Thursday, May 21, 2009

In New York I celebrated my commencement ceremony yesterday, completing my undergraduate studies and receiving my bachelor of science degree. There are two sides to this experience: yesterday the immense rush of marching among my peers in a long procession until campus swelled with a sea of students in full academic regalia, watching as president, provost, officers, trustees and faculty descended the steps to their places on the stage. It was a long commencement, with many honorary degrees being conferred. The university president, in his address, spoke on the need to secure our freedom of access to information in the 21st century, in an era when civil liberties are under threat and our ideals must compete in a growing global marketplace of ideas. (The graduates from the Journalism School absolutely drank up this speech. Students from other schools seemed less enchanted).

After the long ceremony and a few photos, I made my way over to my department office to say farewell to my professors and pick up my diploma. My professors were kind and congratulatory. We joked about how in physics nobody wants to talk to you about what you study. Astrophysics is a little kinder, but then people assume you're a rocket scientist, which isn't accurate. With that, and a few more greetings, I left and returned home. Much of the rest of the day and late into the night, I was busy packing the rest of my things.

The good vibes don't last long. Today my university housing officially expires. My ID card is already being rejected from every security access point on campus. I returned my mailbox key and with that resigned my New York address. I think that was the hardest part.

I'm excited and somewhat anxious for the summer. It will be good to rest, pursue reading and hobbies, prepare for the wedding and the move into the new apartment. I would wish that the summer were more low-key. If there is time, I'd like to do some more photography and editing, some reading, and try strengthening my background in astrophysics and programming before starting graduate school in the Fall. Sheila and I will keep you posted.

Monday, May 4, 2009

We found our new place!!
This is all very super exciting. It was the most unexpected thing, just like everything else that's happened to me over the past year and a half I guess... the marriage and the med school, McMaster, my own personal growth and my friendship with a certain friend of mine.
The whole apartment episode started less than a week ago, one night while I was waiting for a ride outside my current apartment building. A lady approached me, asking if it would be worth looking for an apartment in the building. The conversation ended with her offering to sublet my current place from me and our exchanging contact info. She signed the rental agreement within the next few days. Then came the flurry of searches on Kijiji, Craig's List, and every other apartment rental site indexed in Google, looking for 2 bedroom places with parking in Hamilton off mountain. When Melissa came this past weekend, we scoped out a bunch of places on Friday including a brand-new 2 bedroom with skylight on the top floor of a building, right in the center of downtown. It seemed perfect: convenient, trendy, big, new, priced well, upstairs of a coffee shop. Throughout dinner and our girls night in that night though, I grew increasingly unsettled about signing that place even though I couldn't really explain why. I didn't like the layout of the place...or something. I decided to keep looking for another week or so. After a delicious crepe brunch on Saturday morning, just as Melissa was going to take off for Toronto, I got a call from the apartment next door, which I'd wanted to scope out sometime that weekend. We went up, took a look, fell in love, and I signed the lease the very next day. 12 post-dated cheques for the next 12 months.
So now I'm packing up my current 1 bedroom place (in between wedding planning, searching for electives and learning about infectious disease) and I'll be relocating in a little less than 3 weeks! I'm so excited about the place! It has these fat black and white tiles on the kitchen and bathroom floor, detailed hardwood flooring everywhere else, two walk-in closets, fireplace in the living room, clawfoot tub, glass-paneled bookcase in the study built into the wall, south-facing windows, 10 ft. high ceilings, central AC...and importantly, I finally have parking.
Photos to come when I move all my stuff in...