this place continues to be weird. it has a bar every other building around the campus, but there is jesus-based grafitti everywhere. i've begun circumventing the "one-entree at a time" rule by getting a plate, putting it down on a nearby table, then getting more.
i've been programming a LOT. like i said, i was thinking i might be able to help out with the experiment by doing a little c++. so i spent a day coming up with something, and i expected to present it to the group and have it contribute a little to the final design. but when i presented it, they were all amazed; they thought it was great, and couldn't believe i'd done it all in one day. seriously, i was instantly popular. before then, no one knew my name. now they all wanted to have lunch with me and invite me to sports and talk about the project with me. it was weird. so for the last few days i've been engaging in some pretty fun stuff; they ask or i come up with features to improve the experiment, i implement them, i fix bugs in previous versions (i have version numbers, and readme files, and everything!). some of them aren't the most computer savvy, so i comment heavily in my source code, have a nice list of updates/todo list, compile everything in windows, then transfer stuff to our unix server and compile everything again, and have everything appropriately distributed so people can find the versions they need and know how to use them. it's kind of funny, because i probably know th eleast about the math involved. but hopefully i'll pick up this whole "research" thing from them, and we'll all make a good team. but i think this is GREAT experience, because it's what real coding is like, at least at some level.
sides that, the lectures are slowly getting harder, and i haven't been doing much review of algebra or number theory becuase of all the coding. but this weekend i should have time to dig in. we're going hiking this weekend, too. that should be fun.
soccer on thursday was much better than on tuesday; had some more dedicated people, and i was doing better, so i guess i'm adjusting to the air and getting back in the groove. hehe, 75% of hte people here speak in an accent, sometimes severe, so it's funny. there's this girl muberra from turkey who plays soccer with us. she mostly stands near the goal and flails when the ball comes (she's actually good at it; she reacts quickly, so if youkick it at her, she shoots in the direction of hte goal, and she is aware enough to pass when appropriate). when she shoots, she goes "ees theese goal? goal, ya?" and makes a weird turkish yelp when someone runs in to her. it's funny. in general, playing sports with mathematicians is pretty funny.
there's another phase in the experiment coming up, but it should mostly just be a modification of the first version. if that doens't end up keeping me busy, i'm gonna start doing the java stuff with nathan. and reviewing math, of course.
it's hard to be social with people who don't speak english well. conversation just seems like so much effort,and i feel like i can't really connect.
2 more weeks to go
