Thanksgiving Turkey

We made the turkey by ourselves during Thanksgiving break. It tastes good, especially with wine and mushed potatos. Cheers~

My mid-semester summary!

It is already at the end of Octorber. I went through the first half of my tough first semester here. First-round midterms ended last week, and the second round will start soon. Exam system here is weird. Professors try to make the exams as difficult as they can, and the average points for each one is around 40 out of 100. It is kinda frustrating to see your scores are all below 50, after a long time hard working. I don't know how the finals will turn out, and how the final letter grades will be, but currently, those exams make us feel disappointed. My classmates are making fun by saying that maybe we could only get 100 points for the sum of 3 midterms.

Last Wednesday, I went to one of my midterm exams for Metrics, that was my first time to sit in the exam without knowing what I could write there, except my name, of course, that is the only thing I am sure I wrote it correctly. Based on my professor's words "Those exam questions are EASY if you know how to do it." Thanks for the nice encouragement.

The busy life made me keep forgetting things. I left my coat in the computer cluster, and finally found out after 2 or 3 days. I forgot to return the recalled book to the library last Saturday, and finally did it last Sunday. It is insane that the library charged me $25 late fee for one-day delay. I returned the book back only one day late, and I've got $25 fine. How ridiculous it is. I mean I expect to get some punishment because of my fault, but $25 is insane. Library shouldn't rob poor students' money like this. As a punishment, $5 to $10 fine is reasonable, but $25 is too much. I really want to ask them how much fine they will ask for if I return it back 100 days late, isn't that $2500? I could buy hundreds of books for $2500. Anyway, it is a good lesson for my bad memory.

Fall season TV shows update!

I don't want to talk about my busy life, because it seems everybody is tired of hearing about it. Fall season TV shows started couple of weeks ago, which gives my life a little bit entertainment. New season Prison Break is disappointed. Michael has to break the prison again, same story, well, happened in different country. Sarah is dead because she might get a new contract for another TV show, and has no time to attend PB anymore. Desparated Housewife is on its 3rd episode, but unfortunately, no time to watch it yet. Brothers and Sisters are pretty good, a lot of fun things and sadness, just like our lives. I guess I need to find some more new TV shows to fill out my time slots.

Econ Graduate Student Theorem

ECON THEOREM

Sept.18, 2007, 7pm

Bloomington, IN

Consider the "basic" function

F(B(c; h; w; l), G(x))

where c=class time, c is between [0, 60] hours per week;

h=homework time, h is between [0, 10080] minutes per week;

w=GA time, w is between [0, 20] hours per week;

l=lost or leisure time, l is between [0, 10080] minutes per week

Note that Function G is the level of genius, determined by random variable x.

Then,

Max F(B, G)

subject to c + h + w + l = 10080

Function F(B, G) has a maximum, where l, c, w equal to 0 and h = 10080 (minutes per week).

Then theorem can be interpreted to mean, basically, being an ECON graduate student sucks.

Corollary: take first derivative of the Basic Function with respect to B and G, subject to the time constraint, which is equal to "Nothing Fancy" or "Piece of Cake". Prove the theorem and corollary, please do it as an exercise, due next Monday in class.

Over-worked graduate student

Yinster is exhausted. This is only the fourth week of the fall semester, and I've got so tired. I have to take 4 classes this semester, from Monday to Wednesday, 8am to 7pm. I also have review sesssions on Tuesday and Friday. I've got 2 office hours, bunch of gradings for my GA job, and 4 homework assignments each week for those classes. Phew, graduate school is tough. I need to find something to compensate my academic busy life.

Orientation at IUB

My department Wylie Hall. I will spend a lot of my time here from now on.

Sample Gate. It means you've got into IUB's territory.

It is amazing that I've already been at IUB for more than two weeks. During these two weeks, I was running around everywhere for my orientation, document checking, health insurance, English exam, department meeting, and etc. Life becomes busier and busier, which makes me realize that I am back to school again, not relaxing at home anymore. I will start my busy, stressful academic life from next Monday. It seems that I haven't mentally and physically prepared for the new semester. Well, life is like a box of chocolate, you'll never know what will happen next, that's why life is good, isn't it?

Midwestern world is so hot and humid recently, which kinda makes me miss northeastern's cool air. My campus is big and pretty, I guess the view during fall season will be more beautiful. Graduate coordinator already warned us of our busy life ahead, and he even told us that we may not have time to see the view at all. Oh, my God~Couple of my friends asked me why I decided to pursue Ph.D here, well, I really don't know. I guess somewhere in my heart, I still like academic busy life, although sometimes it is stressful. Well, we'll see how far I could go.

