Average temperature in Ann Arbor:

Oct. 8th – 74°F
　　↓
Oct. 10th - 48°F　　　[Data from AccuWeather.com]

W-What’s this gap!?

It was 34 degrees last night… It’s getting so cold these days…

Anyway, today’s entry is about squirrels.

I rarely saw wild squirrels in Japan, but I find them everywhere in A2. They take on a yellow tinge compared to the squirrels I often saw in California.
 
 

Squirrels are scampering around, chasing each other, climbing a tree, looking for food, eating acorns, and digging a hole to store food. They are so lovely! When I read a book outside, I hear a scrunch sound: I wrench my head back and find a squirrel eating an acorn. Sometimes, I can’t figure out where the sound comes from because the squirrel hides behind a tree
 

   
The other day, I was walking on campus and heard a guy saying “oops!!” What I saw was the guy and a squirrel looking at each other It seemed the guy suddenly halted in astonishment because a squirrel jumped in front of him (Sorry, I couldn’t help laughing…)

I see squirrels all year long, even in winter. In winter, whenever squirrels walk on an icy branch of a tree, it creaks and groans…
↑ (A picture taken in winter)

Squirrels’ small footprints are pretty, especially compared to mine →

  
 
 
BONUS PIC!!
 

I just came back from school and noticed I had dressed “nicely” today: I had been wearing half pants and odd socks all day long!! (It’s too late…)

After I moved, I had been very busy with this and that: Detroit, Canada, training for the new employee (in Japan), new semester, and Chicago… Well, I think I got a lot of interesting stories to tell during the few weeks of storm (I did not have any time to write a new blog entry though… ) I will talk about these stories after I organize the information ◎

OK, I write on an easy topic today – Ｍ.

We see many Ms inside and around the Umich campus. What do I mean by “M”? In Ann Arbor, the letter M is… how do I say… the symbol of the University of Michigan. The Block M, painted maize (One of our two school colors!! Another one is blue.), is the most often-used Umich logo and “one of the most widely recognized marks in the country” (quoted from U-M Trademark Guidelines by the University of Michigan Identity Guidelines  ). You can see some versions of the Umich logo, including the Block M, by clicking on the first link above (or this one → U-M Trademark Guidelines) and scrolling down to the middle.

The Block M is utilized widely: For example, on the top of the Umich Web site, as a design of university items, and in the flags around the campus. It is also used by University programs, Institutes, Departments, and Units for identification. When I first came to A2, I saw these Ms and felt a sense of affinity with Umich because my last name begins with M (silly…)

I was impressed by M the other day: I was using a computer in Engineering Library and saw The College of Engineering logo (on the top of the linked page). It’s seemingly the normal Block M, which is just shaded. The shadow, however, forms the letter “E,” which represents Michigan Engineering!!! Wow, who came up with this idea!? Wonderful… I could not get the info. about who made it, but I found the following quotation from CoE (College of Engineering) Web site.

This three dimensional form symbolizes the science of engineering, implying shape, form, light, and transformation – the transformation of scientific knowledge into practical use, of student into engineer, and the possibilities into reality.

― quoted from CoE Logo Downloads by College of Engineering, University of Michigan　―

Hmmm, this small logo implies so many meanings… lovely

By the way, the seal is different from these logos. (see The Seals of the University of Michigan in Bentley Historical Library Web page).

I had been really really struggling to find a new place to live, and FINALLY found it 2 days before the expiration of the term of the contract with my current landlords!! I somehow ended up living on north campus taking the classes on central campus… Every house owner hated making 4-month contracts, so there was no place for me to go… Needless to say, no property satisfied both of two conditions important for me: the price and the distance from the school. So, I decided to choose the cheapness and give up the distance Well, maybe this is a good chance to know the north campus area, I think…

Oh yea, I will go school by bus every morning at 8:30!!!! I will be trained as a morning person Good, ha?

I get an Indian roommate, who works at the university hospital. She is my, at least, 12th roommate, and would be my last roommate in the U.S. She is kind enough to hold my stuffs by the time I can move into there: So I rented a car and moved all my stuffs today. This was the first time for me to rent a car. I was charged extra fee because I was 21 years old (under 25)

(↑the car I rented)

My room is now empty… I reminded the time I first moved into here. I was too tired to unpack and slept being buried in my stuffs. Today, I leave the keys on the desk and probably never come back to this room… omg, how time flies!?

