U.S. Campus Life Manning the fort By Masako Yamada	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
研究仲間のいぬ間の洗濯 講演や会議に出席するだけでなく、同時に余暇の楽しさも味わえるという、研究者にとっては夢のような学会が先日、メキシコのリゾート地カンクンで開かれました。こんな学会なら、だれもが喜んで参加しそうなものですが、雅子さんはアメリカに残りました。では、雅子さんは学会開催中、何をして過ごしていたのでしょうか？

One of the largest academic conferences in the field of statistical physics was held last week in Cancun, Mexico. In many ways, it was a dream vacation for researchers: days full of lectures, afternoons full of fun in the sun, nights full of tequila and dancing. All among fellow physicists from around the world! Most of the members in my group, including my advisor, attended.

One of the chief organizers of this conference was a visiting professor in our group. She was obviously interested in seeing her fellow groupmates benefit from the conference, but as a native of Brazil, I think she was especially eager to help develop the scientific community in Central and South America.

I enjoyed this conference in a different way: I had a considerably less structured vacation while everybody was away. That is to say, I chose not to attend the conference. Many people have asked me why I chose not to go, as if they could not believe why anybody would prefer to stay at home. My main answer has been that I don't have much to gain from going to such conferences now, since I'm finishing up my graduate work and I don't plan on pursuing a research career after I graduate. I wanted to work on my thesis rather than prepare a poster for the conference. Besides, I don't like large groups and I dislike resorts, so the idea of lying on a hot beach in Cancun did not attract me.

So what did I do in the meantime? I took leisurely coffee breaks in the morning and very long lunches in the afternoon with the few remaining members in my lab. Some of them complained that it was so quiet in the lab that they couldn't work. However, I managed to get more than my usual amount of work done in spite of the relaxed atmosphere.

Several of us made plans to go to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston during a weekday afternoon. I doubt we would've dared this field trip if everybody else were around the lab — especially my advisor — but we knew that nobody would notice or care about our absence. It ended up that just one friend and I went together one day, and the others went the following day. My friend and I had a great time. He's much more knowledgeable about world history and art than I am, and he took notes of interesting pieces as we went around the museum. However, this sort of geekiness did not make me feel uncomfortable, since he has such a great sense of humor. For instance, he would point at statues and say things like, "Masako, I think I'm in love with her!"

I also decided that it was a prime opportunity for me to go back home to New Jersey for a few days, since I hadn't visited my parents at all this summer. While I was there, I was able to meet four of my friends from high school. I hadn't seen any of them since we had graduated eight years ago. They've recently been coming back to New York to work or to go to school. Since they all went to the same college in Japan, Keio University, they seemed like they were from a world completely different from the Americanized one I've grown accustomed to. However, it made me feel good that some part of me still felt comfortable hanging out with them.

I also saw a musical called "Contact," which has been hailed as the antithesis of the current cheesy, cartoonish Broadway show. However, I realized that even though it was a cultivated show with a good combination of irony and exuberance, it wasn't quite worth the 100 bucks (¥12,400) I paid. Maybe I'm a cheapskate, maybe I'm a purist snob: but I think a line of a Nabokov novel, a well-pointed foot in a ballet, a few notes in a Bach toccata, or even just a Woody Allen joke can be just as moving as those two hours of music and dance for a lot less money. Watching musicals used to make me want to be in musicals, but I must say that this is not the case for me anymore.

My friends who went to Cancun may argue, but I think I spent my week far more wisely than I could have there. Needless to say, I'm eagerly awaiting the next large international conference in my field.

Shukan ST: Aug. 3, 2001

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