Last day of quarantineeeeeee

Freedom day 2!  But same as before, I just spent my whole day staying at the hotel, migrating my files to my harddrive, and replying to emials.

I packed my stuff again and shipped them so that I won't have to carry them by myself!  Shipping service is a lifesaver.  But I had to reorganize my baggage due to weight limit.  It's really A LOT OF STUFF that I have carried all the way here! Plus, 16 boxes sent by sea.  International moving is no easy job.  Every time I pack, it makes me feel that I won't travel again because packing is such a hassle.  But once I pack up and travel to new places, the effort is all worth it. 

Today's wallpaper!  A deer-like animal letting two birds perch on its face and mess with it.  So cute...  I had a large TV just next to my desk and was able to use it as a second monitor. 

UP!!! Day 3

I don't have a lot of photos for day 3 because our main activity was kayaking and I stored my phone in a waterproof bag.  My friends took a lot of pics though!

Kayaking was fun!  We went very close to Pictured Rocks, and went through some holes formed by the rocks on our kayak.  We were excited as it was our first time to kayak.  It was a lot of work to row a kayak!  We took some time to figure out how to change directions and how to speed up.  It was all fun and made me use a different part of my brain.  We were paddling for good 3 hours.  We saw a shipwreck underneath, too.  It was funner than taknig the cruise.  You can take a closer look at things by yourself.  I'm thankful to my friends who suggested we should go kayaking as it's not something that I'd actively consider if I were just by myself.

It was really a long drive to go back. 6 hours in total.  My travelmates took turns to drive on the highway.  It was still somewhat scary to drive on a highway, though it was OK to drive in the city at night (not a great feeling, though!). 

長いドライブだったけど、いろんな話もできて楽しかったなー   友達と旅行ってやっぱり最高だな。一人では距離的に行けないところだったので、一緒に行けてありがたかった！ モーテルもすごくいいところだった。もう１ヶ月前なのか。懐かしい~~

Hawaiian chicken salad

 

Laundry, piano, and data migration & Cleland Wildlife Park

Quarantine finished, and I am free to do the laundry, use the microwave, and play the piano in the foyer of the hotel.  It feels great. 

I played the piano for the first time in a few months.  It's therapeutic.  I feel like I want to continue learning new songs.

Since I will lose access to MSU OneDrive, I had to move all my files to my hard disk.  It has SO MANY FILES!!!  OMG it's not ideal to make so many files, though unavoidable.  It's such a pain to copy one by one (too many folders inside folders make it just impossible to copy in one go).  I created so many files because I had unlimited storage with an MSU account, but now that I am unaffiliated with MSU, I need to keep my files on my own hard drive.  It's somewhat risky to have data in a portable hard disk drive.. a cloud storage is the best, but what can I do?  When I start as a freelancer, I should invest some money and establish a secure file storage system on my own.  A good reminder.

Making space for my hard disk drive and found some fond memory of Australia.  Cleland Wildlife Park, South Australia

 

The last day of 'quarantine'

Today's Windows desktop!

Hot and humid Day 3

It has been dangerously hot and humid for several days now.  I gave up on morning walks, and just instead take evening walks.  Even after sunset, I sweat after walking for 20 min or so.  It's good as they say I should exercise until you sweat and/or your heartbeat is risen.

Article almost done

I edited my article on studying in graduate school abroad.  There are more things to write every time I edit them.  Just like my dissertation, I should draw a line and mark it done.  I hope to regain some writing skills as I realized that my Japanese language skills has been declined.  I cannot write as sophisticated work as I used to before!

It's necessary to read a lot in order to write well.

To do: migrate my files

I need to migrate my files on MSU Onedrive and Google Drive!  I will lose access to it soon!  I was surprised that I already cannot access to MSU Zoom a day after summer semester ended!  By the way it was nice to talk with one of my labmates for preparation for her comprehensive exams. Helping each other is beautiful.  I value independence, but it's also OK to ask for help. 

I'm excited to be able to do the laundry tomorrow!

 

Hot, Humid, and History Day 2

 It was almost the same day as yesterday!

