This weekend all my family was united. My parents have returned from their trip to China, my brother has also arrived from Germany, in what turned out to be the single busiest day in Ben-Gurion airport ever.
We had a surprise ready for our parents when they returned from abroad. With the help and planning of the neighbor, we have invited a gardener to make a new front lawn and garden.
The next day, the entire family (including my younger brother and the older brother that lives in Hertzeliya) have gathered for a family dinner.
On the organizational front, I’m also pushing forward. I have cleared up some of the mess in my room and have begun sorting all the paper. I have also booked my flight to Germany in October (18-28/10; 13,582 miles). Next step - sort and file all non-paper, and begin packing.
August 27th, 2007 at 00:39
Posted by
epsalon |
Family, USA |
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That’s it. The final countdown. I have less than a month left till I leave for Stanford. So, what am I doing these days? I’m sick and tired, that is, I’m ill and fatigued. Probably the common cold. It started mildly, but now I really can’t do anything useful, like grade exercises or write papers.
There are still many things to be done in the upcoming month. My parents will return from China next week and will help with the non-academic organizational matters. Until then, I’ll remain in bed until I feel better.
August 18th, 2007 at 11:18
Posted by
epsalon |
USA, General |
5 comments
Yesterday I paid and got a letter confirming that I have completed all requirements of my degree and faxed that letter to Stanford.
I am not used to not having dorms nor an office, but having a car, so I didn’t bring all that I needed. Specifically, I didn’t bring my laptop. As I had an event that evening I had to burn most of the day. I decided to go to the pool (even though I forgot to bring my pool card) and swim a bit.
After the pool I went to the CS faculty hoping to meet some friends. Which I did. Then, I joined him to the games night (I forgot to bring my games with me, but there were lots of games there). I especially liked the game Dork Tower, with all the cute illustrations, 3D tower, and interesting gameplay. So, I played it twice (with two different groups). I didn’t win, but it was fun anyway.
August 14th, 2007 at 12:21
Posted by
epsalon |
Academia, General |
one comment
Four countries… seven people…. one hour, and $4, and all the family is in one phone call.
My parents are currently in Ürümqi, China, while I am in Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey. So, they sent me a text message with their room number and I immediately called via skype. After talking for some minutes they wondered what my younger brother in Israel is up to. So, I suggested adding him to the call. A few clicks later, and he was on line. During the call I saw that one of my older brothers (also in Israel) is online on skype so I added him to the call as well. Then I also added the oldest brother who currently lives in Saarbrücken, Germany by calling his number again via skypeOut. So now, there were 6 people online (my parents, myself, and all my brothers).
My parents repeated their story about their trip to China and asked everyone to tell how they were doing. During the call, they wondered about my grandmother, so after all the brothers were off the phone I connected her cell phone. So, in total seven people were online in this one conference call made possible by skype. The most amazing thing, that even though the entire conference lasted more than an hour, the total cost was less than $4.
August 11th, 2007 at 18:01
Posted by
epsalon |
Turkey, Tech stuff, Travel |
one comment
After we failed the break, the next two days were much calmer. On Wednesday there were the quarter and semi finals. You can see the motions and winners on this site. I decided to skip the semifinals and sleep instead (I was very tired after the boat cruise — it was too long and I was in no mood for it).
Last night there was a “Global Village” event. In that event every country brought items that represent their culture and local cuisine, while the Turkish brought traditional food and atmosphere, including Hookahs and a belly dancer.
In the Israeli stand we had lots of Bamba (see picture), Bisli, and chocolate with popping candy. We also brought traditional apples in honey and Israeli wine. It was a great success, and we had supplies for the entire night.
The Scottish table had shortbread and fudge, while the Slovenians brought tasty meat. Croatia handed some nonperishable items and information, while Azerbaijan handed out money…
The night was a great success and ended with the Israelis and Irish trying to outsing each other with folk songs. We sang among other songs “אחד מי יודע” and “יונתן הקטן”. Our enthusiasm encouraged other nationals to sing their own songs. With this surge of nationalism we were afraid we’d renew the war between the former Yugoslavian nations, but luckily they were more determined to outsing us, especially when we joined forces with the Irish. When the night was about the end, we sang our national anthem “Hatikvah” and went back to our rooms.
Today was finals day. I decided to skip the ESL final after hearing the first two speeches, but did come to the black tie grand final in Hagia Irene church. The final was a very interesting and fun-to-hear debate. In conclusion, Cambridge B won the tournament. Note this is the same Cambridge B that we met in Round 2.
When the final results were announced, we also got the tab sheets. It turns out that the judge in the last round also gave us a fourth place, which I cannot understand. What I even less understand is that he gave first prop third place and the win to the worst team in the room — 2nd opposition, even though they added no substance to the debate at all. In the end, our team was ranked 130 out of 168 with 8 points, and 57 out of 92 in the ESL rank. My personal rank was 227 out of 336 with 485 speaker points (average of 69.3).
After the final I decided to skip the party (I don’t really feel like partying) and go directly back to the university. The bus ride (in both directions) felt like it took forever. It was about 1.5 each direction in a city bus with no A/C, and in the way back I had no one to talk to as well. Now that I’m back I feel a little better.
Tomorrow we’re having brunch on the Asian side of Istanbul, and during that brunch the EUDC council will vote on the location of the next Europeans. The vote is between Talin, Estonia and Hertzeliya, Israel. The Hertzeliya team have made great effort to ensure as many votes as possible for our bid, and we are hoping for the best. I asked them to invite me to run the tab and they will definitely consider it if they win.
August 10th, 2007 at 00:09
Posted by
epsalon |
Turkey, Debate, Travel |
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