Forms of bread

I had a weird, very vivid dream last night that made me wake-up feeling anxious. In my dream I was filling out visa/immigration forms for my move to the US, but instead of paper, the forms were long crusty bread rolls that were split lengthwise into several bready pages. So I was filling out the questions and I suddenly realised I had made a major mistake in a key question. Panicking, I went to the immigration counter nearby and asked for another form. My request was denied and I was told to do the best I could do. At the denial, I got really worried and started to sweat profusely, such that my insanely sweaty palms caused the ink to come off the crust of the bread where I had written one of my answers. Then I woke up. Read what you want into the dream you budding Dreamweavers. Maybe it had to do with me needing to buy a bread knife?

I'm no bread snob but the bread in Boston is awful by the way. For starters there are almost no bakeries, except for those inside supermarkets. The packaged run-of-the-mill sliced supermarket bread that isn't baked on the premises is dreadfully sweet and should be in the confectionery aisle. It tastes very similar to McDonald hamburger buns. White, wholemeal, wholegrain, multi-grain, it doesn't matter, it's all bloody sweet. The only decent bread convenient to me, comes from the in-house bakery of a supermarket chain called Wholefoods. They do a tasty selection of sourdough loaves which are frequently still warm when I go shopping after work. Yum.

Sweet bread dude! My lunch would be so much happier with some non-sweet tasting, normal, freakin bread.

Wholefoods is a great place to shop for food, and I buy all my fresh produce from there. They're big with organic produce and other good quality stuff, and I guess they cater for the more eco-friendly, health conscious, save-the-whales type crowd. The alternate, cheaper supermarket where I get all the basics and non-perishable food is called Shaws. It's the harsh fluorescent lighting, junk food heavy, disinterested clerks (check-out chicks in Aussie-speak), typical American supermarket kinda place, where believe it or not, rice and tinned tomatoes are in a separate section for 'exotic' type foods. The section is called 'Food from the world' or some shit like that.

I bought a bread knife tonight so hopefully my dreams won't be about bread, sweet or otherwise. Sweet dreams everyone.

Working at lunch

A significant mile-stone was achieved in the settling-in process at work today, I was asked to join a group for lunch. Even though I've been in my new lab for almost a month now, I still feel like the new guy and am still in the process of feeling like 'one of the lab'. Everyone has been very helpful and friendly since I arrived, and my bay-buddy (the guy who works on the bench behind me in what forms a ' lab bay') even volunteered to drive me to Target to buy stuff for my flat (as mentioned in the Kung Pao chicken post), so I've definitely made inroads into being accepted into the lab, but being asked out for lunch had so far eluded me.

I've been asked out for coffee, tea and even ice-cream, and only today had I finally been asked to lunch. Success came with the smell of a beef burrito with jalopenos. It was huge, tasty and shamefully calorific. Yum.

Usually the same handful of friends, out of the lab of 20 something people, hang out at lunch together and it's not uncommon for people to eat alone due to busy experimental days. My usual lunch-buddy is Bing who is working in a lab downstairs to mine which is an ideal situation for scheduling lunch, and we have a selection of eateries on our lunch rotation menu. From burrito places which are really good here and would go really well in Australia where they are basically non-existent, to a Cajun chicken place that has a lunch serving of yummy chicken with rice and veges that is easily enough for the two of us, to a very tasty $2.75 clam chowder soup in our buildings cafeteria.

Apart from the social fitting-in process, my actual scientific work is still in its infancy. I've done a few experiments, but am still figuring out where reagents/equipment are and basically how the lab runs. My boss is a little scary as in my first two group meetings she was yelling at another postdoc for not having any results and basically not having a clue about his experimental methodology. From what I gather he kinda deserved it but I felt really sorry for him, especially since I get the feeling that not many people in the lab like him too much. To be blasted by your boss two weeks in a row seemed a bit much. I have a little expertise in what he was trying to do so I gave him some tips after the second yelling/meeting which he seemed grateful for.

Bay-buddy told me that my honeymoon period in the lab was coming to an end and that I should be wary with The Boss from now. He was only half-joking so now I'm scared of what kind of lab I've gotten myself into. My question is why the hell none of the postdocs mentioned The Boss's scariness when I visited the lab for my interview?! Hopefully I can get enough results to stay in her good books. We'll see.

After dinner tonight Bing told me he has already planned tomorrows lunch. It's a place a work-mate showed him the other day that does a mega steak and cheese sandwich that can easily feed two. Time to loosen that belt.

Fine art and Kung Pao chicken

I'm cozy and warm in my new studio at the moment. There's no hint of the supposed springtime outside, instead it's grey, freezing and rainy. My temporary lodging at Lulu/Bing's place finished two nights ago and although it was great fun living with them, it's nice to have a personal sanctuary to really call home.

