Semi-Anniversary

I've been in America for exactly 6 months today. It doesn't really feel that I've been away from Australia for so long. But I'm feeling more comfortable here as I get into routine and get to know people around campus.

I learnt to expect the cars to drive on the right pretty early on but I did have some trouble crossing the street when I first got here. And I now realise that I'm completely used to walking on the right-hand-side of the "sidewalk". The money's not hard if you just read. I'm refusing to learn their units, though. Most food is labelled in metric as well as American and by checking the weather forecast online I can get everything in Celsius.

Superbowl XL

I just watched my first Superbowl. (The 'XL' in the title is officially just Roman numerals for 40 but many Americans are calling it 'extra-large' because that's what all their clothing tags say!) The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks.

I'm not a fan of any sport and don't know anything about Gridiron but one of my American friends invited a few of the HPS first-years around so I went along just to be social. There was an ad declaring Superbowl to be 'the most American thing ever', or something like that and how great it is 'whether it's your fortieth or your first'. When announced that it was my first Superbowl and they all congratulated me on becoming an American then immediately commiserated! This is very strange because Americans never use self-deprecating humour...

Oz Day Abroad

Well, no public holiday for me today. I walked past American flags as usual on my way to a class full of Americans (there really are flags everywhere you look here!). I don't actually think I'm missing much, Australia Day is usually just a barbie for me anyway.

But realising what day it was I decided to make some Vegemite sangers to munch on in class. (Luckily this is not one of the things I can't buy here. The corner store, which specialises in exotic foods, stocks it.) One of the other HPS first-years, Larry, has on quite a few occasions seen me eating a Nutella sandwich and demanded, "Is that Vegemite?!" Obviously he has encountered Australians before me but I can't believe any of them could have stomached Vegemite spread as thick as I spread Nutella! With this in mind I made two Vegemite sandwiches and cut them into quarters so I could more easily share them with Larry. Of course he refused but a few other students, who had never tried it before, had a taste. One even claimed she liked it but all the other Americans just assumed she was lying.

Job Talks

I'm impressed with the sort of respect graduate students are accorded in my department. HPS is hiring a new professor (specialising in philosophy of physics) and it's down to four contenders so they are letting the grad students see the CVs! All the applicants are coming and giving talks (which we're all expected to attend and are encouraged to ask questions).

The best bit for the students is the free meals! The applicants, like any other guest speaker, need to be entertained so there is a lunch and a dinner provided at local restaurants and the dept pays for 2 or 3 students to go along. So I'm having dinner Tuesday and lunch Friday. Now I just have to think of something intelligent to ask a philosopher of physics.

American Puritanism

I just got back from the supermarket where I was refused alcohol for the first time. (No, I wasn't drunk at the time!)

A strange thing about Indiana is that they have alcohol in the supermarkets, in an aisle open to everyone (as opposed to Australia where kiddies are not even supposed to see the grog) but the state forbids alcohols sales on Sundays! (There are some exceptions eg restaurants.) So the checkout-chick asked me, "Isn't it Sunday today?" but I didn't get what she meant until she told me I couldn't buy alcohol. I already knew the law but just wasn't asking myself, "What day is it today?" when I picked up the bottle. And I wasn't even planning to drink it tonight, I only wanted it because it was on sale!

I think if they want to reduce alcoholism they should just tax it a little more. Anything bottled in the USA is very cheap, about as cheap as duty-free! But if they did that they'd certainly keep the no Sunday sales rule as well as the 21 years drinking age, both of which only serve to make it more attractive to young people.

The situation reminds me of a quote from H.L. Mencken:

Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.

If I stay here long enough you might see me wearing a tall hat with a belt-buckle on the front!

Back to the grindstone

After a few weeks break from classes today I start a new semester. I'm on the usual start-of-semester high, enthusiastic about all the new stuff I'll be learning. (But not quite as much as usual because I still have a couple of papers from last semester I'm yet to complete!)

Today I have Contemporary Ethical Theories with Marcia Baron. She's well respected as an ethicist and the students speak very highly of her so I decided to take this class this year while she's teaching it. Looking at the reading I think I will enjoy it more than the abstract and abstruse meta-ethics class I took last semester.

