Lisa and J.K. Rowling
Did anyone see the Simpsons episode where they go to England? Although that episode wasn't that great, I loved the part where Lisa talks to J.K. Rowling. Lisa asked her how the Harry Potter series ends, and Ms. Rowling, rather annoyed, said, "He grows up and marries
you. Is
that what you wanted to hear?" and Lisa, sighing dreamily, said Yes. LOL! That's so cute! Lisa has a crush on Harry Potter! ^_^
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I'm back!
Man, I've left my blog unattended for a while. It's been collecting dust for a month! But hey, I had that field course in the first two weeks of May, RIGHT after my final exams finished. I was already burned out, so the trip was utterly exhausting for me. But at least it's over; I handed in my independent project report last Friday.
The field course was really interesting, though, despite my fatigue. We learned about data collection techniques in various sub-domains of physical geography: measuring discharge in a stream and drawing an accurate cross-sectional profile of the same stream (fluvial geomorphology); identifying plant species along a transect and analyzing the influence of stuff like slope and moisture on their distribution and abundance (biogeography); surveying an area using an Engineer's Level in order to produce a topographic map; and analyzing the influence of the physical environment on the microclimate of an area (climatology).
I took a bunch of photos on my digital camera, which I also uploaded onto an online photo album:
HereIt was, however, rather unpleasant having to write up the reports for all the exercises. *sigh*
The second place we went to (the Harrington Forestry Centre near Mont Tremblant) was...unique, lol. There used to be a logging company that owned the land, but they eventually sold it. The dude who owns it now (named Bob) was talking to our prof one day; he said that the logging company sold the land to him for a surprisingly cheap price. He discovered the reason why: it turns out that about 20 years ago, a family that was acting as the caretakers of the land was murdered by an axe-wielding psycho! :O The company sold the land for a bargain price because nobody wanted to buy it. Our prof told us about that when we were around the campfire, and we were creeped out, that's for sure!!! One girl asked, "You're kidding, right?" and our prof said, "No, apparently it really happened. I heard about the axe-murder a while back, but I didn't find out until recently that it actually happened here." I looked over my shoulder at the dark forest surrounding us, and I had this image of a psycho with an axe coming out of the woods. *shudder*
Despite the freaky history of the area, it was a nice place. Rather isolated, though (no internet access, no phone, and the nearest phone booth was a ten-minute drive away). There were mice in the cabin, too (a classmate said that she could hear them scratching in the walls at night, and several of the students spotted a mouse exploring through our stash of food one evening).
Here are some memorable quotes from the trip:
1. "Don't go too close to the rapids, because you could fall in and easily die. If you fall in and happen to survive, you'll fail the course for ignoring my warning."
2.
[A student holds up a three-leafed plant] "Hey Sarah, is this Poison Ivy?"
3.
[The students in charge of groceries bought a pack of 24 hamburger patties, but only 12 buns. When someone poked fun at them about it, a guy said the following.] "Give me a break! I'm a geographer, not a mathematician!"
4.
[One student was unfortunate enough to have a REALLY bad cold that week, and was all groggy and feeling like crap.] "Ugh, I hope I die tonight."
