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| Today marks the one month anniversary of my post-graduate life. One month ago, I returned from a research conference (my last task in academia) to face the real world. The "real world" is what people say to refer to their life after crossing that red carpet with their university degree. It's mostly about job finding, or pursuing the next step in life. For some people, "real world" begins right after high school. For others, right after getting a post-secondary degree. And for myself, after getting a graduate degree
In a way, staying in school has been how I delayed confronting the real world--the uncertain part of life where there are no clear instructions, and no checklist of to-do's (university is really just a huge to-do list). Surely, one can stay in academia forever, if that is their passion (there is a whole route of studying, doing research, and teaching down that path, with definite rewards). However, 7 years of university has really taught me a bunch already, and I think I'm ready to try something different
Does "something different" mean getting a job in the real world? For a little while now, I have been wondering whether I will ever hear back from companies that I applied to. I wanted to get hired quickly. But up to today, still no definite answers. However, all this waiting has caused me to ponder deeply about my future career. Eventually, I might start looking at jobs that I have no passion for. You know, just to have something to do. When I thought about such a scenario, I realized that that is pretty much like staying in school to avoid confronting the real world! Certainly I don't want just any job so I have another checklist of things to keep me busy. I kind of know what I'm after. And I just need to continue looking for those opportunities (even small ones that can potentially take me closer to where I want to go), and not settle for less. Perhaps, maybe, God is even calling me to start my own thing... which I still have a lot of figuring out to do
Lately, I have been doing some reading and studying on my own. I borrow books from the SFU library (alumni can still borrow books, woohoo!) and try to absorb and learn as much new stuff as I can (mostly related to image/video editing software and techniques). It's one of the things I enjoy
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| I bought a rice cooker today! The last rice cooker belonged to my ex-roommate, hence this purchase. There's a "porridge" setting, which I think is equivalent to "congee." If so, I'm so going to try cooking different kinds of congee. Been eating noodles. Can't wait to try this one out soon
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| It's good to be back in Vancouver! I returned early last week. VisWeek 2009 in Atlantic City was great, except the weather. There was a lot of rain; and while my umbrella (thankfully I remembered to bring it) was able to keep me dry for the most part, it could not withstand the unrelenting Atlantic winds. As for my talk, it went smoothly, but the delivery could be improved. I did not practice for this one as much as I did for my Eurographics talk :\
 
After the conference, I had 2 days to do some touring around the area. There's not much to see in Atlantic City. After you've walked the boardwalk, seen some casinos, you've pretty much seen all of Atlantic City. The gloomy and rainy weather didn't help either, so I went up to New York City for both days. Here are the top 3 highlights from the rest of the trip:
"Frogs - A Chorus of Colors" exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City
 
This museum was huge!! General admission to the AMNH included one special exhibit of my choice. There were 4 special exhibits to choose from, and I decided to go see "Frogs - A Chorus of Colors," which promised 200+ live frogs. At first, I thought some of the frogs were mere man-made models, because they were not moving. Later, I saw one jump and realized that they were all real!
The frogs were so fascinating to look at. I could not look at them and not also ponder about their amazing Creator. In fact, throughout the whole museum (especially the biodiversity area), I could not stop praising God in my head as my eyes gazed from one creature to the next
Going to the museum also made me appreciate science's attempt to explain life's origin. As a person who believes in a Creator of the universe (e.g. that God made everything), I used to think that any other explanation for the origin of the universe is folly. Consequently, my attitude towards people who believe in a different origin of the universe was that of, should I say, intellectual superiority. Now my attitude has changed. Instead of silently ridiculing opponent explanations, I now appreciate mankind's attempt to explain and investigate life's origin using other means. I still believe in a Creator of the universe, because I don't think we will ever be able to explain and fully understand all of life's mysteries. I guess my bottom line is, "Go Science! I applaud your effort to continue to explain all of life's mysteries. But I still believe in a Creator, which fills all the gap, and is what I have experienced to be real!"
Disney's Mary Poppins Musical on Broadway
 
I went to watch the Mary Poppins musical on Broadway. It wasn't until the end of my first day in New York City when I thought to myself, "Hey, I'm in NYC, I should go watch a Broadway show!" It was going to be either The Lion King or Mary Poppins, and I chose the latter as I've never seen that before (but heard about it many times, even its music). I bought centre orchestral seating (5th row from stage), which had a good viewpoint. How am I going to describe what I saw? Everything was amazing and creative--from the dancing, singing and acting, to the lighting, staging and props used. One word: Wow!
Biking the 4-miles Boardwalk of Atlantic City
 
Finally, on the morning of my departure, the sky cleared and the sun came out. I took the opportunity to cycle across the 4-miles Atlantic City boardwalk with the hotel's courtesy bike
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| Vis conference is over! It was a great learning experience--and more on this when I return. New Jersey is raining and raining and raining :( It doesn't ruin my plan for going to New York tomorrow, but it does for Six Flags Great Adventure on Sunday. Aiya... I was looking forward to riding roller coasters... but I guess it's not going to happen unless the weather improves. Anyway, I'm going to sleep now, because I'm taking the Greyhound at 6:30 AM
Here is a photo from the conference. It's a picture of the audience during my talk
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Yaaa! Just graduated from Simon Fraser University on Thursday! That's me jumping in the air with my degree! The photo idea came from Tim. Thanks Tim
I have been back in Vancouver for a week now. It's chilly here. Feels like autumn! Lots of things to write about but I don't have much time and patience right now! Still need to pack for VisWeek conference and revise my talk slides before my Monday morning flight to Atlantic City
A few posts back, while I was still in Taiwan, I wrote about how I wanted to get into better habits. That included reading the Bible in the morning, sleeping and getting up early, and 30 push-ups a day. I'm glad to report that that was a success, and I want to continue doing that here. I finished the book of Proverbs (at the rate of one chapter a day). It was such a good exercise, because I got to connect with God every morning. Now I am going through Ecclesiastes (such an emo book, but very relevant for someone who just graduated). I really want to run (haven't ran for the last month), so I will go back on the treadmill when I return from the conference
That is all for now. Next update shall be from Atlantic City!
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