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We left San Francisco
for Stanford on June 24th. Kenter, my wife’s nephew, finished
his master degree in Material Engineering last May. He will move to San Francisco in two
months for his new job. He invites us to tour his campus before he moves
to San Francisco.
It sounds like a good idea to us. Before we left San Francisco for Stanford, I fulfilled
my daughter’s wish and drove to the “crooked flower street” on Lombard Street.
A lot more tourists are there in the morning than in the afternoon.
Kenter guided us to his parking lot and then we began the tour.
Stanford is the largest campus in the nation. We had a chance to see it
when we looked at the campus from a bird eye view on top of Hoover Tower. Stanford campus is huge. It
is larger than UCLA,
the campus I attended. To go from class to class, students must take bicycles.
Walking is out of question if there is only 10 minutes between classes.
Kenter also took us to lecture hall equipped with advanced technology so
online students can take class at the same time with live students.
During this tour, I also learned the founders of Helwett-Packard Company
were Stanford alumnus. Kenter told me one of the traditions at Stanford University is
jumping in the water fountain to refresh on hot days. Lucky for them, the
fountain water looks clean to me.
Leaving Stanford, we headed to Downtown Oakland to check in our hotel before we
went to UC Berkeley.
Our hotel in Downtown Oakland is near Chinatown which is very convenient for those who
love Chinese food.
We met our nieces May Lee and Roselyn at UC Berkeley in late
afternoon. They recently got their master and undergraduate degree last
May at UC Berkeley. This campus is very similar to UCLA but it is a bit
smaller. Since there is not enough land, the dormitory was technically
located outside but with short walking distance to campus. UC Berkeley is
not as huge as Stanford so students can walk from class to class. Bike
riding between classes is a plus but it is not a must as it is in
Stanford.
After the tours, my son told me he likes UC Berkeley since it is
more intimate. My daughter, on the other hand, loves Stanford simply
because the campus is new and beautiful. I will remember the reasons and
choices they give me now and I will see if there is any change after they
graduate from high school. It is going to be fun.
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