Snow Trip – Sat 2/6
Haven’t seen snow? Longing to get out of the lab? Come join us as we head into the mountains to play in the snow.
Date: Saturday, Jan. 30
Where: Tahoe Vista at the North Tahoe Regional Park
Meeting time: 8am (wow so early)
We expect about a four hour drive to Lake Tahoe. We will eat lunch in the cars on the way up. When we get there we will sled and play in the snow. After we are all tired out and changed, we will take some pictures around the lake, then return back and grab dinner on the way back.
Please bring about $40 in cash ($30 will be collected to pay for gas, parking, and sled rentals; the remaining is for meals), snow clothing (jacket, pants, shoes, mittens, hat), and an extra change of clothes.
Let us know that you want to come by signing up. We’ll arrange the rides and let you know where to meet for pickups.
This past Tuesday we went to AT&T Park to watch the San Francisco Giants play against the Diamond-backs. It was a perfectly clear night although a bit on the cold side. For many of us, this was the first time going to a baseball game in America. And what a game to go to! Once the home runs began, they just didn’t seem to let up! By the end of the night, we counted six home runs and one almost – where the ball went deep into left field and just barely grazed past the fence until it was somehow stopped by a lurching outfielder upon whom it then made a bizarre landing. The final score: Giants 8, D-backs 4. Overall, we had a fun time watching the game together, enjoying the fresh hot garlic fries, and cheering for our local team.
This past Saturday, we drove out to Point Reyes to hike along to Palomarin Trail to reach our destination of Alamere Falls. Our 8 mile (round trip) hike took us to see lakes, wild flowers, the beautiful Pacific Coast , and lush landscapes. Some people even commented that it was like Narnia. Towards the end of the trail, obstacles of dense brush, poison oak, and steep slopes met us, but we were undeterred and reached our destination. The day started out overcast and foggy, but like typical Bay area weather, the skies cleared up in the afternoon as we reached the waterfall transforming the gray skies into blue. After eating and playing at the beach, we headed back to see the coast again and then onto Ranch 99 for dinner. Click on read more to see the pictures. 
For the third part of the Connect series, we filled up 110 Barrows Hall, the room we will use for the rest of the semester. I was personally very surprised to see the hallway outside filled with people, pizza, and conversation- and all before 6:30pm. We started by watching our first video about Peter and the lab experiment and then an awesome video about a grad students fluctuating self-worth as he interacts and compares himself with the people around him. Dr. Chul Kim gave a message along the same lines about how we view people in our lives. You can listen to it here:
Come join us as we go hiking on the beautiful Pacific Coastline on 9/19. Note: we changed location from Big Sur to Point Reyes; both are very beautiful. So come join us.
San Francisco is fun place to be when you get to hang out with friends together. On Saturday, we took some of our new friends, who just came from China, to the City. We took two minivans with 13 people. We hit many tourist areas: Twin Peaks, Golden Gate Park, Legion of Honor, Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, and Fisherman’s Wharf. It was a day of beautiful weather: sunny day, mild temperature, except a little bit windy in the wharf. We ended our trip in the Fisherman’s Wharf by enjoying a bowl of clam chowder in a bread bowl for dinner. Throughout the trip, we got to know one another better by chatting away. Check out the photo album for this event to share a little bit of our fun time together. If you are new to the Bay Area and want to make some new friends in ISM, please 
