We had our last monthly group meeting on monday. But before that we all had our group photos together!! w00t w00t!!!
There are some pretty funny and awesome photos, but I don't know how to upload them on this site yet lol... :P
So at the meeting, I gave two "reports." The first was about my school, the University of Michigan, because they all wanted to know where I was from. The second was about my research experiment so far.
And I actually finished up my first project this week! It was a small project to get me started, but now I have moved on to another project which I think is even more interesting!!! =) I have to write a report though on my first experiment before I go onto the second one.
So... one thing I've noticed is that many people don’t say “bye” much lol – just “ok” and then they walk off to continue their research lol.
July 1st – first surgery on a mouse! -- Lei Fan is a doctor in our lab and she is an expert!! She's so smart!! She showed me how to do a proper surgery!! And she also was the one who made me perfect my IV injection skills =). But she is also so modest at the same time!!! Lei Fan = awesomeness!! =)
Saturday, July 4, 2009
2nd week of research
I finally got started on my formal experiment and so far things are good :). I prayed to God to just guide me and help me in lab, and I think I am making some good progress now!!
A few of my lab members (Gong, Lilly, and Hu Jun) and I went out one night to have some fun. We went to this cool outdoor restaurant and laughed the entire night. And then, the tried to challenge me to eat the most spiciest chicken in the restaurant -- translated it is "abnormally spicy chicken" -- it's supposed to be the hottest spice level lol........... And I was freaked out when they kept scaring me and telling me that it will be HOT lol.....when the plate came out, there was once stick of spicy chicken wings for me....it was literally covered in crushed hot peppers!!!!! I couldn't even see the chicken hahaa!! So i set it aside to eat later in fear of the pain my tastebuds would endure....but when it came down to it, I took a bite from the chicken and.....it was not bad at all!!! hahahaa....I freaked them all out!!! My mentor, Gong, is from hunan province, where they are known to have some of the spiciest food in all of China, and he was astonished!!! They were all scared of me after that hehehe :P
In terms of research, I've gotten really good at IV injections – usually one poke or sometimes a second poke and it’s done. I thank God for this! Especially with the technique they use to hold the mouse still so that I can inject -- it is so much harder than in America where we have the cylinders that we squeeze the mice in so they dont move -- here they are in a jar with a small hole where their tail sticks out...but sometimes the mice jump and i can miss my poke with the needle =(
Also random note, one of my lab mates (Hua Lei) and I always joke around about "shuanging" ourselves in this terrible heat lol (shuang means cool in Chinese)-- there is no A/C except in the mouse room, so we always go to “check on the mice" and say "schwan!" once we're in the room. And whenever there is a big A/C machine in the cafeteria, me and him have to stand in front of it for a few seconds before we leave the building, because as he says: "If you can schwan yourself, just do it!" =)
A few of my lab members (Gong, Lilly, and Hu Jun) and I went out one night to have some fun. We went to this cool outdoor restaurant and laughed the entire night. And then, the tried to challenge me to eat the most spiciest chicken in the restaurant -- translated it is "abnormally spicy chicken" -- it's supposed to be the hottest spice level lol........... And I was freaked out when they kept scaring me and telling me that it will be HOT lol.....when the plate came out, there was once stick of spicy chicken wings for me....it was literally covered in crushed hot peppers!!!!! I couldn't even see the chicken hahaa!! So i set it aside to eat later in fear of the pain my tastebuds would endure....but when it came down to it, I took a bite from the chicken and.....it was not bad at all!!! hahahaa....I freaked them all out!!! My mentor, Gong, is from hunan province, where they are known to have some of the spiciest food in all of China, and he was astonished!!! They were all scared of me after that hehehe :P
In terms of research, I've gotten really good at IV injections – usually one poke or sometimes a second poke and it’s done. I thank God for this! Especially with the technique they use to hold the mouse still so that I can inject -- it is so much harder than in America where we have the cylinders that we squeeze the mice in so they dont move -- here they are in a jar with a small hole where their tail sticks out...but sometimes the mice jump and i can miss my poke with the needle =(
Also random note, one of my lab mates (Hua Lei) and I always joke around about "shuanging" ourselves in this terrible heat lol (shuang means cool in Chinese)-- there is no A/C except in the mouse room, so we always go to “check on the mice" and say "schwan!" once we're in the room. And whenever there is a big A/C machine in the cafeteria, me and him have to stand in front of it for a few seconds before we leave the building, because as he says: "If you can schwan yourself, just do it!" =)
Week 1 of research
This week was all practice for the formal experiment. Being my first biology research project I've ever done, I had some mice that I could practice handling, catching, and injecting (ip, iv, po). I always eat lunch and dinner with my lab members. And we the culture is really cool!! I love the communal eating!! I don't know if I stressed this enough previously lol. And everyone seems really kind and extremely polite. Everyone has really good manners! :D
Also I finally unlocked my old phone since the cheap phones we bought here suck lol -- mine broke the second day...it cost under $20 though -- so not a big loss lol...
Also the labs are very...hmmm...how do i say this...lacking in safety procedures and animal ethics. I can go more in detail in this in private -- but for right now, that should keep you wondering what happens in the lab lol....For instance, gloves are supposed to last for one week. Hardly anyone changes gloves and sometimes they don't wear gloves. I've been really thankful though that ALL my lab members are very nice, friendly, and funny. We discussed movies together – American and Chinese films…prison break is really popular here although I've never seen a single episode of it. The food at Tsinghua is awesome!!!! Not only that but it's so cheap too!!! – lunch and dinner is around 7-10 yuan for each meal.
Also I finally unlocked my old phone since the cheap phones we bought here suck lol -- mine broke the second day...it cost under $20 though -- so not a big loss lol...
Also the labs are very...hmmm...how do i say this...lacking in safety procedures and animal ethics. I can go more in detail in this in private -- but for right now, that should keep you wondering what happens in the lab lol....For instance, gloves are supposed to last for one week. Hardly anyone changes gloves and sometimes they don't wear gloves. I've been really thankful though that ALL my lab members are very nice, friendly, and funny. We discussed movies together – American and Chinese films…prison break is really popular here although I've never seen a single episode of it. The food at Tsinghua is awesome!!!! Not only that but it's so cheap too!!! – lunch and dinner is around 7-10 yuan for each meal.
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