Author Archives: AJung

Cherry blossoms and the start of jogging season

Remember thta picture from only about nine days ago? Yeah, it’s the same tree! ๐Ÿ˜€

Hi everyone,

You might’ve noticed that I’ve been posting quite frequently lately. Yeah… I’ve been kind of sort of needing a source of “productive” distraction. I’ve had an amazingly productive last couple of weeks (work wise), and been on my full efficiency mode for a bit too long — and now I’m overwhelmed. lol

Then I remembered that if I learned anything from the dreadful period of the comprehensive exams, it’s that stressing out (to the point of freaking out) doesn’t do you any good, unless you have just the right amount of stress to keep you focused and healthily efficient.

So I decided to go for a run for the first time in a while. Wasn’t it raining this morning? Sure, but it’s Vancouver. Whatever. It ended up being a very refreshing run around the campus followed by the realization that “Hey, I could do this every morning” (I’m kidding. Every other morning seems closer to practical). The weather is warm enough that you won’t be too tempted to go back to bed after stepping out the door. And the campus is going through a very rapid transition between seasons, and bringing that awesome Vancouver spring scenery at its full speed.

My two minute commute gets so much more pleasant this time of the year. Just makes you want to sit by the window somewhere, and enjoy the view over a good cup of tea. Sigh~

It’s hard to complain about residence prices on campus (yes, they raised it by 2% again this year, yikes!) when you can walk out the door and right away be greeted by an abundance of good jogging routes with fresh and clean air from the trees of the Pacific Spirit Park and the waves of the ocean, far far away from streets filled with the sound of cars passing by. And today, running up and down the main mall (distance: a tad bit shy of 3km from the Thunderbird Cres. to Rose Garden and back) I was greeted by all the cherry blossoms that have bloomed and starting to decorate the streets. Beautiful…!

For those of you stressing out over final projects that are likely to be due in a week or two from now, upcoming final exams, plus catching up with your thesis work, plus paper deadlines, plus a conference to attend in between, plus a couple of side project that you really care about (yeah.. I’m overwhelmed), then why not take a few minutes, put on your running gears, and take a jog around the campus? It might just remind you how awesome it is to be in grad school at such a beautiful university. Well, and chances are, I might just run into you there. ๐Ÿ˜›

AJung

March 21, 2014

I was sipping my tea just now, enjoying my Friday evening, reflecting on what felt like a very long week. My Songza playlist was set to Mood = introspective. Then I heard that distinct sound of parties right outside my window. The heart thumping beats and crowds cheering and singing along to Zedd’s Clarity.

Hold on, that’s not the typical UBC scenery of a Friday evening at 8:30pm, unless you go to the Pit pub at the SUB or some such.

Anyways, peaking out the window, I found a crowd of people wearing glow-stick outfits, riding bikes that are equally well-equipped with glows ticks.

Turns out, this is part of the UBC BikeRave 2.0 party. It seems that the party crowd has biked away to more fun places to sing and dance for now. But’s it’s great to see some party spirit at this time of the year — yes, yes, we should all learn to have some fun near the end of the semester. Classes are almost over people~!! ๐Ÿ˜€

Spring is here at UBC

I woke up this morning feeling bubbly. I knew I had a midterm I had to write later in the day that I wasn’t feeling the most prepared for. But that didn’t really matter because the sun outside the window was clearly telling me that the beautiful Vancouver is getting ready to be epic.

For those of you wondering what the UBC campus looks like right now, here’s a sneak peak of the ย Spring-welcoming-excitement that is clearly being shared by the people playing outside, and the cherry blossoms getting ready to bloom. I wouldn’t say it’s the kind of weather to be wearing tank tops yet, but you can definitely get away with a light sweater with a thin jacket. And yes, bring your sunglasses, because I’m sure that makes summer come faster.

Edit: Oh yes, and while I was out taking pictures, I forgot that all of this excitement is also to say Happy Norooz!