Colleges vs. Universities

Well, what I'm going to write about concerns Waterloo and MIT specifically. I don't really know anything about other Canadian or American universities, so take this sentence as a disclaimer, if you will. I still think this makes for a pretty good comparison, as I've heard many people say that MIT and Waterloo have the same atmosphere, similar student culture and so on. At a glance, I did think they were pretty similar, but now I'm not so sure anymore.

1. The student body: Students at MIT are intelligent. I mean, they have to write SATs, and get good grades in high school, and win some contests and so on, so everyone knows that they're intelligent. If you walk into a graduate level math classes, typically about half of the students are undergraduates. However, with all due respect, I didn't find them any different from the Waterloo undergraduates. Maybe that's because I was in pure math in Waterloo, which is a very small sample, chosen by self-selection. But in any case, I don't feel that I'm in a class full of geniuses or anything - I feel like I'm in a class just like the one in Waterloo. Otherwise, the students are just as friendly, and perhaps just as eccentric as the students in Waterloo. To give Waterloo some more credit, I am yet to witness a no pants day here at MIT.


2. The faculty: Okay. They're famous. I've seen Sipser, Munkres, Harris (from Harvard), Stanley (I own books written by them), and other mathematical legends. I've even talked to a Fields medalist, even though I didn't know he was one at the time. There are so many other famous people visiting at any given week that I feel pretty overwhelmed and insignificant at times, but it's a really cool experience too. In terms of classes, this can be both good and bad. It's good because they have so much insight, and often they will digress into their research or some interesting open problem, and there are more opportunities here to attend seminars and get a feel for what the current research is like. But I found at first that I was so intimidated by their fame that I was afraid to ask questions. And most others felt this way as well. This could be good or bad, I guess, depending on your learning style.

3. The faculty-student interaction: Waterloo definitely has more of it. Nothing like pints with profs here. Hanging out with the professors here is a very, very rare occasion. I'm told that Waterloo is exceptional on this front though - maybe I'm just very spoiled by the professors there knowing everyone's name, drinking with them, and so on :P It's not a common occurrence, as far as I can tell - so people at Waterloo, take advantage of it while you can! Seriously, the department is awesome, and you won't find one like it elsewhere!

4. The facilities & the funding: This is where Waterloo really can't compare to MIT. MIT is a private institution, which means it has a lot more money to spend on everything. If you go to a free food event at MIT, very rarely will you find anything like campus pizza. It's usually Indian, Thai or Mediterranean food. I heard a rumour that salmon once made an appearance to some event. They also have tea every day in the department, with a lot more cookies than Waterloo - and we only have tea once a week! They also have a sailing pavilion (free access to MIT students), a rowing team, two olympic-sized pools (not yet confirmed - I only saw one) and who knows what else. Coming from a government-funded institution, albeit a really good one (and we all know the math department is rich and powerful), it amazes me every time.

5. Overall: If I were to choose where to do my undergraduate degree again, between MIT and Waterloo, I'd go to Waterloo. Sure, MIT has more famous people, but to be honest, I think Waterloo's faculty is amazing. Not only are they good mathematicians, you can really tell that they care about you as a person, and I think that kind of guidance is more important than learning an extra bit of math in undergrad. They're less intimidating, and they can teach all the undergraduate courses as well as the faculty at MIT - to be honest, undergraduate math isn't that hard (at least if you're a professor, they're not). I've met people in Ivy league schools whose advisors didn't even know their names - and they were supposed to supervise their thesis! Yes, Waterloo is poor, but we also pay about 1/10 of the tuition people here pay.

I haven't yet made up my mind about where to do the PhD. So far I'm enjoying it here, though.

Creativity and Mathematics

It is so easy for people to see how arts programs can be creative. Why is it that when I talk about mathematics being creative, people not in mathematics just give me a blank stare?

