Biking to Work

I biked to work for the first time today. According to Google maps, the route is about 5.85 miles each way. It's a pretty decent route, because there are bike lanes alongside East Bayshore, Garcia Road, Amphitheater Parkway, and Shoreline Boulevard. And the route is flat, so there are no hills to slow me down.

Also, there is a shower on the first floor of my building, so after getting to the office, I was able to shower before starting work. And there are towels, shampoo, and body wash I can use.

I'm really starting to enjoy the perks of working here.

Two interesting cycling articles

Since I have an interest in road cycling, I thought I'd share two interesting articles published by the NYTimes:

1) The Bicycling Paradox: Fit Doesn't Have to be Thin

- The jist of the article is that unlike running, where thin, strong people are the best, even people who are overweight can be decent cyclists. Much of this has to do with how the body sits on the bike, and how your center of gravity can allow you to still be powerful on a cycle. I guess I can relate somewhat to all of this, since I am by no means and thin, and seem to do a lot better on a bicycle than running.
2) A New French Revolution's Creed: Let Them Ride Bikes

- Interesting - Paris is allowing for cheap rentals of bikes to get around various sections of the city. It's a great idea and should hopefully help significantly reduce CO2 emissions in the city. I wonder if anything like this would work in the US, however. Off the top of my head, SF would be too difficult because of all the hills, NY would suck because there's really no bike lanes and the Metro/buses/taxis seem to be good enough. Maybe Chicago. LA is too spread out. How about Las Vegas? Doubtful. Anyway, I'd be interested in seeing another article about how this program works out in a year.

Excited

Today was pretty cool. Besides training, there are a few things why working at Google is awesome

1) Free, excellent food - today I ate at one of the 14 cafeterias, and had some really tender roast lamb, portobello mushrooms, fresh salad, and some great chocolate chip cookies. It seems that everyday during lunch, it's another adventure to one of the cafeterias with some people on my team, along with some really good food.

2) Great facilities - I mentioned a few of the amenities yesterday, like a game room, but along with that, we toured a few of the buildings, and there's free food everywhere, ping pong tables, a ball pit, massage chairs. And today, we rode around the Google campus on some fixed gear bikes that anyone can take to get from building to building. To be honest, much of this hardly feels like work, but again, I think that's the point - for us all to feel very happy when we come here everyday.

So yes, many of the reasons why I wanted to work for Google are holding true, and I'm very happy for that. As work picks up in the coming few days, it should be exciting.

First Day, First Impressions

So, I had my first day of work at Google. A little crazy at first, since there were about 100 new people starting work this week, and only 4 total going into Search Quality, the division I am in. Can't mention much about the work itself, since I signed a whole bunch of non-disclosure paperwork. On the other hand, I will say that I'm happy to get 2 24 inch monitors, a kitchen stocked of free food, and a game room with a XBox 360, PS3, Wii, and foosball. I haven't got to play any of the games yet, and I don't really want to ask people to play because then I'll look like that's all I want to do. I'll give that a few weeks, then. As for the work itself, it seems very intriguing and it will be a good challenge, especially after an extensive background in historical research. It will be interesting to see how my skills in that area will translate into this position.

In the meantime, I'm trying to adjust to going to be early so I'm not tired in the afternoon. I was okay today but I don't want to build up and sleep debt. I do, however, need to find things to occupy my evenings. Without a TV, you have to get creative. Of course, once Harry Potter comes out this weekend, I know what will occupy my time. Until then, I might as well read some books on my shelf that I haven't looked at for a long time. Or surf the net some more. Probably the latter.

Time to Start Fresh

First things first - my trip to China and Thailand was incredible. I took plenty of pictures, which you can view here or on Facebook. I could go on and on about the experience, about what I learned about Chinese or Thai cultures, the food I ate, the sights I saw, and everything in between, but my trip was packed in with only a few days of downtime before work.

So for a little background information, I have moved into a house with three other housemates in East Palo Alto. I live in the master bedroom. I'm starting work at Google tomorrow, as part of their Search Quality Evaluator team. When people have asked me what the job entails, to be honest, I haven't been told much. It has something to do with rating web pages for quality and content. It has something to do with filtering out spoof sites. It has something to do with basic HTML. So, with my limited knowledge, I'm somewhat worried about tomorrow. But, my jitters are typical for any new experience. Will the people like me? Will I ask too many questions? Will I break any unspoken rules? Will I learn things quick enough?

