There...
Well, after a few days of not having enough time to post an update, I finally have some time to sit down and... well... do the obvious.
We're here.
And so far, it's been absolutely amazing.
The geography is schizophrenic, at best, with boiling green hills (that look EXACTLY like the windows XP start-up wallpaper) rolling as far as the eye can see, interrupted by very green mountains. The air is cool, crisp, and clean. The town of Pullman is very small (you can get anywhere on foot in less than 5 minutes), and sits less than eight minutes from the Idaho border (and Moscow, Idaho, where the University of Idaho sits). The population is about 25,000 with students (and there are about 20,000 students).
Well, as for what we've been doing:
The first day we were picked up by Dr. F ("Call me Lisa") in Spokanne. Over a 90 minute drive back to Pullman, we got to know her and learn a bit about what we were doing that day. She dropped us off with Dee and Brian, two grad students who are both finishing this year with their doctorate degrees. We stayed with them the first two nights out here (which was kind of interesting... they had a cat named "Kitty", oddly enough).
The first afternoon, Dee graciously showed us around campus and the town of Pullman. It's not quite as big as Lawrence, but it is very nice. It's a major football school (the basketball team sucks, apparently, but is getting better), so most of the campus is literally structured around the football stadium. The nice thing is that they leave the stadium open all the time, and they even let intramural teams play on it.
After sightseeing, Dee and Brian took us out for dinner in Moscow (only an 8 minute drive, mind you), showed us some of the appartment complexes (which are all set up on four hills... more on that later). After dinner, we watched the Jayhawks loose (AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!), then crashed.
The next day, we took Dee and Brian out for breakfast, our treat, for putting us up on such short notice. Brain is finishing up his doctorate in chemistry (and is doing some very cool things, by the way, regarding isomers and airborne particulate toxins) and Dee is wrapping up her doctorate in social psychology. Fun was had by all, and many egg-type foodstuffs were consumed.
Dr. F picked the two of us (the lovely GF and I) up and took us on a short hike. Being able to go hiking whenever I want is a definate plus. I realized while catching my breath atop the not-quite-a-mountain we had just scaled that I would probably be more motivated to exercise in an environment like this, as all of the outdoor sports I like to do can actually be done fairly easily out here (hiking, skiing, camping, and if I can get someone to teach me, fly fishing).
That night, it was a steak dinner (and man, they were HUGE) with Dr. F and her husband (who is also an avid PC gamer) along with an introduction to Matt and Beth. Matt is her grad student (second year right now), and would be my co-worker should I elect to come here. We stayed up very late talking about all kinds of random things (like the proper way to brush one's teeth, humorous family moments, etc.). And thus did the second day conclude.
The third day, today, the GF hopped the airport shuttle to return to Kansas City. Matt just ran me through the experiment he's working on (it had a lot to do with pressing buttons and touching the computer screen forcibly). For the rest of the time here, I'll be staying with Matt and Beth (and their four cats). On the agenda for today: More exploring of the campus, many questions about the program, and a few rounds of one-on-one Halo with Matt.
Now, regarding the more serious academic stuff:
We've had several conversations about a variety of things (job placement afterwards, workload, stress levels, grad student retention, flexibility within the program regarding various interests of the students and faculty, health insurance coverage, cost of living and the graduate stipend, student loans, the undergraduate population's general attitude towards academics, and many, many more). Due to the sheer volume of the academic information (and the fact that I still have a LOT more to find out), I won't post any major academically related information here just yet. I'm meeting with Dr. F tomorrow and going to a symposium that Matt is giving about his research tomorrow evening, as well as meeting some of the other faculty members. Dr. F deliberately avoided talking "shop" while the GF was here mostly because it would take up a lot of time, bore the poor GF to tears, and also prevent the GF from finding out what she really needed to know about regarding the area (a wise choice, I must agree... I actually intended to keep the "shop-talk" to a minimum myself until the GF learned all she needed to, as she had the greatest time limit). But now she's gone, and the shop talk shall commence.
So... Washington State University:
We're here.
And so far, it's been absolutely amazing.
