My home away from home away from home

This is my desk. I love my desk. I love my office. It is my home away from home away from home.

I spend an inordinate amount of time sitting at my desk. Sometimes I stare out of my window, while other times I read and write papers about statistical methods or bureaucratic issues. I also highlight a lot of articles and books. That orange thing is my highlighter. The other orange thing is my coffee cup.

Coffee in Oregon is potent.

Classes are going well. I have 5 weeks until the end of the term, which stresses me out. There will be much more time spent at my desk, that's for sure... I'm thinking about buying a plant.

When I'm not sitting in class or at my desk, I'm normally spending time with other people in my program. I have grown quite fond of my cohort. We are a diverse bunch of kids hoping to impact the world. It's wonderful being around people with such high hopes for the future. Especially today, it's easy to get depressed.

I am currently working on developing my thesis topic: micro-loan financing in developing countries that are especially vulnerable to climate change (i.e. Bangladesh). I have a lot of research to do before I can pinpoint exactly where I'll focus, but through meetings with various faculty members on campus, I have made a lot of progress in a few short weeks.

I'm missing Ohio more than normal, lately. The smell of autumn and colder weather will always make me homesick. This is much different from my experience in China, however. I am not nearly as desperate for the days to pass by. I like it here. And I like my desk. A lot.

One week down....

We had a meeting on Wednesday with all of the first year and second year Master's students. The director of the program mentioned that the second year students have 36 weeks until graduation. That means that I have 88 weeks until graduation. It seems like a long time right now, but seeing how quickly this first week has flown by has made me very anxious about the next 88 weeks... or is it 87 now? Oh my...

My classes are going quite well. I'm taking a microeconomics course, a social research course, a public administration course, and a one credit intro course. Right now, everything seems doable, but I'm also working on setting up my Master's committee and narrowing down my thesis topic on top of these classes. I spent my Saturday guzzling coffee and reading... for 7 hours.

Outside of school, I'm having a lot of fun getting to know my cohort. We all have such diverse backgrounds and very different undergraduate degrees. The program at Oregon State is outstanding. I feel so lucky to be here.

Yesterday, we had a potluck in the park. Afterwards, a bunch of us went out for a few drinks. It was nice getting to know each other outside of the stresses of school, however every conversation somehow ended up back at our theses. As stressed as I have been, it's been nice to know that we're all in this together.

I'm hoping to find a good balance between school work and a social life. My senior year at Pitt was extremely difficult. I spread myself entirely too thin and ended up completely burnt out by graduation. I know how necessary it is to balance everything, so I'm going to make myself take breaks and walk away from my desk every once in a while. But, for right now, I'm going to focus on my public administration paper that's due on Wednesday.

Peanut butter and peach butter sandwiches.

This summer, before I left Ohio, my mom and I took on the arduous task of making and canning around 20 pints of peach butter. Peach butter is a lot like peach jam or jelly, but better. It is an old recipe handed down from my mother's mother's mother. The entire process takes an entire day, but you end up with the most beautiful golden-brown preserves on Earth when you're done.
I recently moved from Canton, Ohio to Corvallis Oregon to pursue graduate school. I didn't bring a lot of things with me... just a chair, some clothing, and my snowboard... and a jar of peach butter.

When I originally imagined myself driving across the country, I envisioned a trip much like that of Hunter S. Thompson or Jack Kerouac novels (minus the heavy drug use and fornication). I envisioned a solo trip fueled by Red Bull, coffee, and my iPod.
Then, I talked to my mom. I knew I needed and wanted a travel companion. I knew she wanted to go. I knew I would enjoy her company. I knew we would share a million new memories before I left her and moved across the country. So, my mom and I drove over 3,000 miles from Canton, Ohio to the Pacific Ocean. We had the best time. I love my mom.


Day 1: Canton, Ohio - Newton, Iowa
11.5 hours of driving.

This was bad. The last time I drove almost 12 hours, I ended up at the Atlantic Ocean. This time, we were in the middle of corn fields. I have never seen that much corn in all of my life. And I'm from Ohio. We stopped somewhere in Indiana and had a peanut butter and peach butter sandwich for lunch.


Note: If you ever plan on driving due west at sunset, wear the darkest sunglasses possible.


Day 2: Newton, Iowa - Chamberlain, South Dakota
8 hours of driving.

We decided to drive north out of Des Moines in order to see part of Minnesota. We had a peanut butter and peach butter sandwich in Blue Earth, MN for lunch. Chamberlain is an old western town situated on the Missouri River. I loved it.


Day 3: Chamberlain, South Dakota - Sheridan, Wyoming
8.5 hours of driving.

Due to the time change, we were wide awake at 7am. The sunrise in South Dakota was the most beautiful I have ever seen. We drove through the Badlands and Black Hills and had a peanut butter and peach butter sandwich at the Crazy Horse Monument.


Day 4: Sheridan, Wyoming - Idaho Falls, Idaho.
8 hours of driving.
YELLOWSTONE! Bison! It was so wonderful. We had a peanut butter and peach butter sandwich at Yellowstone Lake. Unfortunately, we didn't spend a lot of time in Yellowstone, but someday I hope to return. Idaho Falls was terrible.

Day 5: Idaho Falls - Burns, Oregon
This was, by far, the most boring day of travel. Idaho is boring. The eastern part of Oregon is boring. In order to break up the boredom, we stopped at a Subway for lunch.
It was the county fair in Burns the night we arrived. After dinner at the Meat Hook Restaurant, we saw all of the prize-winning farm animals. My favorite were the sheep.

Day 6: Burns, Oregon - Corvallis, Oregon.
5 hours of driving.
Our final leg of the trip was extremely exciting and overwhelming. I was having such an amazing time driving and discovering new places, but was extremely excited to arrive in my new city and settle down, too.
There is nothing much to look at until you arrive in Bend. The landscape changes dramatically from large, flat deserts to snow-covered mountains.
As you can tell from the map, I'm not too far (only 1 hour) from Newport. On Day 7, we took the drive out and stuck our feet in the Pacific. It was freezing, windy, and spitting rain. We had a peanut butter and peach butter sandwich for lunch at Beverly Beach.

I really like it here.

I have been in Corvallis, Oregon for about a week now. I really like it here.

It has been a difficult transition, but not as difficult as living in China. It's nice that people speak English in Oregon. It's nice that grocery stores have bread here. It's nice that I can pick up my cell phone and call my friends and family here. I made the mistake of comparing this move to my move to China. That was a dumb idea. They are nothing alike.
I live with a really awesome married couple and their two dogs, Jackson and Felicity. Last night was the first time I met other graduate students. Everyone is so interesting and interested in the world around them. It's refreshing to hear such passion.
Oddly enough, there are 3 other students from Ohio.

I am so excited about my future here.