Yep..it is a beautiful Sunday afternoon and I am here stuck at Java City to work on my projects. I truly wish that I could be running by the lake right now shredding off some excess calories rather than sitting here feeling a bit lonely. With all the projects deadlines, I was managed to go out a bit last Friday afternoon to attend the Minneapolis Women Choir. Okay, I have to be honest with you, Tran (a very closed friend of mine) is a member of the choir, so you can say that I have no choice, rather was required to be there to support her. However, I was so happy that I went; it was one of the best concert I’ve ever attended. The music was so beautiful; attending the concert benefited my ears and as the same time the desserts they served really made my stomach very happy. Well, before the choir, Jooyeon (another great friend of mine) went to Ichiban for a “all you can eat sushi” – we have such a wonderful time. I was a bit flirted with the sushi chef so he made some extra special sushi for us. Just to let you know that I do study and work very hard, however, I do enjoy my life at times too.
So I am writing a paper right now that is due TOMORROW (yeap..so scary) for my Emerging Infectious Diseases class; this paper is my chance to show to my professor that I have grown since my midterm. However, the problem is, the topic is hard. I am planning to pull all night today and continue working on it until 4:45PM tomorrow (we have to submit the paper before 5:00PM). Just to keep you all inform of my life – I will update you later. In the mean time, if you have some free time – go out and run for awhile.
First and foremost, hello my friends…for the second year students, congratulation on the getting closer to the graduation date and I …..share your endless pains. Well, I have been missing in action for awhile due to many reasons (I know..but I am still a student..and student can have many reasons), but at least I am on my way to catch up with everything now.
Life has been up-and-down for the last several weeks; I completed my internship at the City of St. Louis Park yesterday……yayyyyyyy…now I can have the extra two days to work on my school works and catching with my friends. My experiences at the City of St. Louis Park were uniquely indescribable. Okay, okay..let me tell you in detail, I just wanted to make it sound mysterious so you will get curious.
Well, I spent about 130 hours interning at the city Hall doing many things. My SPH mentor is a supervisor of the Environmental Division and he was the one who connected me with his opportunity. On a side thought, make sure you stay connect with your mentor or if you don’t have a mentor yet, do connect with the Mentor program. You will not expect what your mentor will connect you with! So, my internship experiences allowed me to learn many things both personally and professionally. I was able to attend many professional meetings within and outside of the division. I attended different workshops and conferences on environmental related topics. I accompanied food/housing/facility inspectors to residential and commercial facilities for routine inspection. I enjoyed going to different food facility to conduct inspection because it is so cool to see how different restaurants operate behind scene. So, that’s the brief executive summary of my internship; I enjoyed it very much!
I will be busy with this week and throughout next week with so many activities. I am looking forward to attend the Alum & Student Reunion today and the Student Research Day tomorrow. I am a bit proud and excited for the Research Day because I am among one of the judges for the Student Choice Award (okay..Thuy…humility..sorry, just feel like giving myself some positive encouragement!) Next week I will participate in my first Relay for Life; I am very excited for this first experience as I fully dedicate the whole night for my deceased McNair Scholar’s adviser Dee and my friend who is struggling with cancer.
Besides that many things going on, myself along with almost forty other SPH fellows are working vigorously on planning for Taste Diversity – Global Fusion approaching in two weeks. If you are planning to go…good for you, if you not sure….do something good for yourself and invite your friends to go. This is a fantastic celebration for you, friends along with your family to end the year and experience other cultures existing in SPH. There will be food from around the world…students and faculty talent shows (includes singing, dancing..and who knows!) , souvenirs..and many other one of the kind activities..We guaranteed you!
Well, that should be good for now..see you all later…!
My wisdom tooth is slowly yet vigorously killing me second by second. I will probably have it taken out tomorrow after my Emerging Infectious Disease class. I have a presentation for this class tomorrow morning, with my status right now, I don’t think I can really talk. For those of us who have to deal with wisdom teeth, too too bad for us! Well that’s my highlight so far!
I went to the Upper Midwest Food Show at the Minneapolis Convention center today; I have never seen and ate so much food in my life. There were hundreds of food vendors that show case their products. I was there with the Minnesota Environmental Health Association (MEHA); our booth was full of public health promotional products from the old days, some signs were from the 1920s. There were so much food, but because of my tooth, I was not able to eat as much as I wish I would have. This is a four day show, so if you are interested to attend, I can tell you that it is worth it.
