Day 58 - Meeting my fans!

Today was fantastic.

I got in to work around 8:20, made sure my slides opened on one of the work computers, then had Erica get me the laptop our group uses for presentations. I set it up in the conference room, turned on the projector, and had everything ready to go by 8:40. No one else was there yet, though, so I decided to take a proactive question-preventing step, and drew a key diagram on the whiteboard next to the screen so people would have a reference up for the entire presentation.

A little bit before 9 (I was supposed to begin at 8:45), Professor Wagner entered. He introduced me briefly, and I began. I think it went pretty well! I talked for about an hour, and people asked me questions as I went along. By the time I was finsihed and got to my "Questions" slide, people seemed satisfied. Overall, I think the presentation was a success. It forced me to justify my decisions, and people's questions and suggestions gave me a lot more to do. I was glad I had finished this in the morning, because I still had most of the day ahead of me. As soon as I had put away the laptop and everything, I sat down to write notes about all the feedback I'd gotten and plan my next steps. Between Sari having come in today to see me present, and a visit from Asaf at one point, it was a fun and conversation-filled morning in the office.

Sari and Noa asked me to join them for lunch at Stone, which turned out to be an amazing decision for a reason I will share in a moment. First, though, Noa's boyfriend Danny met us there, which was really cool. He works in security on campus now, which makes Noa happy because she can see him all the time and he can give her a ride home on his scooter. So he found us in line for food. I got a sweet potato quiche, which was just as delicious as it sounds. But back to the awesomeness. I was the first in the line, so I was first to choose a table and set my tray down. As I do so, I look up to see Nissim (the Clore house manager) standing by the cafeteria door, holding a box. He looks at me and beckons me. When I'm in conversation range, he goes, "Can you read English? I can't quite tell who this package is for." He has a strange sense of humor; he really appreciated it once when I bought two laundry coins (for 7 shekels each) all with half-shekel coins.

The bottom line: my chalk bag and bathing suits arrived! YAY!

Lunch was pleasant and delicious, and my good mood carried me entirely through the afternoon. Besides working, which included making some TEM samples of nanotubes Noa would like me to examine for her, things of note included a conversation about cakes, during which Sari discussed a cinammon cake at a Hungarian place in Tel Aviv which is supposedly the best thing she's ever tasted. It's also unique because they cook it around a rod, so it's basically tubular. Sari of course compared it to a nanotube and began describing it with the corrresponding vocabulary. I love scienists.

Before leaving Perlman, I decided to go upone floor to visit Nitzan and show him my chalk bag, because I have been talking about it for a while. He seemed only sort of impressed, but whatever. After some banter, I said something that was either too fast or too ridiculous for him to catch completely, so he says to his office mate, "Sometimes it's hard to understand her, because she doesn't speak English; she speaks American." And the resulting dialogue must be recounted in its entirety (with as much accuracy as I can muster):

Him: "Oh, it's ok, I went to high school in America for a year, so I can understand American."
Me: "Oh, whereabouts?"
Him: "Maryland."
Me: "Oh, where???"
Him: "Rockville. No, Bethesda."

Ok, there's only one Montgomery County high school which one would think of as possibly being in Rockville when it's really in Bethesda.

Me: "Which one?!"
Him: "Walter Johnson."

At this point I am in disbelief. I thought this was some sort of elaborate hoax until we started discussing Mr. Whipple, whom he credits partially for his choice of science as a career path, and Mr. Kearns (he plays the oboe). He was at WJ before I was, somewhere in the neighborhood of 1999, but still...how ridiculously amazing is this? I showed him the WJ website and some of the current construction, and we reminisced about lunchtime and the WJ math department and other such topics. I think Nitzan watched with amusement, but I wasn't really paying attention so I am not sure.

After 40 minutes I was able to tear myself away from the conversation, but it was difficult. I went to the grocery store and grabbed some necessities, then headed back to Clore. Zvonimir, Clay, and Tanmay were on their way out to Cafe Madaa, and I told them I'd join them soon after putting my food in the fridge. Downstairs, I ran into Rachel and invited her to come as well. First, though, I called and chatted briefly with Ben, until I had to go eat and he had to go open the door for the cable guy. Then Rachel and I headed to Madaa, where we found Clay and Tanmay only drinking coffee, and Zvonimir almost finished. We ordered, and by the time our food came we were alone at the table. This was not a problem: we could discuss Penn things (like the Chemistry department, or graduation) without excluding others! It was a good meal.

Back at Clore, I ran into Jonathan about to leave with Doron to see an outdoor screening of The Big Lebowski at the Hebrew University campus down the street. I was deciding whether or not to join them when who appeared in the hallway but Joel and his whole family! Stephen and Jordan also turned up. I don't know if this is emphasized enough, but I love it when people read my blog, and Joel's mom is a big fan of this publication. She said, after shaking my hand, "It's great to meet the face behind the words," to which I replied, "And it's always great to meet the fans!" We all hung out in the hall talking for a while, until we had to leave for the movie and others had to make other engagements (like the train to Tel Aviv).

Jonathan, Doron and I walked down the street and entered the Hebrew U campus through the side gate, from which we could see the big screen. Jonathan was worried about missing the first half hour of the movie, but I told him all he had missed was that they peed on his rug, and that rug really tied the room together. Once we sat down, it became apparent that he had also missed that someone had been kidnapped. But that was basically it, and, as Jonathan confirmed after it was over, it's not like having any more information would have helped the movie make more sense.

We had been joined mid-movie by both Lisa and Joel, and the five of us headed into the Kukula (the campus bar) after the movie was over to grab some drinks. I was pretty tired, though, so I only stayed there for about another half hour. Joel, Lisa, and Doron decided to head back to Clore with me. We found the usual suspects at the usual Monday night activities (sipping beer and playing the guitar) in the music room in the Clore lobby when we returned. Doron's arrival was celebrated; he is a great musician who can play almost anything he hears on the piano, so he instantly became the party hit. An hour of sing-alongs ensued, after which most people decided to take the party to Hertzl Bar for the remainder of the evening. Personally, I thought the evening was over, as my eyelids were drooping, so I headed to bed.