place since 2005. Why are they closing the place? Lastly, we had ice cream nearby. The Dutch Choco flavor is so good.
Another lesson not to hate people too much (or even don't). Second Tuesday of October, I went to the campus after a nice long weekend of which just ended. As usual, I had arrived around 6.30 and walked up the stairs (emergency stairs) towards the student room. However, the door was locked, and I had no elevator access (which I had supposed to have it from the time I get the ID card). I called the security asking if they could open it but they insisted me to wait for another hour. I decided to wait near the entrance door. Half an hour later, another student came into the building, and I asked her if I can follow her up. Unfortunately, she also had no access. We were f-ed. We moved to another level and waited there. Almost 15 minutes later, a guy from my lab came to get a coffee or milk (idk). The guy who I despised since he thinks that he owns a GPU and therefore no one may use it even though he is not using it. He ended up being the hero that morning. A voice in my head:
How do you feel accepting a help from someone who you despised? Don't you feel the shame?
Lately I feel that my supervisor just becoming more and more busy as his room is more often closed than opened compared to my first months there. Perhaps this is due to his recent promotion to assoc. prof., or perhaps it is already Q4 of the year. You know, administrative shit. What I'm afraid of is that he has become too busy by that time I have not been fully independent yet.
We celebrated Umo's aunt's birthday. We had Nando's grilled chicken. Umo's cousin got a job at a cafe for 22AUD hourly. It is not much but the place is slow paced, which perfectly suits her. Let's do some calculation. If my hourly rate is 50AUD and assuming that I work 40 hours per week, it means that I will get 2k AUD weekly, which translates to 8k monthly. Damn, it is a very nice number. Although 40h work is not my style.
It is almost the end of the month. As the summer is approaching, I found myself to use the train almost daily. My reason is that I don't want to be exposed to the sun when I am walking down the bridge to the campus. However, train journey takes a bit longer than bus.
This week, Jen's grandma from her father side passed away. Then it triggers some thoughts in my head. In the past few days, I've been thinking about my hypothetical life had I stayed in Japan, had I finished my PhD there. I'd been thinking if I got a job there right after the completion, live there, and do the daily life like I used to in that 2.5 years period. Then I got jealous of my friends and all the people I know that are currently got a job in Japan and settle there. When I almost dragged down to the pit, a loud inaudible voice appeared.
Now I will give you the chance to be like them, to be in in their position and get what they get. In exchange, you have to follow their very steps, bear their burdens, and face their struggles, would you take that?
That voice makes me realize once again, to be grateful of the path I'm walking. It is not that bad. Not that perfect either, but this is the path I choose. This is the pace I am comfortable with. I have enough to cover my needs. So what? Why do you want more than you would bear? At that point, I immediately stopped being jealous and those lingering thoughts are gone.
Every fourth Friday, the school held a free lunch for all. As usual, my supervisor never joined. I did some readings and ran some additional experiments to make a simple comparison to the current proposed method. That day, I carried my bike with me riding the train. But in the afternoon, I wanted to ride my bike to go back. So I did. My first 15km in this city. It took 50 minutes from the parking to the house. I kinda like it, but for obvious reason, I will not ride my bike to the campus. Way too tiring and time wasting.
Gold price went crazy, but it calmed down a bit since Trump won the election.
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