I am very excited now that I figured out what I want to work on for my master project and a clear possible research track for my PhD studies. I was totally stressed and quite depressed these past several weeks because of this lost direction. Now that I have figured out what I am passionate about I will be able to speed up my process.
My internship at the City of St. Louis Park is going very well so far. I am so fortunate to have my mentor continuously supporting me; he is such a wise and kind person. The people at my internship are very nice and friendly. I am learning so much already; I will be shadowing some of the food inspectors this coming week. Last week was my first time help in with an inspection at a motel in St. Louis Park. It was a unique experience; we looked at every corners of the motel. This first time experience will never be forgotten~ One other thing I feel like I have to share with you about St. Louis Park, this has nothing to do with what I do for my internship, however if you like to shop brand name clothing then this is good information. There are two outlet shops on in this city that you can find brand names clothing for super good price. I have been spending quite amount of money these days from these two shops. They have random merchandises such as clothing, purses, shoes, house appliances…etc.
To start off…..I just want to let you know that I am so excited and pumped this semester. If you ask me why…honestly really I don’t know, I just know that I am so so excited and pumped up. …
Busy! Busy! Busy! Who said graduate student has a life? Well, technically, I as a graduate student have a life, but just a Super Busy one. This is the last semester of my MPH studies, therefore ton of extra necessary things file up and needed to be complete before graduation. I have been busy working on several applications for summer internship in Washington DC. This semester will be another extreme tight and busy semester for me. I am currently intern at the City Hall of St. Louis Park; my SPH mentor connected me with this position. This is an unpaid intern. It would be nice it I get pay, but I have been learning so much already so it equals out. I get to attend many meetings and also involve in the VOCs studies that being studied by the EPA at St. Louis Park. I have and still am learning so much from my mentor; he is such a kindest and wisest man.
I have four courses (Health Leadership and Change, Surveillance Foodborne Disease, Emerging Infectious Disease, and Ethics: Research and Policy) along with my field experience and master project.
Last week, SPH Student Support holds a Welcome to the Spring Semester Celebration; it was well attended. If you’ve missed the event…hm…too bad, we have so much fun! I’ve created a picture presentation below for you to view. This week on Thursday, SPH Student Senate will be hosting one of the biggest get together, so please come to meet other people and have fun. You can find this Pamoja event on our UofM School of Public Health facebook.
Next week is the Chinese and Vietnamese New Year; this is the biggest festivity for us. In Vietnam, people would take a whole week off to stay home, go visit relatives and eat. I loved this holiday when I was younger; but not so much now because the younger you are the more lucky money you will get. Well, I hope you are having a good time with this spring semester. I will post more pictures to share with you my busy, yet excited and pumped... life :)
I am having the best long break ever. After the continuous craziness activities for my youth group at church during Christmas, I am basically just enjoying my school-free life now. I have done lot of excessive sleeping and relaxing these days. I also done lots of shopping over the break and now I am in somewhat in a guilty stage for spending too much money on unnecessary purchases.
Well, to be honest with you, I am not that all school-free; although I want to think I am, but indeed I have plenty of things to catch up. Like other second year student, I have to work on my master project and find a field experience very soon. On top of that, I still need to finish my Phd application and other summer internship applications. Also, perhaps you already know that I am also involved in many other organizations; therefore, more work keep filing up. I don’t think anyone is as busy as a graduate student; especially like me, I don’t know how to say no to things. I think my two weeks of relaxing is terminated today and I am ready charge these tasks. I am having severe symptoms of senioritis and it is very hard for me to work these days, but well, I will have to push myself extra extra hard.
That are my updates for now; I hope everyone is enjoying this long break before another semester arrive. Sleep and go out as much as you can now before the break is over. See you all later.
Good luck on your finals week! Luckily, I only have one final, but it is the killer one. My previous two weeks were extremely bad, but this week is more breathable. I was on extreme stress and hitting high point nervousness for the last two weeks. I can not imagine how busy I will get for the next semester. But well, in the end, all these suffering will manifest great outcome.