Though a bit unrelated, I remember once posting that I hated counting. Of course, someone from my high school commented immediately, "Don't be silly, you love math". My response - *sigh*. For those of you in mathematics, you know that there are so many different areas of study and interest in mathematics. For those of you who know me, you know how much I hate counting =P

But anyways, back to my original point. Creativity in mathematics. I'm currently taking a Pure Math Course in Analysis. Actually, more to the point, I am majoring in an area of pure math for my degree. The problem is, I have this love - hate relationship with pure math. After my 8 month stint working, all these feelings are being renewed and my dilemma has resurfaced.

The main problem? I'm not creative enough for pure math. Try as I might, I can spend hours trying to come up with clever bijections or injections and not be able to see anything, till someone pointedly tells me to think about binary or something like that. When I do get things, they are typically really cute - but how on earth do people get to that point themselves? *sigh*

I'd like to think that others have more practice, but I know for a fact that is not true. Maybe I just need to get into the right mindset, and I haven't found out how to do that or what this mindset is. On the other hand...maybe I should consider another major LOL.

Also - math can be confusing =P Without thinking of the proper definition, the concept of something being 'countably infinite' is a paradox isn't it? Hehehe.

- S

Cupcakes

It all started one day in June. I had met up with a friend I hadn't seen in over 5 years, and she was delighted to be able to show me around her favourite area of Manhattan: West Village. Being my newbie self to NYC, I willingly complied.

After a delicious brunch, she mentioned that there's a really good cupcake place nearby that's a must-go spot for visitors to New York. I wasn't a particular fan of cupcakes -- the only cupcakes I'd seen in recent years were the "Lil' Cakes" that are sold at virtually every Canadian supermarket -- but at the words "must-go spot", I couldn't object. (I also really, really like baked goods.)

A few confusing roads and old buildings later, there we were, at the famed Magnolia Bakery. This bakery is best known for the scene in Sex and the City, in which Sarah Jessica Parker is seen walking out of the bakery, eating one of their would-be famous cupcakes. The friend bought me a red velvet cupcake, citing it as her favourite. I had never seen such a bright red cake before; I couldn't even guess what it would taste like.

Yet, I don't complain about gourmet baked goods, especially not when they're recommended to me and I am not paying for my own. I happily devoured the sugar-filled treat in a mere few bites, without even realizing that a subtle hint of cocoa was the key thing about this particular kind of cupcake.

Admittedly, at the time I was eating it, the cupcake didn't quite taste as great as the hype. But little did I know, I would develop a huge craving for cupcakes that very night, and the one trip to the Magnolia Bakery would mark the beginning of the cupcake spree I was to embark on over the next few months...


USA

Crumbs: Massive cupcakes, and such a wide variety of flavours! Don't let the 3.75 USD price tag scare you - the cupcakes here are massive. There are also regular sized cupcakes at 2.50 USD for those that can't handle a jumbo cupcake.

The cupcakes at Crumbs in Stamford, CT

BOSTON

Francesca's Cafe: A nice little cafe serving all day breakfast, sandwiches, and salads. Cupcake selection is rather small, but the few they have are delicious! I had a chocolate one, which tasted like a huge brownie when eaten with the topping. Topping is in two colours, reminiscent of swirly ice creams from good ol' ice cream trucks with half vanilla and half chocolate. Cash only.

Even comes with a little container when it's to-go.

Sweet: One location in Boston, and another at Harvard Square. Girls will love the interior, it's so pink and pretty! The cakes are so dainty looking too, with their perfectly shaped toppings that somewhat remind me of those old Dairy Queen ads, where they say this ice cream will not fall even if you hold it upside down. 3.25 USD per cupcake.

Sweet at Harvard Square

NEW YORK

Babycakes: My personal favourite! This place specializes in allergen-free cupcakes (gluten-free, dairy-free, etc.). The vanilla topping is to die for - it almost has a caramelly taste. At 3.25 USD for a spelt cupcake, and 3.95-4.25 USD for a gluten-free cupcake, the prices are steep, but it is well worth the money.

Yes, I was this happy to find dairy-free cupcakes in NYC, I bought an entire box.

Gluten-free banana carrot cupcake

Magnolia Bakery: One of the most famous bakeries in NYC. So popular that there is a large lineup outside of the store most of the time, and there is a "12 cupcakes per customer" limit, unless you pre-order for your party. Also sells cheesecakes, banana puddings, and more.

