Fall 1 ended

無事、四半期が終わりました。

The first term ended. It was indeed busy, but it was not as busy as I imagined (I imagined a life like a hell). I could somehow follow up my classes, and fortunately, enjoyed other activities as well. Time flies. But I don't think I missed it. 

2 out of 4 classes were completed in the first term. 

Introductory Epidemiology was really a course about "Introductory of how Epidemiology is difficult." It seemed like everyone crashed at one time or another. Me? crashed at every class.The lecturer might speak English, but, for me, it didn't make sense at all.  Homework was so challenging. It took 2 days to just understand the meaning of the questions, and other 3 days to solve, 1 day to review. Anyway, thanks to the "training," I could deeply understand what the causal inference is. 

Introductory Social Epidemiology was an eye-opening. Through many survey results and humors, the lecturer pointed out that inequality itself undermines health of a society. Well, according to his theory, moving to the U.S. from Japan may affect my health in bad ways... In fact, I cannot relax when I walk outside and that can influence in very long-term. But, on the other hand, after I arrived here, my health status improved dramatically. Maybe that's because of the notorious New England climate (it's good for me), new life styles (keeping regular hours + eating organic dishes) and good friends. Though I wouldn't be the case of the theory, the theory seems to be a reality, and that makes me feel that I should contribute to alleviate disparities in health. 

Fall 2 term begins tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to attending new classes.