Monthly Archive for August, 2006
In all fairness, I have a whole long list of items about which I need to post. I also now have homework in all of my classes, so some things will have to wait for a bit longer. The first item of importance for this post, however, is to wish my little sister a very happy sixteenth birthday. It's absolutely crazy to think that she's that old--God, that means I've been in school for sixteen years--but I'm happy for her all the same.
Item the second: the aforementioned school. Classes started last Thursday, so I've had all of my classes at least once now with the exception of the weekly department colloqium, the first of which takes place this afternoon. In other words, I'm beginning to get into the routine of the first-year graduate student and starting to get used to the idea that I'm a Cornell student. The latter part, believe it or not, is what I still have the most trouble with. It's just a name, yes, but it's a name that's got a lot attached to it. Kind of like how saying, "I live in New York" is still utterly bizarre and foreign to me.
My three classes are entitled Foundations of Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics (601), Methods of Advanced Mathematics I (610), and Computational Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer (737). To my surprise, 737 has been the most interesting. Even though it's my earliest class (8:40 a.m.), I find myself looking forward to it more than the others. 601 may get better as we get out of the introductory material, but still, it's all stuff that I covered last year with Dr. White. Sadly, this makes things a bit boring. My least favorite class will definitely be 610 since it consists of such unpleasantries as tensors, linear algebra, and complex variables, all of which I know just enough about to dislike.
On the bright side of all of this, all of my instructors speak English well and are pretty upbeat in lecture. It's maybe a bit odd for me to comment on this, but it was something of which I took particular notice. I haven't even been told by other students that these professors are especially good instructors, so it would be a pleasant surprise to find that this is the standard here. (And in engineering! *gasp*)
Outside of class, several of us first-years have already started forming groups to hang out in. In my typical fashion, every person I hang out with is not in my subfield. As an undergraduate somehow I was buddies with lots of computer scientists. As a graduate student in fluids, apparently my closest friends are all going to be in dynamics and controls. The irony is staggering.
In other news, it's been pouring most of the morning. I've seen less water in some creeks than I did on every sidewalk on my walk back from campus. The really amazing sight was from the footbridge over Cascadilla Gorge. There's a spot on the rock walls where water usually trickles down the side of the gorge and into the creek (river?) that runs down the middle. Today there's a veritable waterfall shooting out from the level of the engineering quad. Even though I was getting soaked, I had to pause for a minute to admire it and wish--for the millionth time--that I had my camera on me. If I'd had one iota of sense, I would have pulled out my new camera and taken a shot with it. But I'm just not that kind of clever. I'm sure that it will still be exciting when I head back up to campus this afternoon.
In the meantime, those homeworks are calling, as is the kitchen and the idea of lunch.
Well, let's try a quick review of what's been going on recently:
- My roommate is all moved in, and things are going well. We're already making plans as to meals to try and outings and events to have with other grads once we get to know people a little better. We've been watching my Firefly DVDs and both enjoying that. It's been awhile since I've watched them, but I find myself introducing virtually every episode with the comment, "Oh, this is a really good one!"
- Orientation events have somewhat come and gone. The university orientation involved hundreds of new graduate students all in one room so that we could be addressed by deans and administrators with names like Sonny Power. Talk about hippie-ish. Other than some fidgeting, I survived those just fine.
- Today's department orientation was better, being a smaller affair. It began with lunch with the faculty, and I was surprised to find that there were several faculty members who made a point of coming over to me to say hello. I definitely didn't expect that.
- So far next semester's courses will involve Foundations of Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics and Methods of Applied Mathematics I. I can tell how jealous you all are from here. Haven't picked my last technical course, nor have I chosen any non-technical course for my personal consumption.
- I'm already making friends with some of the other first-years. I think we're going to have a lot of fun together.
- To start the year out right, I'm showing Casablanca tomorrow night. Classes begin the day after.
- The department's graduate student organization is having a special welcoming event down on the Commons this Saturday. On the flier, they put the Snakes on a Plane logo, crossed out Snakes and a Plane and wrote in Graduate Students and the Commons. The following note was also added: Honestly, which is scarier?
- After a painfully long wait tonight, I got a new cell phone and number. Those of you in my address book should expect a mass e-mail soon with my new contact info.
I've just returned from Shakespeare Abridged out at the Cornell Plantations, and a wonderful time was had. I estimated correctly when I said I thought it would take about forty minutes to walk there (what with it being uphill most of the way and me not knowing my way about the north end of campus). The worst of it is the hike up to the Engineering Quad (you know, the part I have to do daily). Walking across campus proper was mostly flat until I got back to Beebe Lake and the waterfall. The campus was crawling with new freshmen and their parents, but once I turned to follow along the Lake, it was pretty much just me and the trees. And those three deer that I passed not twenty feet from. It's gorgeous back there. I really have to go back (with a camera!) once the weather cools a bit. I'm sure when the leaves start turning it will be an all new kind of lovely.
After some minor detours and the aforementioned forty minutes of walking, I located the Shakespeare show. The lady I collected my program from and offered my donation to was shocked that I'd walked as far as I had. I believe her words were that "it was awfully intrepid of you". She was kind enough to offer me a ride back to State St. after the show, which I gladly accepted. I wasn't sure how long the show was supposed to be, and I wasn't keen on walking back after dark, but I needn't have worried even if she hadn't offered a ride.
The show itself was very entertaining. The troupe was missing one player--she's in the hospital right now--and one of their directors was filling in. Things flowed smoothly nonetheless. There was even a joke about how, in attempting to make Shakespeare something that modern audiences could relate to, writers had placed Shakespeare's works in such strange locations as a lunar landscape or Cleveland, Ohio. I laughed more than anyone else present at that one, as you might imagine.
Although I liked the presentation of the tragedies (my literary favorites) and the transformation of the histories into a football game, I think the lumping of the sixteen comedies into one was my favorite. They had painted signs to show the different characters and what was going on. There was even a joke about The Cherry Orchard, and you can't go wrong with that. Just like you can't go wrong sticking Kafka references in a Mel Brooks show.
Afterwards, while awaiting Nancy, my ride, I helped collect chairs for the troupe. In doing so, I met a couple of the actors, who thought they'd seen me before. When I confessed that I'm new to campus, one of them declared that I must "just have that Cornell aura" about me. Maybe it was the Google t-shirt that gave it away. The other actor, John, is a mechanical engineering student. I'm not certain whether he's a grad or an undergrad, but, in either case, I'm sure to see him again.
Nancy was surprised to find that I was new here (and yet at the show), but she figured that my newness to town might explain why I'd chosen to walk all the way there. When I explained that I didn't know about the parking situation on the Plantations, she decided that I might be making some sense after all. We had a nice chat on the way back and she gave me her card and encouraged me to contact her if I had any "town questions" or anything else. It's nice to find that people are so friendly around here. When I visited in March, I liked how friendly my department was, but, certainly, a whole town full of people like that trumps.
Have I been living in a city too long or what?
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