View of the inside from the waiting line around the corner

Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery: Oddly enough, the best part about this bakery's cupcakes is that they aren't sickeningly sweet. And at 1.50 USD for a cupcake in Manhattan, really, what more could you ask for?

a Sexy Velvet

Tonnie's Minis: I stumbled on this little gem by chance, while roaming around West Village on a Thursday afternoon, looking for what was to be my first bite of the day. I had initially walked into the store upon seeing the sign "cheese-steaks", but walked out with one of their just-baked cupcakes instead. A melt-in-your-mouth experience!


SEATTLE

The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co.: Just a 10-15 minute walk away from the Greyhound station. Not as much variety on a given day as some of the other cupcake places I have been to, but they carry some unique ones, e.g. the kinds I tried - green tea berry, raspberry white chocolate. Nice atmosphere, too. The one downside is that the bakery closes at 5pm on most days.

Raspberry White Chocolate, Green Tea Berry

STAMFORD

Located in Connecticut, halfway between NYC and New Haven, Stamford is "the town that works". This is where I spent my most recent summer, as an intern on weekdays and a tourist on weekends.

Matthew's Bakery: A small family owned bakery that feels homey from the moment you step in. A wide variety of baked goods are sold here, but what stood out for me were the cutesy Muppet cupcakes. 2.50 USD each.

I bought an Elmo and a Cookie Monster, but I eated the Elmo before I had a chance to photograph it.

WASHINGTON DC

Sticky Fingers Bakery: So good, you won't even believe their cakes are vegan! Located right by Columbia Heights metro station, this is what I would call a must-try spot for any cupcake lovers visiting Washington DC. 2.50 USD for each cupcake. I had an "orange popsicle" and a "cookies and cake".

Orange popsicle, Cookies and Cake

This is not really a post

A math problem I picked up while I was in the math lounge today:

Given a simple closed curve in the 2-dimensional plane, can one always find a square whose four vertices lie on the curve? (We found a nice proof for the case when the square is replaced by a rectangle. I don't know if one exists for the squares.)

First person to solve this problem gets... to be my hero. Or not :P

A Change of Perspective

Until last month, I was definitely a student. Sitting in my seat, listening to the professor for the most part, and surviving through classes. But all of that's changed. Now that I am a graduate student, I hang out with other graduate students, some of whom actually have classes to teach, and others who lead tutorials. And all of a sudden, I identify myself better with teachers. And some things that I found weird make sense now.

I had this evil teacher back in grade 3. She would yell at me (and the other students) to the point I came home several times crying. She seemed to hate us all, and we were really careful not to make any eye contact with her. And I wondered, why is she a teacher? Does she even have friends?

Well, someone put the answer in a single sentence: "If they think you're nice, you're done for." Somehow, that obvious fact never occurred to me. Of course, if they think you're the nicest person on earth, they're going to try to take advantage of you. So even the nice people have to put their foot down, and make sure they have the control of the class.

Which makes me wonder whether I'll develop some alter ego that is most likely not as nice as myself (not that I'm particularly nice, but still), and probably hated by some students. And now, it amazes me more that there are still plenty of nice teachers around.

Respect

After spending 8 months in the world of marketing, I’ve changed in ways I never would have predicted going into my work term. Some good, some bad. The best of which is the realization that I don’t hate the real world that much, and I could function in a business setting and be happy for several years – if not for the rest of my life.

Needless to say, my first week at school for this year was an interesting experience. First of all, the sheer amount of people! Now I’ve been in the mad rushes for food at exactly 12pm downtown Toronto, as you are pushed and pulled by crowds of people eager to escape the confines of a desk for the blessed lunch hour. However, that doesn’t compare to the hordes of people milling around on campus trying to weave their way to their next class – all while trying to avoid the traffic jams in the MC. For one, they dress differently. You’ll see the hoodies and the ripped jeans and casualness that you will not find in a downtown office – even when said office is a casual environment. It may have been a by-product of marketing, but while people in the office would still be in jeans and t-shirts, they always managed to look fabulous and stylish at the same time. Whereas in university, ‘casual’ wear here is much more casual than it was in the office – definitely less designer wear!

