Anyway, in anticipation of navigating the big city all on my own for the first time, and at the thought of trying to "have fun alone" (Yeah, right. Side note: My mom used to send me to my bedroom alone instead of spanking me because I hated being in isolation.), I asked Jake's mom, Michele, if she would accompany me. I'm glad she did because she saved me from many a giant puddle, and kept me sane with gin when Mama Mia was the only thing on TV, other than the eight ESPN channels available to us. Okay, it was just the card game, but it was pretty much the only thing that got us through the horror that is Pierce Brosnan's singing voice. Some people were just never meant to sing in public.
Boston was really fun. We went to the aquarium which has a cylindrical tank with a spiral staircase that goes from top to bottom so that you can see all of the fish. It was pretty cool, but I think my favorite creature was the Seadragon. I couldn't get a good picture in the aquarium because the lights were so low, but below is a picture from the internet. These leafy-looking guys are so cool. They had a bunch of leafy plants in the same tank and it took me a minute to realize that there were creatures in there.
We also went to see Harvard Yard. We didn't stick around too long since we didn't know where anything was, and it was freezing! Here are a few pictures that I took around the campus.
Yes, that is the gate to Harvard Yard behind that giant snow bank.
I had to get a picture by the gates, but I almost froze to death waiting for people to stay out of the way long enough to get the picture.
The architecture on their campus was beautiful. I wish we had buildings like this at BYU.
This is the Widener Library. Large and in charge.
I don't know what kind of campus building this is, I just thought it was neat.
Here are more pictures of things we saw in Boston. A lot of my pictures didn't turn out because it was cloudy and rainy, so these are a few that did.
The conference went really well. I was able to talk with a lot of people who share my academic interests, but my favorite experience was with an older Korean gentleman. This man came over to talk to me about my poster and pretty much ended up inviting me to "study" in Korea. He gave me his email address and an abstract of his most recent study, which he claimed was very similar to mine. I didn't look at the information until later, which is when I came to find out that his study was about the differences in dream locations between male and female Koreans living in America. Hmmm...my study was about the influence of positive emotions on working memory - I don't see the connection. Also, why was some pseudo-scientist who studies the meanings of dreams at a neuropsychology conference? Perhaps just to capture young blonds and take them back to Korea become his blushing brides. No, thank you. I'll pass, dreampower74 (his email address in case anyone else would be interested in becoming his bride).