Back to school ~

I haven't written anything on this blog for couple of months. It is not because of my laziness, but because I couldn't get onto this website in China for a while. Now I am back to school (US) for my Ph.D, so I also get the access to this website. My trip is safe but kinda exhausted. Now I am busy for settling down in this new town. Just a short notice here. I will write more when I get more time.

My friend's nephew, fish, and hot weather

My friend's fish and nice environment she created inside her fish tank. Superb! Sorry, this picture is unauthorized, so let me ask her permission here, hope she wouldn't mind it.

He was playing volleyball at York beach. Oh, happy kid with fashionable clothes.

Lazy Yinster is coming back, finally. Rush to Yinster's theater to see the new update. Recently, I was really busy, meeting all my friends, enjoying the new movies, food, concert, and chatting with friends abroad. Life is busy but colorful. My friend sent me the pictures of his nephew, who is nearly 3 years old and looks so cute. Oh, kids are lovely.

Another silly friend of mine did a good job. She bought a fish tank and 5 tropical fish. I always had doubts about her ability to take care of the animals, well, at this time, she not only bought all the utilities for those fish, but also put a lot of efforts on them. Her fish are so pretty, which makes me kinda want to get some fish too. See the pic above.

The weather in my hometown is really hot. It is generally hot every summer as it locates in the southern part, however, it is still unusual that it has already reached 90F in the middle of May. Woo, after staying in the cold place for more than 2 years, it is really difficult for me to get used to the heat here. I guess after 3 months, I may become the tropical fish as the one in the pic above, but of course, more lovely. lol~

Friend's wedding ceremony!

Before the bride and her groom walked on this red carpet, we came in advance to experience their happiness, and wish ourselves could move towards it.

Right before the wedding ceremony, we went to the room in Shangri-la Hotel (where my friend rented her wedding place) to see the bride.

Shortly after I went back home, I got a 7-day Labor Day holiday, and two wedding ceremonies. Cheers! Awesome, hum? It seems that it is the time for us to get married, cause recently, a lot of my friends got married. Last month, one of my best friends from high school got married, and another two friends got married on May.3rd, and 4th separately. I attended these two ceremonies, one was in the church, completely western way and romantic; the other was in the hotel, half western and half Chinese. Before that, I never attended wedding ceremony for my friends, mostly for my cousins, relatives. Friend's wedding is different, because you could feel you are part of it. and fully share the happiness with them. You could see their lovely happy faces, which is so cute.

The atmosphere at the wedding ceremony influenced me a lot. I did want to get married when I saw the bride walked towards the groom, especially when the groom made the commitment to his bride, promising to take care of her and love her all of his life. I was touched when he said so. I always thought I was not a traditional person, and didn't care marriage that much as long as I had a stable relationship, but it seems not the case now. Marriage needs enough courage, responsibility, and love for both people finally get together and make their serious commitment, which is not an easy thing. Boyfriend could give you the love you need, but he would never give you that kind of commitment. Just as one of my friends told me about husband "He may not be the best one, but he is the one for you." Oh, well, I guess I get a little bit affected by those continuous wedding ceremonies, so if you are not sure whether you want a marriage or not, just go to attend a wedding ceremony, you will find the answer. Pictures will come out soon!

Back home at last~

Memoir of my best friends in NH. We made dinner together and had a party in the middle of March, 2007.

It takes me a long time to get onto this blog again, and it is nice that I finally made it. I guess my internet server at home has some problems, well, anyway, I am back home, real home in China. It was a tough trip, I left Boston on April.3rd, and then went to Detroit to change my flight, then Tokyo, and finally Beijing. My flight delayed in Tokyo airport for nearly 2 hours because of the thunder storm, so when I got to Beijing, it was already nearly 11pm, April.4th, Beijing local time. When I left NH, it was raining heavily as it usually did. Whenever I left NH, it was raining, sometimes, my friends made fun of me, and said that NH missed me. No matter whether it is true or not, I love NH, and raining made my leaving sad. Nearly 3 years' experience changed my life. I cherish this experience, and thanks God giving me this opportunity.