While I’m enjoying my classes so far and meeting people I haven’t seen for months, there was one thing that stood out the most about university vs. the workplace – respect.

Technology in the last decade has evolved so much, now we literally have internet at our finger tips at any point in time. No one can dispute how it has changed our society. One thing that it is changing? How we behave in society.

I’m just thinking of the number of times that I’ve seen people walking around with headphones, and not bothering to take them out when having a conversation with people. What about when you are having a conversation – isn’t it amazing how the beep or vibrate of a text message can immediately pull a person’s attention away from what you thought was a good conversation to check their messages? Imagine the days when cell phones didn’t exist.

How about in class? People surfing on their phones, texting during class all the time, not paying attention to the professor. The ring of a cell phone in class doesn’t make a professor blink anymore, yet there was a day and time when it would have stopped a prof in their tracks to re-iterate the no cell phones policy.

Call me old fashioned, but it seems kind of rude to me. Like when students take every pause in the lecture to start talking loudly with no regard for the lesson at hand, or start packing up while the professor is still talking (no hint of dismissal).

I knew I was getting older =P Some of this behavior would not be tolerated in the business world, that’s for sure. It just seems…rude. It lacks respect. Don’t get me wrong, I can be accused of doing these things as well. But now that I’ve noticed it, I think I’m going to make more of an effort to listen to you when you speak without my headphones in, ignore text msgs until we’ve finished conversing, or, *gasp*, wait till the professor is ready to dismiss us before packing up and chatting. How the world has changed me…

- S

In-flight Food

If one were to ask me about my fondest memories of flying, I'd probably reply, "Food." In other words, flights themselves are pretty boring. Just about every flight I have been on has provided 1) pretzels, peanuts, or a snack mix, and 2) a choice of (or rather, the lack of choice) juices. Due to sheer boredom, this distribution of miniscule edibles becomes an event to look forward to.

Though, to be fair, I've had more than pretzels and juice. My first real memory of plane food dates back to April 1996, on a flight from London to Seoul, which was also my only time flying business class. It was a grueling 14 hour flight, and in the middle of the night, I woke up to find myself and my brother the only two passengers that weren't completely passed out. It's fascinating to see what privileges come with being children -- we were offered sweets, as well as stick biscuits with cheese dip. By no means are these special items in everyday life, but in the confines of a plane, these were rare delicacies to be savoured and talked about for years to come.

The real fun of plane food comes at mealtime. I'm sure anyone that has been on an intercontinental flight can recall receiving a tray with tiny plastic containers of bread, salad, and some not-so-aesthetically-appealing entrée. Or a tray with just an omelette, in the case of morning flights. The omelette I had on a domestic flight through the USA in September 2002 still holds the title of "Worst Omelette I've Ever Had", without a single contender, seven years later.

Fortunately, some airlines have introduced different items to make our tastebuds happy even on light. The two major Korean airlines (Korean Air, Asiana) introduced Bibimbap on flights not so long after the turn of the century, and from what I hear, it's been a smash hit. Sure, it's never going to come sizzlin' in a stone bowl, but with instant rice that tastes as if just cooked, pre-cut veggies, and chili paste in tubes not unlike those of acrylic paint, it was a refreshing change from the same old pasta. In 2004, my family liked it so much that we even came home with a box of 10 of those chili paste tubes.

Today's flight to London marked my first intercontinental flight in over 5 years, and my booking reference email also mentioned in-flight meals. Hooray! While I was fully aware that I'd be flying with a non-Korean carrier (read: no bibimbap for dinner), the promise of an in-flight meal was a reason in itself to be excited. Even as I was falling asleep by the window, I was telling myself not to sleep too soundly, lest I miss this rare opportunity.

After an hour or so, I woke up to the smell of food. Curried chicken, but not quite. Mmm... If the food tasted as good as it smelt, I'd be one happy traveller today. (I had also been blessed earlier with food that wasn't a pre-made, overpriced sandwich in layers of cling wrap) I saw one of the flight attendants serving dinner a few rows ahead, and sat upright in anticipation. When he got to about three rows ahead of mine, he went to the far rear of the plane with a non-empty cart. I was left staring at where he had been standing 15 seconds ago, sniffing other people's chicken dinners, and thinking that even within the same economy cabin, some people must be more equal than others.