I continued the history class and went out for a walk just before sunset because it's dangeously hot and humid during the day.

it was a great choice to study history in my free time at this moment.  I am learning a lot of important historic events that happened in the 1800s.

200 years ago is not that far away, and it's surprising that the empires were greedily invading each other and other parts of the world to expand its territory and increase their presence in the world.  There is no more worldwide wars, but regional conflicts still persist.  We are always in history.  Today will be history tomorrow, and tomorrow will be history day after tomorrow.  Whatever we will do will be recorded and analyzed by historians in the future. 

My quarantine life will end on Saturday!  I'm excited to use the laundry facility and play the piano in the foyer!!

      

Hot, Humid, and History

A very nice day!  I was able to talk with a friend in Michigan over the phone and caught up with her.  It was comforting to hear the familiar voice, and it made me miss Michigan.  Still cannot believe I'm not there anymore!

I took a break of writing and continued the history class.  I'm done with Week 3.  4 more to go!  I am learning a lot from that course.  It's very interesting!  The lecturer is talented in telling historical stories in an intriguing way.  The visual aids he uses are sophisticated, too.  I'm also learning some new words like 'court system to adjudicate disputes', 'presemptuous', 'a resplendent atomosphere', 'surrender ignominiously' etc.

It's very interesting to learn about the Great Divergence, where East Asia and Western Europe diverged and followed different paths from the 1800s, which has a large impact on how the world is today, although the two parts of the world had some commonarities in the earlier time.

What is interesting about studying the history of 1700s and onwards is that events that took place  during this period has a consequence on modern day in one way or another.  It's never too late to learn things, but I wish I studied this earlier.  This is a basic knowledge that international students should know.  Why study history?  Because we can learn from the past.  What they were thinking in the past also makes us realize how far we've come through human history.  I'm so glad I have time to take this course now.

I should finish taking this course as soon as possible because I have access to it though my university account, and I am not sure how long it will last after I graduate.  I can take the course for free with a free account, but if I finish the course with my university account, I will get a certificate!  And that is why I'm trying to finish it.  For the same reason, I should finish my graphic design course soon, too.  Though I believe there will be some grace period.

It was a hot and humid day today, the daytime high was above 90F, which is crazy.  There was a public announcement/warning against heat stroke!  I did not go out during the day, and went for a walk at twilight.  Walking near the river is refreshing, though it was still very hot and humid even after sunset.  Well... One more month, and it will be OK.  And winter will be mild.

   

Dissertation and manuscript - A lesson learned

Yesterday was another writing and revising day for my manuscript submitted to a journal. 

I had to re-read it everything carefully to check if the figure and table numbers are right and the text is  coherent again, since it has been revised and formatted so many times that things might have gone wrong.  I found some grammatical errors and parts of text that do not flow so well...!! I'm glad I caught it before it gets published in a journal, but this paper in my dissertation is already accepted by the Graduate School and awaiting publication!!  I should have re-read all the chapters again before submitting it rather than just getting the formatting right.  Too late, at least published journal articles will have things more polished.  It's a lesson!  I wrote the chapters in such a hurry and they went through several major revisions.  I could have taken more time to check and revise.  I was kind of bound by the phrase "A dissertation that is done is than one that is perfect.", but I could have done more checking because dissertations will be published and will remain there forever.

Well... hopefully I learned the lesson and will not make the same mistake again!

Paper number 1 has been revised anyway.  One more to go!