I came to the All School Reception last week and had a fantastic time. Our Environmental Health divisions tie in the Match Game. There are pictures that Mellissa Lo posted in our UofM facebook, take a look if you missed the party.
Christmas is approaching and that means more food, shopping and fun. I have not had the chance to go shopping yet, perhaps this weekend is the big shopping day for me. If you have not gone shopping during Christmas in the US yet, I am telling you that it will be so busy, but there will be lot of sales going on.
There is a Comfort Food week that being sponsored by SPH Student Support Services. It is from 12:00 – 3:00 PM in room D387 (across from Student Support Services) come get some food and mingle with others.
Yes, white snow is now official covers Minnesota and it is just our first snow storm! Just kidding, winter is not that bad, at least it is so beautiful. I have to admit that I love winter; nothing feels better than staying at home all day long and enjoy as the time passes by. Well, today is the first winter storm day and I stayed home the whole day trying to get projects done. Although I am a bit upset that I cannot go to the mall today as I planned earlier, but at least I got lot of things done today. Don’t let the storm scare you off, usually we have two or three big winter storms like this during the season. As for the typical days during the season, if you have a thick winter jackets with appreciate gloves, hats and scarf, you will be fine.
I had a very busy yet interesting week. For those of you whom missed SPH Public Helath & Cultures – Discover Vietnam, you missed SO MUCH. We had great presentations, interesting discussion, and as usual super delicious food. There were about 100 attendees and we have plenty of food of everyone. So if you missed it this month, I encourage you to come for the coming month. Dean Finnegan came for the whole time to support and as the same time be with the students. “Thank You Dean Finnegan for your continuous support and great spirit”
I also attended the Mentor Social and had a very long conversation with my mentor. I have to tell you that I am so appreciative toward this Mentoring program and my mentor for always being there for me. We have a great time at the event; we mostly talked about putting together my master project and as the same time looking for field experiences. I encourage you to join the mentor program next year, trust me, you will be amaze at what will come from the power of networking.
Ok, back to the present, I cannot believe that this semester is approaching to the end. Being a second year, I feel that most of the second year students are so busy with their lives, classes, internships and jobs that most of us do not see each others like last year. I hardly see most of my friends, well at least I see my major classmates since we almost have the same classes.
This week will be a very busy week for me, or just as usual. I have so many meetings to go and assignments to turn in. I admit that I have such a busy life, especially being so involve into school, but I love being so busy..maybe not the behind school work part. Have a great week and remember to stay warm..
Well, no more break and now back to reality or catching up. I honesty don’t know when this game is going to end. It seems to me that everyone is so busy and behind with projects and papers. For me, I have never been so busy and behind like this in my life. I managed to catch up, so if I put in about 4 hours of work a day, I should be fine until finals come.
I had a very good break. I mostly stayed home to clean the house or cook (I love cooking, especially when I have free time) Besides that, I did lots of shopping. At 11:00pm on Thursday before Black Friday, some of my friends and I went to Albertview Outlet mall. The traffic was so bad that it took us about close to 2 ½ hours to get there. The funny thing was, about 80% of the shopping population that night were Asian. I have never seen so many Asian gathering at one point like that in Minnesota. I shopped all night long; they have very good on sale stuff. I went home at about 7:00am, slept for about 3 hours and more shopping. I am a total broke ‘Thuy’ right now. But well, that’s the spirit of holidays.
Now going back to reality, I really need to focus on finishing this semester accordingly (that means should not be so behind with things). I also need to finish my phd application and look for summer internship. I have been talking to many people about what should I pursue next in my life, but I think I still am wanting to pursue further with my education. It seems to me like I am still so motivated with school (despite the fact that I am quite lacking at the moment or it is just the graduation symptoms.)
Oh, I also want to remind you that SPH Public Health & Cultures: Discover Vietnam event is tomorrow at 11:00am – 12:30pm. Please come to celebrate other cultures as well as learning something new. Our friends Tran Huynh and Jooyeon Hwang will be presenting their field experiences in Vietnam. Also, I ordered super delicious authentic Vietnamese food. So come, experience yourself something new and indulge great food! See you all there.
