For the first time this quarter, I finally feel like I am in control of my workload! The project that I've been working on and that has been hanging over my head for the last two quarters is ready to be submitted. It isn't done, but it's done for now.
Also, I have an actual question that I might be able to work with and it is certainly a starting point for the dissertation question. The question is still in its infancy, but its existence makes me believe that I can do this. It also gives me something to work with for my grant writing class, which I've been struggling with the whole quarter.
While I'm very glad to be at this better place, I'm also pretty startled to look up and realize that I am half way through this second quarter. It is moving entirely too fast. I can already envision the coming scramble in the final weeks.
As a reward, I am planning to spend tonight not worrying about anything school related. This whole quarter, even when I have been doing other things, I have felt a constant thrum of worry about my classes, the project and the future. Tonight, because I am feeling so accomplished, I am not going to feel that worry at all.
I wish that I had a picture to post, but I haven't taken any in a long while. Maybe next time...
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Reality Check
I've had another frustrating week - and it is just Wednesday. I'm really at a personal impasse about which direction to take both in classes and for a larger dissertation path. As I'm also a huge worrywart by nature, I'm feeling pretty uncomfortable. After a discussion with my advisor today, I realized that what I'm struggling with is finding a balance between what I would choose in a perfect world, and what is accomplish-able.
I think that this is probably a good moment to review why I decided to pursue this degree. And since I'm needing to see those reasons clearly stated, I am going to write them as a list.
1. I find women's healthcare to be the most interesting area of healthcare.
2. I trust women to tell me what they need.
3. I have questions about how to best provide care to women.
4. I know that these questions are answerable through science.
5. I want to participate in answering those questions and educating the next generation of nurses.
Okay. There's the basic list.
It is a reassuring list. I am doing this for more than one good reason. What I need to embrace now is that this is a process, a multi-year process. I have time to think about how to accomplish this degree and to learn more about the best way to direct myself to accomplish my longer-term goals. I do not need to have the perfect answer to anything (research question, dissertation question, methods, etc.) yet.
I am just working through the process.
I'm going for a run now. I need to burn off some of these stress hormones...
I think that this is probably a good moment to review why I decided to pursue this degree. And since I'm needing to see those reasons clearly stated, I am going to write them as a list.
1. I find women's healthcare to be the most interesting area of healthcare.
2. I trust women to tell me what they need.
3. I have questions about how to best provide care to women.
4. I know that these questions are answerable through science.
5. I want to participate in answering those questions and educating the next generation of nurses.
Okay. There's the basic list.
It is a reassuring list. I am doing this for more than one good reason. What I need to embrace now is that this is a process, a multi-year process. I have time to think about how to accomplish this degree and to learn more about the best way to direct myself to accomplish my longer-term goals. I do not need to have the perfect answer to anything (research question, dissertation question, methods, etc.) yet.
I am just working through the process.
I'm going for a run now. I need to burn off some of these stress hormones...
Friday, January 21, 2011
Questions about THE question
I thought I'd post on THE question today. It is a topic that has been brought up by a reader and a topic that is particularly important to me right now.
The hard truth about doctoral studies is that at some point you have to do something that enables you to write your dissertation. That something, that you do, has to contribute new information to your scientific community.
This may not seem like such a daunting thing to some of my readers. In fact, I wasn't that concerned about it when I applied. As an undergraduate I participated in a pilot study, doing quite a bit of the research myself (though guided closely by my mentor). In my master's program, I performed a secondary data analysis and I should probably have tried to publish the results as they would have contributed new information. Some people do a secondary data analysis for their dissertation. However, (and yes you can read a giant, capitalized BUT there) from what I've determined so far, it is different at the doctoral level.
It is different because we aren't doing this as part of a master's project, or for a paper. We won't be allowed to just take some data and run some tests on it. Even if the machinations look similar, the underlying foundation has changed. First, a research doctoral student should be asking a specific question that was determined to be important by studying a general topic to the point of absurdity. And, the way that one asks that question, analyzes the data that result from the question, and presents and disseminates the data are all designed by the student. That's why two years of study are required before the PhD-powers-that-be (also known as your committee) let you make the final, absolute, resolute, certain choice of THE question: Your research question. (Some people do it faster, some people do it slower - two years seems to be the average amount of time it takes to be really prepped to ask a good question with a solid foundation....)
If I've learned anything so far, it's that the final product of the published paper is fairly removed from the actual work of the research. The published paper is a pretty representation of the question, which motivated the design, which directed a researcher's attempts to gain entree into their research location, which probably preceded begging for grants, funds, MONEY! to perform the study from a bunch of people using forms that are just short of incomprehensible. And all of that came after reading as much of the literature on the general topic, then on the framework of the type of research, then on the theoretical basis for both, then back again to the literature for the specifics. And it is a long process from the start of that to the end of the dissertation.