A few minutes later, the same flight attendant resurfaced with a full cart. Now that he was closer, I could hear my dinner options: "Chicken or pasta?" After the lady in front of me got her chicken dinner, I was also asked the same question. I replied, "Chicken," waiting for a silver and green tinfoil wrapped meal to come out of the cart. But alas, the chicken was all gone! I was left with different dinner options now: Pasta or Starve? I am no fan of pasta, and in theory, I should not be eating cheese. Yet in situations like this, survival instincts trump all. In the mean time, a pasta tray had made its way onto my open-up table, and I found myself eating it without second thought. At least the salad came with tasty sesame ginger dressing.

In-flight dinner: Dinner roll, pasta, salad, and an "oatmeal chewie".

At the time of writing (on paper while in the plane), I have 2.5 hours left till my next in-flight meal: Breakfast. Maybe my omelette from 7 years ago will find a successor for its title, or solidify its position as reigning champion.

Though really, in-flight food isn't bad, given all the restrictions of a plane...


Epilogue: An omelette breakfast was actually quite a good in-flight breakfast. Today I got a small banana loaf and raspberry yogurt. Even that I got because the guy next to me was nice enough to hold onto mine while I was asleep...

Mixed Feelings

Coming back to Waterloo after a work term is an interesting thing. Being a nerd, I can't but be excited by the prospect of meeting new professors, buying overpriced textbooks, being run over by the ever increasing amounts of frosh, and diving back into a world of procastination and homework. The catch?

The work report. Starting a school term means starting the dreaded document - the university's attempt to force us to write coherently for four terms.

I said it before, and I will say it again - work reports are for students who don't have anything to do on their work terms. For busy students, it's way too tiring to attempt to finish the work report while working overtime for several weeks.

Ah well. Onto happier topics.

For the past few days, I've been getting a healthy dose of self-appreciation just by turning on the tv. It is extremely satisfying and thrilling to be watching tv, and see the commercial that you helped create come on tv. How cool is that? I can fondly remember taking the prototype into focus groups, looking at the hand sketched designs, the water color story board. I never would have envisioned my venture into mathematics and my curiosity about everything taking me into marketing, and being part of a major marketing campaign. Awesome. If you're not bored, check out the commercial here.

So as creepy as I find butterflies in real life, the ones made of money and clouds and doors, I like a lot. =)

Back to my work report.

Moving to the U.S.

The past month or so have been hectic for me. Final exams to finish off my undergraduate career, packing, then moving to Boston to become one of the rarer species, a female math graduate student. The move itself wasn't too bad, but the differences between Canada and the U.S. were enough to keep me busy for a while. For example, I still don't know the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature, so looking at the weather forecast is useless. The fact that all the bills are in the same colour (well, color) confuses me. And when I say "zed-module" people look at me like I'm crazy. AND Americans don't know what the Boxing Day is.

But thankfully, I live in Boston. It is a great city, with lots of cool buildings and things to see, and everything you see seems to have something to do with the American history. It's not crazy big like New York, and I'm looking forward to my stay here. Plus, the accent is cool. I thought people were exaggerating when they referred to "Hahvahd." I didn't get to see much of the city yet. I was too busy finding the grocery store, and the mall, and other necessities of life. But once this semester is over, I hope to explore a bit of Boston. They say it gets cold in winter - but I'm thinking it can't be worse than Canada.

Math-wise, it doesn't seem that different from undergrad. I had this fantasy that once I became a grad student, I'd suddenly become smart or something. But I don't feel any different, and I'm definitely not any smarter! I haven't even been to half of my classes yet, but I have a feeling that I'll have to work hard to catch up to the others, who all seem amazingly smart. But since I'm enjoying myself with the classes, I'm not going to worry about how smart (or stupid) I am and all that, and I'm just going to have fun with the math, at least for now. Speaking of which, I'm stuck on a math problem.

