0831 My last day in ASLC

Heavy rain. Today, I set up the database for all parameters (temprature, conductivity, oxygen and fluorsence). The old one I made has only temprature data and just for test. Seems it is good. So I load the others inside. I cound not finish all the charts, but at least I set up a template for futher use. My last day here. I felt a little bit lonely. I don't know how to explain that kind of feeling. I' m leaving soon, but if there is any difference if there is no me. Anyone really care? I worked, I ate and walked around the aquarium, everything is the same. Expect I'm leaving. Maybe there are too many interns and volunteers come and go here. People leave like everyday's business. I don't mean I want a farewell party for me or something like that. Just need some concerned by others. Anyway, I will have a driving trip from here to Anchorage with beautiful scenery around with Jenelle. And the sky clear now. I think we probably will have a sunny day tomorrow. It must be a pleasant trip :)
I went to Rantin Raven again for their soup. The soup today is creamy tomato basil. Woo, tomato again! This is very funny because I ate a lot of tomoto in this month. I have tomato pasta sauce and tomato cans, so I cooked pasta, tomato soup with veges, fried eggs with tomatos etc... And I have it in the end of my day here. Haha~~
For a month, it is really hard to say what I did and what I got. I need time to figure it out. Of course the beautiful place is what I will miss.

0830 Dark aquarium

I worked overtime today. I got renew data this afternoon and I wanted to get something as soon as possible. After got the result, I need to talk to Anne to see if these are what she want. I went back, took a shower and finished my dinner, then went back to lab around 7:00. I have known how to do this, just neet data and time. Sit in the lab is no difference between day and night since there is no window, I can't feel the sky is dark or not. I finished in about 10:00. I had a look into the lobby. It was dark there. I wonder what the animals are doing now. Still swimming in the water or resting now. I only imaged it. It was too scary for me to walk into the darkness to check it out. Haha~ I walked on the dark street back home. It was cold and rainny. No one there.

0829 Day goes by

Seems Anne did not in the office today. I asked her to give me the updated data since I found the one she gave me has some missing. I didn't get the new one today.
I went to a oil spill presentation. This is about the influence of the Exxon Valdez http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/ It makes me think about the balance of human and environment. Taiwan also had a oil spill issue in the sea area of Kenting national park. We always have less knowledge of the result than what we are going to do.
I also went to visit the aqualium. Everytime, when I got bored, I went there to see animals swimming in the water. Today, I saw sea lion's performance. He was very close to the glass and spined again and again. He also looked outside where standed many people. It was interesting that we started at each other~

0828 Day Harbor trip

Finally, I got on a boat on a beautiful day. Anne needed to change the vedio tape and camera memory disc for wild life watching system. Our captain was Justin. It was really a enjoyable trip. Fish and porpoises jumping out of water; sea gulls, puffins and some other birds diving with the wave or flying in the sky; sea otters taking a nap on the tide; curious harbor seals peeking us once a while checking out what were we doing. Annd checked these cameras and changed their memories before the winter. There are all powered by sun with sun panels. Hopefully they would survive during the bad condition in the winter. Anne said the behaviors of harbor seals in the winter are unclear. These cameras would help us understand more.
On our way back, Justin tried to fish. We all hopes he can get a Halibut, but only a dog fish (shark). In the harbor, we went to refill gas of the boat. Cool! A gas station on the sea!

0827 My last Sunday here

I was tireder than I expecred. I woke up in the morning but laid in bed. My muscle ached that I can't move. The only exercise that I did yesterday was stand on a whale and cut it. Only doing this makes me so tired. I can't imagin Sylvia and Sami's feeling. They needs to work like these for at least four days!
Today is a very pretty sunny day. But I decide to work. I organized the data to the form that I can show them on maps easily. Actually, I finished these part on my bed. I was so tired that I left my office and went home to get a nap. In the evening, Marina asked me to go fishing with her. The sky is so beautiful. I enjoyed the time with Marina. If there is only me, I think I would stay in my room not going out to enjoy the beautiful time.

0826 A whale

Don't get excited so soon by seeing my title here. Yes, there is a whale and I went out today for it. This whale is the same one that I saw float in front of the cruise with Becky two weeks aga. And, yes, you can imagin what it looks like after two weeks. Anyway, I went out happily, though it rains heavily today. Sylvia and Sumi are from Fairbanks and came here to collect the bones of whale. I'm the only volunteer today. Maybe it was because the weather was so bad. Matt was our water taxi driver. It was not a pleasant job working with a decaying whale. We were trying to cut its meat and left the bones. Ha, feel like I am an Eskimo that cuting a whale. As you know, it was smelt. Its meat was also starting melt. I tried to get some fresh air and worked. Sumi did a very good job, just like a professional. I tried hard but can only cut small peicese and we needed to keep on sharping our knief. Whale has a very thick skin which is very hard to cut through. Another thing that bothers us was a black keeps showing up. He knows here is food. He got braver and braver, came closer and closer. We tried to scare him away, but it was no use. We backed up, stayed in a distance for a while. I didn't get any pictures because my bag and my camera were not very far from bear. I didn't go grab them. A little bit scary, but I saw a bear in such a short distance! we went back to whale worked on it for a while and the bear came up again. We were lucy to have some kayakers with us and after that, our water taxi came. About 4:30 we went back. They wanted to finish the cutting and bring back the bone today, but seems like there are still lots work need to do. They may stay two more days here.
Yes, a little bit disgusting, but stand a whale and cut it is not kind of the thing that you can have it everyday.
They needs helps. I know that and I would like to help for tomorrow. But I also have lots of works to do on my maps. I want to finsh it before I leave. I don't know what should I do tomorrow. Always gets ready, you never know when so many things come out and needed to be done.
In the evening, sky cleared up. This was the last time I have camp fire here. So good to sit beside the fire and talk. Nice and warm. I also played some games with kids. They gave me a earthworm flavor Jelly bean @@

