Last days in Marburg

The last six weeks in Marburg have been amazing. I'm going to miss all the fun trips from Studentendorf to Rudolphsplatz or Stadthalle on the number 7 bus! The language course was really awesome and definitely helped my German. I think the best thing to come out of the six weeks in Marburg were the friendships. I know that I'm going to be seeing these people again around Germany sometime and later on in life. In ten, twenty, or thirty years, we'll think back to Marburg and whatever else comes our way (there will be a post on Oktoberfest) and reminisce about the good ol' days.

 Mostly everyone from the Fulbright language course (2011-2012) with most of our teachers!

 Two of my favorite people in the world, Marianna and Kim, and I in front of the Elisabethkirche.

Picture with Raphael, our fearless leader for the language program who basically was a savior for our problems and everything, at my last BBQ at Jose's! Thanks for everything! Also, this was the night before our exams and the next morning we were going to leave at 4 am for train to Munich for Oktoberfest! We had a few *bottles* of wine ... i.e. look at Marianna's face.

These pictures aren't in order, but above is the group going to our favorite Auflauf place for Mary's birthday! Mary, me, Dave, Natalie, Mariko, Amie (and her head), Kirsten, and Tyler. Auch, the above is pretty much a must-take-photo when in the Aufzug (elevator) to the Oberstadt. We've become elevator mirror photo experts. Lol.

During our language course, we also had a cooking class with German recipes! Kim and I ended up doing this smoked trout-apple salad. It didn't look appetizing at first, but it turned out really well!

I also got to cook Spätzle! Exciting!

Heidelberg

A few of the Fulbrighters and I visited the very famous and romantic city of Heidelberg, which is located along the Neckar River and most famous for its old castle situated above the Neckar Valley.

The beautiful Heidelberg from the Schloss. Apparently it takes about 300+ steps to get up here, which we  tackled!

The ruins of the Heidelberg Schloss.

Along the side of the "Old Bridge" or Alte Brücke with the Heidelberg Schloss in the background.

The group at the Schloss. 

Canoeing on the Lahn River

Today was the Fulbright Language Course's canoe trip in the River Lahn. I was both scared and excited for the canoe trip. In German, canoeing is "Kanu fahren", which is more like "driving a canoe". After a week of thunderstorms and some not so sunny, summer-like weather, today totally made up for the crappy week. It was definitely in the upper 70s and maybe 80s. I didn't put any sunscreen on, since I really don't burn. I asked him to be my partner for the canoe-ing and she accepted! Lol. Little did we know, we both weren't experts at "Kanu fahren".

With two people the canoe, the back person is usually in charge of steering, while the person in front just keeps paddling. I steered the first 8 km and after lunch I was in the front. I think after running into so many branches along the river Lahn, we learned how to successfully navigate the river in the later half. The trip was awesome, however, two people ran into a branch with a hornets' nest. They had to go to the hospital, but they are okay now. After this incident, which occurred near the beginning of the trip down the Lahn, I was freaked out about running into trees/branches. But we made it! I think the main goal of the trip was not to tip over, which we did not!

We ended up turning ourselves the wrong way so many times, but we had so much fun! I'm glad to have gone canoeing, despite my inability to swim and encounters with the trees. It's all about the experience as a whole! Plus, I got a nice tan and amazing lunch. ;)

Here are some pictures of others canoeing!

Mariana and Tyson successfully paddling their way downstream!

Below is the group picture before the trip. Unfortunately, we didn't get a group shot after the 16 km trip down the river. I'm pretty sure we weren't as happy and also much darker.

However, we did manage to snag one of Kim, Mariana, and I after cleaning the canoe and just before we had to get onto the bus. You can see Kim's sweat stains from all her hard work at keeping us away from those branches and trees! Way to go!

running

It was bound to happen that I would post something about running, considering that I have been running over 40 miles per week for the past 2 or so weeks. This weekend is supposed to get up to 70 so I might take a break from strength training and (1) take advantage of awesome running despite what my feet may tell me (they haven't been hurting from 40 miles surprisingly) and (2) take advantage of some needed "natural tanning". Although I'm Asian, the the latter will help me looking EVEN MORE Asian. Just kidding. It'll at least revert me back to my natural colors and not this whatever color I am now due to the lack of sunshine in Pullman.

I've been thinking about running a marathon. I mean it only seems logical now that I've run 5 or 6 half-marathons.

Okay, I'll make sure and drink plenty of water ... maybe not as much water as the blubber guy above. Lol.