Ever since I returned from APHA, I am more behind than I was before. For those of you who think grad school is not as hard as undergrad – you are so wrong. I have never been so busy with everything and as the same time behind at almost everything as I am right now. But, do not think that I am lacking off. In fact I work so hard, but things seem to pile up everything single day. Luckily I have only one final in my Ecology of Infectious Disease class, 4-5 major papers and two group projects. I cannot wait until graduation – I will be a free bird for awhile.
Last Thursday I went to the Mentor program; I enjoyed it very much. My mentor is so knowledgeable and friendly. He is an inspector for the environmental division at the city of St. Louis Park. I enjoyed talking to him about his daily job, in fact, I am going to go on sites with him next month.
I am looking forward to the Thanksgiving break; that means more time to sleep and eating out with friends, spending time with family, and not catching up with behind works. My family only has four people; my father is a vegetarian, so Thanksgiving for us is still vegetarian dishes and maybe a duck. I am thinking about making spring roll and perhaps have some friends over on the weekend for a pot luck.
I almost forgot about inform you our next coming events. Please come to the two events listed below. Come to meet other people and learn something new. See you all there.
I am officially returned and recovered from APHA. A week of APHA was very interesting and also tiring. This was the biggest conference I had ever been to; I felt like a very small girl when entered the Exhibit (Expo) room. The room was so huge and there were like hundred of different exhibit booths from SPH across the nation and companies.
I will post pictures that I have taken throughout the five days conference (You have to be patience with me because I am still trying to figure out how to put them into a picture presentation) Our SPH’s booth was amongst the best, we can see our “M” from the entrance door. We also have two very comfortable couches; the ultimate destination for those tired feet.
I learned a great deal from attending this conference; I also have to admit that I missed a lot of sessions and events that I wish I would have knew before so that I can attend. However, being the first time goer to this tremendously huge conference, I cannot blame myself for missing out things. I walked to most of the booths to collect their brochures and along with their great goodies. I have all the pens that I can use for the next years. I worked at our school booth for 3-4 hours a day and after that I attended different Environmental sessions or walking around to booths. I really enjoyed the scientific sessions because they are very focus on the topic; and also, because the audiences came from all over, the questions gave different perspectives to think about. Along with these sessions, I also enjoyed the poster sessions because I can walk pass and stop at the one that I am interested. I also talked and joined different minority caucuses, but to be honest with you I do not know what I will contribute or vice versa to my career advancement.
On Monday night, our school has an Alumni and Friend Reception at the Grand Hyatt; this was a great event. I met numerous SPH alumni and also those who are currently working in DC. There was super delicious food along with beverages. The room was filled with people laughing and exchanging conversation.
Besides working at our school’s booth, walking around the exhibits, going to scientific sessions and poster sessions, I had a great time in DC and Virginia at night. I spent most of my free time eating at different Vietnamese restaurants in Virginia. There is a Vietnamese community in Falls Church, VA and they have the best Vietnamese restaurants that I know. My most favorite place was the “All you can eat Sushi” I can really feel the urge for Sushi right now as I am writing this memory to you. I would love to go back here again; they have all the best and fresh sushi that you can imagine.
Well, I can write a short novel of my experience to DC, but I am sure you will not want to read my novel. Just to some up some of my lessons that I have learned from this experience for you to take if you are planning to go to APHA next year.
1) Registration – make sure you are correctly registered in the program session that you are interested. I was interested in Environmental and some how I was registered in another session; as the result, I missed the first two days of all the environmental sessions. They usually emailed you the whole program according to your sessions so you know what’s going on. Cheese, I learned this the hard way.
2) Daily Program Booth – make sure you look very detail in the Daily Program Booth, everything important seems to be posted on these tables and trust me, you will not want to be so mad at yourself (I did because I missed so many events that I would love to attend)
3) Good pair of shoes – I am the high heel freak; I only brought on pair of high heel boot with me. I walked around everywhere in that shoes and I was basically death when I got to the hotel. There will be so many people at the conference that I don’t think your potential employer will care what shoes you are going to have on. So, save yourself first.
4) Hotel Map – If you plan to travel around DC, the hotel usually have a very detailed map of the city. You can ask for a copy if you plan to walk around. Taxi is quite reasonable to get around.