しまったなあ…　博士論文の一部である論文の査読修正していたら、何か所か文法間違いとか文章の流れが悪いところが見つかった！　博士論文はもう提出してしまったのになーー　しまったーー　もっと確認すればよかった。フォーマットに時間をかけすぎて、そいで締切までに出さないと、しかもできるだけ早く出さないと間に合うかどうかわからない、って感じで内容を確認してなかったぁーー　もう一回読めばよかったな。

教訓として、やっぱり自分が書いた文章として残るものだから、きちんとしたものにした方がいいな。ということは、時間をかける必要がある。ということは、そんなに引き受けない方がいいということだ。量、質、速度、それらを天秤にかける必要がある。量を自分でコントロールできる職種なのだから、質と速度のバランスを取るべきだが、質はやはりおろそかにできない！

やっぱりそもそもスケジュールがタイトすぎたのかも。7月中旬までデータ解析してて、その結果を大慌てで論文形式にしたのが一報。論文化して提出したけど、大幅な修正が必要になってそれに追われたのが一報。それが落ち着いたと思ったらディフェンス。指導教官のコメントに添って修正しつつ、二週間で出国の準備もして…と、どう考えてもむちゃくちゃなスケジュールだった、今思うと。何でこんなに詰めちゃうんだろうと考えると、「暇な時間をもつことの罪悪感」が根底にあるのかもしれない。できるだけ多くのことをこなしたい欲張りも働いて、なんとかぎりぎりでできるのでは？と楽観的に考えて、あそびや余裕が一切なかった！　修正やらいろいろ来るし、フォーマットもここまで時間がかかるとは思っていなかった。なかなか…。物事はなんでも時間がかかるものだ。

今度はもっと余裕を持ってやるぞ――　だから、抱え込みすぎないことが本当に大事なのだ。。  

An essay about going to a graduate school abroad & more edits to my manuscript

It was a writing day yesterday. 

1. Essay about study abroad - graduate school in the US

This is a topic that I had been postponing for quite a bit, and finally I started it.  It's for undergraduate and master's students in Japan who are considering going to a graduate school abroad. There are many choices, not just the US, but it's interesting that the systems are quite different in each country.  For example, whether you would need to take classes and whether you need to take comprehensive exams depend on the school or program you are attending.  It kind of makes me wonder the value of a PhD is the same or different.  For those who did a PhD in the US, have most likely gone through ~30 credits of graduate level courses, comprehensive exams, and their dissertation research.  On the other hand, you would just need to do research and so it will only take 3 years or so to have a PhD in some countries in Europe, Australia, and Japan.  But the total length of time could be the same because in those countries you must have a masters' degree to get into a PhD program.  

Regardless, I am forever thankful that I was able to go to a graduate school in the US - it's a privilage to receive higher education with a salary!  It's not a chance that everyone gets.  So my goal was to share my experience and encourage studying abroad.  Almost done writing it, now it's time to revise and polish it. 

2. Another writing task of the day was to revise my manuscript that we submitted to a journal and received reviewer's comments.  Most comments were easy to accomodate, and some were really useful in improving the quality of the manuscript.  It's not the funnest thing in the world, but I just need to do it to get it published.  I remember those days with an endless loop of analysis-writing-discussion in January - March this year for this project.  Every time I submit a manuscipt (or end a project), I would swear that I will not do research again, but strangely I will be back at it again after a while.  Maybe it's a normal cycle of work.  At least the burn-out feeling does not last long. 

3. At last, my dissertation was accepted as correctly formatted!!!  Just in time, and it's a huge relief.  I cannot believe that it happened in time.  It makes me believe that it's not whether you can do it, it's rather whether you will do it or not.  It's possible to make things happen!  

   

Magnesium water laundry on a rainy day

It was a belated Sunday for me to relax yesterday.

I went to a shopping complex 20 min walk from my  hotel.  It's about 0.7 mile I think.. It was cloudy, but I thought it won't rain, so I went.  Besides, I really wanted to do the laundry.  Then it started raining when I got there. By the time I was done shopping and laundry, it was pouring, so I had to wait for 10 min.  The weather is unpredictable!  But it's OK.  After 10 min, it was still raining, but it was weaker.

20 min walk in a new place is always fun.  I went alongside a river, looked at various apartments and houses.  It seems they have to have a car to get around here, though probably a bike would be enough as the nearest train station and shops that you would normally need are all close by.  This neighbourhood is nice - it's a good mix of city and town with nature.