But from what I've heard, the marathon is whole 'nother beast. Here are a few differences I've come across from my readings online:

1. Distance. Obviously. Half is 13.1 miles, while full is 26.2 miles.

2. Mile time. This is an issue for me. 13.1 miles is perfect for keeping a 7 minute or 8 minute mile pace. I see people with those fancy Garmin watches and calculate their mile times, but my body internally knows how fast it is going and I just go. I don't think I would be able to sustain a 7 minute mile for 26.2 miles. While that is the Boston Marathon qualifying time, I don't think I'm quite ready for that. So I would need to train my body to run longer distances at longer paces ... which I don't know if I can do ... but that's why it's calling training, right?

3. Training. Nice transition. The training time is also quite longer for a marathon, from what I've seen. While most training plans only have one long run on the weekends and shorter runs during the week, I just like doing 8+ miles 4 times a week. So I would have to change that. BUT it's so difficult for me to NOT run more than 4 miles when I get out there.

4. Cost. Marathons are more expensive. I never understood this. It's like, oh, I'm paying more to RUN MORE on public sidewalks/paths? I mean from the races I've been in, we all the get same medal, tech shirt, and freebies at the end. Sure their medal/shirt may say "marathon" ... but really?

Despite these differences, there is one similarity: the feeling of great accomplishment.

One of the main reasons I run is that I feel good after running 8+ miles in the morning right after I wake up. It's a sense of accomplishment at the onset of the day, which helps fuel the rest of my workday. Otherwise, I don't think I could continue on without that run/workout. In addition to feeling great, you'll look great. In a society that is very visual, aesthetics is important. Not only that, running is YOUR time. Research, meetings, phone callings, etc can't bother you. Unless they can catch up! Ha! It's a time to just have your brain on auto-pilot not thinking about the

crazy world with background music (for me, usually Lady Gaga, hehe).

So if I become a marathon-runner, I'll probably look like the guy on the left in the photo below. Lol. OH BOY.

(http://www.crossfitoakland.com/archives/2009/06/marathon_runner.html)

I'm running the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon on June 25th, so we'll see how that goes. I'm already thinking about running a few races in Germany, such as the Cologne Marathon. We'll have to play it by ear!

While I've read that runners can't just eat whatever they want, I think that's a lie. The good thing about running is I mostly eat whatever I want and after a marathon, I think I might want to gorge myself on chocolate-y goodness.

Summer Countdown!

So I've been working on a post for a while, but Blogger was down yesterday. I also just have way too many ideas that need festering in order to make a good post. Anyways, I thought of this blog in the interim. The items listed below are the number of days until SIGNIFICANT, IMPORTANT dates for me and maybe others:

6 days - When my iPad that I won from UREC for the Pac-10 Well-U challenge comes in! YEAH BABY!

10 days, May 23rd - Gaga's album comes out. Lol.

22 days, June 4th - This is my little brother's graduation. It'll be exciting, that's for sure! AND I'll be in the Seattle area.

43 days, June 26th - Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon - I'm running the half! Should be awesome weather!

58 days, July 10th - Leave for Boston, week-long conference in Maine, visit Alan the next weekend. This is also exciting.

63 days, July 15th - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II - I am UBER-excited for this. Those little dressed up kids have nothing on HP. I mean, they probably weren't even born when HP first started. At least I grew up with it.

~79 days, August 1st - Tentative date for flying out of Seattle to Germany!!!!! What will I miss the most from my year long Fulbright experience? Probably peanut butter. But I will replenish that sugar intake with NUTELLA. REAL Nutella. None of that fake stuff.

Hmm, okay. Those are all the significant dates I could think of. Definitely a busy summer. It'll fly by real quick. I just need to remember to live in the moment. For example, soaking up as much sun RIGHT NOW and running as much as possible before the weather gets crappy again. Because you know it'll get all nasty on us. La Niña. Ugh.

FULBRIGHT!!

So I'm a member on this forum regarding Fulbright on thegradcafe.com. A few people started discussing receiving notifications of awards (or rejections!) a few days ago. At first, I thought they (as in the International Institute of Education - IIE) were going to send notifications to permanent addresses. So I went home for a few days thinking I would see something in the mail. Then, I hear from people on the forum that they send the notifications out to current address. PULLMAN. Oh man.