Tomorrow I have Survey of the Philosophy of Science with Jordi Cat. I enjoyed his class last semester, as hard as it was. This twentieth-century material should be much closer to the HPS I learnt at UNSW but with Jordi I'm bound to learn plenty of new things.

Thursday is Survey of the History of Science Since 1750 with Jim Capshew and Sandy Gliboff. I think this one could be a lot of fun because it covers all sorts of sciences. The reading load is huge -- a book every week! Fortunately it's all secondary literature so it shouldn't be too dry.

Give a man a phish you feed him for a day...

I've been doing a lot of shopping over the internet since I got here; mainly books but a few other things too. Bloomington doesn't have a lot of stores, and the campus bookshop is useless. It's very easy to do here as Froogle allows you to find the best price.

Then last night I got an email receipt from PayPal saying I'd sent someone $395.85 for a watch, which I knew nothing about! I assumed someone had got into my account and sent the money without me knowing, so I went to stop the transaction. But the link I clicked on from the email didn't take me to the real PayPal site, I took me somewhere else with an identical façade, hoping I'd enter my password on their site. Luckily, I noticed the wrong URL before I gave them any info! They hadn't broken into my account at all, they just knew I'd rush to stop them and perhaps not notice anything suspicious while in such a panic.

So everything is fine after all. I forwarded the con email to the people at PayPal; hopefully there's something they can do to stop them. I guess the moral is: when clicking on links, always look at where they're taking you.

At least it's not cat

One thing I didn't mention in my earlier post on American food is that Chinese here is different. Instead of Beef in Black Bean, Lemon Chicken or Mongolian Lamb, they have Kung Pao, Orange and General Tsao's Chicken. Rob Lamb did tell me that bad Chinese food was one of the few things he didn't like about living in the US. But most of the Chinese students here in Bloomington seem happy with it so I think it's probably because we get mainly Cantonese food in Australia and here it is Mandarin cuisine.

I mention this now because I had dinner with friends at a Chinese restaurant on New Years Eve and one of the dishes had such an interesting name I felt compelled to order it: Bum Bum chicken! I wasn't sure whether the name referred to the cut of meat used or the flavour but I ordered it and did enjoy it. I later asked a Chinese friend who told me that the name has something to do with sticks. I then had to explain the joke. I guess they didn't see any problem here in Indiana as Americans always say "butt", "fanny" or "ass" (sic.).

So this is Xmas

Even though everyone always says that the year has gone so fast, it doesn't feel that way to me. It is surprising that I've been here for almost 5 months but I can't say that the year has gone either fast or slow because my time here feels disconnected from my life in Australia, on a different time-line somehow. (When I return it will probably be with some unrealistic expectation of picking up exactly where I left off.)

As you've seen from photos it's a White Christmas here. More snow is forecast for Xmas eve and morning. This makes the holiday fare far more appropriate. Australian families are forced to choose between the traditional Christmas dinner, requiring a hot oven on top of the midday heat, and the more practical cold meats and salad. Here it's a no-brainer, every source of heat helps. (Not that it's ever been much of a choice for me. A cold meal is not a meal - it's a snack. I even toast all my sandwiches!) Luckily, I have two friends who haven't fled Bloomington for the break so I'll be eating Xmas dinner with them.

An American Xmas treat worth mentioning is egg nog. I knew to look for it because in one Xmas episode Homer Simpson buys a fridge full of egg nog instead of milk! Anyway, the supermarket version isn't alcoholic (easily fixed!) and tastes like a thin custard with the spices from the pudding mixed through. Which is good, because I couldn't see any Xmas puddings at the supermarket so nog just might have to substitute.

A Suitable Job for Me

One of the things that attracted me to IU was that, even though I'm a philosopher of science, I like being in the same department as historians of science (I'm looking forward to the history of science class I'll be taking next semester). But back when I left school I wanted nothing more than to be a scientist so I went to UNSW to study chemistry (I continued to like it well enough to work as a chemist for a while between undergrad and starting grad school here).

Now the two loves are coming together as the head of the department, Prof. Bill Newman, has hired me to help him reconstruct Newton's alchemical experiments! Today I had a look around the lab and bought some chemicals for the next experiment. (No, we're not aiming for the Philosopher's Stone just yet. But the Bloomington campus does look a lot like Hogwarts!)