0825 Smoked salmon

I was so surprised today is Friday. I thought it should be Thursday. I feel I lost one day.
The most happy thing today is I got some smoked fish! Arlene made some and gave a plate for me to taste. It was soooooo good! Its smoky and rich taste is just incredible. The smoked salmon I had before was thin slices but the one Arlene made was cubics. I love it so much that I ate them all right away.
I got the tracking license today which is a very good news. Now, I can show the water temperature change with time by animation. It seems coming out good. Anne likes it. Few adjustments need to be done. But that is a "giant leap" for me :) I also showed the temperature depth changes by different figures on a page. Anne likes that one, too. To make this kind of figures needs a lot of time but not difficult at all. I think I can have my small project by doing these two formats (animation ands figures) and these would become the report of what I have done for one month here. Not bad~ I need to do faster. There is really not much time left. Anyway, I still spent some time sitting by the coast. Everything is so bright under the sun here. You can feel the fall in the air. Temperature drop, but not so much rain. This is the typical weather in fall here, Arlene said. I heard the Denali has started to change its color. I should start to plan my trip now.

0824 Something good

I sat all day here. Response from NOAA was not a good news. He said they started the GeoTiff program last year and was not for all maps. Seems I really stocked here. Another 3D software company checked why I need their software and would sent me the free demo tomorrow. I would try it tomorrow.
Still, good things happened. Jenelle told me she has an appointment in Anchorage on 9/1 and I can have a ride with her! and I got the oppertunity to have a necropcy on Saturday. This time A WHALE which is the one I saw died in small boat harbor. We need to get to the place by a boat. YES! A BOAT! Now I only hope I can have a sunny Saturday.
One week left. I think I need to organize what I have done though there is really nothing.

0823 View in different path

A beautiful day. Since I went to the Mt Marathon, I started to keep my eye on the trail to see if there is anyone climbing it. It is true that after you have been with it, you start to have feeling on it. Though it rains a lot here, I still start to love here. I even image I can come next time with my friends. We can try camping here alone the coast. I found the shower place today with hot water! We need to stay in Seward at least five days. One day each for Harding Ice Filed, Mt Marathon, Tansina Point Trail+ SeaLife center, sea kayaking and Kenai Fjord tour! Sonunds good, right?
About my work, I tried to convert the spacial reference into DEM data. The data I got is GeoTiff format. It supposed to have spacial reference in it which you can set the projection of the map. Somehow it lost the reference data. It is to hard for me to write it a new one. Finally, I decided to ask the data manager, NOAA. Hopefully, I can get some responces tomorrow.
In the evening, I took a walk. My legs still ach after I came back from Mt Marathon. I didn't plan to walk for long. The scenery and weather are so beautiful that make me keeping walking alone the bike trail on the coast. This is really different when you walk. Your speed slow down and have more time to admire everything around you. I headed to the entrance of the town. There is a meorial place for Benny who disigned the Alaskan flag http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-ak.html
when he was 7 grades. I love how he explained his design "The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaskan flower, The North Star is for the future state of Alaska, the most northerly in the union. The Dipper is for the Great Bear symbolizing strenth".
Beside the memorial park is a lagoon and a wooden trail around it. I didn't know this trail since I often took the bike trail which does not lead to here. I walked on the trail and viewed the Mt Marathon on the side. I found the fall which I didn't see one the trail! Haha, there is really a fall there. Seems I missed it! I walked back to the bike trail. Lots of camping car here. Though the weather is good, it is still cold. Fall is coming here. Many camp fires are made around the coast. I saw some people look in to the estuarine. I walked colse and found there are a lot of fish trying to swim up from the sea! I passed by this place so many time that I didn't stop. Now I know there is something happening here! It is so touched to see the fish trying hard to againt the water flow.
I walked for about 2 hours this evening unexpected. A pleasant exercise after dinner :)

0822 From Taiwan!

I have to get use to this kind of day - worked all day but had nothing been improved. It was bored to sit in front of the computer and keeped on trail and error. I walked around the sealife center, watched puffins diving and had some rest. People passed by and speaked in Mandarin! They are from Taiwan! How nice to meet people from my country :)