In the past, I've usually been okay handling new situations, but this is my first time experiencing full employment, so it's a different environment entirely. I did, however, pick Google because of its laid-back environment. And I hope that holds true.

Luckily, I have not been hit with much jet-lag. I got a lot of sleep on the plane back so I've transitioned well back to Pacific Time. Staying occupied, however, has been somewhat difficult. Leaving Stanford is like leaving an entire community and since my house is pretty empty right now (only 1 other person living in it), I've had to keep busy by cooking for myself and making some big but long-term investments in my new dependent lifestyle. For example, I spent $200 at Target today, purchasing bathroom cleaning supplies, pots and pans, and kitchen utensils. All of the things I've taken for granted, I now need. But, thankfully it is not a sunk cost, because when the toilet clogs or I need to cook, I'm ready for it!

Finally, after watching a few stages of the Tour de France in Hong Kong, I was pretty excited to come back and bike around the Bay. I've gone out twice with Wilmot, and gotten beat pretty badly. Guess I have a lot more work to go.

More reports after my first day of work tomorrow!

China and Thailand

I'm going to China and Thailand from June 26 to July 12th. Not that I haven't posted much recently, but I hope after I come back I can post some of my travel blog entries and start blogging before work starts at Google on July 16th.

History Grad

I was honored by being chosen to be the undergraduate speaker for the history graduation ceremony for Stanford's Graduation activities on June 17, 2007. Here's the text of my speech, for posterity:

Thank you.

For the past four years, when many of my peers asked what I majored in and I told them it was history, there was usually an awkward pause, a sideways turn of the head, and "Oh, history." I've always felt like there was a stigma against our major; that writing papers was not as rigorous as a problem set. That taking a class that meets one day a week could be really worth five units (my friends are really jealous about that one), or that you can't do anything with the major. But, I think all of us graduating today have proved those people wrong. I would like to talk about history in two forms - the passion and the practical. I would like to comment on what studying history has meant for me now, and how a history degree will help myself and my classmates in the future.

I wasn't always a history major. When I first came to Stanford, I was premed. After a tough quarter of math and chemistry, I decided to do what was recommended thorough-out Freshman orientation - take classes that interest you. I stumbled into a class called "Introduction to Asian American History." As you can tell, I'm obviously Asian, but I grew up in St. Louis Missouri, where there are hardly any Asian people. It was the first time I had taken a class where the topic had relevance to my own life. It was the first time I had felt passionate about a subject. And it was the first time where I had an opportunity to meet a professor who could inspire me to switch majors, write a thesis, and consider graduate school in history. So thank you Professor Chang, for teaching me the value of history and making me envious of an office filled to the ceiling with books. I would not be here today without your mentorship.

History has taught me the value of being a critical thinker and active citizen in our society. My roommate Sophomore year didn't even know where Missouri was on the United States map, so I bought him an atlas. My dorm mates learned a great deal this year about Japanese Americans who returned to San Francisco after World War II, the topic of my thesis, through dinner time conversations and forcing a few to revise my chapters. You can't go wrong with a subject you love, so if anyone in the audience would like to talk with me in more detail about my thesis, please see me after the ceremony.

This major has also prepared me for the future. Two months ago, during Freshman Admit Weekend, I spoke on a panel for my job as a research assistant at the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, which is directed by history professor Clayborne Carson. A parent directly asked me about the practicality of a history major. I told her that there is a common misconception about history - it is not just facts and dates. It is about analyzing the human condition, about discovering how people and systems operated in the past, allowing us to understand values and solutions that are practical and workable in a broader context. And I concluded by saying, "So you can major in history, and still get a job." And the parents actually started clapping! Can you believe that?

But, it's true. We are all moving on to promising futures. The world, more than ever, needs people with an understanding of human events, or even more simply, people who know how to read, analyze, write, and defend their ideas. In many ways, it is the most practical major Stanford offers.

Finally, I think many would agree with me that we owe a great deal to our professors. In class, you questioned our ideas and taught us how to question others. I guess the all-nighters to finish papers were worth it. We didn't just write papers that regurgitated material, but produced original scholarly papers that looked at a particular event, person, or organization in a completely innovative way. We have all emerged as true historians - critical thinkers, passionate readers, and researchers keen on having a better understanding of human events.

Wherever life leads us, we are prepared. Thank you faculty, friends, and family for coming today.

Thank you.