It is sweet to get back home, meeting my friends and parents. Just like my "Dad" said, it was a mixture of sweetness and sorrow. My hometown changed a lot, becoming more and more international and beautiful, but right after I got back home, I was sick. I lost my appetite, and I also had a fever for couple of days. Now the fever is gone, but my nose is still running, and my throat is pain. Until now, I haven't fully enjoyed the good feeling of going back home. Haven't been home for 2 years, I find I changed a lot during this period, the way of thinking, life style, and etc. I kinda Americanised. I don't know whether it is a good or bad thing, but I need time to adjust to my current life. Anyway, China is my country, I still feel comfortable and happy to be at home, because it is my soil. I did see a lot of progresses going on everyday, and I feel proud of it. Now my cell phone bill is greatly increasing, because of the international phone call. One thing is good that my parents couldn't understand what I was talking on the phone and even who was calling me. lolz~ See, how naughty I am. Still miss my friends and "parents" in U.S, wish them all the best.

Leaving~

Departure time is around the corner, and spring is coming to NH eariler this year. Yesterday was so warm and sunny, I went to my campus to enjoy the coffee and spring with my friends, suddenly I started missing my life in the graduate school a lot. Even though studying is stressful, but you could share those painful feelings with your classmates, friends. When I discuss my last days' schedule with my friends, suddenly realize that there are so many people I want to meet, and a lot places I want to go. Well, time is not enough now even by cutting short of my sleep. I think if you give me one more year to be here, I will still feel short. By using my friend in Chicago's words "It's time to go." Let this experience become the best memory in my life. I will cherish it in my heart. Thanks for all my friends, "parents" here. You make my life.

Yinster is sad today!

Back from Chicago~

Chicagian Bean. It is one of the most famous architecture in downtown Chicago, near Michigan Aveune.

I am in the beach of Lake Michigan, downtown Chicago is at my back.

Finally, I got back from Chicago. Our flight delayed last night, so I got back home around 2am this morning. I am completely exhausted after this 4-day trip, but it was splendid. Chicago isn't that cold as I was told. When we arrived at Chicago, it was nearly 60F, feels like spring. Everyone there worn only long-sleeve shirt, we were looked like from Alaska. The next couple of days were cloudy and even raining. It was a little bit chilly, but not that cold. Yesterday was completely sunny summer, we only worn T-shirt, but still felt hot. My friends were making fun of us, he said "You guys came in spring, then experienced winter, and left in summer, so you went through three seasons of Chicago within 4 days, but not in the right order."

Chicago is the 3rd largest cities in U.S. It is called "Windy City". It isn't because Chicago is windy, but because Chicagians were talkative, never shut up, so New Yorkers gave Chicago this name. I like Chicago a lot. It is totally different from NYC and Boston. It has its own Chicagian culture, accent, and pride. We went to several museums, restaurants, and shops there. Lake Michigan is quite impressive. The water in the lake looks so blue, like ocean. At the beginning, we thought it was ocean, but based on Chicago's geography, it can't be close to the ocean. Then we guess it might be a man-made swimming pool, but it is too big. The color of the water is so beautiful, even during raining day, it is still blue. I went to Erie before, which is one of the 5 biggest lakes in north America, but compared to Erie, Lake Michigan is more like an ocean, and they even brought sands near the lake and made a beach around the lake.

Chicago River went through downtown with several different style bridges above it. Chicago is famous for its architecture. If you walked around downtown, you could see all different kinds of skyscrapes. They were built in various styles, Sears Tower is the tallest one. I am not fond of buildings, especially after living in NYC for more than 6 months, but Chicago's tall buildings are impressive. Chicago's food was great too. We got Mexican, Latin American, Chinese, Italian, and Chicagian food. We also went to a blues bar to enjor typical Chicago blues, such as "Sweethome Chicago". We could strongly feel Chicagian's pride of their city. Pictures will come out soon! Thanks for my friends' guide.

Chicago!!!!!!!

I will go to Chicago tomorrow morning at 9:55am from Logan Airport. Always heard about this city, but never got chance to see it, now it is my turn. It is the last trip before I leave U.S. My friends in Chicago are quite exciting now. They already made bunch of food menu for us, as they knew how much I like food. If I am lucky enough, maybe I could meet my favorite guy Wentworth Miller in PB. Cheers~

Snow Storm, Pawtuckway State Park, Post Card, etc.

