ASU Polytechnic (and pics of Hector)

Hey all -- Just wanted to share some good news. This morning I got offered an assistant professor position in the engineering department at ASU Poly beginning next August (2008). I'm really excited about it -- I think it will be a great fit for me, and I can't wait to (finally) graduate and get things started! If all goes according to plan, Baris and I will both graduate in May and then spend a good amount of time in Turkey this summer before heading back to the US to start work in the fall.

Also, I visited Shari, Eric, and Hector a couple weeks ago, so I thought I'd post a picture or two of Hector since he's a pretty cute little guy! :)

Sunflower field, Thailand

Hi all,

Since I rarely post stuffs and never had pictures from Thailand....now here are some :) Last weekend, I went to see the sunflower field with my friends. Just a short road trip, about 2 hours from bangkok. Actually it took us about 2 and a half hour cuz we got lost :P During mid November til mid January every year, the sunflowers will blossom a lot before the farmers gather the seeds to make oil. People go there to enjoy the view, take pictures, enjoy the nice weather, and farmers market.

Its just the beginning of the sunflower blossom season, so we were a little afraid that we won't see much of the sunflowers. This was the first area we saw...all green and only 1 flower.

And then as we drove further...here's the field we were looking for. (For Jen...the gal in the picture isn't Poy...though she might look like Poy :P)

And the last pictures are just some view along the road when we were driving near the dam and a bhudda statue that we drove past.

Seattle

Hi all --

Baris and I were in Seattle this past weekend taking advantage of his "free flight" perk as a US Airways employee. The INFORMS conference started Sunday, but we weren't there for the conference. We were just there to visit everyone else who *was* there for the conference. :) Seattle is a pretty cool city; we had a very relaxing time visiting some of Baris' friends from Turkey, and we were also very happy to get to see Hari for several hours on Sunday. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

At breakfast with Cem and Hulya, Guvenc (friend from Turkey), Hari, Jen and Baris, and Menkes (who is taking the picture... )




Walking around Seattle: Cem, Hulya, Hari, Jen,Baris, and Menkes



At Pike's Market: Baris and Melih (friend from Turkey)