Anyways I found an interesting laundry machine, where it claims it washes laundry with just water and magnesium and performs just as well as washing with a detergent.  According to a video that was playing on the screen there, magnesium dissolved in water makes it alkaline, which acts like a detergent.  Even performance tests like microbial counts and odor removal were shown claiming that the magnesium water was as good as normal detergent.  I was kind of skeptical about it, but used it anyways as it was the only choice there, and it was just 400 yen.  After the wash, my laundry seemed OK.  I'm kinda surprised how many people came by and did their laundry on a Monday morning.  The coin laundry was quite busy already at 9 am.

Then I looked up the magnesium wash - out of curiosity - to find that the company has received an administrative order to prevent a recurrence for the unjustifiable and misleading labeling on their product by the Consumers' Agency.  An inspection was carried out to conclude that the effect of magnesium they are claiming is not based on scientific evidence.  And the tests like microbial counts were based on a small beaker scale and not on an actual washing machine.  Wow.. That article was published on May 31, 2021, which means the warning must have been published before that, and in August, the washing machine is still around!  The article says washing with their magnesium product is essentially the same as just washing with plain tap water.  So I just did the laundry with plain water, haha.  It's fine.  It was a lesson, and it was the best choice available because I am not supposed to use the hotel's laundry facility (which makes no sense), the laundry facility I went was the only one that was in a walking distance, and I didn't want to damage the fabric by doing the laundry by hand! 

Five more days and I will be able to use the hotel's laundry!!

I did a workout on bed on abs, thigh, and glute..  was quite a workout. 

Dissertation edits in HURRY!! & Blackout

Dissertation formatting

Yesterday was a Sunday, but I worked all day formatting my dissertation!  I did not notice that I got an email from Graduate School about necessary edits to be made.  It's good and bad that there is no notifications for Emails classified as Updates in Gmail.

Anyways the final deadline to submit my dissertation for summer graduation is Wednesday 8/25!  I should do it as soon as possible because Graduate School seems to be busy and takes some time to check the formatting of submitted dissertation.  It's a highly time-pressured job. What if they got hundreds of thesis/dissertations to review on the due date?  I think they will take some time to review all of them anyways.

Formatting a long document is a pain!  I learned a lot about functions in Word like making table of contents, list of tables and figures, and center a text from top to bottom.  Other than that, there are detailed rules to a lot of things -

• Do not start a page with an empty line
• Do not end a page with a title (heading)
• Put 'Table X (cont'd)' if a table spans on multiple pages
• Single space references
• No duplications for table numbers - so, if you have regular tables and supplementary tables, they should be numbered sequencially: Tables 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, Tables S1.4, S1.5, S1.6 etc.  This rule does not quite make sense though, because with this numbering scheme, Tables will not appear in the order of their numbers.  E.g., the main text it may say "This was this (Table 1.1). ... Then that was that (Table S1.4). ... Then it was like this (Table 1.2)."

It took a whole day to get those things right!!  I hope they will get to my submission before the deadline and will accept it as is!

I thought Sunday at 9 pm will be Monday 8 am in MI, but it was wrong!  It will be Sunday 8 am!  I could have done it today, too, but I'm glad I finished it regardless.

Blackout

There was a sudden blackout last night while I was almost done with editing my dissertation!! Well, of course, an unluckly event happens when you don't want it most.  But it wasn't too long.  Also I was amazed that the hotel seems to have a backup power.  One ceiling light turned on when power went out, and it kept my room nice and bright, which made a huge difference.  There was also an annoucement through the ceiling speaker that the hotel is experiencing unexpected power outage, and that it is not due to a natural disaster.  That kind of explanation calmed my mind.  After 20 min or so, power came back, and so did WiFi.  They were still doing some safety check, but within 45 min or so, things were back to normal, and elevators could be used as well.  I am quite impressed by how they handled the situtation and how well they are prepared!!   