All day yesterday (Tuesday) I was nervous to find a package in the mail. So from last year's recipients of the Fulbright, those who received the award received a large manila envelope, alternates received a medium sized manila envelope, while those were simply rejected got at small white envelope. So I would know their decision by simply opening the mailbox. After an okay 4.5-hour drive from Seattle to Pullman (Goldfish and homemade banana bread helped me along the way), I was EAGER to check my mail. BUT of course, all I find is SAFEWAY coupons. I mean, that was good. At least I found out that organic apples were on sale, yummy bread was discounted ... okay enough about food.


So here are the possible scenarios:

FULBRIGHT! YAY! HAPPY FACE.


ALTERNATE: EHH FACE.

REJECTION: SAD FACE.

So I checked the forum again and most of the people that heard were Finland applicants. Of all countries, FINLAND. But then again, those FINS? FINNISH people? Are quite on top of things. Probably why they have a high standard of living. YES. Anywho, a few German applicants found out.

Background: Fulbright applicants select a specific country to apply for. There are two types of grants: full and ETA. Full research grants are for candidates wanting to pursue independent research at another institution abroad. He or she must obtain an affiliation (meaning a letter from professor at an uni) showing that department or institution will host the potential Fulbright scholar. The ETA: English Teaching Assistantship is for helping out with English classes in German high schools, I think.

Okay, so I applied for the Full Grant so I could essentially continue my research currently at WSU at the University of Bonn. So to TODAY. I had a pretty good morning. Slept in until 7.30. Got in my daily workout in the morning. Got back from the rec center around 10 (yes, my workouts are ~two hours ...). Showered. I was thinking of heading to the office to get a head start on some homework and other research, but decided on staying home. Oh, and went to Wally-World for some groceries and SAFEWAY b/c of their sales from the aforementioned item I received in the mail, which I did not want to receive, but got anyways.

Well, 3.30 pm rolls around and I think that the mail should have arrived by now. And luckily it did. So I knew once I opened my mailbox, I would know whether I got the Fulbright. I don't know. I had a feeling. I opened it and of course, there was a large manila envelope. It was very thin. I was like WHAT ARE THEY PLAYING AT. They still being IIE. Well, I got IT! And it was nothing more than a letter saying "blah blah cultural ambassador blah blah good job" and the rest was basically saying "FILL OUT THESE PAPERWORK FOR A PHYSICAL TO MAKE SURE YOU DON'T HAVE ANY DISEASES TO SPREAD IN EUROPE." I was thinking: didn't Christopher Columbus and the Europeans bring all these nasty disease to America? Anyways, I should expect more information soon.

But now I have soooooo many things to plan/think about/do:

1. Deal with my apartment lease and find a sub-lease person. I want to keep my apt. So I have to do this.
2. What about my stuff? Storage? Bring it back home?
3. When do I actually leave? September? October? I think I'll find out sooner, rather than later.
4. I scheduled my physical exam at Health and Wellness. They'll probably tell me I'm pregnant ... "but I'm a guy" ... "oh, then you have the CLAP"
5. How much do I actually get as a stipend/month? I've been trying to read about this online and I haven't found a definite amount. But the amount I've seen on rare pages, I think, will be enough. I can supplement with money I haven't used from this year. I'm fairly frugal ...
6. How does this play out with other fellowships? I haven't thought about this ... but now that I got the DAAD and Fulbright ... it almost seems likely to get the other fellowships I applied for (BACKGROUND: I applied for NSF, EPA, and NDSEG fellowships and DAAD is like Fulbright, but for Germany. Essentially, the same, but since I got both, I will take Fulbright, since it is more prestigious and competitive.)
7. Housing in Bonn?
8. What exactly am I researching in Bonn? I feel like my affiliation is not what I wanted ... now that I've had a year doing my research ... I don't know if this is the best place ... I'll need to ask my advisor.
9. I need to inform certain people about this ... hmm ..

Wow, I'm fairly certain I have a lot more to think about. Anyways, I should answer WHY I am doing this blog. I think it'll be for noting by adventures when I head off to Germany, but also my adventures during these 4-5 years getting a PhD. I'm sure I'll have enough to post on here ... hopefully it'll be better than my other NONEXISTENT blogs (you've noticed I like ALL CAPS). I also might talk about some other things I find exciting: FOOD, YOUTUBE VIDEOS. Speaking of Youtube, there is a hilarious guy out there, check out his page and videos, you won't be disappointed like the REJECTION small white env letter ... sad ...

http://www.youtube.com/user/SteveKardynal

What a day!