20 days in sunny December
A lot has happened in the 20 days since my last post so this may be a big one.
Thursday 7th December - Stem Cell research
I had a meeting with a new faculty member, Dr. Hui Yang, following her talk at the graduate seminar the week before. She's recruiting students for three projects she's working on involving data mining; analyzing protein folding, nutrigenomics and stem cells. After talking about each area, we agreed that I would join the stem cell research on an informal basis starting next semester. It sounds really interesting and it's collaborative with biologists at UCSF which will make it much more interesting, and a more valuable experience. Over the winter break I need to read up on stem cells and data mining and start thinking about what I can do.
Friday 8th December - Sushi and Beer Pong
Concerned that we were becoming too boring and old, Madeline and I met up with Michelle and Chris for Sushi near Russian Hill. Great food and sake was followed by a quick taxi ride (in the rain!) to Bar none, where we played some drinking games - beer pong, darts etc.
Saturday 9th - Sunday 10th December - Planning
Hangover from hell. Planning for Paddy and Tickle's arrival in Starbucks and Emilie's hot tub in the rain. I worked on my biology essay.
Tuesday 12th December - Take home #1
In the evening my programming team and I (so cool!) presented our coursework for OOP which went well, then we went for dinner with the lecturer.
Following dinner I had a lecture and received the first of two take home finals, for which I had a week to answer a range of questions. Finals each semester are a new concept, but thankfully American universities aren't quite as perverse as English ones, and value understanding over memory power. With Paddy and Tickle arriving in less than 24 hours, I panicked - staying up until 3am reassuring myself that it wasn't such a bad exam and that I'd have time to get it done.
Wednesday 13th December - The big arrival
When Pearly et al. came to visit in September; we were still finding our feet, living in a sketchy apartment, out of the city, with new jobs and responsibilities mounting. As a result didn't have much time to plan, prepare or entertain, but it was a great few days and wonderful to have a good friend come and stay, with Madeline, Manuel and I!
This time we were better prepared; living in a beautiful new apartment in the city, settled in our day to day lives and more than ready to hang out with another couple! We'd been excited for Paddy and Tickle arriving since they threw the idea into the world a few weeks earlier, and that excitement peaked as I met them in SFO airport, a little later than planned c/o British Airways. The short drive home gave us chance for a little bit of a catch up, as I explained that the weather wasn't normally so grim. Madeline got home from work; we went to the store, cooked and chatted over a nice bottle of white.
Thursday 14th December - Essay due and take home #2
I took the day off work to finish my essay and work on my first take home. I got my second take home later in the evening and came home to stir fry c/o Paddy and Katy. We thought about getting a film, but P and I just watched Zoolander as K and M slept.
Friday 15th December - Mexican and Mission
I worked all day, but took the night off from study to join Madeline in showing P&K their first bit of SF night life. Taxied to the mission district to meet Emilie, Kelly and friends for Mexican food. Went to Casanova bar while we waited for a table, taking down our first pint of "disgusting" American beer - Anchor Steam. Meal was excellent - a range of things for them to try, although Paddy was less than impressed by the margaritas. Got it all for a mysteriously cheap $30, then on to more bars for pool, more terrible American beer and good times.
Saturday 16th December - Biking over the GG to Sausalito + James Bond
More on this when I have photos.
Tuesday 19th December - Cal vs. Furman (Basketball)
Likewise.
Wednesday 20th December - Shopping, Lake Merced, Ocean Beach and vomiting
I had to go to campus to hand in my bio final, dropping P&K at the mall. Following an unsuccessful shop, we strolled around the lake in the sun before playing on the beach - even having a little paddle!
Madeline left for home, so it was down to P,K and I to have a big night out. We bought some steak, which I BBQed, some veg and chips and threw together the best meal ever. Drinking games with cards followed and then I got a call from Rocco saying that some of the comp sci gang were in town - we joined them, had some tequila, sambuca, Guinness etc. Paddy and I threw up; Katie went drink for drink and was fine. Surprisingly great night.
Thursday 21st December - Hangovers + shopping in the rain
We got up at 1pm feeling terrible. I needed to do some shopping, as did P&K so we made our way to the new mall on Market Street for some retail therapy. Big success all round followed by trip to the store - sausage pasta + film,
Friday 22nd December - Wine tasting in Sonoma
Earlier in the week, Paddy made the huge call to go wine tasting up north. We looked into Napa but after speaking to my friend Andy, decided that a day trip to Sonoma would work just as well. A leisurely morning and drive north found us in the visitors centre by midday. Very friendly man made some suggestions what we could do with the day, and we followed his advice, heading into the town centre for wine and cheese tasting, shopping and lunch. After lunch we drove north towards the top of the valley to a winery we had heard did tours of the vineyard and good tasting. The place was amazing; 90 acres of biodiverse vineyards set on the side of mount Sonoma - an extinct volcano. The tour was cheap, informative and almost exclusively for us, (it's the off season - just one other couple). It ended with some tasting, (amazing!) and a few purchases in the shop. The drive home was wonderful; we'd had a perfect day to end the holiday, were warmed by some amazing wine and food, and had some spectacular views of the city by night as we drove back across the GG. Store for food, salmon for dinner as I prepped the car, film, (V for Vendetta - V. good) and bed.
Saturday 23rd December - Drive to Encinitas and Pizza Night
I picked Emilie up at 5am after packing the car and saying farewell to P&K. Sad to see them go, but hopefully they won't be away for long! Long drive south on the 5; 500 miles, 8.5 hours. I drove as far as I could but the heat of southern California paired with 3 hours sleep and a stupidly early morning saw me tag out for Emilie to bring in the last 45 minutes. Eventless drive with the exception of me throwing an entire green tea around the car, stepping in dog poo, having a nightmare with the petrol pump and generally being a liability.
I slept through the afternoon, being woken by Madeline announcing that everyone was in the car waiting for me. I smelled terrible and felt worse so was grudgingly allowed to shower.
Pizza night is a Johnson family tradition before Christmas where they go to Edith and Don's for pizza. It's a simple concept which works. Good night, amazing pizza, home to bed.
Sunday 24th December - Day with the White's in LA
Woken with enough time to shower this morning! Drove up with Michelle and Kevin for a midday arrival. Football in the garden with the boys, trampolining, skating, a little present opening and a great meal saw us through to 7pm. We've just got back, wrapped our last presents, I'm writing this, and the Johnson's are watching 24.
Monday 25th December - Happy Christmas...
...to you all, from Madeline and I! Mandy and Dave, you sound to be having a wonderful time; I hope you're finding Christmas in the sun as weird as I am! You can look forward to recieveing a christmas/30th birthday present (!) when you return...maybe...
Mum, Dad and Mel, I hope you have a lovely day and like the presents. I would love to be home right now, but I guess we've done Christmas for this year. We're both looking forward to all your visits very soon :)
We hope you all have a great day; our thoughts will be with you. x