博士論文の体裁確認がやっとこさ帰ってきた。細かいルールが山ほどあるな。。締め切りまであと4日！ やっば！最優先でおこなう。日曜にも関わらず…。 なぜ日曜に頑張ったかというと、日曜夜9時がミシガンの月曜も朝8時で、それが見てもらえる最短時間だから！と思ったから。間違えたわ…ミシガンの日曜はいまから始まるんだわ。まあいいけど。

ホテルが停電したけど非常用電源のお陰で部屋は明るかったし懇切丁寧な日英二言語のアナウンスもあって、す、すごい、素晴らしいホスピタリティ！と感動した。しかも20分くらいで復旧。いやーー 帰ってきたな…と実感するときでした。感謝感謝。

ミシガンと打とうとすると綴りのとおりMichi と打ってしまうからミチガンとなってしまう。笑 ミシガンをミチガンと発音する人がいてすごく気になっていたのを思い出した。あなたミシガンに何年いるの？？と突っ込みたくなる。その他、シカゴをチカゴ、ランシングをランズィングと発音する人もいて、自由だなーと感じる…。そんなことを思い出した。

A Saturday off - Laundry by hand and Nitzsche walks

I will resume morning journaling from now on..

It's quite nice to wake up to the sunlight.  I like my east-facing room.

I did laundry by hand!!  Easy things to wash by hand only, but it's quite an effort to squeeze drain my clothes.  Winter clothes would be much more difficult.  I'm thankful to the invention a washing machine.  Looking forward to be able to use a coin laundry facility next week!!

It reminded me of the old days when people did laundry all by hand.  It was most likely a women's chore.  Coincidentally, I'm studing the world history since 1700s, and they must have been doing the laundry by hand at that time.  I am learning so much about what happened in those eras that had an influence on today's world.  It's just surprising that only 200-300 years ago, people's (or at least the rules') mentality was invation, expanding their empire, going into war, and making money to their own empire's advantage, and take slaves from Africa to work in the New World.  Considering that those were the norm just 2-3 centuries ago, we humans have come a long way.  But still, turmoil and unrest are happening here and there in parts of the world, which is more than heartbreaking.    

It was a very relaxing Saturday, did not turn on my computer because I wanted to take a rest from work.  I took a walk, drew some, and listened to Youtube videos about philosophers.  Nietzsche's words and deeds are very inspiting.  Especially an anecdote that he took hours-long walks in the alps to clear and organize his thoughts.  I will do the same in the evenings when it's cooler and less humid..  (Nietzsche is such a complex spelling...)

Fun things to do during my holiday!!

With my dissertation almost done, I have some time off where I do not have any urgent papers or experiments to do.  It's a precious opportunity to do what I have been wanting to do!

1. Twisted Wonderland - a game that I have been hearing about and reading about.  It's got beautifully drawn characters with rich and complex stories.  I just love viewing the intricate details of the characters with an artistic eye.

2. Writing an article about studying aborad - for collage students who are considering getting a graduate degree in foreign institutions.  I hope to share my first-hand experience.

3. Ukulele.  I feel like taking up a new musical instrument and learn it.  I will enjoy singing along with my ukulele.

4. Improve my drawing skills.  There are many things that I want to draw, and I need to learn and practice.

5. Study World history in Coursera course.

6. Finish Graphic design specialization on Coursera.

7. Study Machine learning in Coursera course.

And I hope to hang out with my friends a little bit.. despite the current situation... or hang out with them online. 

Ruggy and Leona in Twisted Wonderland

Quarantine week in progress

My quarantine ilfe has been very easy and comfortable.  I've got a big room with a desk, a TV that can be used as a second monitor, and a small dining table.  It's much worth the price!!  I value spaciousness more than I used to, it's an American influence.

At fist it was hard to believe that I am in Japan now.  It still feels like as though I could go back to my old apartment that I just moved out, and walk around the lovely neighbourhood with trees and flowers.  It's still hard to believe, and not having talked with anyone much also makes me kinda not fit back in yet, which is fine.  I wonder if I will feel I belong again if I live in a big city of Japan, where there is more diversity in how people live, work, and behave.  But if not, it's OK as well.

Having learnt and experienced Western and Japanese cultures, I really feel like I'm a hybrid, which makes me wonder where on earth I feel I belong.  But maybe belonging is not a big issue.  The important thing to keep in mind is that my feelings are just chemicals in my brain, things can always change, and you don't know what will happen  in the future, which is exciting, and that 90% of worries or concerns will not happen (learned in a hard way after a traffic accident!).