0821 Mt Marathon

I feel guilty but a sunny day like today is really not usual here. I need to go out! I left SeaLife Center in about 12:30. It was about 1:15 when I started my trail. The trail is steep but not hard. After the tree line, you can see the resurrection bay. According to the map and the instruction, there should be a water fall. But I didn't see it. Only a creek. The end of the creek is Marathon Bowl http://www.seward-alaska.com/Info/MtMarathon/climbthe.htm The scenery is stunning beautiful there. This valley should be formed by the glacier. Many huge stones stopped on the slop. A couple took a nap on the rock. Quiet and peacful here. I took some pictures here by using my tripod. The creek shinning under the sunlight. The instruction said after here, you can reach the top by following the north ridge. There is no clear trail on the north ridge. Only steep slop. I tried to find one and climbed. I don't know which way other hiker take but this one is really tough. I spent an hour climbing it. Hopefully, you won't get lost since once you are one the top of the mountain, you can see every directions. It was worth to do this hard job. After climbing on the ridge, you can see whole Seward in your eyes! The boats in small harbor, the streets, sealife center and even the place I live! Cool! I took a lot of pictures here and almost didn't want to leave. I just seated there admir the views to 5:00 and started my journey back. I spent 45 min trying the racing trail. I don't believe anyone can go down from this trail! It is so steep and with each step the stone slided down. Scary. I gived up and climbed back and used the trail which I came up. Compared to the racing trail this one is much better though it is still steep. On my way back, people keeped coming up. Strange, sun supposed to go down very soon. Some people said they saw bears and other said mooses. I only saw dogs. Haha~ I backed to trail head on 7:30. Tired but happy.

0820 Nice end

Another rainny day. I got Valerie's call in the morning. They wouldn't go fishing today because the terrible weather.... Feel sad.... I'll try to get on a boat before I leave here.
What I did today were like I'm really live here not just a visitor. I did some laundry, cleaned my room, cooked and sleeped. I had some good time sat at the porch beside the big window listening the sounds of rain and write some postcards. I went to mail the postcards and on my way home I stopped by the gift shop and buy some souveniers. I like the keychain which has the Alaskan car plate design. I had one which is New York State's design.
Marina asked me to go fishing with her. I am so glad to do that. Since I have no liciense for fishing, I can only watch her fish. This is good enough. We went to a small lake by bike and fished from 6:30 to 7:30. Marina catched and returned some fish because they are all too small. I liked to see when Marina throwed the string into water. It was just beautiful. After we coming home. Arlene said the place we went is a small pleasant place that only local people know. Haha, I'm kind like a local now~ She appreciated me to go with Marina. She was so tired. She had two church service on Sunday and after that, she had her hotel work. She really needs some rest. I appreciated them, too. I had a great time with Marina. It turned one of my boring day bright.

0820 Hot coffee in a cold day

Becky is leaving today in the evening. We went out together on her last day here. We planned to go exit glacier at the first, but the weather was not good for some hiking. Becky heard peopel said there was a whale died in the harbor infront of the Cruise. A sad news, but this was the first time to see a whale in my life. The wale is small, seems like a baby. Pool little one. A boat approched and scuba diver dive into water and used a rope to hold him. They may drag it back to SeaLife Center. I'll try to find if they get any information.
Cold and rainny, we visited some gift shops and went to the Greek restaurant to have our lunch. This is the one Mandy wanted to eat last time. I had fish and chips combo which had fried halibut and salmon. This was the first time I have salmon here :) Becky ordered broiled halibut with salad. Salad looked fresh and halibut was delicious. If I come next time, I would absolutely have this one.
After lunch, we went to a bakery to have some coffee. Becky treated me one. It was really nice to have something hot in such a cold day. We talked a lot. Some of them were about the bad weather here. We all agree this is a lovely place with friendly people and beautiful scenery but it would be perfect if there is more sunlight!
I was so glad to have a company here. But she is leaving and soon, I'm leaving, too. I hope I can visit Becky someday in Orlando.

0819 Party for interns and volunteers

I'm so glad I went hiking yesterday. It is rainy, windy and cold today. But a rainny day makes you really concentrate on your work and wouldn't have the feeling wants to go out especially I had a lot of fun yesterday. HAHAHA~~
Seems I did it very good today. I followed the result of the Glacier Bay project and made some modefication. Since the software improve now, it is much easier to do this. What I did is basically use a 2D clostline map of Aialik and input another data layer with temperature and depth data in it. First locate the study points by their X and Y axis (longitude and latitude) and then creat a Z axis to show the depth. The temperature are shown by a serious dot and the graduated color shows the temperature difference. This works! Anne seems pretty happy about this resut. She wants me to creat a 3D bathymetry map in the beginning. But I have some trouble doing that. I'm still trying to figure it out. Anyway, I got something today. And my next step is trying to add time scale in it. It means the color of temperature should change with time if I can make it.
This is good for a rainny cold day~
There was a dinner party this evening for all inters and volunteers. Jenelle is the person reponse to this program. After this, I herad lots of people said they really had a good time and Jenelle really did a great job. We had good food very delicious cocunut halibut and very yammy chocolate cake. Everyone get a gift (I heard this is Jenelle's style. No one would leave with only two hands~). I got a ticket for Ancorage Zoo! Haha I probably need one day more in Anchorage no to visit the zoo!