However, (there's that giant BUT again) the profs really like us to think about it along the way. So for classes, they say things like, "Pick a question. It doesn't have to be your dissertation question, but pick a question, and show me how you would..." do a critical literature review, contact an expert, perform a concept diagram on the topic, ask the question in a qualitative way, ask the question as a quantitative question.... etc. etc. etc. They want us to practice the thinking of it. Every time we do, we see the problems in our thinking or design and we get closer to THE actual question. Oh, and to add to the joy - the student does this in the full view of her peers.
Regardless of the angst (I use the word with all its associated connotations. It feels just like teenage fretting at times), in the end it works. People get through. Their classes help them hone their skills, their peers help them see the flaws in their thinking, the profs help you negotiate the process and nurses actually get doctorates.
I hope.
So, here are the important points of my above discussion:
1. Very few people (though, some do) know their dissertation question when they walk in the door.
2. Part of the fun of classes with the other people in your cohort is that you get to hear everyone's topics, areas of interest, and questions. You also get to hear them evolve.
3. At some point, someone is going to want to know EXACTLY what you want to ask, research, etc. to get out of school. For once and for all. (These are nurses after all. We're a practical bunch. You start talking about the 7-year program and some kindly prof is going to grab you by your scruff and give you a little shake.)
4. Just remember, once the dissertation is complete, the research isn't supposed to end.... But your "program of research" is a whole 'nother topic.
The hard truth about doctoral studies is that at some point you have to do something that enables you to write your dissertation. That something, that you do, has to contribute new information to your scientific community.
This may not seem like such a daunting thing to some of my readers. In fact, I wasn't that concerned about it when I applied. As an undergraduate I participated in a pilot study, doing quite a bit of the research myself (though guided closely by my mentor). In my master's program, I performed a secondary data analysis and I should probably have tried to publish the results as they would have contributed new information. Some people do a secondary data analysis for their dissertation. However, (and yes you can read a giant, capitalized BUT there) from what I've determined so far, it is different at the doctoral level.
It is different because we aren't doing this as part of a master's project, or for a paper. We won't be allowed to just take some data and run some tests on it. Even if the machinations look similar, the underlying foundation has changed. First, a research doctoral student should be asking a specific question that was determined to be important by studying a general topic to the point of absurdity. And, the way that one asks that question, analyzes the data that result from the question, and presents and disseminates the data are all designed by the student. That's why two years of study are required before the PhD-powers-that-be (also known as your committee) let you make the final, absolute, resolute, certain choice of THE question: Your research question. (Some people do it faster, some people do it slower - two years seems to be the average amount of time it takes to be really prepped to ask a good question with a solid foundation....)
If I've learned anything so far, it's that the final product of the published paper is fairly removed from the actual work of the research. The published paper is a pretty representation of the question, which motivated the design, which directed a researcher's attempts to gain entree into their research location, which probably preceded begging for grants, funds, MONEY! to perform the study from a bunch of people using forms that are just short of incomprehensible. And all of that came after reading as much of the literature on the general topic, then on the framework of the type of research, then on the theoretical basis for both, then back again to the literature for the specifics. And it is a long process from the start of that to the end of the dissertation.
However, (there's that giant BUT again) the profs really like us to think about it along the way. So for classes, they say things like, "Pick a question. It doesn't have to be your dissertation question, but pick a question, and show me how you would..." do a critical literature review, contact an expert, perform a concept diagram on the topic, ask the question in a qualitative way, ask the question as a quantitative question.... etc. etc. etc. They want us to practice the thinking of it. Every time we do, we see the problems in our thinking or design and we get closer to THE actual question. Oh, and to add to the joy - the student does this in the full view of her peers.
Regardless of the angst (I use the word with all its associated connotations. It feels just like teenage fretting at times), in the end it works. People get through. Their classes help them hone their skills, their peers help them see the flaws in their thinking, the profs help you negotiate the process and nurses actually get doctorates.
I hope.
So, here are the important points of my above discussion:
1. Very few people (though, some do) know their dissertation question when they walk in the door.
2. Part of the fun of classes with the other people in your cohort is that you get to hear everyone's topics, areas of interest, and questions. You also get to hear them evolve.
3. At some point, someone is going to want to know EXACTLY what you want to ask, research, etc. to get out of school. For once and for all. (These are nurses after all. We're a practical bunch. You start talking about the 7-year program and some kindly prof is going to grab you by your scruff and give you a little shake.)
