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◎ 12B Gloria Lan
I looked up at the square block that was the main NRC building. It looked exactly like what I'd always imagined a research center would look like. The building was a dull gray structure, undecorated save for the block words "M-55." I mentally prepared myself for a very boring summer.
However, after our orientation, I was surprised when my mentor, Christine Szymanski, told me that my lab was at another location. We drove along a scenic canal and finally stopped in front of a breathtakingly beautiful building. "This is the IBS building. It was modeled after Buckingham Palace." As Christine continued talking about the imported Italian marble, I couldn't help thinking that this summer would be unlike anything I had expected. I was right.
The people in my lab were absolutely amazing. I had never seen a group of people so intelligent and fun loving at the same time. It seemed as if they knew everything there was to know about molecular biology. They were always there to answer my questions, and their answers made the most complicated procedures seem obvious. However, the first time I ever saw their looks of concentration was when they were planning a prank to play on a fellow lab member. The first time I saw them don lab coats and goggles was when they were trying to break test tubes out of a centrifuge. From their lives, they taught me how to balance work and play. The lab itself was also something I also fell in love with. There was equipment in the lab that I had only read about in textbooks, and it was exciting to see the equipment actually being put into use. I got to use a PCR machine, run an agarose gel, and use the autoclave. The lab was a great place to do experiments, because it was always nice and quiet, besides the times people stood there arguing for the two hoods.
I was introduced to poutine, beavertails, maple candy, and cars that waited for you to cross the street first. I got to experience the magnificence of Niagara Falls and the serenity of Dao Lake. I learned how to walk through a mall without buying anything. I found out that Canadians really do say "eh" a lot.
Having only myself to rely on for six weeks made me more independent. It's made me more open to new experiences and meeting new people. I've learned how to do my own laundry, for the most part. I've learned to stuff socks in shoes to save space when packing. My summer at NRC was a summer of change. And when you're going through a summer of change, what better place to do it than the beautiful, low-humidity capital of Canada?
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NRC是加拿大的國家研究中心，分布於全國各地的大學和研究機構。位於渥太華的幾座研究所算是全國總部吧。我被分配到的單位是生物科學研究所
(Institute of Biological Science)
裡的腦血管研究小組。我的指導教授 Dr.
Wandong Zhang是我見過最溫和的中國人。雖然他的母語也是中文，但是，他總是用英文跟我交談。他抽空找我到走廊的窗前說明我實驗的目的，順便回答我的疑問。有一天，他拿了厚厚一疊的紙，說我有空可以讀一讀。翻開，才發現是四篇科學期刊中有關阿滋海默症的論文。閱讀論文是研究時不可或缺的工作。因為，設計、改進實驗的時候，需要參考很多近期的相關資料。我試著閱讀我拿到的文章，花了兩個小時的時間，只讀了十句，而又讀了五遍後才對文章第一段內容有點掌握。
保留的教導並幫助來自台灣的我，讓我不至於慌張無助。語言能力與人際關係確實也彌補了不少我在知識上的不足。我將我當時寫的研究計畫又重新拿出來看了一下，我寫道：「我的知識不多，但是我很好奇實驗室裡是如何研究人類的腦袋的。我想知道科學家是如何做一個研究、蒐集相關資料、設計實驗、操作儀器、分析數據以及進行討論。我想知道他們如何解決問題並得到結論。同時，我會盡力學習。」我想，我是真的一一實現了這些希望。
