Although my master's thesis took me a few months to finish, I honestly didn't feel a sense of relief as I handed it to the bindery office. The paper about the major findings of this thesis just got done. There may be still a few weeks before it can be approved by my (former) advisor and get submitted. The scope of the thesis probably is probably greater than just one paper, however I don't feel the motivation to break it up. Now I realize that writing a series of paper based on one project is another trick academians need to learn. I don't deny that after months of analyzing the data, it makes me feel a little bit sick when opening MATLAB and Excel to do more analysis. Even so, I strongly feel that there may be more worth digging burried in the 4 CD's worth of data. After all, after having moved and settled into Cambridge and escorted Wei to Carnegie Mellon, I've got a few day's hiatus to relax and let the entangled thoughts about the data to cool down a little bit. Hopefully after that I can dive into the pile of data againt with refreshed impetus.

 

Baltimore and Boston are vastly different places. At JHU, you feel that the university has decided to leave the logistics (including housing and dining) for graduate students entirely to the extramural economy. Here at Cambridge, you can appreciate a nice collection of firms that exist to address the needs of the MIT community. After two year's experiences at JHU, I almost felt ecstasy when I found that the MIT student center, which directly faces the main building, houses not only Bank of America, but also a number of fast-food restaurants and barbershops. For daily grocery shopping, the Star Market and Lotte Market, which are both within 5 minutes of walk, address most of the needs. The sense of self-sustained university town like that of Tsinghua is coming back.

 

Before coming to the Boston area, I read and heard a lot about the pandemonious driving situation at this metropolis. These information hasn't lived up to my own observation, at least until now. Cars usually stop politely for pedestrians. You don't need to worry about red-light runners as many anecdotes suggest. Moreover, horn honking doesn't seem to be as prevalent as it is in Baltimore. Wei had not much problem driving through the heart of the city except for a small traffic jam at a highway entrance.

 

After lived at the Edgerton house for a few days, I am beginning to love it. With a nice design that takes into account most of the major concerns including external and internal noise and privacy, Edgerton house is the best dormitory building I have ever seen. There are plenty of cosy lounges around the building, plus a table tennis table, a pool table and a home cinema system all of which are free of access. I've got to check out the grand piano practice room on the top floor some time too.  And more happily, the laundry here cost only half much as in Baltimore.

 

My future advisor Joseph is out at a conference at Germany at this moment, and won't be available to see me until next Tuesday, which reminded me of last summer, when Eric also went to a meeting in Germany. This makes me wonder whether all summer conferences are held in the northern Charlemagne nation. Germany is Wei's favorite country. I hope I go there to attend a conference in summer too. My another future advisor Frank didn't reply my e-mail. He is a little bit slow in processing e-mail, which is not uncommon among those middle-age busy professors according to my observation. All what I need to do is to attract his attention with repetition of e-mail bombardment.

 

Across Charles River, there is a nice city sitting there awaiting my exploration. It is a city glueing historic depth and modern vim. I've got to learn it well enough to be able to present it to Wei when she comes to visit.