Visit to San Diego

I have arrived in San Diego a few days ahead of the even I will be attending here. It was a good chance to meet some of the locals and get a feel for the sun and sand of the west coast.

Snow in Rochester before I left for my plane

New hostel friends: Olivia from Sweden (currently nannying in the US mid-West).
We shared a massive entree and went to see the San Diego Symphony Orchestra 

Visiting the locals at San Diego Zoo

Watching some talented surfers at La Jolla Shores

Visiting the seals at La Jolla and enjoying seeing the sun!

ASL I - It's a wrap!

Today was the last day of my ASL I class. It has been a huge learning curve and I have enjoyed the teaching style and friendship of my teacher very much.

Submitting my final expressive ASL exam

Study 2: Complete

Study 2 is now complete. Today the last students completed the typicality and categorisation tasks that we will be spending the next months, transcribing, analysing, and writing up!

Research Group Meeting

Today was the annual meeting of Professor Sharynne McLeod's PhD and postdoctoral students. This year the meeting was held at the Charles Sturt University campus at Sydney Olympic Park. In attendance were PhD students Anna Cronin, Suzanne Hopf, Nicole McGill, and Ben Pham, and postdoctoral colleagues Sarah Masso, Sarah Verdon, and myself. We all presented about our current research projects and progress and shared anecdotes and advice.

This was a great opportunity for me to share my Fulbright experience with the group and reflect on what I have gained and shared so far in this journey.

Sharing Australian Cuisine

We had a dinner for Pep Band tonight and it was time share an important part of Australian culture with my friends and introduce them to Anzac cookies. They were very well received!

Genesse Synchronized Skating Team

Today was my debut US synchronised skating competition with the Genesse Synchronized Skating Team. We drove to Skaneateles in the Finger Lakes region of northern New York for the 26th Annual Skaneateles Figure Skating Invitational. We came away with a silver medal and many good memories.

Study 1: Complete

Our Study 1 examining semantic fluency wrapped up today with the last participant completing tasks this afternoon. Next step is hours and hours and hours of transcription of data from spoken English and ASL (and a little Spanish, Dutch, and Korean too) before we can begin analysis.