An update, for once

Disclaimer: this update is for Yisha, a very good friend of mine.

Anyways, I am quite inebriated right now. In fact, I probably wouldn't be typing this up if I wasn't schwasted from imbibing an entire bottle of fine Italian wine. I have realized, for a while now, that nothing productive gets accomplished after a formal dinner. Getting pennied is such a fantastic way of making sure you are too drunk to get any real work done. Much better (and classier) than beer pong, at least.

What's been going on in my life, you ask? Well, tons of work, as always. I'm perpetually a week behind my lecture material. Cambridge is quite a hard taskmaster. I'm always a bit envious of my fellow Brunonians who study abroad at other institutions and go traipsing across continental Europe every weekend. I mean, there's a reason why LSE is also known as "let's see Europe." Damn them. There's always scientific research papers I need to read, and I have to write at least one neuroscience-based essay week (which, I guess, for humanities students it's not too bad, but for science students it's unusual).

Yesterday, I participated in my first university-level athletics sporting event (ever). I've only been fencing since the beginning of Michaelmas term last October, and somehow I managed to get on the Varsity women's 2nd team for fencing at Cambridge. There weren't enough female intermediate fencers to fill the 2nd team, so they had to drag two women beginners this year into the Varsity 2nd team.

I'm starting to really feel the neuro-depressant effects of alcohol on my central nervous system now, so bear with me. I'm trying hard to stay awake.

Fencing for Cambridge was a great experience because, I mean, for a study-abroad student, it's pretty impressive to be playing a sport for the university against Oxford (as opposed to simply competing between colleges). Unfotunately, Oxford won the fencing tournament this year by 8 points, which is not a lot, considering that each individual fencing round (for example, "women's 2nd sabre") consists of 45 points. I really felt outclassed by most of my opponents, however, despite whatever the beginner's coach says (Richard Morris is so cute though... too bad he's gay and taken). What I found especially hilarious was that I had to fight on the women's sabre team, considering I only learned how to fence sabre the  the day before the tournament. I've only had a substantial amount of practice with the foil (although I did fight decently on the women's 2nd foil team).

I fought a match with an experienced sabreist who scored 5 consecutive points against me in less than two minutes. It was comedic, to say the least.

Umm, what else has happened? The previous weekend I presented a poster at the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This was mildly amusing because I received a travel grant from Pembroke College that partially paid for a plane ticket back to the United States. I went with two other British students, who upon exiting the airport in Washington D.C., was like, "Woooaahhh it's like being in Hollywood movie." They marveled at the sight of our huge roads, our huge cars, and—occasionally—our huge citizens.

It's okay, I told them, because I sometimes feel like I'm in a Harry Potter movie when I'm in England.

I got to be really good friends with a girl named Tara over the course of that weekend. We ate meals together at really "American" restaurants like Johnny Rockets, a legit Chinese restaurant in D.C. Chinatown, a Wafflehouse for breakfast, and Firehook Bakery. She's such a supercool and supernice biochemistry student. We got free cookie cutters shaped like various NASA satellites at the conference, and we plan on baking satellite-shaped sweet biscuits some upcoming weekend.

UGH WHY DOES WINE TASTE SO GOOD BUT MAKE ME SO DRUNK. I JUST GET SLEEPY WHEN I'M DRUNK AND I HATE IT.

What else... um. I had "Halfway Hall" yesterday evening at Pembroke. They normaly invite the 2nd year students for Halfway Hall (because it's halfway through their 3-year degree programs), but they're nice enough to invite the full-year study-abroad students too. I was seated with the other study-abroad students. The main course was venison, but it tasted like liver.  On the bright side, the dessert—peanut butter brownie with ice cream—was heavenly. There was a bop at the junior parlour afterwards (i.e. a party), and I managed to muster enough shamelessness to dance to a few songs. Some drunken girls kept dragging me to the dance floor, and I obliged. Dancing is fun anyways. At one point, I was dancing in a circle, arms-around-shoulders, with a bunch of guys, and one of them asked, "AT WHAT FREQUENCY ARE WE SUPPOSED TO OSCILLATE?" I love the nerdiness of Cambridge.