4. Just remember, once the dissertation is complete, the research isn't supposed to end.... But your "program of research" is a whole 'nother topic.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Week Two Update
As I head into week three of the quarter, I wanted to post something a little more upbeat than my previous two posts from this quarter. I think that I've worked through some of my winter quarter angst, and I thought that I would share the process with all the potential students. The two reasons that I've been able to work through my worry are my classmates and this weekend, which was restful.
This quarter, my two primary classes are the first of the statistics series that I will take during the program and a class that is called "Health and Human Systems." I know. It isn't a very elucidating name. Basically, it is a class to teach us, as researchers, how to find, what we call "the gaps" in the literature. (The gaps are the things that we don't know or haven't answered yet. They are the places that need more knowledge.One finds these by reading the literature and looking for the gaps, hence their nickname.) Or that is my interpretation of the class. So far, all we've done is try to perform a literature search on our topics. Which was when I hit my first bump in the road.
We all have our areas of interest. Mine is quite clear in my head. But outside of my head, it is actually a large, historied, and occasionally, contentious area of medical research. I need to narrow my focus. The instructors believe that to do this we should pick a research question. I agree, in theory, but I'm not ready to do that...yet. I would love to have a specific research question. That would make things a LOT easier. However, I haven't yet identified the gaps in the literature, so how do I know what to ask? And so begins a frighteningly circular argument which prevents me from sleeping at night.
So, as I tried to perform this literature search, I realized that my topic was huge. I have read a lot on my very large topic, so in my head it made a lot of sense, but on paper, it looked like a hot mess. So I tried to narrow it. I thought that I had done a good job of this... the professors did not. The thing about the doctoral program is that, as a learning exercise, the profs want you to get yourself out of your own messes. No one is going to hold your hand. (I don't think that they would really let us go too far down, but they might let us stumble along for a while to teach us to pay better attention...) So after letting me know that they were not completely satisfied with my work, they then sent me on my way. And that way led to sleepless nights and extreme worry.
The reason that I am not having a complete nervous breakdown is that I found out I was not completely alone. Apparently, almost all of us walked out of that class with similar comments. Oh! The relief! Maybe I am not completely hopeless! Once again, it is good to have classmates. I still had to spend the week working through my issue and really determining what area within my ginormous topic I was going to focus on for this class, but at least, I am not alone!
And then, this weekend, I actually took a small break. My husband is here and we went to see one of my classmates perform in the community symphony. It was wonderful and relaxing and uplifting and shut off my worry for a good two hours. Afterward we all went for German food and a nice city walk. This mini-crisis has reminded me how very important good friends are during this process. It could be very solitary work - not one of us is interested in the exact same topic - but we are not lonely because we are all taking the same initial classes. Plodding though our steps may be, we are at least making progress all together.
I feel much more ready to start week three than I did week two, and that is a small victory.
This quarter, my two primary classes are the first of the statistics series that I will take during the program and a class that is called "Health and Human Systems." I know. It isn't a very elucidating name. Basically, it is a class to teach us, as researchers, how to find, what we call "the gaps" in the literature. (The gaps are the things that we don't know or haven't answered yet. They are the places that need more knowledge.One finds these by reading the literature and looking for the gaps, hence their nickname.) Or that is my interpretation of the class. So far, all we've done is try to perform a literature search on our topics. Which was when I hit my first bump in the road.
We all have our areas of interest. Mine is quite clear in my head. But outside of my head, it is actually a large, historied, and occasionally, contentious area of medical research. I need to narrow my focus. The instructors believe that to do this we should pick a research question. I agree, in theory, but I'm not ready to do that...yet. I would love to have a specific research question. That would make things a LOT easier. However, I haven't yet identified the gaps in the literature, so how do I know what to ask? And so begins a frighteningly circular argument which prevents me from sleeping at night.
So, as I tried to perform this literature search, I realized that my topic was huge. I have read a lot on my very large topic, so in my head it made a lot of sense, but on paper, it looked like a hot mess. So I tried to narrow it. I thought that I had done a good job of this... the professors did not. The thing about the doctoral program is that, as a learning exercise, the profs want you to get yourself out of your own messes. No one is going to hold your hand. (I don't think that they would really let us go too far down, but they might let us stumble along for a while to teach us to pay better attention...) So after letting me know that they were not completely satisfied with my work, they then sent me on my way. And that way led to sleepless nights and extreme worry.
