今天下午又去了趟美领馆，取回了等待多时的F-1签证和护照。至此，终于可以安心准备迎接父母的到来和七月份的回国了。哇咔咔~~
顺便把上礼拜五的签经也写一下。
早上九点半的appointment，安检进入美领馆后，等了要有一个来钟头，才见到VO。VO是个看上去满好说话的华人阿姨。
VO: So, you've already got a B-1 visa, and now you are applying for an F-1 visa?
Tony: Yes. (明知故问。申请表上不是写着么？但一想到太傻上说千万不要只回答一个字，于是赶紧补上。) I'm going to Columbia University to study towards a doctoral degree in Operations Research.
VO: Why don't you apply in China?
(一愣，这阿姨难道是笑面老虎？)
Tony: Oh, I have been living in Vancouver for almost five years already.
VO: But you know, usually people apply for their first F-1 visa in their home countries...
(靠，难道她今天不想让我过了？？不过死马还是要当活马骑。)
Tony: For the last five years, I have been studying at UBC. And now, I'm still living here. I saw in the application instruction that I should apply in the country of residence, so ...
VO: Okay, okay. So when did you come to Canada?
(这阿姨总算没有再追究下去, 长舒一口气.)
Tony: In August, 2003. (VO 开始一个字一个字的往电脑里打.)
VO: When are you going to graduate?
Tony: I'm graduating soon in May. (VO 继续打字.)
VO: Did you do a Master at UBC?
(用五年读Master, 我疯了?)
Tony: No, I did a Bachelor's degree.
VO: What type of Bachelor's?
Tony: BSc.
VO: But your I-20 says you are going to do a PhD at Columbia?
Tony: Yes, I'll get my Masters degree automatically after the first year.
VO: So you are going to do a Masters and PhD at Columbia. (自己一边念着, 一边打字. 我怎么感觉她像第一次干这工作似的.)
VO: Who is going to pay for your studies?
Tony: The department of IEOR has offered me a TA-ship, which covers both tuition and living expenses. Here's the award letter. (递上系里的信. VO瞄了一眼就推回来了.)
VO: May I see your SEVIS fee receipt?
Tony: Sure. Here you go. (再递上.)
VO: Okay, so I will approve. (在我的DS表格上作了记号,开始拿护照领取单.)
VO: Come again on Tuesday to pick up your passport.
此时心中顿时大喜,竟然没有问回国计划之类的最BT的问题. 大有逃过一劫的感觉.
Tony: Oh thanks a lot!
回顾一下过程, 除了一开始两个问题有点险之外, 其他都是问什么就直接可以答什么, 应该还算是简单的面签了.
Miller Landing Beach
A deer
专业摄影师在聚精会神
Snow-capped mountains --- very BC
A wild duck
Guess what is the function of these two cement poles at this stone beach?
Suzzallo Library
Paul G Allen Centre. Home of the CSE department. There are only 160 undergrads in the CS department, and yet they have such a luxurious building! Yeah, American universities are RICH.
The Quad
Unidentified Gothic style building
The lake view from the backyard of a CS prof's house. Oh man, that guy's super rich. He has his own deck.
The view from the top of Paul Allen Centre. I'd say this is in no way comparable with the view we have in CS2 at UBC. While we look at the Pacific Ocean, they have only that small lake, and moreover, they have to endure that green, scenery-destroying chimney!
The front entrance of Paul Allen Centre.
Cherry.
Deep corridor symbolizes knowledge? Just my wild guess...
学校给找的旅馆还挺不错的, 一个人睡两张床, 就一爽字. :)
“那条街”
“那条街”上的那头牛（和人）。
时代广场的灯亮到照相机没有闪光在晚上也曝光很短（当然，我用的傻瓜模式）。
Ellis Island. 据说最初的来美国的移民都要先在这个岛上的这个“移民厅”登陆后才能进入曼哈顿的。
帝国大厦。WTC双子楼被炸后，就数它最高了。（有没有点S&C片头照的那个味道?)
自由女神像是绿色的原因是。。。铜锈。这尊像另外也使我联想起<红色警戒>的游戏.
2月28日，启程千里迢迢飞去北卡罗来纳，参加SAMSI办的一个undergrad workshop。先飞到西雅图Sea-Tac机场，转机去盐湖城。西雅度不愧是高科技城市，机场里似乎人手一个iPhone。。。
盐湖城从机场看出去似乎有点像温哥华，只是他们的雪山更靠近城市，更山区。飞机上有很多人都是去滑雪的，原来盐湖城也是个滑雪胜地。
经过将近一整天的转机飞行，终于到达位于北卡的Raleigh-Durham地区。还好主办方满贴心，拍了车子到机场直接把我们拉到Research Triangle Park的Radisson住下。之所以叫Research Triangle Park，是因为这里在Raleigh, Durham, 和Chapel Hill之间，然后三座城市又分别是北卡州立，Duke，和北卡大的校址。
这次北卡之行感觉并没有留下太深的印象，因为到达后第二天一大早主办方就把我们车到SAMSI在RTP的楼里，开始lecture，一直到晚上五六点钟，回hotel吃晚饭。第三天一样一大早就上课，中午十二点结束后，大家就都直奔机场离开了。本来还以为会去Duke参观一下之类的，结果就只是上课而已。不过北卡的天气似乎不错，也不是很冷。Research Triangle Park看上去有点像Burnaby EA, Kodak, 和HSBC在那块地方，到处都是树，但冷不丁树丛里就冒出来一块牌子，写着"IBM"，就是传说中IBM在北卡的那个研发中心吧。