The project looks like a lot of fun. Some of it is just writing experiments for teaching purposes, to provide some history along with the chemistry. But there is a lot in Newton's notes that really can't be understood because he used mystical language. It's hoped that some of his terms can be deciphered by examining what it was he saw, so I will also be trying to reverse-engineer those experiments.

My visa only allows me to work on campus so this really is perfect for me. Also, I'll finally be elegible for a Social Security Number, without which life in Indiana can be very difficult.

A short break from classes

Monday was my last class and yesterday I submitted a paper for my ethics class, which means I'm now on a break. Because it's winter here in the Northern Hemisphere we only get a short break over Xmas -- classes start back 9th January. I do deserve a break, seeing as we only got a long weekend (Wednesday - Sunday) for Thanksgiving. Still, I'm very surprised that it's gone this quickly!

I'm not planning to go travelling anywhere (left it too late, now) but I will have plenty to do: the International Center has activities; I still have a couple of papers I'm working on; and it looks like I'll be starting a part-time job. (I will post more about that after I find out the details Monday.)

Not just dreaming of a White Christmas

Yesterday a serious snow came. It started in the middle of the day and kept falling late into the night. Walking home from my last class around 8 pm there was about 15 cm of snow on the ground. I was a little surprised at how bright it is at night with the snow reflecting light.

Today it's stopped falling and the whole town looks magical, especially the campus with the big old gothic buildings and the enchanted forest. This photo makes me expect to see a faun walk past wearing a red scarf, carrying parcels and an umbrella. (I'm going to see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe tonight!)

I've taken some more photos of where I live and around campus.

I think I'm pretty well equiped with clothes for cold weather now (I've been buying bits and pieces for the last few weeks). In fact, I'm starting to gain a new appreciation for garments I never cared about before. There's no way I can leave the house without a warm hat, scarf and gloves -- things I never needed in Oz!

A Thanksgiving Dinner that couldn't be beat

Today was my first Thanksgiving!

Trying to get into the spirit, I listened to Alice's Restaurant on a loop all day. I can now recite the whole 18min 37sec; I'm not proud.

All the other students left town a couple of days ago but will have to rush back for classes on Monday. So, feeling a little jealous, I invited some other international students over for lunch so we could spend the day among friends while all the Americans are off with their families.

I cooked walking bird with all the trimmings! The baked spuds were a little too crunchy for my taste but the sweet potatoes were perfect! (But not American style! They call them "yams" and cook them in syrup! I wan't prepared to go that far for the sake of authenticity.) The turkey was over 12 lb (5.5kg) and the three of us ate less than half! It looks like I'll be having turkey sandwiches for lunch for the next year or so.

Don't know how Xmas could beat that, maybe with a turducken!

It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!

After a few days of sub-zero temperatures I feel like whinging about the weather again. This morning I woke up to see snow outside but apart from that today has been ok - the range was a sultry 0-11˙C. That really is quite warm compared with tomorrow's expected -12˙ low!

This probably isn't too interesting for most of you so, instead of continuing to whinge, I've placed a weather meter in the side bar, which will let you all know what's happening here in Bloomington, Indiana.

Americans and the Environment

A recent post of Cameron's got me to thinking about one of the things they do better here in Bloomington - public transport. One reason I chose Bloomington over La Jolla is that I didn't want to buy a car. Apart from learning to drive on the wrong side and the cost, it is better for the environment and my health for me to walk most places. But when the weather's not so nice for walking (woke up to find snow outside this morning!) the buses here are really good; much better than public transport ever was in Western Sydney. I was surprised to find that here in Bloomington the city runs a bus company, something Penrith Council refused to even consider when it was suggested. Fares are dirt-cheap (75c or completely free for IU students!) and to encourage people not to use cars, the first Friday of every month everyone rides free! The buses are well-maintained and wheelchair accessable; not to mention the "para-transport" minibuses that are provided for the handicapped on demand. I'm starting to understand that America gives a lot more power to lower levels of government, which means the city actually controls a lot of everyday things but it's still hard to believe that in a red state there is a local government that actually provides services that are good for the community and the environment.

