http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/ A journal of new students at the College of Natural Resources, UC Berkeley en Copyright 2010 Fri, 28 May 2010 06:56:04 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.38 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Although I still feel like a foreigner, the gift sharing atmosphere my professors started is so conducive for the family-like bonding my lab mates and I share with each other. It's getting to the point where I am starting to wish that I could spend the next 5+ years of my life as a graduate student in this lab... But eh, that's getting off topic. Last Thursday my tutors taught me how to cook a common winter Japanese soup during lunch! They surprised me by remembering how one of my goals here is to learn to cook. Actually, I was... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/05/cultural_exchan.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/05/cultural_exchan.php Amelia Fri, 28 May 2010 06:56:04 -0800 According to the lonely planet: discover Japan book my friends gave me, the "Northern Honshu (Tohoku in Japanese) is a place of rugged mountains and remote valleys, terminating at the very tip of Japan's main island. The time-honored travelers' route through this region takes you along ancient watercourses that feed fertile rice paddies, and around hulking volcanic massifs that fuel natural onsen (hot springs)." In many regards, fate played a role in my impulsive decision to escape from Berkeley and O.C. to study (actually vacation) at Tohoku University. From the "rugged mountains and remote valleys [to] rice paddies and natural... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/05/golden_week.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/05/golden_week.php Amelia Fri, 28 May 2010 06:32:31 -0800 Someone once wrote to me wishing that I, "had a chance to take in the last remains of the cherry blossoms that are falling...that is, before they turn into leaves [and noted how] it's funny [that] those cherry blossoms... are beautiful for a few days, and then, that's it." This many sound quite out of context and difficult to understand if you haven't observe blooming Japanese cherry trees in April. To be honest, even I did not understand what he meant at that time. What's more ironic, I passed by hundreds of blossoming cherry trees on my way to... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/05/ephemeral_stabi.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/05/ephemeral_stabi.php Amelia Tue, 18 May 2010 07:03:44 -0800 I guess this is technically a plug for my club :), but this has been my first semester as an officer (Fundraising Coord) for Habitat, and I just wanted to reflect on how fun this past semester with Habitat has been. The thing that obviously jumps out at me... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/05/habitat_for_hum.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/05/habitat_for_hum.php Katarina Sat, 01 May 2010 19:39:09 -0800 I've been busy... and that's an understatement. Graduation is in just over two weeks and I have yet to find a job. My days currently consist of finishing up class projects, studying for finals, working, and looking for employment. A friend posted this song as her theme for the week, and I feel that this song expresses many of the sentiments I'm experiencing. Enjoy!... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/04/its_the_final_c.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/04/its_the_final_c.php Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:24:47 -0800 When a reptile dies at the East Bay Vivarium, one of the places it goes to is UC Berkeley's Prep Lab! I've prepped a bunch of things from the EBV, but I've never had a chance to visit the vivarium myself until today. There are so many awesome tortoises and snakes! There was this incredible albino snake that had white and pale yellow bands. I forgot to take a picture of it, unfortunately. Here's a tortoise, though! This poor guy was trying to go under that huge branch...or maybe he was trying to lift it. Anyways, in both cases, he... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/04/east_bay_vivari.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/04/east_bay_vivari.php Victoria Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:54:41 -0800 Well this is embarrassing. It's been nearly a year since I last blogged. And obviously, much has happened about which I should have blogged. Major things that have occurred:... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/04/its_been_a_year.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/04/its_been_a_year.php Katarina Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:21:13 -0800 Hey guys! It's been a while since my last post. My midterms, presentations, and papers are over for now. Finals are just around the corner, though! It's never too early to review! :) Anyways, wasn't the weather amazing today? The sun was shining and squirrels were scampering everywhere. My dad and my little brother came up to visit us today since it's my brother's spring break. We went out to dinner on Northside and then to Safeway to buy some groceries. It's amazing how much stuff you can buy when you have access to a car. Normally, we only buy... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/04/a_breath_of_fre.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/04/a_breath_of_fre.php Victoria Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:02:46 -0800 I'm so excited to share my experience at this wonderful place in Golden Gate Park! As you may know the Academy of Science is the huge museum with its special features of the planetarium, four story rain forest, and "underground" aquarium. For those 21 and older, you can go Thursday nights for 12 dollars and explore the whole place! I had the opportunity to do that yesterday and it was amazing. The rain forest closed at 7 30 due to animal feeding regimen/sleeping patterns but you just come earlier to check it out! Besides that, I got to see the... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/academy_of_scie.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/academy_of_scie.php Casey Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:22:53 -0800 My day was just filled with a chain of unfortunate events, most of which I hope will never happen again. First thing in the morning, I woke up and realized that my alarm clock said 10:57, which meant that I slept through my two cell phone alarms I put next to my bed. Even though Fridays are by far my latest starting day, I still had a 10am French class, which I had missed. So I got up, got dressed, brushed my teeth, and was out the door in about 5-6 minutes. Even though I was already late for MCB... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/how_was_your_da.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/how_was_your_da.php Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:33:03 -0800 Hello fellow readers! I hope the semester is treating you well! Good luck with midterms! As for me, I'm pretty much done with the first round and looking forward to Spring Break and fun! Besides studying these days, I've been invovled in my decal, Relay for life. Not only is this just a title of the decal, it's an event we students work hard for all semester. This is a fundraising event hosted by Berkeley students who work with American Cancer Society to educate, fundraise,and find a cure for cancer through research funding. In fact, Berkeley has many research facilites... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/tons_of_relay_f.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/tons_of_relay_f.php Casey Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:41:03 -0800 Ah! So lately I’ve been pretty busy so it’s been a while since I posted. Soo much has happened. So spring semester is in full swing and almost halfway over and I have already done so much. This semester I’m enrolled in 16 units (Chem 3B, 3BL, Physics 8B, Bio 1B and NST 199) and filled to the brim with sciences classes. So far this semester includes the most amount of class work (40 hours/week) since all my classes have labs, I have chem. study groups and NST 199, which is research is about 14 hours of work a week.... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/class_sping_10.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/class_sping_10.php Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:26:42 -0800 It's the middle of midterm season and we're all stressing, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun! This morning, I went to Acme Bakery and Cafe Fanny with my sister and a friend. For those of you who haven't been to Acme before, it takes less than 20 minutes to get there via 52L. The bakery itself is very snug (the amount of room for customers inside the store is probably a bit bigger than your desk), but they have a pretty nice selection of freshly baked loaves and a few sweet pastries. Grab a bowl (yes, a bowl,... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/take_a_break.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/take_a_break.php Victoria Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:36:06 -0800 And I know what you are all going to say, "Duh Joh, dUUUuh!" (I tried to make a short video showing my fairly empty classroom-but it's not possible to wave my laptop around and not have my professor notice I'm not taking notes. Just imagine this, a room normally packed with about 50 people now reduced to a mere 14ish. Our building doesn't have picketers either-Tolman is sooooo not hip.)... http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/its_march_4th.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/its_march_4th.php Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:57:32 -0800 http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/please_check_my.php http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/freshfaces/2010/03/please_check_my.php Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:31:53 -0800