Last Friday, we got a big snow storm in the northeast of U.S. All the flights were canceled in Logan Airport, and buses delayed. Only couple of hours, the whole New England district got 7-10 inches snow, quite beautiful. I got so excited when I saw the big snow storm. I rushed outside of the house and played in the snow. I always love snowing, and dreamed that I could dance with my "boy" under the snowing, that will be quite romantic. I walked to the mailbox under the snow that night to check my mail, then I got a post card from my friend in Frankfurt, which is pretty. I like getting different post cards from different countries. You could see their nice architecture, culture, and tradition through a small piece of paper, which is pretty cool! Thanks, piggy!

I went to Pawtuckway State Park (NH) last Saturday right after the snow storm, cause I like hiking in the mountains after snowing. Sunshine was nice to me at that time, duirng the whole hiking trip, it was always smiling at me. This time, I didn't finish the whole trail, because we got there late and I was quite tired after 2 miles of hiking.

UNH hockey team lost to BC in the final match, which is quite disappointing. Maybe it is because I was not on site to support them? Well, still proud of my school team, at least, they worked hard for it. Congratulations, wildcat, you are always good! This coming Thursday, I will head to Chicago to visit my Chicagian friends. Cheers~ Chicago, Yinster is coming!!!!!!!!!

Portland, and flu~

Portland is the largest city in Maine, which is about 80 miles away from my campus. It is not as famous as Portland, Oregon, but still a nice place to travel. We took a short trip last Sunday afternoon, and fully enjoyed the warm sunshine, rocky beach, old downtown, and etc. Downtown Portland has some beautiful old shops, which is kinda like Portsmouth, NH, but larger. It is nice to walk there on the sunny day, and it is very close to the sea coast. We walked along the Atlantic Coast, and saw the dog playing with water. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time for window shopping, because daytime saving ended last Sunday, but we didn't realize until we got to Portland downtown. Couple of gorgeous architecture reminds people the history of New England district.

Spring finally comes to NH, although it is a little bit earlier this year. Well, spring does not always bring good things to people's life, flu comes to NH too. Most of my friends were sick at home recently, except myself, amazing~ They were all lying in bed and sleeping the whole day, which is quite boring for me. Hope they could all get better soon! Yinster wants to play!!!!!!!

Come on, Wildcat!

My team celebrated their victory in Quarter-Final.

Wildcat is in white, and Providence is in dark blue.

I went to see hockey game last Friday night at Whittemore Center, UNH Wildcat vs. Providence at Quarter-final. I knew UNH Men Hockey Team is good, but never got chance to see their performance on site. We finally got tickets for this match, which started at 7pm. The whole match was great, and Wildcat had large advantages over Providence. Wildcat's strikers seemed weak at the beginning, but its defenders were quite good. Providence continued attacking, but still scoreless. Wildcat strikers were efficient, once they started attacking, they were dangerous. After 3 periods, Wildcat won over Providence at 6:0, and will go into Semi-final vs. Mass.

I am not a big hockey fan, but it is more enjoyable than I thought, especially when you come on site to see the game. It isn't that much fun if we see it on TV. I am very proud of my school team, they did a superb job last Friday. I shouted for them through the whole match together with other faithful fans. "Sieve, sieve, sieve" , "UNH, UNH, UNH", "Come on, cats".

Last Saturday night, I went to ice-skating in Dover. I was good at Roller-Skating when I was in high school, so I thought I might be good at ice-skating too. Well, I tried last winter with my friend, and I did ok, but this time, I did really bad, falling down 3 times, and couldn't find my balance. Now I realize I am incapable to do many things, sighing~

Campus visiting and freezing cold!

I went to visit my campus yesterday. Having been in NH for nearly couple of weeks, I didn't get any chance to get back to my campus at all, so finally I decided to go there for a short visit yesterday. The weather was so pretty, but freezing cold. I couldn't stay outside longer than 5 minutes.

I went to the coffee shop Breaking New Ground (which my friends always called Breaking New England) to have some coffee, then went to my favorite grocery store DUMP for some cookies. Campus is still the same after a year, but you could see a lot of new faces. I had lunch with couple of friends in MUB, and during the lunch, we talked about different culture, people, movies, and etc, which is quite enjoyable.

There will be some hockey games in my campus this weekend, hopefully, I could get some tickets. UNH has strong hockey team, but I never got chance to see their performance, hopefully, this time I could see it.

Busy weekend~

This is the Light House in York Beach. It is so pretty, like the view in the fairytale.