On the other hand, there are ways Bloomington are not nearly as good as Penrith council, like waste management. Almost no-one recycles here. The city runs a basic recycling collection so I phoned up to get a recycling bin but they told me I couldn't have one because I'm in an apartment building! I'd have to bundle everything up and take it to a depot to recycle my rubbish - but I don't have a car! Such a waste!

I'm not sure how much happens at the state level but there's an ad on TV featuring "Senator Dick Luger" touting the benefits of using special 85% ethanol fuel (I think it would have to go in a Diesel engine, but so many people drive "pick-up trucks" here!). In Australia biofuels only get support if the PM gets donations from an ethanol company!

It's Snowing!

Just after I left my apartment today it started snowing!

There wasn't much, only a few minutes worth, which soon melted. I was just surprised to see it so early. I'll probably still have to wait until late December or early January to make a snow-man but I think it's going to be very cold for many months.

More Tornados

Today a tornado did come quite close to Bloomington. I'm not sure how far in miles but it was close enough for the sirens to sound! That was in the middle of a lecture so we all went down to the basement level of the building and stood in the hall for half an hour, waiting for it to pass.

It died down for a while but now that I'm home I can hear a lot of thunder (and very violent lightning) so there could be more tornados form. The storm warning remains in effect until 10 pm. When I asked the others in my class, they were a bit blasé about the whole thing. Most people here don't have storm cellars, they just recommended I hide in the bathroom!

Watch out for those winged monkeys

This is wierd: people in Australia know more about the weather in Indiana than me! This afternoon I got 3 different people emailing me to ask about the tornado and whether I'm safe - that was the first I heard about a tornado!

That is to say, I am perfectly safe and no-one needs to worry about me getting sucked into the sky à la Wizard of Oz.

Reading up on it now, it seems people were right to worry; it was in southern Indiana (and northern Kentucky) but it wasn't actually close enough to affect me. Apparently 23 dead and more than 200 injured! (Those of you who remember the movie Twister might be interested to know it was an F3, medium.)

When in Rome

All the stores are decorated for Halloween. I thought I'd get into the spirit so yesterday I made a Jack-o-Lantern. He's not as scary as I would have liked (I never was much of an artist) but I'm happy with my first attempt.

Today I'm making pumpkin soup.

Super-Size Me: Adventures with American Food

I just have to say something about American food for those who haven't been here. All foreigners here feel they have to discuss it and compare notes whenever they meet and it's not that hard to see why; you'd expect the food to be the same as other Western countries but, in so many ways, it just isn't.

The bread it sweet. I don't understand why, but they add glucose syrup to all bread here. You know the hamburger buns at Maccas, all the bread is pretty much like that. You can buy wheat bread (light brown) or Italian style but they still have added sugar!

Everyone who comes to American for a holiday comments on how fatty everything is. They don't seem to really bother trying to keep their meat lean. Supermarket chicken and beef are very fatty but the bacon is unbelievable. Bacon is not middle rashers like in Australia, the American cut is about 90% fat!! (I normally trim the fat off the edge of my bacon but when I tried that with American bacon I had nothing left!) More surprising is that they do have a lot of low fat products, just not the ones you'd expect - like a low-fat ice-cream with choc-chips and cookie-dough in it!

The cheese is orange! (Again, think Maccas.)

Not many Americans drink hot tea (Southerners drink a lot of iced tea) since the Boston Tea Party so they haven't discovered the electric kettle yet - they use a stove-top whistling kettle. Everyone seems to drink drip-filter coffee which is ok but most cafes serve it too so it's hard to find anything stronger. And iced-coffee often comes black and unsweetened (being cold it's very hard to get sugar to dissolve)!

One of the difficult things for me cooking for myself is that there are not many short-cut sauces. Most of the instant sauces are for very boring dishes (eg macaroni cheese) and contain tons of MSG!

All these things I'm getting used to avoiding but the problems are sometimes more fundamental. I mean that Americans have different taste-buds to us. They have cherry-flavoured soft drinks! That one caught me unawares a couple of times now.

I have been trying to eat sensibly and I feel a little reassured when I see that the staples here are enriched with vitamins: bread and rice have iron and folate added; milk has vitamins D and K added. I had assumed that the hot sunny Indiana summers would be enough to prevent rickets but maybe the winters are longer and darker than I'm expecting. The cold weather is starting already, but I'll save that whinge for another post.