0817 Something good and something bad

I was so surprised the sky broke up this morning!!! I checked it on the website and it showed it would rain at least 10 days here! I was so happy to see the blue sky, but... I have to work today. The bad news was I can't use the ArcGIS today. It was very strange. We have only one liciense here. That means only one computer can run this software a time. But since last afternoon, the status has been in use. I checked with Anne this morning. I thought it might be her who was using it but she thought that was me! The problem didn't solve today. I was depress that I can't do anything today.
However, I do learn something today. Because part of my job is trying to find some media for education department to do their presentation. They gave me their schedual about the presentations they are going to have recently for me as an example. The one I went to at 10:00 today was about rehibitation. It was really a good one. The presentator said she loves every minitue working with animals. She introduced how they help the animal like seals, sea otters from wild. They feed them, train them in order to send them back. She has two cute models a plush seals and a sea otter and she presented how they feed and inject the animals by using those dolls. Really neat. I am always so moved when meeting people like her with so much enthusiasm.
There was a potluck part in the noon today. This was because today is the last day of Valerie at SeaLife Center. This is a beautiful day, so we move the party to outside like a picnic style. I made some hot and sour soup which is my favorite. But it seems everyone doesn't really like it..... I think maybe it is because it is really hot and really sour.... Americans seems like something sweeter. It left about a half in the pot and would become my dinner.
The weather was so good and I can't really do anything today. So much I want to go out and hike a little bit. However, I have my safty orientation today at 3:00. This is the one I didn't have on my orientation day. It finished earlier. I think I should be have enough time for hiking a little bit before sunset. I took my bike and head to Lowell to take the trail I missed on Sunday. I have more information now. I know it is about a mile and a half to reach Tosina Point from the trail head and I should stop there since beyond that point is a intertidal zone. You can pass it only when the low tide. If you want to take the whole trail, you must have two day and camp one night here because the intertidal area. http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/units/caineshd.htm
It is good enough for me enough. This is a pleasant trail. Walk in the woods and along the stream. What is special for this season is salmons are spawning now! This is really cool to see so many salmons in the Tonsina river and they are huge! The water is so clear that I can see fish swimming! After 10 min walking across the river, I arrived Tosina point the end of my hiking today. I found this is the place which we rest last time when we kayaked! It took me about four hours included biking between Seward and Lowell point.

0816 Ranting Raven

My computer shutdown this morning. I hoped it was not because I ran too many program at the same time :P GIS must be a very big program that the computer runs it slowly. After restart it, it was doing ok~
I didn't really do anything today. There are lots of thing to do but I started to get lazy.... I alwalys tell myself you only have two weeks left! I have no idea....
I found a nice website about NOAA's research in Glacier Bay and they also used the 3D analyst of GIS! I think it must be the case that I can use for reference. I need to spend some time read their report to see how they did this.
Something good still happened today. Becky and I had a lunch date today. I asked her to suggest a place to go. She said how about Raven? They have nice soup. They really is!
http://www.trailriver.com/rantin_raven.htm Their soup is chowder today with a helf sour dough. For a large one, it is $4 plus tax. They also have many kind of fresh baked bread, light lunch and of course coffee. This is really a lovely place. In the front of the store is a gift shop. The coffee shop is in the back. Now I started to miss the Snow City Cafe in Anchorage. http://www.snowcitycafe.com/ They are all nice local place.
I enjoyed the time with Becky very much. She has been here since July 3rd and is going to leave on Saturday. I should visited her earlier. She keeped looking for me but everyone she asked didn't where I was. That is because I work with computer in the lab of first floor. Don't have many chances to meet a lot of people. That's why not many people know where I am. Becky said she even think I'm working with top secrete that hide in somewhere. hahaha~~
We had a great time. I took her visit the place I live and the "top secrete place" I work. With the end of summer, lots of people leaving. All interns and volunteers are going to have a dinner party on Friday night. It must be a lot of fun~
I went to Safeway, the supermarket here, to buy some food in the evening. I looked around the supermarket and surprisingly, they don't have fresh salmon and halibut or even any kind of fish for sale! Seems people get the fish and eat them right away. haha~~

該怎麼做決定呢

我真的是個很容易猶豫不決的人
這個問哈姆他應該最清楚哈~
可是好多時候要做決定要怎麼辦呢?

之ㄧ
星期六起床下著綿綿的雨
我到底要不要去哈定冰原呢?
可是下星期六天氣也不會好呀
還是我等哪天天氣好自己來?
又可是我是自己ㄧ個人就不會動的人
星期六有解說員多好呀
最後我的決定是
如果我不是ㄧ個人來到這裡旅行
兩個人會有什麼決定呢?
ㄧ定是去爬吧
出來旅行就是這樣
無法預測遇到怎樣的天氣
就算是下雨也是要去的呀~

