Sophomore Journal 2.3.11

Sjöankans Vals in concert


Inorganic Chemistry
A/P Huynh has taken to frequently showing us videos in order to take a break from talking and go and cough a bit, he says. He also joked once that he was chronically depressed, which wasn't very funny and slightly worrying. The class has developed an addiction to (fake) alkaline metal explosions:



Mid-terms featured a quiz on scientists' names, rather unsurprisingly on retrospect.

Organic Chemistry
I have given up printing notes, because I have the textbook, which has almost everything the notes have and much more, and increases my tolerance towards heavy textbooks.

Labwork featured each of us being given a mixture of two unknown substances for to separate, purify and crystallise. The luckier ones among us got yellow crystals, or crystals with some kind of form. For me, fortunately, I got the long needly crystals (salicylic acid) and the big flaky ones (acetanilide).

The professor in charge of our lab sessions was Dr. Ship, who had the naggy, secondary-school teacher vibes.

Thermodynamics
Yesterday I was finally convinced that numbers (as numerical answers) in Thermodynamics are the last things one should worry about, far behind understanding the ideas behind what has been taught.
Admittedly, understanding the workings of thermodynamics has also been challenging. To illustrate, the school printer at S10 has helpfully screwed up all the notes printing at the maths.



In other news, we have finished the most awesome lab of the semester, the Tin-Zinc phase diagram. Be it due to oxidation or impurities, melting the mixtures of the two metals produced an amazing and unpredictable array of colours:


Structure of Materials
It was too easy to get a full mark this mid-terms, so the marker had the pleasure of penalising us on the most unimportant slights.

Picked up a textbook in Science Library the other day about the Structure of Materials. None of the content was at all familiar. For example, the first topic to be featured was the rotational symmetry of crystals. When I did crystal structures in the software CrystalKitX, it just so happened that one has to know them in order to make even a SC or FCC, etc.

Anyway,
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In Other News
I've signed up for a UROP project. The title is
Modelling and Simulation of structures and TEM images of crystals
which is why I'm doing stuff on CrystalKitX all these days.

SEP application closes today. My 5 choices:
1. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
2. Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zürich)
3. Uppsala Universitet
4. Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble
5. University of British Columbia
Fingers are crossed for Francoprovençal small-talk and cross-border grocery shopping

Karantez Vro

Karantez Vro
Anjela Duval (lyr.) / Nolwenn Leroy

E korn va c’halon zo ur gleizenn ’Baoe va yaouankiz he dougan Rak siwazh, an hini a garen Na gare ket ’r pezh a garan Eñ na gare nemet ar c’hêrioù Ar morioù bras, ar Broioù pell Ha me ne garan ’met ar maezioù Maezioù ken kaer va Breizh-Izel ! Ret ’voe dibab ’tre div garantez Karantez-vro, karantez den D’am bro am eus gouestlet va buhez Ha lez’t da vont ’n hini ’garen Biskoazh abaoe n’am eus en gwelet Biskoazh klevet keloù outañ Ur gleizhenn em c’halon zo chomet Pa ’gare ket ’r pezh a garan. Pep den a dle heuilh e Donkadur Honnezh eo lezenn ar Bed-mañ Gwasket ’voe va c’halon a-dra-sur Pa ’gare ket ’r pezh a garan Dezhañ pinvidigezh, enorioù Din-me paourentez ha dispriz Met ’drokfen ket evit teñzorioù Va Bro, va Yezh ha va Frankiz !

En mon coeur est ma blessure, Depuis ma jeunesse y reste gravée Car, hélas, celui que j'aimais Ce que j'aime n'aimait pas. Lui n'aimait que la ville, La grande mer et les lointains ; Je n'aimais que la campagne, Beauté des campagnes de Bretagne. Entre deux amours il me fallut choisir Amour-patrie, amour de l'homme ; A mon pays j'ai offert ma vie, Et s'en est allé celui que j'aimais. Depuis, jamais je ne l'ai revu, Jamais connu de ses nouvelles. En mon coeur saigne la blessure Car ce que j'aime, il n'aimait pas. Chacun sa Destinée doit vivre, Ainsi en ce monde en est-il. Meurtri, certes, fut mon coeur, Mais ce que j'aime, il n'aimait pas. A lui, honneurs et richesse A moi, mépris et humble vie. Mais je n'échangerais contre nul trésor Mon pays, ma langue et ma liberté.

Le Cher Dirigeant

Nous sommes enseignés souvent sur un personnage très mystérieux. C'est celui que nous appelons le Cher Dirigeant. On ne le voit que sur la télé ou sur des affiches. Il paraît assez laid et ne sourit jamais, bien qu’on le loue par tas des chansons et danses.

Sa vie, je la trouve mystérieuse. Quelques disent qu'il demeure dans les cieux, et ne descend que pour rejoindre les gens de la Corée pendant la Fête d'Arirang. Les autres ne sont pas d'accord. Ils croient qu’il est un amiral valeureux, toujours en patrouillant autour la Mer de l'Est, qui empêche que les capitalistes ne nous envahissent. Chacun a une histoire incroyable à raconter, malgré qu'aucun ne connaisse le Cher Dirigeant.

Mon professeur me disait souvent : le Cher Dirigeant est né au sommet du Mont Paektu, sept mois après un colibri magique est arrivé dans notre pays à prédire sa naissance. Quand il est né, toute la nature l’a célèbré. « C’est une naissance merveilleuse, plein de promesses ! » crié mon professeur un jour « Et pourquoi nous sommes encore tant pauvres ? Il semble qu’il ne soit qu’un mensonge ! » Bientôt après, mon professeur a disparu mystérieusement.

(198 mots)

This Week Is E-Learning Week in Faculty of Science

I'm going to be sitting in front of this soul-sucking machine for hours listening to disembodied voices. I'm going to write here more than is necessary. I'm going to be alone in this room, with no friends to talk to, and no practice problems to hurl at each other with. I'm going to miss A/P Huynh and his vaguely German accent and his laid-back attitude and his dubious logic. I'm going to miss Mdm Saradha's patient and crystal-clear presentations. I'm going to pine for Mr Ong's condescending drill-sergeant air. I'll be missing sitting in the classrooms with the tutors within arm's reach. And I'm beginning to feel that all this e-Learning week may just serve to remind us how beautiful real human contact is.