So.... I don't know where I will be and what I will be doing, but I just focus on the present moment, enjoy life.  Future is a contiumation of today, tomorrow, and day after tomorrow.  If I live happily every day, that means I will be happy in the future, too!  I'm thankful that I still have connections with researchers in the US, some more exciting projects waiting ahead!

It's a nice neighbourhood around the hotel near Narita, Chiba pref.  The humid wind and the smell of maturing rice paddies, earlier sunset than Michigan... all those faimilar things make me nostargic, kind of.  The hotel has a vineyard, too!  It reminded me of the vineyard that my grandfather has been growing for a few years now.  I can't wait to see my grandparents!!  

Things to do in the coming week

 - work on final edits to my disseration

 - meet with my labmate for comps prep

 - get ML methods in the M&M --> Revision done!

 - wirte an article about study abroad

ホテル生活は極めて快適だ。広い部屋にしてよかった。。。スーツケース二個を広げても超余裕、28 m2, 301 ft2だそうだ。アパート選びの参考にしよう。

まだ日本にいるとは信じられないけど、、、徐々に慣れている。しかもアメリカの仕事をしているので、どこにいても本当に関係ないんだなあと実感。

在宅でストレスフリーなので一日が早いしやけ食い？明日もあるし食べとかなきゃ、的な食欲もないので極めて安定した毎日を送っている。

論文 revision がなかなか大変だったけどー reviewer １人目は一日でかたついてよかった。

 

Quarantine life day 1

Thankfully I got 3 seats all to myself, the 12-hour flight felt really short.  I was sleeping almost the entire flight, which was great!

Arriving at the hotel, I was pleasantly surprised by the spaciousness and cleanliness of my room.  I got a really good deal because of time sale and booking for two weeks. The room is much larger than a typical Japanese business hotel, where there is a small desk and a bed, nothing else can fit, and if you had a big suitcase, out of luck, you need to open it on your bed cos there is no space on the floor for it.

Anyways, day 1 went by very quickly because I was very lazy.. I worked, checking my emails in the morning, but then I just played a new video game for which I do a lot of drawings and read online cartoons, getting some inspiration for my own artwork.  It's so much fun and time flies when I am doing that.  I had breakfast then nothing for the rest of the day.  Because I don't go out,  I don't get hungry.  That's good... I can save money for food.

Wow, it's Sunday.  It's been less than two weeks since I defended.  So many things happened since then. 

Trying to feel OK... pondering same thoughts again and again that I thought through thousands of times.  Things will get better.  I believe it, while embracing all the feelings that I have without judging or regretting.

The notion that "your feelings are just chemicals in your brain" kinda helps, as it makes me think 'then, I don't want to be overwhelmed or trapped by such small molecules!'

I'll keep myself occupied and wait until time passes...

UP!!! Day 2

I've come back to Japan safely ... that was another story, I have a lot of posts to write about Michigan still!  On my trip to the UP on day 2, we took the Pictured Rocks Ferry, stopped by a quiet, unnamed beach, and went to Presque Rock Park in Marquette.

 

Many kinds of fish live in the lakes..

Artistic cafe with lots of picture on the walls! 

It was a unique space. It's spacious inside, but it was not full of furniture. There was a plenty of space that people can walk (or dance?) around looking at the pictures on the walls.

Pictured Rocks cruise was nice. We were able to see so many different rocks with colorful layers made up of various minerals, hence the name 'pictured'.

We were able to come up to the top floor of the ship when it stopped at a viewpoint. The top floor is the best. No wonder why people form a line an hour before the borading time. 

Lake Superior.  We cannot see the opposite side, ti's that big. It's the same size as the state of Maine. The captain had two daughters working on the same ship working as  crew members.  It was cute. 

Layers of minerals forming the colorful rocks over thousands of years...

There were many that were canoeing. We decided we will try it, too!!  

