playing catch-up.

it's been a while since i've gotten the chance the blog. i've had so much going on, and i've been so beat and tired, that it's been almost impossible to put my thoughts to paper. but suffice it to say that i'm settled in, that i'm comfortable with my surroundings, and that so far, the start of term is going well.

last week was like the week of non-stop orientations and workshops, which were almost too much; by wednesday i was skipping out on things and trying to relax instead, which was still rather difficult given all the errands i've had to run. ta training, though, was definitely something that was really needed and essential, and i'm so glad that it was available to us. it was basically 16 hours worth of sitting in the soc seminar room with three of the 'upperclassmen,' i suppose you'd call them, who led us through the major areas of being a ta: working with students, leading sections, working with a professor, grading papers, creating lesson plans, dealing with uncomfortable situations (rude students, students contesting grades, overly demanding professors...), and it was a really good way to become acclimated to the department, and also a really good introduction to what i'll be doing this quarter as a ta for soc 1.

i got some good social time in as well -- the end of ta training was celebrated with a student bbq on the beach (always fun, even if it was a little chilly), i went down to state street with a few of the girls in my cohort for a birthday party being thrown for victor rios, formerly of usf and now here at ucsb, a bunch of us got together for dinner at heather's last wednesday and got to get into some nice deep discussions, and then we all went to deborah's last friday for dinner to watch the debates. afterwards, a bunch of us went out to a place called 'tiburon tavern' on upper state where we did kareoke with a few of the upperclassmen. yes, kareoke. there were some pretty good singers there, too.

i laid low this past weekend. chan and i went exploring downtown state street, where i took advantage of old navy's sale on ballet flats and picked up some much needed flat shoes (with all the walking i do -- 15 minutes each way, which equates to almost 1 hour worth of walking on the days when i make 2 trips to campus) to supplement my wardrobe of almost all high heels. we also had lunch at an indian place (the taj cafe; pretty fair in terms of quality, but still fun), which was nice. i was supposed to hit up a dinner party later on that night, but i was beat and could feel myself starting to feel sick, so i totally bailed and stayed in.

sunday i spent finishing up my syllabus that i'm using with my 3 sections, which was interesting, to say the least. getting started is always, always the hardest part, but once i got my initial thoughts down on paper, it was a lot easier to get things to flow. of course, i totally forgot that if i wanted to get copies run off in time for my monday 8 am class, i would have needed to have made copies friday in the department, so i had to do the mad dash to kinkos to run off enough to cover my first section.

so far, i've taught 2 sections, and i'm just astounded at how different each of them are. i feel like i have a whole new understanding about what my professors have done for me. i can look back on some of the activities we've done in class and kind of see what they were really trying to get at, why they constructed classes in such a way, and it's actually really kind of cool. for today the students had to read the 1st chapter of c. wright mills's 'the sociological imagination,' which was really great, since i had planned to give them an excerpt for there any way. in both my sections there has been good conversation surrounding what the sociological imagination is and why it's needed; the thing i keep trying to drive home to them is that i want them to think. i want them to question, i want them to analyze, i want them to learn how to root their arguments in theory, and if they can get even a glimmer of all that by the end of term, i'll consider this whole class a success.

my own classes are getting started a bit slowly -- i had the mandatory 1st year seminar today, which is basically going to be about introducing us to the department and to grad student life at ucsb. we did go through all the requirements for the MA and the PhD, which was slightly terrifying, especially when i saw dates that read '2015' on the page. ummmm... yeah, that made me pause for a moment and wonder what the hell i'm doing in a program that might take me up to 6-7 years to finish, but i'm trying really hard not to think that far ahead, at least not now. the good thing is that my advisor is all for me continuing in the same vein of research as what i did for my undergrad thesis, so if i play my cards right, i might be able to write and defend my MA thesis in a little over 2 years... which is made all the easier by knowing that the thesis itself only has to be about 50 pages long, not 300, like the dissertation. sigh. but i'll think about that a little later. right now, i want to bask in the fact that i had 2 sections that i led myself that didn't fail miserably.

tonight is all about unwinding and taking a bit of a break from the stress of the past few days. once theory and my global gateway seminar meet wedesday, i'll have a lot more to do, so i'm just going to enjoy these last few days of freedom.