The reason that I am not having a complete nervous breakdown is that I found out I was not completely alone. Apparently, almost all of us walked out of that class with similar comments. Oh! The relief! Maybe I am not completely hopeless! Once again, it is good to have classmates. I still had to spend the week working through my issue and really determining what area within my ginormous topic I was going to focus on for this class, but at least, I am not alone!
And then, this weekend, I actually took a small break. My husband is here and we went to see one of my classmates perform in the community symphony. It was wonderful and relaxing and uplifting and shut off my worry for a good two hours. Afterward we all went for German food and a nice city walk. This mini-crisis has reminded me how very important good friends are during this process. It could be very solitary work - not one of us is interested in the exact same topic - but we are not lonely because we are all taking the same initial classes. Plodding though our steps may be, we are at least making progress all together.
I feel much more ready to start week three than I did week two, and that is a small victory.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Overload
I may have over-committed myself. The workload didn't seem like it was going to be that heavy this quarter, but I might have underestimated it. While it doesn't have as much reading as last quarter, it does require a lot more output from me with bi-weekly statistics problems and weekly short-papers due in my two primary classes. That would be fine, absolutely manageable, if not for all the other stuff.
1. The registered campus organization that I'm helping with (read organizing, developing and directing without much help...)
2. The project. I am beginning to have nightmares in which it never gets done. Ever.
3. The other class that I signed up for, but haven't started, on grant-writing. This class has the potential to be really helpful and also really stressful as it requires a lot of focus on moving towards establishing an actual research question.
4. My new commitment to health and school/life balance. It really feels like it would be easier to just pick one. Not try to do something crazy like both.
5. Volunteering at the clinic.
6. Working on getting another paper(s) ready to submit for publication.
So when I look at this list, it doesn't really seem that bad. But, for some reason it feels like I'm overloaded.
I think that I'm actually going to post this and then never look at it again. I need to just keep moving forward, instead of trying to count and consider every obligation that I have. One requirement at a time. This might be one of those quarters where not being able to see the forest for the trees could be a stress-buffer. I'm not going to even look for the forest, I'm just going to look at each tree. By itself. Without thinking about the other trees.
1. The registered campus organization that I'm helping with (read organizing, developing and directing without much help...)
2. The project. I am beginning to have nightmares in which it never gets done. Ever.
3. The other class that I signed up for, but haven't started, on grant-writing. This class has the potential to be really helpful and also really stressful as it requires a lot of focus on moving towards establishing an actual research question.
4. My new commitment to health and school/life balance. It really feels like it would be easier to just pick one. Not try to do something crazy like both.
5. Volunteering at the clinic.
6. Working on getting another paper(s) ready to submit for publication.
So when I look at this list, it doesn't really seem that bad. But, for some reason it feels like I'm overloaded.
I think that I'm actually going to post this and then never look at it again. I need to just keep moving forward, instead of trying to count and consider every obligation that I have. One requirement at a time. This might be one of those quarters where not being able to see the forest for the trees could be a stress-buffer. I'm not going to even look for the forest, I'm just going to look at each tree. By itself. Without thinking about the other trees.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Chicago Nostalgia
It isn't always schoolwork that makes this process difficult. I'm starting to realize that good grades, active classwork, and strong effort aren't going to be nearly enough to make the PhD a worthwhile achievement. What's going to get me hired to teach and research when I graduate might be more dependent on what I did outside of the classes: publications, research grants, and presentations at national conferences, than any grade I receive. Scary stuff. A large percentage of my cohort has been published already. I expect that almost all of us will have submitted something for publication by the end of the first year. I have a classmate whose publication goal is one per quarter, at least four per year.
This pressure weighs heavily on me. This morning I woke up at 6:30 with thoughts for the project that I've been working on, and I needed to put them down on paper RIGHT THEN. I think that I had only fallen asleep two or three hours before because of my tossing and turning while I worried about this project. I've been writing almost continuously since I woke up. I want this project to be something great and that sense of pressure keeps me up a lot of nights.
My cohort has a term for the profs that are great. (Great in this context means that they have changed the world with their research and that they teach, write and raise their families with aplomb.) We call them "rockstars." The term, when used by my cohort, is imbued with respect, awe, a little fear and a deep longing to one day be among that group. One of our TAs yesterday summed up rockstars in nursing by saying, "You might ask a question that we don't know the answer to. Unlike Dr.___, we're only human." I'm working on this project with one of these superhuman nurses, a real rockstar of nursing research, and I want to produce something that is worthy of that honor.
When I look back on the first quarter of the doctoral program and this project, there will be a soundtrack playing in my head. This soundtrack is compiled of 15 songs that I've been playing on repeat since I started the program. On iTunes I've labeled this group of songs "Chicago Nostalgia." The music in this grouping reminds me a lot of the music that my friends and I danced to in high school, hence its name. It is loud, throbbing and entirely offensive to people who aren't as actively stressed as I am.