Then, we stopped by at a beach off the road. 

The beach was so beautiful and quiet with only a few other guests besides us.  You can find many beaches like that along the shoreline, and it was just gorgeous. 

The water was transparent and shining.  Lakewater always amazes me because of their beauty and smoothness.  No sticky feeling afterwards unlike salt water, which is great, too.   

Then we stopped by at the lighthouse on Presque Island Park. The lighthouse was far away, connected with this stone path.  We wanted to go, so we did! But... 

Got somewhat cloudy

From the midpoint, the stone path ended and the rest of the path was rocky!  It was difficult to walk on as it's rough and I needed to jump around. It was an exercise!  I almost gave up, but my travel mates encouraged me and helped me, so I was able to make it with them!!  They carried my bag so that I will be able to use my both hands to 'climb' the rocks.

We were sweating like crazy as it was a hot and humid day, but we did it!!!  It was a great feeling of achievement!  We were drenched with sweat, but yet we were going to dinner afterwards... I felt bad about riding my friends' car with so much sweat, but it was all a very fun experience.  The funniest - "Bugs are drawn on my arm!" cos one of my friends' arm was soaked wet, and bugs were caught in it.. OMG there were so many flies, good thing they were not mosquitos, but there were many that got into my eye and my bag, too!  

Sunset beach on the park. It was getting foggy a little bit, but still it was beautiful. 

A challenger to an extra rocky course.  He's used to it as he played on this kind of rocky shores in his childhood.

Lakewater

Of course, if you came all the way from there, you need to take the same route to go back... But by the time we got to the lighthouse, we were used to jumping and hopping around the rocks to find the best ways, and going back was easier.  I felt like it's great to do something new once in a while to learn.

Then we went around the park.

Sunset beach with geese family

City hall...? Near our restaurant for dinner.

Cheese curds! 

Tacos. It was a fancy restaurant, and the food was all delicious!!  I took the wheel to go back, as my travel mates wanted to drink locally brewed beer.  We tried to go back to the island to look at stars, but the park was closed.  A police car came in front of us at the gate of the park, and turned us away.  It was my first time to be stopped like that, so it was kind of scary.  So glad I had two friends with me!  

We also stopped at a smaller roads just by the woods to look up to see if we could see the stars. But we could not. The sky was not completely dark at 11 pm!  The day is so long in summer in MIchigan, so we would probably need to come back at 3 in the morning or something to see starts on a dark sky. So, we just went back. Maybe stargazing is another activity for fall or spring.  Reminds me of star gazing night trip to some mountainous area of my hometown.  It was cold, but very fun.      

 

An in-person chat that is a blessing

I was able to see a friend before I go.  It's so sad to say goodbye, and it just tears my heart apart.  I did not think about this hard farewell when I made my decision to go back.  

I could have extended my stay in MI for a year, and it wouldn't have hurt, even though I will not have a stable job, the covid situation and some time needed to wrap up my dissertation as well as taking a gap year to figure out what I wanted to do, a year could have been spent that way.. I am typing this to process this feeling.  It was touching that she said 'It's ok to grieve.'  We tend to avoid feeling sad, but sad things sometimes happen outside our control, and we need to embrace it rather than suppress it or hide it.  Easier said than done, but .. it made me feel better.   I am so glad she said that to me.

It is such a hard feeling and I am becoming less tolerant to changes, emotional stimuli after working from home, spending day by day with minimal interaction with others.  So, it will take a while; but it will be gone eventually and I will be ok.  Just like when I broke up with my exes and my grandmother passed away.  These really difficult situations yet make me appreciate what I have had and currently have.  

And also I am so thankful for her prayer and thanks to god for my getting my PhD, bringing me here, and forming me to who I am today.  It was truly touching.  I am so glad I got to know this person, so kind, accepting, and considerate with wonderful listening ears.  I wish I had more time to have deep conversations with her, but I hope to stay in touch with her as our lives go on.  Her prayer for me for peace and joy, will be heard, and nothing is more empowering than this. 

As I will definitely be coming back to visit, we will say 'See you again'.