So now we are in the 6th week (out of 8 weeks) of Lent term at Cambridge. After the 8th and last week of Lent term, there is a 5-week-long Easter vacastion. I plan to travel across continental Europe during that time with a couple other American study-abroad students. In particular, I would like to hit up Paris, Florence, wine country in Italy, Berlin, and any city in Turkey. I need to start booking tickets soon, however.

Okay, I am getting extremely sleepy now. My wine has won the battle. Good night, my friends!

Another smart-alecky reply

Okay, I admit that I love being smart-alecky, and remembering my smart-alecky comments. It's a guilty pleasure of mine. Sorry! A few weeks ago, I was in a conversation about a recent, well-publicized scientific breakthrough in figuring out how to make cells stop aging (i.e. getting one step closer to making "immortal cells").

I had quipped, "So, what? Nature already figured out immortality. It's called cancer."

Though, in retrospect, I think the more appropriate quip should have been about lobsters. Some researchers argue that if lobsters weren't eaten by predators (including humans) or didn't succumb to infectious disease, they'd live forever by the same mechanism that those scientists used on mice.

Immaturity never gets old

One time, I was studying with a friend and this precious exchange occurred:

Chris: Relativity can suck my dick.
Me: Are you sure it's sucking your dick... or are you just moving in and out of its mouth?

I'm normally not this clever, I swear.

Brown FML

Yeah, the one about calling Providence taxi by accident and confusedly trying to negotiate a pick-up time until I realized that I was talking to someone in the wrong time zone?

That's me. True story.

Wasted like £1 on the international call too. Jeeesh.

More snippets of my day

While biking to my molecular neuroscience lecture this morning, I got bike chain grease on both of my pants legs. Ughhh.

At lunch, Pembroke's cafeteria (affectionately known as the "trough") served caramelized figs in flaky pastry crust, topped with burnt orange syrup and whipped cream. It was so delicious I helped myself to a second serving at dinner. Such decadent desserts are served on a daily basis because they're leftovers from formal hall dinner. They're also cheap—only 87p!

I also stayed awake during stats lecture. Woooo!

What else... I read some papers on neural transplants for Parkinson's patients, plus some chapters from Neuroscience to Neurology, at a coffee shop across the street from Pembroke College. It's called Trockel Ulmann & Freunde, and it's a cozy and colorful little nook that's not overrun by tourists. I think I'll be studying there often. Too bad they close at 5 p.m. though.

Lots of things close at 5 p.m. here.

This evening, I biked farther away from the center of Cambridge then I ever did before—to Fitzwilliam College, where CU Taekwondo was holding their first practice session. 1) I'm glad I didn't end up at Fitzwilliam because it's goddamn far and the architecture is depressingly modern, and 2) I'm surprised that I didn't feel any surprise at all upon witnessing people who were yelling and kicking each other in the face.

Snippets of my day

Principles of Neural Science came in the mail today, and I kissed its shiny covers. In front of the porters.

My bike's gear shifters got fixed and its chain lubed up. Now it rides like a new bike, even though it was made in the 1960s (like the rest of Cambridge, it's goddamn charmingly old).

I drank sparkling elderflower cordial for the first time at Cafe Pembroke. It smells and tastes like lychees. Highly recommended.

I fell asleep during my stats lecture for the first time. I feel really guilty because I'm sure the professor was watching me as I repeatedly woke up and nodded off again. I hope he understands that 2PM is never a good lecture hour for me.

I found a new friend at Gonville and Caius College. She's a 2nd-year medic and she'll let me know when Stephen Hawking will be eating at their hall.

I might be going to the AAAS conference in Washington D.C. this February with Cambridge's TTH chapter!