blog much?

i have been at my postdoc for a month.
i miss not having to ask questions about everything. i miss being the one people ask questions of. though, the rotato in my new lab asks me lots of questions. it helps.

here's a question story scenario. two of my new lab members are Chinese. one is very new to the US and his English is a little shakey, but he's learning. last week I went to lunch with the two of them (which is just upstairs when I bring food). when talking to me at the table, every word is in English. But random other Chinese people walk by and then they all start talking in Chinese. I do not understand and I am completely ruded out of the table. This has happened twice now, and I just get up and leave when I'm done eating. And I try to eat faster so that I can get up and get out of there. Is it okay that I just leave?? Should I say something about how annoying it is for a conversation to happen with me in the conversation circle that i cannot understand?? Or should I just stop going to lunch with them?? The new postdoc isn't going to get better with his English if he doesn't practice. And who better to practice with than a Chinese girl with good English and an American girl who only speaks English.

I am also not feeling as chippy and cheerful as I was in grad school (which may just be the biggest oxymoron ever). We cannot listen to music in the lab (torture) and everyone is really quiet (odd). I feel like I must be quiet too, but I am not very good at it. So, I break the silence, but I feel like I'm imposing on everyone. This is just not normal to me. The headphones come out a lot, which I found helpful forcing me to focus in my old lab. But still being in the question asking phase, I need to have my ears and I need everyone else to have their ears. Sigh...

Adam and I are really getting cracking with the wedding planning. I think we've found a place, we really need to find a caterer. Though I'm wondering about just getting GIANT subs from Subway... Anyway, I will be letting everyone know soon about the date, hopefully in the next week.
The dates we're looking at are 5 months away. theknot.com makes me feel like imploding with their list of things that should have been done by now. or maybe exploding, we'll have to see...