Note
It's been a crap week; I've been feeling malaise and weakness for three days now.
In addition to being behind on my training, I've been behind on my logging. While the information has gradually diffused through the community, let it be known that I moved to Toronto at the beginning of January to start graduate school! I am in the Medical Biophysics program, which is a curious hybrid of biology and biophysics. My department includes computational biology, which is my area of expertise. I have the option of finishing just a Masters', but the plan is to push through a Ph.D. One of my main reasons for coming here is that I've collaborated with my current adviser, Dr. Benjamin Haibe-Kains, while at the Broad. One of my biggest lessons from my time at the Broad was the importance of choosing your boss, especially in an academic (read: feudal) setting. I'm doing rotations now in pharmacogenomics, epigenomics, and scRNAseq labs and taking classes. U Toronto has an especially legendary machine learning and statistics group, so I plan to take some classes in those departments.
A few observations:
1. Toronto as a city does not feel particularly different from Boston. U Toronto works closely with the hospitals in the area as part of the University Health Network, much like Boston's infrastructure. Curiously, there are dozens of neighborhoods with stark boundaries and well-defined cultural identities. Some are ethnic, like Chinatown and Little Portugal; there's a huge variety of restaurants.
2. I have banked with MIT's Federal Credit Union for my adult life, and they have been more than adequate. I obtained a Canadian bank account at a major bank, and I've found the experience more adversarial. The bank is trying to sell my products, and they are more persistent than the credit union.
3. Toronto's subway (TTC), while limited to basically two lines, is excellent. It's cleaner than Boston's and has monitors at every station with information about the next train (and news). Also, I've never had to wait more than 4-5 minutes for a train, even at late hours. Finally, they keep the doors open for a much shorter period at each stop - usually about ten seconds - than New York or Boston. This enables the train to travel much faster between stations, though you have to be ready to jump off at your stop.
4. I've connected with a bit of the orienteering scene - chiefly Klepperton (Mark Innes), who lives a few km from me. I need to get into a regular training regimen with weekly runs with Mark. I'm also looking for a track club, though I've been using the athletic center facilities intermittently for now. The two Toronto orienteering events I've been to so far both had some snow (read: Canadians are tough) and a smorgasbord of hot food and snacks after.
5. Tim Horton's has replaced Dunkin in my life. I'm trying to limit myself to only one delicious double-double coffee per day.
6. I recently made couscous for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed the combination of taste, substance, and ease of preparation.