5) Food – The food was very expensive in DC. I knew people brought groceries to make sandwiches throughout the five days conference. The Convention center was closed to China Town so it was not that bad to get lunch, but two persons meal was around $35.
Well I think I can stop now and work more on the picture presentation. I apologize for not keeping you posted as I promised; things get so busy and hectic throughout these four days. I neglected to get internet at the hotel because it was too costly. In the meantime, bear with me for the picture presentation. See you all around.
Sorry for my absence during the last week, I have been extremely busy with projects and labs. Well, with everything that I am involve in, thanks God that I am still surviving. However, I am extremely stressed out with working on my Ph.d application along with looking for a field experience.
I will be leaving for APHA (Washington DC) this Friday; this is my first time going to APHA so I can very excited for this experience. APHA is an annual meeting & exposition nation wise; at this conference you will have a chance to meet experts in the field, hear about cutting edge research, and discover the latest public health products and so so much more. This is the oldest and largest gathering of public health professionals in the worlds; if you are not going this year, make sure this is one of your priorities next year.
I will be taking pictures and keep you all updated as much as I can as the conference go on, so please log on to see what’s happening!!!
I bet everyone must be exhausting from projects, papers, midterm exams, and all those deadlines; but well, we have to admit that we are loving it (or could be that we have no choice). I am pretty much busy with all the above plus work and family, luckily I could not be happier about my life.
Today is a very special day; I received a special scholarship to attend the Summit of Sage conference. The key note speaker was Maya Angelou and I learned one great thing today; I’ve learned that “Be a rainbow for someone clouds.” From my interpretation, I think she meant be nice to other people, some time a friendly “hello” to a stranger can be rainbow of love in their cloudy day. She also mentioned that “when you are succeeded, remember the rainbow of people around you.” For those that lifted you up and embraced you with support all the way. Maya Angelou’s speech was funny, calm, yet very powerful. So this is my motive for this week, I promise to be a rainbow to everyone that I will come across.
Back to my regular eating routine (as you know my active duty at SPH is creating Cultures Awareness and Eating events), there are two events coming up that you definitely cannot missed.
The first one is, 5th Annual International Student Open House for International Student,
Boynton Health Service
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Enjoy free food from all over the world, free chair massages, tours of the clinic, a drawing for four $25 bookstore gift certificates, campus
pizza gift certificates, and more!
Another important event for us is the Public Health & Cultures: Journey to Cuba. This is the first time we are collaborating with AHC, so come to show our SPH Spirit!!
If you are new to Minnesota, this is the best time to walk and hike as much as you can before the cold winter arrives.
Well, my week has been so busy with assignments, projects and a midterm coming up next week in my Risk Analysis class. This is a great class; I am enjoying it very much, but the midterm is bothering because I will not have much time to study for it (I guess it is my fault.) This week, the Environmental Division had a Happy Hour at Sally’s; it was very fun, we met other EH fellows, talked to professors and ate probably more than a hundred buffalo wings. So inclusion of all these business and extreme stress – I am still loving it.
I hope you have a chance during last week to visit some of the locations I’ve mentioned. I received some emails about where to go; I love it when I received emails like that, so please send me an email if you have any question(s).
Alright…let’s begin our next tour around St. Paul. If you actually know who I am, I bet you probably feel my enthusiasm as you read this touring blog. Ok, we were at University Avenue last time – now, we should head to downtown St. Paul. Downtown St. Paul is less crowded comparing to Minneapolis. If you like to walk around, I would recommend by the river close to Radisson hotel. It is very beautiful and romantic at night. There is a farmer market that gathers every Saturday, lot of buildings, some stores, and MDH is right by downtown.
From here you can find your way to Grand Avenue; this is an upscale specialty street where you can find lots of specially stores, restaurants (Café Late is a great place to eat), and many other things to do. On this street you can also find ethnic restaurants from Thai, Vietnam, India, China, Japan…etc. There is also a Tea Garden; they make very good smoothies and other drinks, but I find it expensive (~$5.00 a drink.) Since you’re here on Grand, you should also explore Summit Avenue near University of St. Thomas; this is a very beautiful street with huge older mansions and big trees. Walking down this street during this Fall season is so romantic and relaxing – trust me.
