Farewell, Columbia!

I left Columbia in early September as my postdoc position at the University of South Carolina ended. There, I worked with Professor Alexey Petrov. As the saying goes, surround yourself with the best minds, and learn from them. And I learned a lot from him. I did not publish as many papers as I would have liked, but I much appreciate the breadth and depth of topics and ideas we discussed. At work and beyond, he was exceptionally helpful and I am very grateful for that.

I lived in Columbia for three years. I still remember when I first arrived there. My first impression, and this is probably true for most cities in the United States, was that everything was big. Buildings, parking lots, cars, roads, open spaces, all of them I found on average to be bigger than most places I had ever lived in before.

While living in Taipei previously, I had picked up the habit of going outside the city and escaping into nature on weekends. I used to often go hiking in the mountains or see the ocean with my friends. I loved it, but it also helped me feel fresh and reinvigorated when I started working the following Monday. I missed this a lot in Columbia. Public transport, especially if you want to go outside Columbia, is not great, and I will regret forever that I didn't consider getting a car. Well, I still don't know how to drive a car! So, early on, I didn't like the city much.

But after living there for some time, Columbia grew on me. Although the capital of South Carolina, it is not a typical big city that is buzzing and bustling. But it has its charm and warmth. I personally very much enjoyed the laid-back and peaceful life it offered. People are very nice and helpful.

I am going to miss a lot of things. I will miss my weekend walks to the Congaree River, I will miss seeing golden and burgundy colors of autumn tree leaves while walking to campus in the morning, and I will miss seeing the many beautiful colors of the sky in the evening while returning. And, I will definitely miss having a good coffee with avocado toast for breakfast, while also being sometimes miffed and sometimes delighted by the whistle of the train that used to pass behind my apartment in the morning.