A work colleague was kind enough to volunteer to drive me to Target so I could stock up on essentials for my apartment, so I'm now equipped with kitchen stuff like knives and a microwave, bathroom crap like towels and other random paraphernalia that's made my place liveable. I've also done numerous trips to homeware shops like Bed Bath & Beyond and the department chain Macy's for other stuff. It's bloody amazing how much crap is needed to make a place liveable! Needless to say my bank balance has taken quite a hit recently so the plan is to go without furniture until I can find something cheap on Craigslist. Who needs a set of drawers when you've got a suitcase dammit.

So with a comfy queen-sized futon to sleep on, cereal in the pantry and bowls to eat from, I'm content. I've even acquired a plant who I've called Eli. He's a Madonna Lily which are apparently pretty hardy. Despite my abysmal track record in keeping plants alive, I'm hopeful he'll survive, although he does have a few yellow leaves on him already...



Apart from my new place, I now have a swanky new cell-phone with Verizon Wireless. Courtesy of being staff at Harvard, the phone came free with a 17% discounted calling plan (the cheapest plan Verizon had to offer of course). Plus, my social security number got issued so I can get paid, woohoo! The internet guy came today so I've got high-speed internet of course (hence the blogging update), and with the net comes the sweet sounds of Triple J online. Lulu and Bing don't have a TV and I haven't really missed it so I'm not getting a TV, which makes the net my lifeline to entertainment.

Work-wise, I'm still settling in and it'll take a while before I get into a defined project. Most of my lab are older family-orientated postdocs so there hasn't been much social interaction with the lab. They've been friendly and helpful so far but I don't see the same level of out-of-work fun that I had with my previous lab who were mostly close to my age or younger. Time will tell.

At the moment I've been eating out almost every meal with Lulu and Bing who have been giving me the culinary tour of the neighbourhood which has been draining on the wallet but heaps of fun. I think we've only had dinner at home 8 times or so in the almost 4 weeks I've been here. My social life has been hanging out with Lulu, Bing and their work friends which has been cool and welcoming in a foreign city.

The other week we went to the Museum of Fine Arts as part of a meetup event for Aussies working in Boston, although we went and did our own thing after greeting everyone. The exhibits of art and artifacts from all over, including traditional masks and costumes from Africa, pottery and goldwork from South America, awesome calligraphy from China were interesting, but as part of a special exhibit, the marble piece called Madonna of the Clouds by Donatello was the winner for me.




I'm not an artsy person, and religious art usually repulses me, but there was something intangibly appealing about the piece. Up close, the detail and emotion conveyed by a freakin' slab of marble was pretty special.

The event at the museum was on the first Friday night of the month and as such, there were drinks and canapes in one gallery. Having spent too much time admiring the art downstairs we arrived late to the drinks and were glad we did. We expected complimentary food but it wasn't free and to make it worse, the gallery was filled with a pretentious looking crowd of glamour wannabes (admittedly, there were a few incredibly cute guys there sipping their champagne, effortlessly looking hot and making a large blip on my gaydar). Surprisingly, there was dance music blaring and a lot of atrocious dancing by a drunken mob of the generally less attractive too-hip-for-society people. It was a weird scene; classic styled paintings hanging on the walls of a stately, cavernous museum room clashing with the beats and dancing of wasted people. It was an interesting experience, but not my our Lulu and Bing's scene, so after a bit of gawking and feeling slightly uncomfortable we bailed for some really good pizza at a local Italian restaurant.

I've just returned from dinner to finish this post. It was at an awful Chinese restaurant about 5 mins walk away. Think lots of MSG, cheesy 90's music being piped into the dining room, fluorescent sauces on inappropriately flavoured dishes and then double the overall horror. Oh, did I mention is was attached to a cheap motel? Not good. Even my fortune cookie didn't make sense. It said something like 'A handsome man means a handsome does'. At least the Chinese Tsing Tao beer tasted good. Lulu, being a lover of authentic tasty meals of any nationality, and having high hopes of finding a good local Chinese restaurant, was thoroughly disappointed and grimaced with disgust throughout the meal.

Now that I've got craploads of MSG coursing madly through my body and making me hyper, I'll probably be awake all night. However, one good thing about dinner was that I finally found out what Kung Pao chicken tastes like. It doesn't exist in Australia but I've heard it mentioned in countless American shows like Seinfeld. Having tasted it, I'm glad it's a dish confined to the States. Think chicken pieces, extremely slight chilli, celery, bell peppers (or capsicum in Aussiespeak) and a few peanuts in a nondescript oily gravy. With plenty of MSG of course.