sveiki

Going to visit the fiancee's family again this Saturday. Two weeks in China. Apparently, we'll be doing some travelling to some national parks or something of the sort.

We've been shopping like mad for gifts for her parents and uncles, as well as for her cousin's wedding we're going to. While out shopping (8 hours of walking in downtown Toronto on NO sleep, ouch), I ended up getting a new camera bag.

My current one is a tad too small for my full day kit (Nikon D40, Sigma 18-200 OS, Sigma 10-20, Sigma 30mm, Nikon SL-400 flash) and accessories. I absolutely love Crumpler bags. I originally bought a 2-Million Dollar Home which fits the camera with one lens on, then I got the 5-Million Dollar Home which is a tight fit for camera with lens, and one other lens and the flash.

Now I've gone up to the 7-Million Dollar Home, which (a) looks less like a purse (but still not like a camera bag) (b) fits everything (c) has some room to spare. My fiancee is less than pleased with me, citing the fact that I already have two other camera bags and we're going to China where I could find something cheaper. Oh well.

Twitter
I've been on twitter for a while, but I've seen a lot of journal posts with people giving their Twitter links. I've never been one to turn down a ride on the bandwagon, so: sveiki on Twitter.

Yesterday, I asked my girlfriend of three years, Maggie, to marry me! She said yes!

Well, not at first. We were on top of a ski hill, and when I pulled the ring out she thought I had found it in the snow and that I should return it to lost & found. I had to convince her for a few seconds that it really was hers.

The wedding is at least a year off, and will require planning with my entire family in Canada and hers in China, plus both of us employed full time as engineers. Should be tough, but rewarding.

My fiancée:
sveiki.deviantart.com/art/Fram…
sveiki.deviantart.com/art/My-G…

Well, I'm counting the days until I leave for Israel (Feb. 15). Rather, I would be counting the days if I wasn't so busy with my thesis. I'm aiming to have it submitted to the committee before I leave, and defended in the first week of March. I'll have to take a day off work, but I think IBM is used to that when hiring grad students.

Writing is tough, and a lot of the background knowledge that I take for granted is pretty dry. I have written a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgments section, however. So progress is being made, I suppose.

I'm starting the second round of my Mandarin Chinese course today. I worry that I've forgotten too much. Really, I still remember most of the characters and pronunciations, but I've forgotten so many of the tones for each character. Also, they aren't that fresh in my head. Oh well, practice practice practice.

I just picked up a Sigma 18-200 OS to cover a bit of the telephoto range, and allow me to leave the kit Nikkor 18-55 at home when I go to Israel. It was a bit pricey, but I decided to get it in-store in Canada rather than order online. The warranty coverage is just so much better. It's a bit dark at the telephoto end (I should expect that given it's f3.5-6.3), but the OS is very very good.

Looks like I'm finally going on a birthright trip to Israel. Organizations provide young Jews with the opportunity to spend 10 days in Israel learning about their heritage and the country itself. I'm eligible through the age of 26, which makes this the last year I can go. So mid-February I'll be off to the holy land...

I start the next iteration of my Mandarin Chinese course at the end of January. I think I'm making progress and even had some nice conversations in some comment threads with some Chinese speakers on dA. I'm getting better, but I worry about having to understand someone if they don't speak slowly.

After finishing my Master's thesis at the end of January (keep your fingers crossed), I'll be starting my first full-time job as a Compiler Backend Developer at IBM in the beginning of March. Mostly, I'm just looking forward to work with regular deadlines and structure and decent pay... all the things grad school doesn't have.

Don't forget to check out the my latest news entry:
Beauty in Unexpected Places [3]