Category: アメリカ大学院生活

Posted on

Appreciation

It’s been a while I’ve given a deep thought on the topic of Food Safety, my major field of study. It’s been crazy, I have too much focused on the prelims and everything. Yesterday I looked at the data analysis that I ran about 3 months ago, and I went, “I actually had a good data set!” I’m so satisfied with what I have done so far in terms of my research project.
Val sent me a nice e-mail message that I would keep for a long time. It says:

Subject: welcome back to the world of food safety
Masami,
It is so great to have you back working on food safety topics now that you are through studying for prelims. I enjoy working with you and appreciate your wonderful talents.
Val

I DO enjoy working with her and cannot appreciate her patience, encouragement, and everything she gives me as much as I’d like to. I am so happy about the fact that she is my advisor, mentor, friend, parent and all.

Posted on

Swimming

Went to swim this morning. I’ve been doing this 3 mornings in a row. When I get to my locker, I do the combination unlocking. 28-18-10, then the lock clicks, door is open. I take out my swim suit and a gogle and change. Then I take a shower a bit with my suit on (it is required, right?).
Go out to the pool, greet with a lifeguard or two, and I quietly get in the water. First water feels really cold but I quickly get used to it before I know, and it actually starts feeling comfortably warm in a minute. Then I slowly start breaststroking. It takes roughly just over a minute to do a turn-around, so I keep stroking for a half hour. By the time I get about 1000 meters, I notice I’ve been thinking in the water.
It’s like you’re alone in the whole world, talking to yourself, and thinking deeply about stuff you really don’t have to think about. Then I think about what I just think, and go like, this is a quite luxury that I have time to think about stuff I really don’t have to think about. Lucky me, I’ve been feeling as if I’m almost like “suffered” by doing a bunch of things that I really don’t have to do, like Prelims. Lucky me, I have such luxuries in my life.

Posted on

October

I’ve been waiting for today badly because I knew when it’d come to the 1st of October, I have already got things over. And yes! I got things over now!
My next task is to write up a paper that Miriam and I are working on. I also want to present my research at the International Food Safety and Quality Conference Expo held in November (Orland, FL) and the abstract due is coming soon.
So I have no time to take a real rest, but it surely feels good to get rid of a too overwhelming stress.

Posted on

一安心

一か月前に、筆記試験にはすでに合格していたのですが、今日、朝の９時に私の、栄養学博士課程プリリミナリーの口頭試験がありました。そして、嬉しいことに口頭試験にも合格しました！協力してくれたり、助けてくれたりした皆様、本当にありがとうございました。言葉では表せないほど感謝しています。

Posted on

Happy Birthday to My Sister, Kazumi!

Yesterday, 28th was my elder sister, Kazumi’s 32nd birthday. OMG, 32 sounds really really something and she is just one year and 8 months older than me… Anyhow, I did not send her a card or flowers, but I thought about her for a quite while last night. She has been, and is always like a super-star for me since… since I was born, I guess. She is pretty, very smart, and very funny. She does things I could never be able to do and she makes it look very easy.
Around her, I just cannot behave as I usually do, because I too much admire her, and feel that I could never be like her. But she always tries to be somehow serious with me, levels her to me, and tries to talk through me, so sometimes we have conditions like “do we ever get along?”
I know myself wanting a big “approval” from my family members, especially from my sister (who wouldn’t want it anyway?) and it never happened (who would really “approve” someone in their own family anyway?). Then I think, well, it never happened ever since and it never will because there is no such a thing like “approval.” I’m not getting my childish wish ever. So then I got a conclusion that, hey, I finally matured!
So, I guess this, maturity of me, is what my sister wanted from me for a long time. Happy birthday, Sis! I hope you liked my present! Sorry to be late, hope not too late.