9 posts tagged “apa”
Got on a taxi, got to the airport, and caught the plane. The end.
The next day of the conference was great, I got to see some quality presentations including one by John Dovidio (yes, I've blogged about him before). And other useful stuff. Anyway, after finishing the last day of the conference (early), I headed off to MoMA to finally see the gallery. Fortunately for me, there was a Matisse exhibition, and there was a lot of other, hard to see stuff on display. I finally got to see a Rothko, and I finally got to see that damn urinal by Marcel Duchamp, which started off a revolution in modern art.
The others went to grab some bargains at Costco, and I got there just in time for the closing, and didn't get in. They had bought two large sushi platters and planned to eat it for dinner. We also picked up some beers and headed to the hotel and all we did was crash for a while. We called in some contacts (other professors from our university) and they brought one of those, GIGANTIC american pizzas. In the end we ended up throwing away a good third of the food and barely packed our stuff before sleeping.
Today was the big show. Our turn on the floor of the convention hall, showing off the poster presentations, and explaining to people the content of our research. I took a secondary role (collecting pens and freebies from the exhibitors hawking products and services, I collected about a kilo's worth in the end). And letting the first time convention guys to to bulk of the talking. From my point of view, it was a little frustrating, because their English skills were not great, and people spent more time being polite than actually understanding the work. But it was a good experience for them and they got a real sense of what it's like to be at a convention this size and quality.
Everyone was in their business gear, and answering questions and looking smart. After it all, i wanted to detour via the MoMA, but everyone else wanted to shop so we planned to meet at the hotel. MoMA was closed, and we didn't meet at the hotel and there was this thing with a whole lot of wasted time etc... so I got fed up and walked around Chinatown by myself and walked back to the hotel with a taco in my hand, late at night. Chinatown wasn't all that impressive, but I took a sidestreet on my way back and it was great seeing the real night sights. Orange-lit tunnels, arches, and Bay Bridge views, old broken down cars... classic urban landscape (a la Edward Hopper).
We returned the rental car in the morning after moving hotels (closer to the convention centre), and it turned out we had to fork out an extra $160 for being an hour late. We also dropped a mobile phone there (we found it there, so it wasn't a big drama), but we lost a lot of time arguing with the staff. When we got everything done, it was already 4pm, and we couldn't make Chinatown as planned, and instead had to go direct to the opening ceremony at the 115th Annual Convention for the American Psychological Association. The opening ceremony is nothing but awards and introductions, but this time, Daniel Kahneman (nobel laureate) was being awarded and gave a speech on how much his career and success depended on luck. Knowing the professor, I knew he would hate the speech because he's a really vision/plan/schedule oriented person, and he said he was disappointed that the speech didn't give students any kind of firm direction that could help their career.
There was a musical performance by a local jazz singer called Kim Nalley, who has a 3½ octave range, who is good, but wasn't fantastic on the performance. Part way into her third number the electricity went out, but she kept on going, and she was much better without the mic. She walked off the stage and onto the floor, walking up and down the aisles with a torch in her hand, lighting her face, casting giant shadows on the stage behind her, moving in the smooth, seductive way that jazz singers do.
For something different, we headed out to Berkeley University, and it just blows away every other campus I've ever seen. It's huge, it has awesome libraries, and just walking into one of those study halls wants to make you do some work. There was a lot of picture taking and most people bought Berkeley University gear (t-shirt for me). I made a detour and headed off down Telegraph Avenue (something I must do, I've been told) while the others went to the bookshop. Apparently the coolest homeless people lived on Telegraph. I didn't have much time, so I kept at a brisk pace, and I kept feeling I wasn't getting the full effect until I ran into the fundie Christian group trying to serve up messages of "love" at an intersection. it was truly bizarre. On my way back up the street, I notices some cool shops and bought one of the most important items on my list (a shirt that says "Bezerkeley". Going back to the bookshop where the others were, on the very last step of Telegraph, a homeless guy was begging for money, and he was flatly rejected by the woman in short shorts right in front of me, so I decided to give him a dollar. After a couple of "thank you"s and "sir"s, he said
"there's a hole opening up"
"what?"
he raised his eyebrows and said, in a slower, gravelly tone, "there's a hole opening up"
I still didn't understand.
The woman (hot legs). was waiting for the traffic light to change, as we all were, and had her back towards us. The homeless man almost stuck his head right in her crotch, and suggested to me, "there's a hole opening up".
Thank god she didn't notice.
Cool? (no) A weird encounter with a homeless person? (if that's what you mean by cool)
The rest of the afternoon / evening was spent at the hotel, recouping and waiting while the professor met up with his colleague. The hotel was next to the airport, so there was nothing to do outside, and no internet either.