friends, old and new + more pictures

tomorrow begins the gauntlet of orientation, trainings, meetings and the like, and i've been feeling a bit under the weather, so i'm laying low today, staying in and napping, making tea and watching my sarah brightman dvds while mentally preparing for everything to come. it's so funny -- i've been so chill for the past few days that i think i've somewhat forgotten that the reason i'm here is not to enjoy the view or walk on the beach or run about like a silly little thing (although those things are definite perks). i'm here to study and to learn and all that good stuff. so i'm trying to get myself into the mode of papers and books and the like, and i am a bit excited. i haven't written a paper or studied, really, in almost 4 months, so it'll be good to get back into things.

over the past few days, i've had the chance to meet up with people and to see friends, both old and new, which is really nice. my old friend allison from high school moved to santa barbara last month; she's working at the local hospital as a nurse. monday night she and her boyfriend invited me over to their place for dinner, which was really, really nice. they've got the most amazing garden in the backyard, and treated me to their freshly-grown tomatoes, lettuce and lemon (excellent garnishes for the widmer they picked up from the store). we sat outside (this weather is absolutely amazing), had bbq'd hot dogs and potato salad and the freshly tossed salad, and got a chance to catch up on some of the things that have happened with us and our old classmates over the past few years. it's really nice to have a familiar face here, especially someone who i can talk about 'the good ol' days' with; having that sort of foundation has always been really important to me, so it's good that i'll have the opportunity to renew our friendship.

yesterday i met up with a couple members of my new cohort, which was exciting. from the people that i've met so far (steven, shae, heather and deborah), i feel like we're going to be a pretty interesting group of people, with a diverse mix of research interests. deborah and heather, it seems, were attracted to this program for all the same reasons as me: the promise of intellectual freedom, the ability to be creative in our research, the chance to fashion projects that matter, and the relative feeling that the department is highly competent and qualified in our areas of interest. the intellectual freedom, for me, is really a big thing, especially when it comes to being able to change my mind about my area of study and my specific project itself. more than ever, i feel like i'll have room to grow here, to really develop my 'sociological imagination,' my skills as a social scientist and my awareness as a human being, and to form some deep, lasting, important relationships.

i also managed to get another walk in yesterday. i promised myself that i'd only stay out for 45 minutes; alas, i discovered a new path that led along the beach, and i was gone for almost twice that time. i snapped some photos, though, as promised, so here they are...



a view of the marine biology building, which i'm convinced has the absolute best view of any building on campus.

there's an awful lot of avian life down by the lagoon. sometimes the birds with pointy beaks worry me, since i have an image of them going all hitchcockian on me and attacking, but they're really pretty. i'll never trust swans after what i saw them do in england, but this one is rather nice looking... at least until it huffed at me.

beach! the waves sound so beautiful and peaceful here. i stood there for a while and just listened, at least until i heard a thundering horde coming towards me and glanced up to see a dozen or so shirtless undergrads running down the stairs and then along the sand. all of that is going to take some getting used to...

the ocean, as seen from the bluff that rises above the lagoon.

a view of the lagoon and part of campus.

pelican!!!! (right? i've been despairing over my avian knowledge. an orinthologist i'm not. but there's a whole flock of these that gather along the lagoon, and go flying around over the ocean. a very pretty sight.)

i'm pretending that this is a stork, at least until someone tells me otherwise. they're really quite funny/impressive looking when they try to fly -- their wingspan is huge, although they have really skinny stick legs that hang funny as they fly about. a little nerve-wracking, though, when they take off right next to you and then divebomb into the water.

so, that's about all for now. tomorrow's TA training is student-led, starts with breakfast at 8:30 and then finishes up at 5; there's a second day on Monday, from 9-5, and a bbq at the end of the day on goleta beach, which should be enjoyable. i'm looking forward to meeting the remaining members of my cohort and catching up with some of the grad students that i met when i was here in march, though i'm hoping that it won't all be complete information overload. anyway, it's heading towards 5. i might take a short stroll before starting dinner. thanks for all the emails, everyone. i'll update again soon!

a view on the world...

and so here i am, my first official blog post about my time as a grad student at UCSB. i've only been living here for 2 full days, but i feel pretty well-settled and (so far) well-adjusted. of course, it could be, as my new classmate heather mentioned, that i'm still in the 'honeymoon phase,' so we'll see how things go once training and orientation begin.