之二
我跟永銘說
還好我現在都不期待事情會很順利的一次就解決
我把申請OPT的文件寄去給永銘請他幫我交給ISSS
發現其中一項不符規定
老師的推荐信我沒有用系上專用信紙(這是我的疏忽,我沒有看懂他的規定哈我對他的英文說明有不同解釋)
所以我請老師再重新幫我寫一份寄去
問題是
我的老師住在加拿大
暑假他並不會到學校來
他很好心的用他手邊有的系上信址幫我印出文件簽名後寄出
他很好心的幫我ㄧ份寄到ISSSㄧ份寄給Clifford (哈哈我本來只要他寄給Clifford他應該是誤會我的意思了,英文實在有待加強,會發生誤會的地方真多)
那時是8/4星期五
他有提醒我說加拿大郵務很慢
應該要到下星期五才收的到
日子ㄧ天天過了
昨天8/14星期一我問永銘
因為再沒收到就是8/15(ISSS的deadline)
我不會因為這樣就要回家了吧
可是還是沒有....
我也寫信問了ISSS
今天中午我收到ISSS的回信
要我趕快補老師的推荐信
我回信說我會再請老師幫我寄overnight
其實心裡猶豫著
要再請老師幫我寄一次嗎?
而且overnight不便宜....
後來的決定是
如果為了省這小錢
結果沒有申請到OPT
那不是很划不來嗎?
老師很好心的在下午幫我寄出快遞
星期四會到他說
他信中還加ㄧ句
會不會星期四之前寄出的也到了
哈哈哈
晚上的時候
永銘跟我說收到了
真是一整個百感交集
Anyway, it will be there for sure.
這是我回給老師的話

之三
妙真想要轉系
原因有很多
他不想做老鼠動物實驗
也覺得他在那畢業無望
老師都不支持他
他說他今天跟環境系的系主任談過了
不過他又聽她學姐說他原本化學系的教授說他應該在兩到兩年半就可以畢業
如果轉系
重新開始可能要五年
這又該怎麼做決定呢?

之四
我想到很久以前
有一天朱朱突然對我說
他不想念牙醫了
他ㄧ點也不喜歡
可是擔心家人反對他重考或轉系
那時我很鼓勵他如果不喜歡當然要趕快換趁我們都還年輕
不過甫容是不支持他離開的人(那時可能都已經大三或大四了)
我不大清楚甫容的想法是如何
後來朱朱順利畢業
實習一年後繼續唸兒童牙醫研究所
今年畢業的時候
還是五個月大寶寶的媽咪了

人生呀
像是個迷宮花園
我不求面臨抉擇時不慌亂(哈慌亂是我的本性)
但是要能在慌亂中表現優雅

0815 Slowing down

I met Anne today finally. She seemed like what I have done, but what she want is totally different. What she want to know is the status of sea water change during the time. This is a very complex problem. She has 7 factors (conductivity, temperature, salinity, oxgen content, etc.)that she has data. And she wants to know these factors change with depth and time. I asked if I can only show a factor a time, but she said these factors are all related to each other and it is necessary to show them all at the same time. WOW.... Quite a huge job! Three dimentions is a little bit hard for me. Now, I even need to try 4 or 5 dimentions! I have only two weeks left now. I really don't know what can I done at the last. I felt depressed.
There is more bad news. Someone took away my ham! I have some food stored in the public refrigerator. I found I lost 4 apples on Sunday. I moved all my apples out to my room, but I still left a pack of ham and vegetable in the freezer. How can people steal my staff that even have my name on it!

0814 Necropcy

Tomorrow is Abby's last day here. She is from Miami (such a big difference from here!) and she is an intern in Harbor Seals lab. She has been here for three months! I wish she can stay here longer. Sometimes it is really bored spend all your day indoor with computer. It is nice to have a person that you can talk to. We went to a presentation this afternoon. It was about dietary with fish and they possibility of murcury consumption. The answer is NO! You can eat as much fish as what you want in Alaska! After this, I went to a necropcy of a harbor seals (sorry, I must spell it wrong. I will check it tomorrow.) He died on last Friday and was sent here. This is nice that everyone in SeaLife Center who is interested in it can join it. They found a lot of tapeworms in his organs. They believe it was the reson he died. Poor little one.
I was glad I am not major in zoology or medical science. This is really hard for me to do this work. That's good to know different fields~ I'm learning something new everyday!

0813 A Small Achievement

I was so tired last night that fell asleep very early and forgot there would be a chating time with campfire in the backyard! I wake up Valerie and Teneal in about 8:30 (I'm so sorry about that) because Teneal told me we can go fishing on this Sunday. I thought she must be very surprised when she heard me ring her door bell and stood outside (I really should call her to make sure again). When she came out she said they cound not take me with them since they have had too many people on their boat already. I was a little bit disappointed. Anyway, I still have time. But I am embarrassment to ask them to take me again....
The good thing is I have plenty of time rest today. I would like to have a chance to climb to the top of Mt. Marathon and view the whole Seward town. But it is cloudy today. It should no such good view up there and I still not totally recover from yesterday. I walked back and have a very nice sleep to about 10:30. I decided to spend more time on my work. Anne is coming back tomorrow and I have had no result for these two weeks. If I can figure out how to use that new software I probably can get some result. This was the thing that I worked on it all day. Except two hours rest by going out biking. I took about 2 miles to Lowell and enjoyed the shore, wave and my snake bar:) Not very far, there is a trail head. If I have time, I would like to try that trail. Finally, I got it! When the program ran, I can see the circle which represent the population of harbor seals changing its size with years! This was just in the beginning, I still need modify a lot of attributes of it. Anyway, I went to bed happily.

