Guilin(桂林) is a beautiful area in China with plenty of sights to see and enjoy. During my second trip to China, I stayed in Guilin for over three months enjoying these wonderful views. But the thing that Guilin is also known for is their rice noodles or Guilin Mifen (桂林米粉). Guilin(桂林) is the location, mi(米) is rice, and fen(粉) in this case means noodle. You can find these noodles all over Guilin and in large cities throughout China. In Guilin, the noodles cost about a dollar, but if you get it with horse meat, it can be up to two dollars. Still very affordable. At the airport leaving Guilin it cost the ridiculous price of $3-$4, the same price I saw at a Guilin noodle shop in Shanghai(上海). I know that isn’t a lot of money, but I was traveling on a budget just out of university.
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Teaching Myself Quantum Field Theory
Quantum field theory (or QFT) is the combination of Einstein’s special relativity and quantum mechanics. Knowledge of both of these are a must in order to study QFT. There are many resources to learning both, and while I do not have a favorite special relativity resources, for quantum mechanics I prefer A Modern Approach to Quantum Mechanics by John S. Townsend. Quantum field theory is used everyday in many fields of physics. Originally particle physics was the field that employed QFT the most, it has become big in cosmology (my field) and condensed matter.
So in this blog post I will share with you my plans for study quantum field theory (which I will update a bit in the beginning as I see what materials I can reasonably get my hands on). I will then post updates to my progress and my thoughts on how to teach yourself quantum field theory. I will then post a final writeup of my thoughts on how the whole process went down. Continue reading “Teaching Myself Quantum Field Theory”
Burlington Vermont
Burlington Vermont is a popular travel destination in the green mountain state, and there are plenty of activities year round.
In the summer there are plenty of activities centered around Lake Champlain, including sailing, fishing, and tours around the lake. The waterfront constantly has events going on and is an enjoyable place to relax on a warm summer day. Continue reading “Burlington Vermont”
Anki, A Spaced Repetition System to Help You Memorize Anything
Anki (which you can find here) is a spaced repetition system with the aim of helping you remember information. Spaced repetition systems are common and becoming increasingly well known in language learning circles. The way they work is after initially learning a piece of information (such as a word) you are tested on it shortly after to refresh it in your mind. If you recalled it correctly you will see it again after a longer period of time, such as a day. This interval increases each time you get it right. So if you get it right a day later you will see it again in about three days, then 5, then a week, a month, until you won’t expect to see it for a very long time. You can do this by hand (which I have done on occasion) but it is much easier to use software already out there. Continue reading “Anki, A Spaced Repetition System to Help You Memorize Anything”
My Top 8 Chinese Language Learning Resources
I am not getting paid to write any of this, I just like these a lot.
1.) First and foremost, the tool that I used the most is Pleco. It’s a Chinese dictionary app that is free, but for something like $100 you can get many types of dictionaries, an integrated reading tool, the best dictionary app I have ever used, stroke order diagram, and audio pronunciation. They have dictionaries in different languages like Spanish, medical dictionaries, idiom dictionaries, this is seriously the best app for Chinese in my mind. Itunes, Android, and their website.
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