It has been about a week since I returned from Cairo, and after a short bout with a cold, I have emerged more or less intact! Shu Wen though is suffering from the same bug; I think it has been going around in these parts the last few weeks and is a bit tiring.
A friend of mine in the Environmental Sciences and Engineering Department last week put me in touch with a medical student who is trying to run a marathon time that will qualify him for the Olympic Trials later this spring, so we met up for a long run this morning. I had not gone more than 15 miles in some time, so it was a bit of a challenge, especially when the
pace started dropping in the second half of the run. By the time we got home, we were cruising at a speed well under 10 miles/hour. Needless to say, I have been waddling around most of the day since, and eating alot. It is good for me to start working on that again, since I have a 20k race in two weeks in Durham and need to start preparing for the US Nationals of the 25k, which I will run in Grand Rapids, Michigan May 12.
A friend of mine in the Environmental Sciences and Engineering Department last week put me in touch with a medical student who is trying to run a marathon time that will qualify him for the Olympic Trials later this spring, so we met up for a long run this morning. I had not gone more than 15 miles in some time, so it was a bit of a challenge, especially when the
pace started dropping in the second half of the run. By the time we got home, we were cruising at a speed well under 10 miles/hour. Needless to say, I have been waddling around most of the day since, and eating alot. It is good for me to start working on that again, since I have a 20k race in two weeks in Durham and need to start preparing for the US Nationals of the 25k, which I will run in Grand Rapids, Michigan May 12. (Shuwen: Here's a picture of a half year's supply of shoes Marc went through. As you can tell, he likes this particular NB model).
Otherwise, I am working on some proposals to get funding for my research over the next couple of years, to give me more flexibility in terms of where I want to put my attention. I am guaranteed funding some way or another, but could end up having to work on projects that are a bit tangential to my dissertation research if I do not secure some other sources of funding...so I am trying to apply for a few things this spring.
Shu Wen and I have also started working on immigration paperwork to make her a permanent resident. There are a large number of forms to fill out, and the wording on some of them is terrible. They even say things like: "Due to the paperwork reduction act, we work to make these forms simple and easy to understand." In fact they might as well make it Swahili. The other thing they like to do relates to the fact that there is a non-resident and a sponsor, and in the top section of the form there will be a section saying applicant with in parentheses the word "you." That's not particularly helpful in figuring out if the form should be filled out by the non-resident or the sponsor. Maybe we're just dumb, or maybe it does take PhDs to figure out these forms (which we do not yet have).
We enjoyed some culture last night at Memorial Hall, where we saw a Brazilian dance troop perform. They were amazing, and we both enjoyed it tremendously, although I was definitely fading into sleep from the nice soothing drum sounds and the smooth contortions the dancers were making with their bodies. We had eaten dinner at the Carolina Inn, using the gift certificate I won in December in the Southern Village 5K, and the dinner was very good, especially the venison tartare main dish I had and a chocolate mousse ice cream with desert.
Tomorrow we will have dinner at my advisor's house, which should be a treat. Then next week is full of meetings and other events, and my birthday will involve another dinner out (Shuwen wants to treat me at a nice French place that recently opened here in Chapel Hill and that has gotten rave reviews). We will celebrate the Chinese New Year next Sunday with an intimate gathering of friends next Sunday.
Happy Sunday!
Otherwise, I am working on some proposals to get funding for my research over the next couple of years, to give me more flexibility in terms of where I want to put my attention. I am guaranteed funding some way or another, but could end up having to work on projects that are a bit tangential to my dissertation research if I do not secure some other sources of funding...so I am trying to apply for a few things this spring.
Shu Wen and I have also started working on immigration paperwork to make her a permanent resident. There are a large number of forms to fill out, and the wording on some of them is terrible. They even say things like: "Due to the paperwork reduction act, we work to make these forms simple and easy to understand." In fact they might as well make it Swahili. The other thing they like to do relates to the fact that there is a non-resident and a sponsor, and in the top section of the form there will be a section saying applicant with in parentheses the word "you." That's not particularly helpful in figuring out if the form should be filled out by the non-resident or the sponsor. Maybe we're just dumb, or maybe it does take PhDs to figure out these forms (which we do not yet have).
We enjoyed some culture last night at Memorial Hall, where we saw a Brazilian dance troop perform. They were amazing, and we both enjoyed it tremendously, although I was definitely fading into sleep from the nice soothing drum sounds and the smooth contortions the dancers were making with their bodies. We had eaten dinner at the Carolina Inn, using the gift certificate I won in December in the Southern Village 5K, and the dinner was very good, especially the venison tartare main dish I had and a chocolate mousse ice cream with desert.
Tomorrow we will have dinner at my advisor's house, which should be a treat. Then next week is full of meetings and other events, and my birthday will involve another dinner out (Shuwen wants to treat me at a nice French place that recently opened here in Chapel Hill and that has gotten rave reviews). We will celebrate the Chinese New Year next Sunday with an intimate gathering of friends next Sunday.
Happy Sunday!
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1 comment:
Hi Marc,
I read your comments about filling those immigration papers for Shuwen and sympathise with your travail over the language and structure of those Immigration forms. Officialdom is the same all over the world. I too complained a lot over many of the forms used here. But I must admit there have been some efforts in Singapore to simplify them in recent years. This is, perhaps, because we have to cater to a large section of the populace whose standard of English may be only slightly higher than their literacy in Swahili. Anyway, if you give up on your immigration dept, you can always consider settling here in Singapore. We offer you a choice of 4 languages to fill in your application forms.
Hope you all have fully recovered from the flu bug. Over here the family at Yew Siang Road had been afflicted with a minor epidemic of dry cough for the last 2 weeks. Baby Christian also caught the bug, but he doesn't know how to handle the irritation in his throat by coughing as we adults do. So very often, he throws out his milk with his coughing. However, the worst is over now.
We had a birthday party for him last evening, in advance of his actual birthday, which will be on the 2nd day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Nadine feels that many of her friends' children may not be able to attend as they will be busy visiting friends and relatives during the CNY week - collecting Hong Bao. Just as well we got the show going early, otherwise it will be too much of a riot for us old folks to manage during the CNY week.
Best regards,
Uncle Chiew Koon.
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