Thank you!

&

… Good bye

I mentioned on the “how to read” page that I lived in one of the many historic districts in Ann Arbor.  This is the picture of my apartment. Looks nice, ha? I love this apartment although there is no access to kitchen and we have to share 2 bathrooms with 9 people…

Why do I love this APT? Because the building is quaint, the room is not too big (I love small spaces), the landlords (they are brothers) are very nice, and the rent is cheap! (Whenever I answer my friends’ question “How much is your rent?” their eyes pop out with astonishment )

Well… when I was trying to find a place to live, I was only focusing on the price and the distance from the place to the school: I am spending my parents’ money, so I need to save money as much as I can. I, in a fashion, wondered if I could live without kitchen, but decided to go for it because this APT was perfect in terms of the price and the distance. Now, I think my decision was right.  Indeed it is hard to cook and do the dish with the tiny small sink in the bathroom, but I can still cook with my slow cooker and microwave. Most importantly, I have enjoyed the life in this historic district! Unlike a condo in a big city, this old building let me feel like time crawls along. I could have a quiet neighborhood, lovely nature around the building, and the hearty landlords, who are easy to approach (and do maintenance well). What else do I want?

 Sadly, I need to move out from here soon because I am graduating in this Dec. and they only accept 1-year contract beginning from Sep… I am, however, glad that I have lived this APT

I know I am an undergrad and it may be kinda weird to write about the graduate library, but I do because I love it!　

Umich has a lot of libraries (see the link if you want to count – I gave up to do so), but Hatcher Graduate Library would be the most prominent library among them. It is located in the center of the umich central campus.

（Hatcher Graduate Library →）

One of the reasons why I love this library is that there are a lot of private closed study carrels on the 3rd-6th floors of the South Building.
 (← A private study carrel）

 
That’s a great place to study! There are a big desk, a chair, and electric outlets in each carrel, so you can use your laptop. If you get tired, you may want to enjoy the view from the window; this picture is from the 6th floor. Although each carrel is like a compartment, it is not a completely closed chamber: Don’t mumble to yourself or sing loudly, or serious graduate students will get mad…

(The view from the carrel ↑)

Another lovely thing in the carrel is graffiti on the heater. The heater in every carrel, especially the ones on the 3rd floor, is covered with graffiti done by students: Someone left a wonderful adage, someone was morning about her stats exam, and someone made me laugh with his lambent humor (I should definitely post some of them on this blog!! ).

One weakness of the graduate library would be their short hours of operation. While the undergraduate library(UGL) is open until 5am, the graduate library close at 2am on weekdays (6pm on weekends!). That’s not really convenient for a night person like me

Also, since I am an undergraduate student, most of the books I need are held by the undergraduate library. That’s why I spend most of time at the undergraduate library, not at the graduate library.

Note: Generally, the reason why people love Hatcher Graduate Library would be because they have millions of items from various fields written in more than 300 languages (cf. University of Michigan Library, from Wikipedia). Yes, I love and honor their collections, too! But I felt like referring to their study carrels here

↑　（Peeking through the tiny window of the carrel…　The floor is overflowing with the books.）

Link: Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library (Official)
         University of Michigan Library (Wikipedia)

Every day, I find a lot of lovely things in Ann Arbor (A2) . It is sad that I am finishing up my study at umich soon because I love this school and this area! After my graduation, I will go back to my country, Japan. I really thank all the people who have shared wonderful time in this country with me, and also the people in Japan who have supported my study in the U.S.

So, I think it is great if I could express part of my gratitude toward them by sharing what I found lovely in A2 through this blog. Of course, including other people who live in A2, who used to live in A2, who are interested in A2, who are interested in me (???), EVERYONE IS WELCOME!!

Another purpose of this blog is to ease myself into publishing information. I hope I can develop habits of writing paragraphs which are easy to read, being careful and responsible about my writing, and using a camera – oh yeah, I am not a shutterbug while my father and older sister are. I have, rather, looked at people who are crazy about taking picture somewhat coldly… Moreover, I am a chicken and afraid of putting people off by taking picture of something around them (Some people say “Don’t take MY picture!!!” even if I have never tried to take THEIR picture).

But pictures help fast and easy understanding of information; so I’d love to learn photography skills, including the way to take a picture without making someone mad.

Oh, it may be too long for the first note! Let’s get the blog started now!!