0812 Harding Ice Field Trail

Last Saturday I fould there is a guided trail tour every Saturday hold by Kenai Fjord National Park. I was so excited to know it. However, when I wake up in the morning, rainning. I went on my bike head to small boat harbor where the National Park vistor center is and asked them if there was still a tour on a rainny day. The answer is positive. The next step was how to get there. I asked Greg yesterday if there is any shuttle or bus that I send me to Exit Glacier. Answer is positive. There is a company they offer shuttle service from small boat harbor to Exit Glacier and the round trip ticket cost $9. I was the only guest on the 8:30 shuttle. I told that guy I have to arrive on 9:00 to take the guided tour. So even only me, he still drove the shuttle and sent me their on time. Thanks him so much~
This was really a pleasant trail. The trail is very clear. It won't be hard if you come by yourself. But I'm that kind of person if there is only me, I won't do anything. This is why I was there even on a rainny day. Our tour guide is a ranger here, Peggy. She knows almost every plant here. The trail is all the way up. But the scenery is so beautiful that I almost forget the hard part.
http://www.nps.gov/kefj/trip_planning/maps/Harding%20Icefield%20Trail.htm
In the summer, wild flowers are everywhere. They use their limited time blooming. After the tree line. Colors of flowers make the meadow so beautiful. Peggy said, meadow is the place most likely to see a wild animal. I was lucky to see on little black bear run through in a distance. Other people saw even marmot. After standing on the top of mountain, you can feel like you are on the island surrounded by the sea. The ice field is blue color with white ice on it. You can image the white ice is the wave splash on its top. It is manificent. Hard to discribe by words. I took a lot of pictures and I will put them on later.
I'm so tired now. I hiked about 8 hr today. I am so satisfied.

0811 Rainy friday

There is a bad news. We don't have Tracking Analysis license here. This mean I can't show the temporal data on GIS. I found it this morning. A little bit sad.... ESRI softwares are really expensive. I think it is impossible to ask them buy that. Luckily, I found an other software developed by a private company. The instruction shows it can do what I want. Some examples are on their website http://discoverysoftware.co.uk/
I downloaded their 30 days free trail. However, its platform is different from ESRI. I need more time to figure it out. Anne will come back next Monday. Maybe I can have some result to show her.
It rained again.... How much I hope I can have a sunny weekend!

0810 Move ahead a little bit

Now, I have the counting data of Harbor Seals on Aifrom 1979. I think I can combine it to the temperature of sea water. Then, I can see if the temperature changes effects the population of them. I tried to search data on the internet. I found a nice website National Oceanographic Data Center. They have world ocean data in 10 degree grid! They do have the data I need, but in ASCII form. They also have some instruction for how to convert it to readable form. What I mainly do today was trying to follow that instruction. Finally I made it.
However, research is never easy. You solve one problem and there comes another. I now have the data of seals number and the temperature of sea water in temporal scale. But, there are all on one point. In GIS, the two dimentions is the normal. Now, I have three. My work tomorrow will be study how to use this 3D mode in GIS which is a new field for me. Learn and work at the same time. Sounds good, but I hope I can get some result.
Tonight, Greg's hotel came some picky guests. It was only 8:00 in the night, but they said they can't bear ANY noise. Arlene stopped me do my laundry (I just started for 1 min) because it makes to much noise. At last, they still decided to leave. Greg seemed a little bit angry. He told me I can do my laundry now. This world do have lots of different kind persons.

0809 A day off

I felt sick today. Rest most of the time

0808 Kayaking

Such a beautiful day~ I fould some counted Harbor Seals data today. I think I can try to combine it with CTD (conductive, temperature and depth of the ocean). Hopefully, I can have the CTD data of many years. Then, I can try to compare if the temperature change have had effection on the seals population.Anyway, the most excited thing of the day was Kayak!!! I went to kayak with Greg, Andrew and Marina. Our guid was Kat. She was so professional. She said she has been a kayaker since 14! The ocean was so peace and was easily paddle on it. It was hard to explain the feeling when you float on the ocean, move with waves. Water was cool and clear. We saw a lot of birds and fish jump up of waters. We rested on the shore and visit the tidal zone there. Lots of mussels, and sea weed there. It was really a wonderful trip. I only hope my arm can be stronger. And next time I can kayak longer~

起因

Mandy and Jenelle 都問我為何來阿拉斯加我用破英語回答最早想到要來是有個朋友和他的男朋友想來旅行他的男朋友對阿拉斯加滿熟的因為他的家人曾經在安哥拉治住過一陣子我們都很開心因為我們會有導遊不過後來我們的旅行取消了覺得很可惜沒想到我在網路上發現這個義工的機會於是我就來啦~可能有點像視網膜效應吧不過真的有很多事情發生讓我從完全沒想過來阿拉斯加到對他有些了解首先應該是Edwin有ㄧ回聽他說有個暑假他和他家人從阿拉斯加搭遊輪到溫哥華ㄧ路風景很美可以看到冰河之類的那時候就很嚮往再來就是啟瑄一直說他很想看極光我倒是還ok啦只是到了安哥拉治第一晚看到極光後心裡覺得有點不好意思結果我早ㄧ步看到了還有就是上ISI英文課時Gloria提到Iditarod我們剛好是要練習某種發音吧不過這個字的意思就是雪橇狗隊比賽他那時有提到這是每年三月阿拉斯加的盛事就這樣我來到阿拉斯加目前居住在Seward Resurrection Bay 邊上的小屋