That night, we gorged ourselves at Red Lobster, and it's surprising how much food they give you. I mean really. It's excessive. We ordered a plate each, plus entrees, and there was just no way of finishing it. It was good, but it felt like I'd gained an entire kilo or two just that night (I probably did).
For breakfast (and for the breakfasts for the rest of the trip), we ate 2 minute instant rice, Kimchi, and instant noodles, both in order to save money and to eat Korean foods because the professor thought that the students would miss it during the week-long trip. Saving money, I can agree with. But a person can't go without Korean food for a mere 7 days? WTF is that? I have been told over and over again that Korean people need Korean food, and they feel something is missing if they don't have rice during their meal, but one of the pleasures of going to another country is to try their food. Granted, We know all about hot dogs, hamburgers and the like, but there's so much stuff we can try, like what it'd be like to eat breakfast at a real American diner.
We headed out to Golden Gate Park (which is actually quite a bit out from the bridge itself) and it was quite surprising. Aside from the sheer size of it, it's very well tended to, and while there is evidence that they are trying to wring every last tourist dollar from it, it's an awesome picnic place and scenic walk. We headed west, ending up at Ocean Beach, facing the Pacific, but it was cloudy, windy, and not at all good for swimming (it's a rather boring beach actually) so we headed out for lunch to an all-American diner. Or so I thought. The place was kinda full and while we were waiting for a spot, some with influence in the group wanted to go to the snooty place up the road which was going to be, well, snootier and much more expensive (and not for me persoNalley, but a little less comfortable for others who had never stepped in a place that serves lunch under sterling silver. I have to say the food was good though. Halibut is now my favourite fish.
Heading north, over the Golden Gate bridge (which, by the way is much shorter than you think) we headed up to Sausalito, basically a tourist town with lots of souvenir shops. I spent money on sweets (taffy) while the others fished for trinkets.
Muir woods, was the next destination, and it was quite humbling. You felt small and young, in and amongst the giant and ancient trees, walking through mere beams of light filtering between the branches. Looking on the floor, I tried in vain to scoop a four leaf clover, but it was nice to breathe really fresh air (short supply in Korea).
As a final destination, we took position at the Golden Gate lookout, then headed to a seafood place where I got the first taste of clam chowder (excellent).
One professor, and three students heading to San Fran on a plane.
Not that exciting. there was one person for whom it was the first ever flight overseas so he was a little nervous and we teased him a bit - especially on the safety information - but i didn't come through on the crossing of the line ceremony as i planned so that was that. Oh - steak on a plane - not a good idea. Mine had the consistency of canned tuna.
After 11 hours we fiNalley arrived at SFO, and customs wasn't nearly as bitchy as LAX, which was a nice surprise. we took out a renal car, checked in to a hotel blah blah blah, then headed out to the Mission - the oldest part of the city. The first stop was 826 Valencia, a shop dedicated to everything pirate. No price tags, run by volunteers and almost every thing for sale. Old rope, old papers and chests, maps and treasure (pressed coins). The professor was the driver and I was navigator (the only one to have looked at a map of San Francisco before the trip) and we trundled through the Mission, along with another student and two other professors form the same university who had joined us. we looked into cool random shops, selling manufactured items out of China, but a highlight was Clothes Contact, basically a second hand clothes place, which sells clothes by weight or special items per piece (U.S. Army jackets for $10). Unfortunately, I was with people for whom "second hand" is literally a dirty word, and I only got to have 10 minutes there. We also checked out a street gallery, with some really impressive work. We drove by Castro (the gayest of gay streets in SF) but the reservation of others was noticeable so we just drove on by.
Finally, we discovered a real gem of a taco / burrito place, and just the best food we had during the entire trip at La Taquiera (2889 Mission St), meats cooked just right, home made salsa, and very affordable. It's the kind of place where everyone comes to grab a bite and the kind of thing you'd desperately want to take home .
That was followed by crashing on the couch (sofa bed).
Me and some fellow students made Korea's no.1 newspaper yesterday!
http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/04/25/2007042500080.html
We made both the online and print edition (yes, I bought a copy) and I won't say much more about it because I know all of you can read Korean. It's basically got to do with 5 sets of dentures, teamwork, a catfish, and one of the Olsen twins while on vacation in the Urals. Think about it.
Still in midterm mode, won't be blogging for another couple of days.
hint: daisung.
I had my photo taken today, along with a bunch of other people, by the press department at the university.
The research society I belong to are going to the APA to present three posters between us; one on brand preferences, one on life satisfaction, and one on South Koreans' attitude of North Koreans.
Apart from that, there's been a distinct lack of sleep (if my hair is any indication) and I've just been paid so no more getting by on (literally) $7 a day.