I was standing on the summit of Mt.Major, see the big frozen lake in front of me, it is frozen Lake Winnepesaukee. My hand was freezing when I held my camera.

The whole last week was quite busy for me, especially weekend. Excited for being back to NH, I wanted to hang around everywhere; making plans for Boston, Chicago, Portland; watching movies; going to concert at Rochester Opera House; and etc.

I went to Lake Winnepesaukee (NH) with my friend last Saturday, it was so pretty cause the lake was completely frozen. We could walk there and see the holes digged for fishing. Fish houses were built on the surface of the lake, and some people tried to land private helicopter on the lake. It is so pretty. Imagine the whole big lake become frozen, cool~ Then we drove to Mt. Major for hiking. According to the weather forecast, it should be partly cloudy that day, and when we left the lake, it was still sunny, so we thought it would be a nice day for hiking. We parked the car, and followed the trail to the top of the mountain. Mt. Major: 1124 ft. and the trail: 4 miles. At the beginning, everything was nice: weather was sunny, trail was quite flat covered with thick snow, we were energetic. Well, life wasn't always easy. When we got close to the top, it started snowing with huge wind, until we got to the summit, it was actually snow storm. However, the view was so pretty on the top, we could see the whole view of Lake Winnepesaukee. If it was sunny, I wouldn't want to leave the summit: mountains covered with snow, and a whole frozen big lake under you. Amazing~

It took us nearly 4 hours to finish the whole trail, and after we went back to the parking lot, we were totally wet and exhausted. I like hiking, but I never go hiking during the snow. It was a nice experience, but you need courage to do that, cause on our way back to the bottom, the trail became so steep and slippery. I fell down several times, but it was fun.

Yesterday, the weather was so pretty, so I went to York Beach to see the Light House. It wasn't that cold, but when you got close to the ocean, it was quite windy. Walking in the beach was one of my favorite activities. I always feel I am close to my friend on the other side of Atlantic Ocean when I walk in the beach here, imagine her Piggy Zoo. Light House was so pretty under the sunshine. As the tide wasn't high at this time of the year, some people climbed up to the Light House. I wanted to try that too, but I haven't recovered from Saturday's exhausting hiking, and my legs were still pain. I tried to climb a little bit, but finally gave up.

It was a great weekend, but now my whole body pains, especially my legs. Without doing excises for quite a while, I did too much last whole week. I shouldn't be that excited. Maybe I don't have much time to be in this country, I want to do everything within a very short period of time, and bring the whole NH back with me. The weather here was always changing recently. Before I wrote this post, it was sunny, now it is snowing heavily. Funny weather, and exhausted Yinster.

Drive safe!

Alas, just got a sad news from my friend in NYC. One of my friends had a horrible car accident in Rochester, NY last weekend. She went there to attend her friend's wedding. On their way to the wedding ceremony, they got a car accident. My friend's neck was seriously hurt, not sure how others were. Although nobody was dead, most people were seriously injured. To all my friends, please drive safe, it is really dangerous to drive. Pray, God bless her!

Back to NH~

I finally went back to NH again last Sunday night. NYC was snowing at that time, but it didn't affect our driving, cause it started snowing after we left the city. Right before I left NYC, I stopped by Central Park at 90th Street, which was quiet and pretty. Lakes were frozen, and I could walk on the ice. I always prefer the far north part of the Central Park, because most tourists went to the south part at 59th Street, and they got exhausted near 70th Street when they tried to walk towards north, which left the whole north part to New Yorkers.

My last weekend at NYC was splendid. I went to see another Broadway musical with my friend last Saturday night Mamma Mia, which is so good. All the music in it came from ABBA's songs. I like ABBA's music, especially Mamma Mia and Dancing Queen. Before the show, I went to MOMA to see some modern arts. Generally, I prefer Metropolitan Museum to MOMA, cause I like traditional oil paintings, but MOMA had an exhibition of the construction progress of CCTV buildings. I like our Central TV Station and always dream to work for them. Unfortunately, I am not a journalist or news person. The construction speed of our country is amazingly fast. I felt so proud of that.

On the way back, we stopped by Yale University at New Haven. I always want to see its campus, especially their library, where Bill met Hilary, but when we got there, it was too dark to see everything clearly. After leaving NH for a year, it is really nice to go back again. Everything is still the same in NH, it seems the time stopped here. It isn't that cold here this year, and rivers are defrosting, spring is not far away now. Hopefully, I still have time to catch the first view of spring.