0807 Sunlight under the sea

It was SO beautiful a day! It was cloudy in the early morning when I went out. But about noon, when I left lab and went to see the aquarium, I knew it became sunny. I can see the sun light penetrate the water and it became tranparent blue. Harbor steals, Steller Sea Lions were swimming and diving happily. Almost like a dream.My work was a little bit frastrated. They wanted me to do something by GIS. But what is "something"? I tried to search some research about GIS and Oceanography. This is a totally new field for me. I still need some time to figure it out. Anne is out of town. Maybe after she come back, we can have more discussion. Anyway, this is my first week! Already one week. There are so many things I want to do!I left my lab a little bit earlier and went to small boat harbor again. It is really interesting seeing people coming back with their fish.
A girl seemed so professional helping people fillet fish. I saw her at the same place yesterday. This must be her job during summer here. I knew a kind of fish today. It is called Lingcod. It has a very strange apperance, but I heard it is delicious. Fish are so fresh. So much I want to eat some salmon sashimi~

0806 Not a BEAR day

I planned to go fishing with Valerie and Teneal today, but Teneal didn't feel good today. Anyway, they go fishing every weekend. I still have many chances~~I don't have any other plan, so I walked back to Lodging. I asked Greg about the possibility of Kayaking. Since the weather today is so beautiful, I don't want to waste it. He suggested two company near by. However, he said he plans to go kayaking with Andrew and Marina by themself AND they need the fourth person!!! If I like I can join them. I was so happy to hear that. Greg said maybe Tuestday evening when he has time. I can't believe how lucky I am!After picnicing (I mean eat my sandwich)on the coast, I decided to try Mt Marathon trail. It is famous for it July 4th marathon race every year. The racer's trail is very steep, so I tried to go the Jeep's road (it is not for Jeep using). It is still steep, but still in a resonable range. After 40 minutes, the slope milds down, the tree line finish and bushes start. I found some berries here. I'm not sure what are they, so I think it is better not to eat them~ The view begins to broad here. You can look back the resurrection bay and the mountains across the bay. Even more, wide flowers are everywhere and they are so beautiful. About 15 minutes easy walk along a creek, the slope becomes steep again. I stopped there, since there is no clear sign shows how far the trail is. I arrived the trail head on 4:30 pm. I spent two and a half hour round trip there. Some people just after me said they saw a little black bear showed up on the trail. Well, I didn't see it. Maybe it is good not to meet a bear, but... Anyway, maybe next time~ I'm thinking next time I'll start earlier and try to reach the top of Mt Marathon.I went to the Samll Boar Harbor. Greg told me yesterday I can come here around 5:00 pm and I can see a lot of people coming back with their fish. It really is!!! I saw many people hang all the fish they got today on the hook and got photos under a sign "Caught in Seward, Alaska" The fish were most Halibut and Silver Salmon. There were still some that I can't recognize what kind of fish they are. There is a big Fish Cleanning Area that people cut down the meat and throw away other parts. I found they basically cut the meat on both side of the fish and throw away the others (bones, tail fin etc.). In my opinion, it is quite a waste. There is still lot of eatable meat on the bone!I had a very time day! I'm ready to work tomorrow~

0805 Saturday

I woke up in the morning at 8:00. Usually I don't sleep so much while I'm traveling. It must be the cold weather here that make me sleep so well or this place is so much like home for me. haha~~The weather was nice. Mostly cloudly, but no rain! I decided to go biking. I would like to go Exit Glacier, but it takes me about 12 miles one way.... I don't think I'm strong enough to do this. I picked a easier trail which Greg suggested. I started on Seward highway went north about 2.5 miles and turn right on Nash road. At a swamp I met a swan group, a mom with her kids, swimming one by one gracefully. I saw some glaciers on the mountains behind. The day when Mandy drove me down to Seward, she always said here is a glacier and there is, too. I didn't understand that time. They all seemed like white snow on the mountains. How can she know there is a glacier? But, I can understand now. The special blue color of it is its mark. I can now easily tell where there is a glacier~I went on the trail about 2 miles and stopped by a small harbor there. Now, I'm on the other side (east) of Resurrection Bay. I can overlook downtown Seward. The road followed,was a uphill slope. I stopped there and turned back. On my way back, I stopped at Small Boat Harbor. There is a fish cleaning station there, too. I spent some time walk around there and visited Kenai Fjord National Park vistor's center. I fould they have everyday Exit Glacier and Staturdays Harding Icefield guided tour! I hope next weekend will be a sunny day, too. Then I can try to go to Harding Icefield trail which I want to go so much. Think you can walk on a glacier!Greg and Arlene set up their campfire in their yard. They said they always do this on Saturday during summer as long as the weather is good. Everyone sat around the fire and talked. It was very lovely. Andrew, Marina and I throw a football. We also barbecue hotdogs and marshmallows.