The geography is schizophrenic, at best, with boiling green hills (that look EXACTLY like the windows XP start-up wallpaper) rolling as far as the eye can see, interrupted by very green mountains. The air is cool, crisp, and clean. The town of Pullman is very small (you can get anywhere on foot in less than 5 minutes), and sits less than eight minutes from the Idaho border (and Moscow, Idaho, where the University of Idaho sits). The population is about 25,000 with students (and there are about 20,000 students).
Well, as for what we've been doing:
The first day we were picked up by Dr. F ("Call me Lisa") in Spokanne. Over a 90 minute drive back to Pullman, we got to know her and learn a bit about what we were doing that day. She dropped us off with Dee and Brian, two grad students who are both finishing this year with their doctorate degrees. We stayed with them the first two nights out here (which was kind of interesting... they had a cat named "Kitty", oddly enough).
The first afternoon, Dee graciously showed us around campus and the town of Pullman. It's not quite as big as Lawrence, but it is very nice. It's a major football school (the basketball team sucks, apparently, but is getting better), so most of the campus is literally structured around the football stadium. The nice thing is that they leave the stadium open all the time, and they even let intramural teams play on it.
After sightseeing, Dee and Brian took us out for dinner in Moscow (only an 8 minute drive, mind you), showed us some of the appartment complexes (which are all set up on four hills... more on that later). After dinner, we watched the Jayhawks loose (AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!), then crashed.
The next day, we took Dee and Brian out for breakfast, our treat, for putting us up on such short notice. Brain is finishing up his doctorate in chemistry (and is doing some very cool things, by the way, regarding isomers and airborne particulate toxins) and Dee is wrapping up her doctorate in social psychology. Fun was had by all, and many egg-type foodstuffs were consumed.
Dr. F picked the two of us (the lovely GF and I) up and took us on a short hike. Being able to go hiking whenever I want is a definate plus. I realized while catching my breath atop the not-quite-a-mountain we had just scaled that I would probably be more motivated to exercise in an environment like this, as all of the outdoor sports I like to do can actually be done fairly easily out here (hiking, skiing, camping, and if I can get someone to teach me, fly fishing).
That night, it was a steak dinner (and man, they were HUGE) with Dr. F and her husband (who is also an avid PC gamer) along with an introduction to Matt and Beth. Matt is her grad student (second year right now), and would be my co-worker should I elect to come here. We stayed up very late talking about all kinds of random things (like the proper way to brush one's teeth, humorous family moments, etc.). And thus did the second day conclude.
The third day, today, the GF hopped the airport shuttle to return to Kansas City. Matt just ran me through the experiment he's working on (it had a lot to do with pressing buttons and touching the computer screen forcibly). For the rest of the time here, I'll be staying with Matt and Beth (and their four cats). On the agenda for today: More exploring of the campus, many questions about the program, and a few rounds of one-on-one Halo with Matt.
Now, regarding the more serious academic stuff:
We've had several conversations about a variety of things (job placement afterwards, workload, stress levels, grad student retention, flexibility within the program regarding various interests of the students and faculty, health insurance coverage, cost of living and the graduate stipend, student loans, the undergraduate population's general attitude towards academics, and many, many more). Due to the sheer volume of the academic information (and the fact that I still have a LOT more to find out), I won't post any major academically related information here just yet. I'm meeting with Dr. F tomorrow and going to a symposium that Matt is giving about his research tomorrow evening, as well as meeting some of the other faculty members. Dr. F deliberately avoided talking "shop" while the GF was here mostly because it would take up a lot of time, bore the poor GF to tears, and also prevent the GF from finding out what she really needed to know about regarding the area (a wise choice, I must agree... I actually intended to keep the "shop-talk" to a minimum myself until the GF learned all she needed to, as she had the greatest time limit). But now she's gone, and the shop talk shall commence.
So... Washington State University:
- Mascot: The Cougar
- School Colors: Crimson and Grey
- Archrival: The University of Washington
- First Impressions: Frikkin' Awesome
posted by Raoul The Destroyer at 12:37 PM
2 Comments:
"humerous family moments"...oh Lord. Which of our vacation disaster stories did you tell him?
Actually, we didn't really talk about our embarrasing vacation stories... mostly we just talked about what our families are like and the wierd little quirks we have. I also told them the "hamster" story, which is more about Sarah's dad.
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