i drove down on saturday, which was an adventure, since the longest drive i've ever made is from san francisco to palo alto. my sister rode with me and my parents came as well in the van, which is good because there was no way i could've fit all my stuff into the back of truck. i spent the first couple of hours on the drive constantly checking my rearview mirror to make sure the garbage bags filled with stuff shoved into the back weren't flying off, but once i was pretty sure that they were well-entrenched, i could relax a bit. (i should've take a picture of all the plastic bags. there were at least 8 in the back of the truck, and then a few more stuffed into the van along with all my luggage and everyone else's bags)

we pulled into santa barbara around 5:45 or so, and after doing a preliminary move of bags and such, i helped the parents' check in to their hotel. they stayed at pacifica suites, which i would really recommend to anyone coming down to visit. the grounds were beautiful, and while i didn't get a picture, the website is here: http://www.pacificasuites.com/. they gave an extra discount for AAA and for being affiliated with UCSB, which was super useful, so if anyone's interested, give me a ring and i'll see what i can do.

as it was mom's big birthday, i made reservations at a cute restaurant downtown, opal's, that has an awesome drink and dessert menu (the dinner entrees were also divine and to die for). it was super nice -- dad had the paella, which looked amazing, jaymie had tomato linguini, mom had the crabcakes and i had the world's most amazing warm seafood salad, with all these steaming chunks of salmon, scallops and other yummy things, topped with a creamy garlic sauce (i'm making myself hungry just thinking about it, yum!). for dessert, mom and jaymie went all out and had the 'like water for chocolate' special, which is basically raspberry ice cream inside a dark chocolate shell, while i really couldn't resist the dark chocolate jack daniel's creme brulee. mom's plate was decorated with chocolate sauce, and she even got her own candle to blow out:

on sunday, the family left and my roommate and i did some more settling in. luckily, chan had her own apartment in LA before she moved here, so she's got a lot of stuff to furnish the apartment with. as a result, i think our space looks pretty lived in, though of course there are things that we're still looking to do. we ran a few errands sunday night to check out bed bath and beyond, michael's craft store, rite aid, trader joe's, all the usual suspects. she's heading up to sf this coming weekend (she's originally from san jose and has family in san francisco), so she's going to make an emergency trip to ikea and target (two stores that i am sadly missing) to pick up a few extras.

i've taken a few pictures of the place, but it is in flux. here they are:

the living room, which i honestly think looks better in person than in pictures. the sheets are on the windows because we haven't yet received our drapes, which are supposed to be coming on thursday.

luckily, we've also got crazy high ceilings in the living room, one of the awesome perks about being on the top floor. the ceilings have wee windows in them that let in even more light.

the kitchen is small, compact but cute, and we've got a huge fridge. i've already cooked a couple of meals here, and i love the way that it feels.

our wee breakfast nook/office area, where we'll set up a shared bookshelf and a printer. chan also bought a basil plant and a potted rosemary/thyme/oregano plant, which will be the beginnings of our 'urban garden.'

i vacuumed the place today with the use of the roomba my parents let me bring along, since no one at home was using it, and i really couldn't resist putting a wee video of it up here. it occassionally gets stuck under the sofa and makes sad little noises, but it's so much fun to watch it putter around the place like some mini r2d2.

my bedroom, which still needs work but is coming together. i face the mountains, the practice soccer field and the soccer stadium, and the view is really lovely.

in the afternoons, there have been children's soccer lessons outside. today they were joined by a group of boys playing ultimate frisbee, which was lots of fun to watch. :)

anyway, tomorrow there will be photos of the beach, and more stories about the people i'm meeting. i'm pretty much just bumming around, relaxing and trying to catch up on my rest before the madness descends upon me on friday, though i think i'm looking forward to being occupied again. i really don't know what to do with all this free time.


that's all for now!!!

new contact info.

and so here i am, in santa barbara at last, all settled into my new apartment. it's been quite the adventure getting down here, and i know there's much more in store. i thought that restarting my old blog might be the best way to make sure that everyone is kept up-to-date on everything that's going on in my life, and a way to make it easier to share pictures and news and that type of thing.

for starter's, i'm going to post my new contact info. i emailed this out to everyone, but just in case, i'll leave it here as well.

email: my yahoo and usf accounts will remain the same, but i have a new ucsb account that i'll be using. the address is jsinlao@umail.ucsb.edu

snail mail: i actually have 2 postal addresses, one for regular USPS mail, and a second for UPS and other packages. they are as follows...

usps:
6520 el colegio rd, #2319
santa barbara, ca 93106

ups:
6520 el colegio rd, #2319
goleta, ca 93117

anyway, i look forward to hearing from everyone! i'll update soon about how the first few days are going...