At the night (even still bright), the cruise started its journey. It became smaller and smaller. Until disappered in the far distance.

0804 Start to work

Except lunch, I stayed in Lab and fixed my eyes on computer all day. It was almost like the days when I was doing my project. The goal of what I'm going to do is how to use GIS to present the researches here and even applied it to educational use. However, there are lots of problem I need to deal with at first. What kind of map and projection is good for use? Do we need to set up a grid system? If we do, we may need to change the vector system to raster. And, it seems hexagon is better than grid system, but I don't know how to creat it. All these I want to make sure in the beginning because I hope we can set up a well-designed system that helps people to do a long-term research and need no worry about the difference of different interface and changing format.It was very time consuming and boring. However, it helps me develop the abilities to think and to solve the problem. One month is kind of short to do something. But, I'm trying.Evening was quite relaxing. I talked to my Mom and my sister, missed the food from home and my lovely dogs.

0803 Orientation Day

Today is my orientation day. There are three orientations waiting for me. The first one is computer IT. I got my account which I can login SeaLife Center computer system and also an e-mail account. I like this. It seems I am really one of them now:)The second one is Lab safty orientation. Because the research here is related to biology and chemistry, you must becareful not to spread out disease and toxic chemical. The regulations are impotant to be followed here. My third orientation is safty, but all of securities are busy. I think I will have it some other time. It was cold and raining. I called Yica in New York city. She told me it was incredible hot there and it reached to 110 degree! It was more than twice as I was here 51 degree!! It is really a summer but feel not like a sumeer. I had some time that I can walk around in town. I fould the library is a nice place to visit and stay for a while on a rainy day. There are lots books and newspaper and the best, free wireless internet! I also read the story about a boy from Seward, he is the person that designed the Alaska flag!Arlene treated me some Halibut sashimi. It was so fresh and so delicious with soy bean sauce. I was so satisfied.

0802 SeaLife Center

It was cold and ranning. I met Jenelle in SeaLife Center in the morning. She took to meet my boss, Anne. She is a very nice person. She wanted me to help her to combine her data and GIS to make the researches more practical and even show to public for educational use. The goal is very promising. I hope I can really do something while I'm here.I met a lot of people today and went to the behind of the scenes tour. It was a guided tour that show you and tell you what is going on in this research center. It was very interesting to know that the animal's name this year are all followed a spice's name. So we have Curry, Dill, Ginger ect. After the tour, I spent my time sitting in front of Horbor seals and Puffins watching them swimming in the water gracefully.I moved to Seward Waterfront Lodging today. It is only 3 minutes walking from here to SeaLife Center and it is just on the coast. Greg, the owner, is very friendly and hospitality. I'm sure I will have great month staying here.In the evening I went to buy milk from the supermarket and met Joseph and Irene (the owner of the Arctic Adventure Hostel) on the bike trail. What a surpise :)

0801 Glacier Blue

When I recognized that we are going to Title Wave to have our breakfast, I was so happy. Mandy told me it is a lovely place with coffee and books, both second haned and new, yesterday. I wanted to visit it very much, but I came back late yesterday. It is a really good place to have a coffee and spend some time with books. I had my Latte and croissant today which were good.Then, we went to Mandy's place to pick up some food of mine. Jarrow, Mandy's Siberian Huskey, is a very pretty and lovely dog. Almost every people I meet in Alaska has a dog, big dog, not like my lovely pomeranians. We left Anchorage about 11:30. The scenery is so beautiful on the road. We stopped at Portage Glacier where Mandy used to climb to reach a gracier 14 years ago. That must be one of the greatest experiences that make her feel Alaska a home. We stopped at Moose Pass for our lunch in about 2:00. I had my first deep fried Halibut and it was delicious. We arrived Seward SeaLife Center in about 3:30 and met Jenelle and got my pass card. While we were waiting Jenelle and Becky to go dinner after ther work, Mandy and I went to visit Exit Glacier. This time, I can get so close that I can even feel the melting water drop on the ice! We were so lucky to have a sunny day. It was really magnificent. Its blue color was so beautiful. We don't have much time to stay here, but if I have chance, I will definitely come here again.Our dinner was at a greek restaurant, Apollo. The food was delicious, but I was still so full that I can't not eat too much. We also talked a lot. Jenelle is the inter and volunteer coordiant of SeaLife Center, and Becky is another violunteer here, she has been her for a month.I stayed tonight with Valery and Teneal and their lovely dog, Lika. We talked about Teneal's food experience in Mongolia and Valery's in Africa. It was so interesting. We also planned to go fishing together on Saterday which will be so cool! I can't wait!

0727 Northern Light

It was a long long trip from Taiwan. Even it was about meet night, I can still see the mountains and snow. They are so magnificent. And far far away, you can still see the sunlight almost below the horizon. I'm in Alaska now.Mandy picked me up at the airport. It was really nice to see her there hold a paper which had my name on it~Mandy showed me the northern light to me on the sky. There were some white patters. She said it must be a good sign that I saw the northern light at my first day here!