Ted Hong - CP10

Since Rose couldn't make it to meet us, I hung out with just Butsawan instead.

She was telling me about this conference she has to go to in November that the geology department is having her present her paper. She didn't want to talk about her paper too much as she was working on it but she promised to tell me about later.

She feels like she's being treated poorly in regards to payment for her accommodations. She was trying to distinguish different types of restaurant so she could estimate her budget. I told her most places were fast food or casual sit down restaurants. I said maybe about $30 a day would be a fair amount. She estimated about $40 and suggested it to the budget coordinator and apparently that was considered too much, and so Butsawan feels like her budget is being cut down.

The conference is about 4 days, but she has another "technical field trip" that her and other students are attending so it'll be about 6 days. Not to mention the conference is in Orlando. She seemed really stressed about it figuring the accommodations would cover transportation, as well. I clarified with her that accommodations are generally thought of as lodging. If they include transportation, they'll specify.

I asked how much they offered for lodging, and it was a good amount to stay in a fancy enough hotel, but Butsawan told me that that was the rates the conference set. Hah. Only thing was, the budget coordinator would only pay for the conference, and not for the field trip. To which, I suggested to her to maybe bunk (I explained this word, too) with another student she feels comfortable with to split the costs and she conceded it to be a good idea.

She seemed really irked and thanked me for my patience. She said I reminded her of her mentor, though less strict and rigid when it came to teaching a class.

She also told me that she got a new job, a part time job at the oceanography lab. One of her instructors here knew of the opening and suggested it to her. I'm amazed because she's got a lot on her hands: graduate school, part time job, a son and family. She's going to have to get a car soon so she can do things on her own accord.

Regardless of the troubling content, I felt that our hanging out was easygoing. Her english is getting better, even if she stalls a bit to figure out the words to complex sentences.