Back in NYC, sans luggage

I'm sitting in a hostel just minutes away from LaGuardia airport in New York, wearing the same magenta tee I was wearing on yesterday's flights. (Note: This place is called a hostel, but it's more like a homey B&B) Normally I'd have something else in my carry-on luggage, given how I pack every single bag to the brim whenever I'm moving. This time, however, I was proud of myself for being able to crunch almost everything into two medium-sized suitcases, with the rest happily packed up in very light carry-on bags.

My flights went from Vancouver to Ottawa, then from Ottawa to NYC. Last time I had a cross-border connecting flight, I was told at LaGuardia that I had to pick up my luggage first in Toronto, and then go through customs. Given that, I had a little too much faith in airports. I wasn't told anything in Vancouver, and I asked more than one person in Ottawa... the conclusion was that I'd be fine going through customs with just my carry-ons. Coasted through customs, telling the officer that I was on a 3-day trip on my way to the UK. Even the metal detector wasn't as picky as the Vancouver one, which had gotten me groped because of the metal buttons on my jeans. (Yes, I'd also forgotten that I should be wearing yoga pants on flights, not jeans)

After a short flight with nobody sitting next to me, I was back in good ol' Noo Yawk, one of my favourite cities in the States. I was happy to be back at one of my multiple "homes". Not for long. All the checked baggage from my flight had arrived, and the conveyor belt was not moving. My bags were nowhere to be seen. Uh-oh. Not good. I was directed to the Air Canada baggage office right by the conveyor belt. Luggage info was entered into the Star Alliance international baggage tracing system, along with my cell number and temporary accommodation information. I walked out with a reference number, the name of the person that told me my luggage will be delivered next day afternoon or evening, and the few items I was lucky not to have checked in.

Fast forward to today. For a good hour or two, I was desperately trying to benefit from whatever weak wireless internet I can get here, in the hopes that maybe the online tracker would have posted my bags' whereabouts. None, nada, zilch. If the luggage hadn't been traced at noon next day, how would I expect them to send everything over by the end of the day? Given that I had provided my flight information and even my bag tag numbers, this was far from impressive.

I called the central baggage office. I hate making phone calls for reservations, customer service, and the like, so you can imagine how impatient I had to have been to actually make a phone call. But hey, voila! Despite what the online tracker said about the bags still being traced, my bags had been located in Ottawa (as I'd assumed). I was told that my bags will be sent to the hostel this evening, but that the delivery people wouldn't be calling me because they don't call hotels or B&Bs. Um, okay, I gave my cellphone number for a reason. I emphasized that, adding that the cell number is *my* number and that I'll have it on me.

I guess Air Canada trained their baggage office employees well so they won't get themselves stuck dealing with angry customers on the phone. I was told again they don't call hotels or B&Bs, and "I hope you have a great day, bye bye." Now I can only pray that my luggage will indeed come this evening as promised.

I'll go console myself with some clothes shopping (I desperately need a new top to last me today, and maybe a backup item for tomorrow), lunch, and a cupcake or two from my favourite bakery in NYC, Babycakes.


Lesson of the day: No matter what they tell you at the airport, if you have to go through customs, make sure you pick up your luggage first and then proceed to your connecting flight.


Edit: Having to pick up luggage between connecting flights only applies in special cases, e.g. going through US customs in Canada instead of in the US. Toronto (YYZ) and Ottawa (YOW) are among the few airports where I'll need to pay extra attention.

Endangered Species

If there's one thing that University has taught us - in particular university mathematics - it is that we are rare.

There was a great effort to rope us all in and claim us, gems among the department, using lures of lasagna, pizza, and pop. It worked for a time, we even bought the math t-shirts. But we soon got tired of being constantly reminded that we were in the minority, and broke free.

Three years, three different paths, three different areas of study. Now we are going our own ways - Scotland, USA, Canada. (Ok ok, two of us are going different ways) What better way to tell our story but through a blog?

Welcome to Food. Math. Life. We hope you enjoy the adventures and mishaps of three girls in mathematics - and yes, we do exist.