Titles Are Getting Harder to Think of

I see these signs everywhere and the stick figures always make me giggle. Seems to be a common symbol, as they were even at the airport in Oslo. They're almost comical and I always feel like I'm in a video game or a movie.

Tuesday

Had a terrible time trying to get to sleep, as I've developed a cold, or something of the sort, and I'm unable to breathe through my nose. Surprisingly I wasn't as tired as I thought I'd be in the morning, but I was certainly not looking forward to attending 6 hours of classes. I never was a fan of attending class while sick, but had to regardless.

First class was coding theory, where we discussed linear code over finite fields, parity codes, repetition codes, defined a few elements, and the rest of the class was focused mostly around generator matrices and their uses.

After that was Religion and Politics. It's refreshing to have a class structured mostly on reading and discussion. It doesn't require me to focus on note taking, and the topics are easy to comprehend. Today we discussed political power and how religion can provide it legitimacy. However, the most interesting part of the class for me was the time spent talking about religion as a justification for anything. The teacher provided us a handout, on it was a list of "contrasting alternatives" (i.e. monarchy vs democracy, slavery vs racial equality, conservative tradition vs liberal modernization, etc). We were tasked to discuss any social or political phenomenon where religion has legitimized only one of the alternatives, and if we were unable to do that find one that religion has predominantly legitimized. It made for an interesting discussion, and people generally seemed to consider that religion favored conservative tradition, patriarchalism and hetero-normality.

The class was enjoyable, but I was somewhat disappointed that we didn't bring any of the current events with Russia into the discussion.

Last class of the day (finally) was Cloud Computing. I find the subject matter interesting, but unfortunately the lectures are a bit dry. The way the teacher speaks quickly and seems to delve into unnecessary details bores me a bit. I find it hard to focus the entire time, and to add onto that, he often runs over time.

Wednesday

Slept late, at this point nothing else should be expected. I was pleased to get everything I set out to do accomplished today. Completed my laundry and went shopping for food. I'm on a pretty good schedule with those two things now, and I couldn't be happier with the convenient location of a grocery store right next to the dorm.

The brief amount of time I spent outside was absolutely wonderful. It was almost 45 degrees out AND sunny. I spent a few minutes just soaking up the rays of sun, as it was comfortably warm. (Imagine that, Estonia being warm!)

I spent a small amount of time attempting to do my Coding Theory homework, but didn't make much progress. That'll probably be the focus of my free time on Thursday. Otherwise my day was fairly unremarkable.

P.S. My roommate was insistent that she would end up dragging me to the club before our stay was over. Not sure it'll be happening, but I'm looking forward to her attempts.

Thursday

My days are settling into routine, which makes my life a bit boring at times, but gives me a nice sense of normality. While experiencing a new place and new things is exciting (and scary) at first, I find myself grateful that I've found a comfortable pace for everything. Also my cold has gotten better, so that's always nice. I've regained a small bit of my ability to breathe through my nose, which is an absolute godsend.

First class was Secure Software Design, and it was enjoyable as always. I really like the professor's lecture style. He has a good balance of visual aids, speaking and class activities. It also helps that the topic is engaging and in-depth enough that I receive a good understanding. (But not so in-depth that I become lost and bored.) We participated in a fun 'activity' where we were given remotes to vote with. We were tasked with identifying what was wrong given a list of requirements. He told us that security requirements should define what the system needs to do, but not how to do it. It was fun for the entire class to participate, and after each question he would pull up a nice little chart of the voting results. (I got all of them right, so I was very pleased.)

During one of the voting periods the teacher left the room and came back within a minute. The notable thing about this, as while he was walking back to the front of the room I realized he was wearing socks and sandals. Now this is bad enough by itself, but he was wearing socks and sandals with black slacks and a white button down. It was very incongruous and I couldn't help but laugh a bit to myself.

Last class was Crypto. I'm really enjoying the class, and although the homework was a challenge I hope I'll reach an understanding with that soon so that I can enjoy the content without being stressed. I enjoy the practice classes, as it allows me to discuss ideas with my classmates, and get feedback from the teacher. I think the format of separating the class into lecture and practice is very beneficial, as the lecture really cements concepts introduced in lecture. The teacher is also very funny and has a great dynamic with all the students, which adds another beneficial aspect to the course.

While I've made peace with the weather, and am actually enjoying it, I dislike the increase in static. I've made the habit of tapping the railing on the staircase to discharge the static every morning. And, without fail, I get a shock. Mildly irritating, but another thing that's quickly become habitual.

The homework I've received here is challenging in a way I'm not used to back at CofC. While I have, of course had difficult homework assigned back home, none of them frustrate me quite like this. The heavy involvement of mathematical proofs continues to thwart my easy completion of my assignments. I'm having to think in a completely different way, a way opposite of how I was taught almost my whole life. As I believe I've said before, my mathematical education primarily consisted of telling me that things work, but now how they work. My first introduction to mathematical proofs wasn't until college, and those were somewhat easy to grasp. I have no issues following the logic if the proof is presented to me, but I admit I sincerely struggle with trying to create the steps for myself. It seems so basic when the answer is revealed, yet when I try and come up with a proof it's as if I hit a wall.

It's both rewarding and frustrating. I've lost count of the times I've been on the precipice of some great understanding or revelation. It's almost an exhilarating feeling when you believe you're about to finally grasp the concept completely, but all to often I find it slipping away. I was following the wrong train of thought, or my logic was backwards. My greatest feeling is that some bridge between the first step and the next is missing, and it is eternally discouraging. Of course, I have to soldier through, as my understanding is important, not just for my grades but for myself. Half of my motivation to complete my homework at this point is so that I can finally fathom what exactly is being asked of me. I still maintain that solving a mathematical problem is extremely rewarding, and going back over the logical increments is satisfying in a strange way. But the process...remains difficult.

While I realize the challenge is good for me, I can only hope that I don't struggle as much with these assignments all semester. Hopefully I will find a happy medium where I am challenged, but not stonewalled.