First day we got to sleep in. I mean.. reeeally sleep in, until about 11am. Our plan for today was to visit Mati’s lab at University of Calgary. Feeling rested, we decided to walk to the lab as Google Maps told us it was 2.5km away, about a 30 minute walk for us.
We walked right by McMahon Stadium, where the U of Calgary Dino football team and Calgary Stampede (CFL) play.
The security there? Non existent…. We walked right onto the field while the players were doing walkthroughs.
We got kind of lost, and was helped out by a few construction guys who pointed us in the right direction. Everyone’s nice here! We sprinted across 16th Ave, which is apparently a highway, devoid of any pedestrian crossings, and approached the University of Calgary Health Sciences Center.
In the parking lot we saw a bunch of outlets at the head of each parking spot. Tats was amazed as he thought everyone drove electric cars.
Turns out, these outlets are for the engine block heaters installed in cars for the wintertime. See, when it gets cold, the coolant freezes up, even if you use antifreeze. But it regularly gets to 0F and below here, so each car is fitted with a heating element in the coolant sump, and keeps the temp just above freezing so your car can start right up! Guess that will be a modification for my car in the near future.
Inside the Health Sciences Center are actually multiple buildings – interestingly, the way that things are built here, buildings within buildings, underground tunnels, etc… allow access to most buildings without going outside, useful when the weather outside is adverse, which I guess is most days out here.
We met Matiram in Dr. Marc Poulin’s lab, an investigator well known for his work in hypoxia.
There was an experiment going in the hypoxic chamber, but because we are responsible researchers, the subject was not photographed… (Research ethics, right Sue??) The study was looking at various responses to intermittent hypoxia (60 sec on, 60 sec off) to hopefully mimic OSA – Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Cool stuff!!!
We were given a tour of some of the equipment and the work done in the lab. It’s a very busy lab, multiple experiments happening. Met a few other graduate students. It’s always fun chatting science with other students and getting excited over new findings, and trading ideas for collaborations.
We then took off to get lunch, because we skipped breakfast. First stop was the bank, because I hadn’t had a chance to exchange my US Dollars for Canadian Dollars. Canadian money is infinitely more interesting, with shiny strips and different colors! First thing we bought with the new money was Chinese food- asian people in Canada WHAT??
Next stop was the main campus at U of C. There were logos depicting UC – Tats and I laughed because nobody else would get the joke if he brought home a UC shirt. (University of California) Nobody in the bookstore found it funny either. Other stops of note, the Kinesiology Corridor, where the exercise physiology research facilities were, and the fitness center, volleyball courts, etc.
Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics, and they built the Olympic Oval, a facility for speed skating.
Lots of cool things going on, we asked for a tour of the facilities, claiming we were graduate students from San Diego. Here is Tats inspired about picking up speed skating
Youth teams were practicing their speedskating skills, hockey player on the ice, and I think the Chinese speedskating team was visiting and training, doing drills on the artificial track and stuff.
Here are some other pics of buildings and sculptures of the beautiful campus of Calgary.
I can’t praise it too much because University of Alberta is supposedly their big rival. I need to get in that mindset… Go Golden Bears!
Tonight we are planning a full nights rest before taking off to Edmonton in the AM.
Bonus: we stopped at a liquor store to buy some beer, and were outraged at the prices. This couple was buying a 24 pack of Bud Light and the total came to be over $30 dollars. I asked them, is it worth it? Wrong on so many levels… We left with a six pack of Unibroue ‘La Fin du Monde’. Hopefully we will live to see another jour.
Until tomorrow!
Vince
Vincent Tedjasaputra, Ph.D. 