I think that would be good for this side of the city, there are much more, but at least those are the places I usually go with friends. We’ll continue our tour the next time.
I hope to see you all tomorrow Thursday 10/04 from 8:00-9:30AM across from Student Support Services for International Students Gathering. Come to meet others International Students or for a hot cup of tea and very delicious pastries.
Wow, it has been three weeks already. I have to admit with you all that I am quite (or very) behind with my classes. I am trying to catch up by spending the last 3 hours at University St. Thomas’s library (my undergraduate home).
I just found this website is very helpful for finding restaurants, groceries or anything you want. The website is http://www.dexonline.com
By now you may have know pretty much about our campus. However let me have an honor to give you a quick tour of where I usually go get my food with friends.
On the East Bank, I usually go to:
- Village Wok: this is an affordable cheap restaurant. You can get your food order very quickly especially during lunch hours, however they are not that great. They have all the entrees you can think of; I can say that they are good, but not one of the best. If you like noodle you should try the Roast Duck dumpling and egg noodle. Their wonton noodle with sauce is very very good.
- Hong Kong Noodle is a nice place to go if you have more time; they usually make to order so the food usually arrives 20 minutes later, but their entrees are very delicious. My favorite dishes are all stir fried accompanied with their noodle or Korean casserole. They also have refreshing fruit drinks such as durian, mango, lychee..etc.
- Korean Restaurant: This is a very small restaurant locates near the McNamara Center. They have the lunch buffet from 11:00 – 2:00PM everyday; their price is about $9. They have about less than 15 choices, but trust me their food are super delicious. If you like Korean bbq – you are coming to the right place.
- Bona: This is a Vietnamese restaurant; to be honest with you I have not been there because I heard from my Vietnamese fellows that their food are not really authentic.
Alright, let’s discover outside of campus a bit - besides these restaurants on east campus, you should discover further down University Avenue I think on bus route #16 or 50. There is a U Garden, this is a very huge restaurant and they have very good Chinese and Vietnamese entrees. Cruising further down the street, you will see Overflow coffee shop and middle eastern stores. Most of the shops begin when you’d reach University Ave. and Snelling. If you turn left on Snelling, you will notice Korean groceries and restaurants. On Snelling you can also reach to the Rosedale Mall (This is a very big mall; they have the huge Macy’s, JCPenny, Herbergers, Borders and many others clothing stores. I almost forgot you should come to Panera Bread, they have very good bread. You can study there all day; buy one cup of coffee and have it free refill all day long. There is also an AMC movie theater, very big and nice.
Okay, now u-turning back onto University Avenue on the right side you will see Rainbow (they have best poultry choices), Walmart (cheap merchandise), Cubfood (cheap and fresh fruits and vegetables), Supertarget (very big and they have everything you want to buy.) There are also variety clothing shops around that area and they are considered affordable.
Wow, are you tired of these shops yet? Alright let’s go to find other shops on University Avenue. Calmly sailing further down you will see lots of Vietnamese and Chinese Asian grocery stores and restaurants. By Dale Street, you will see Shang Hur, a Chinese supermarket. If you turn left on Dale Street and go further down to couple blocks you will see Dragon Supermarket. This is a Hmong supermarket; they have very cheap vegetables, many varieties of tropical fruits, sea food and seriously - everything Asian. Okay, hopping on University Avenue again and passing just couple blocks from Dale on your right you will see a Hmong farmer market. They only come together on Saturday and Sunday; they are about $1 - $2 a vegetable bundle.
Alright, if you go further down by the Capital and turn left on Marion you will see the International Farmer Market. I am telling you this place has everything “Hmong” even though it said “International.” This is a cool exploring place to hang out on the weekend with friends; they have a food court, small shops..and many other things. On your way discovering University Avenue there are several restaurants you should visit some time. These are places that I often go; Tay Ho, Pho Ca Dao, Ai Que, Que Nha, and Saigon. If you like bubble tea, there is a Tea Garden on Grand avenue which is very good.
Let’s stop traveling for now and we’ll continue our journey in the near future. I hope you find these places helpful and email me if you have any question. Best..Thuy
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Last modified on Monday Jul 02, 2007
The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.
Last modified on Monday Jul 02, 2007