A lot has happened in the last two months. I've started my new job, and it's quite a learning experience. It can be frustrating at times but it can also be very enjoyable at times. Hopefully I will figure out all that I need to figure out by the end of the training period (about one more month to go). In the middle of August, I went to Paris for the World Youth Teams Championships of Bridge. We led the field after the first two days, but then fell to about midfield at the end of the event. A bit disappointing, but a rewarding experience nonetheless. France was a lot of fun. I stayed two extra days after the tournament and got to do some sightseeing (Arc, Notre Dame, Louvre) as well as eat twice at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, which was just an amazing place with amazing food. A lot of my internet friends have asked me to post a picture or two of me on this site, and I would have posted the Paris ones but they didn't come out so well. I guess you'll all just have to wait.

 

Two months ago I was just finishing up my academic career. Now, starting tomorrow, I am beginning my professional career. And what have I done in between? Well, I studied for, took, and passed the two licensing exams required for my job, the NASD Series 7 and Series 55. I also played all five days of the New England Summer Regional, winning two events, a side game, and coming in second in the two other events I played in. But other than that, I've mostly spent the time just chilling and settling in with my new housemates and trying to get a feel for this life without school. I am, however, looking foward to spending two weeks in Paris for the World Youth Teams Championship in which I'll represent Hong Kong. We're not expected to be competing for a spot in the playoff, but I'm sure we'll play some good bridge and enjoy ourselves. I always find a way to have fun playing bridge.

 

School is finally over as I have finished all my finals and projects. I now await the slow transition into "the real world" and actually having to wake up in the morning. I've been taking time to start hitting the gym again, in the hopes of regaining the form that I was in about 5 years ago when I was at my fittest. I'm sure my friends are rooting for me and probably the girls that I will be chasing too! Speaking of friends, I'd like to mention here how important and great my friends here at Harvard have been, especially all the people on Richard's first and my friends at the Stat department, especially Jason and Reetu.

 

Spring break came and went. Just kinda spent it wasting time. I guess that's what it's meant for. I do have a midterm coming up in a course I'm not that good at, but it's so hard to feel motivated. I know the year is almost over, and I just need to will myself to get through these last 3 months. Although I've been saying it for a long time, I think I will finally get myself to go on that diet and exercise plan I've been meaning to do. It's part of "obeying my thirst" :-)

 

Just came back from the nationals in Philadelphia. It was disappointing with regards to bridge, as there weren't that many interesting hands and I didn't play to my very best. However, there were still many times where I just wasn't given anything to work with. I was very happy though with the many cool people I met and hung out with. I think I'll take a little break from bridge and see what happens from there.

 

The last four months have been quite hectic! I have had to deal with a very heavy courseload at school, looking for a job, and trying to find time to enjoy myself and play some bridge. Luckily, the first semester has passed, and my grades are okay. I have also been lucky enough to find a job, and after passing some requisite exams expect to be working in July here in Boston. I'm very excited about the possibilities with this job, although it's not much of a longterm job. I have also managed to get a bridge hand in on occasion, and hope that this year will be my breakout year results-wise. The second semester has started off slow, but I have a feeling I will have a lot of work to do very soon. I hope I survive : )

 

I'll try to summarize the past half a year as succinctly as possible. Went home for the summer. Played in Pacific Asian Bridge Federation Championships, winning the junior teams event and coming in 3rd in the open pairs event. Also had a lot of fun playing in Macau and in the Hong Kong Intercity Championships. Spent most of the summer playing bridge and being with family, so mostly just chilling and nothing intense. Came back to the states to start school. Grad school is a lot of work!!! But the people I live with on my floor are great and along with my terrific new friends in the stats department help me to get through it. I've been cutting down a lot on bridge, but I expect to pick it back up next semester. Also, I've begun looking for a job, but the market is so tough now.

 

All done with school. Just need to confirm my grades and then wait for graduation. My mom's come over here to Boston to visit me, but there's not much to do in Boston really. Don't even know if I'll get any bridge in before I leave. Will miss the pro-am at MIT, which is one of my favorite events.

 

Did my thesis presentation last Friday and it worked out fine. Only thing left for me to do before officially graduating is an econ paper and printing and binding of the thesis. Played some bridge over the weekend, but didn't play up to my best. Weird thing happened Sunday though. There was an article about college and tuition in the Boston Globe Magazine and I was quoted in that article. But I was portrayed very negatively and I thought falsely and unnecessarily. I have requested an apology, I wonder how that will work out. Some interesting hands over the weekend, but just felt like writing about one.

 

Wrote some of my thesis last night. It looked terrible. And I'm defending it on Friday. Help me...

Finished playing Junior Collegiates on Friday. Lost by 20-something imps. Oh well, I got an article about being in the finals in the Tufts Daily, which was all I was really aiming for by playing in this thing. Winning would have been nice, but publicity was the top priority. Added an article about the tourney.

One more week of school left, then my mother's visiting me for graduation and staying for 2 weeks. All I have to do is survive a little longer...

 

Well, I've done most of the writing for my economics paper, just need to go through the model with my math professor and see if we can get a solution set worth discussing. Still haven't started writing or reading for the senior honors thesis in psychology yet, but one of my advisors and I went through some of the data today and there definitely is something there, even if the experiment is of a pretty low power. However, there's a lot of analysis to do.

Basically my schedule lately has involved napping from 3pm to 6pm every day, watching NBA playoffs on TV at night, writing in the middle of the night, and taking a little nap in the morning. However, the College Team Finals are tomorrow so I'll have to stay awake in the morning. The next article will probably be about the College Teams, although there's not much to talk about. I have put up a new article today though. Enjoy.