I was playing it on my computer speakers, but my husband started calling it the "Oh God, turn it off" music, the cat was hiding under the bed, and the neighbors were banging on the floor (our ceiling) to express their displeasure. Now, I only listen to it on my iPod. But, really, I would never have guessed that taking a work break to crazy-dance to Kinky's "Mas" wasn't relaxing to everybody if I hadn't seen the evidence for myself....
This pressure weighs heavily on me. This morning I woke up at 6:30 with thoughts for the project that I've been working on, and I needed to put them down on paper RIGHT THEN. I think that I had only fallen asleep two or three hours before because of my tossing and turning while I worried about this project. I've been writing almost continuously since I woke up. I want this project to be something great and that sense of pressure keeps me up a lot of nights.
My cohort has a term for the profs that are great. (Great in this context means that they have changed the world with their research and that they teach, write and raise their families with aplomb.) We call them "rockstars." The term, when used by my cohort, is imbued with respect, awe, a little fear and a deep longing to one day be among that group. One of our TAs yesterday summed up rockstars in nursing by saying, "You might ask a question that we don't know the answer to. Unlike Dr.___, we're only human." I'm working on this project with one of these superhuman nurses, a real rockstar of nursing research, and I want to produce something that is worthy of that honor.
When I look back on the first quarter of the doctoral program and this project, there will be a soundtrack playing in my head. This soundtrack is compiled of 15 songs that I've been playing on repeat since I started the program. On iTunes I've labeled this group of songs "Chicago Nostalgia." The music in this grouping reminds me a lot of the music that my friends and I danced to in high school, hence its name. It is loud, throbbing and entirely offensive to people who aren't as actively stressed as I am.
I was playing it on my computer speakers, but my husband started calling it the "Oh God, turn it off" music, the cat was hiding under the bed, and the neighbors were banging on the floor (our ceiling) to express their displeasure. Now, I only listen to it on my iPod. But, really, I would never have guessed that taking a work break to crazy-dance to Kinky's "Mas" wasn't relaxing to everybody if I hadn't seen the evidence for myself....
Monday, January 3, 2011
Winter Quarter
Currently Reading: Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Happy New Year!!!
The next quarter starts today! Winter quarter classes for my cohort begin tomorrow, but today is the official start for the whole school. For whatever reason, today has also felt like the real start of 2011. I like to think that I am prepared. I have my list of resolutions clutched tightly in one hand and my organized binders in the other. After I purchase notebooks today at the campus bookstore, I should be ready to march out into the world of statistics and grant writing.
I have a lovely list of resolutions, which I have every intention of keeping! I always post my resolutions on the fridge door. This keeps me accountable to myself and also everyone who eats at my house... My resolution success rate for 2010 was 60%. That isn't great, but it also isn't awful.
This year, a couple of the resolutions are focused exclusively on creating a better school/life balance. Last quarter, I basically stopped doing healthy things like exercising. I also lost weight (from stress, not for my health), had worsening insomnia, and got walking pneumonia. I have chosen to view these as signs that I was not effectively balancing my obligations. I have signed up for a yoga class, thought through some ways to manage my time better, and I'm hoping that I will see some decrease in my stress.
As for the break, well, it was incredibly short. Also, the stress of the other project that I've been working on never really abated. Overall, the best of the break was my sister's visit, and the worst was trying to force this project forward. As a completed manuscript isn't due until February 1st, I expect the first month of this quarter to be intense and full of edits and re-writes. (I actually should be editing right now, but I wanted to start the quarter off with a post. Also, posting here is much, much easier than the edits!)
Our complete grades from fall quarter have still not been posted. I am hopeful that the grade we're awaiting will post this week. I've never been at a school where the grades from previous classes are still in limbo when the next classes start. It feels unfinished, and as I am a linear thinker and a bit OCD, it makes me slightly uncomfortable.
Finally, on a positive note, my sister and I found the coolest sushi place! I love it! I am trying to get everyone who comes here to go with me. It was the most calm dining experience I've ever had and sort of felt like slow-dining. Basically, sushi is made by the chefs, without customer input and put onto these little boats that float around in front of the patrons. If a patron wants the sushi, he or she takes it off the boat. There are some tiny signs that give you a rough indication of what each type of fish might be, but there is no explanation of the rolls. It was so relaxing. Oddly, I think that I found it so relaxing because it was completely out of my control. I sat there and watched the boats go around, and if I was moved to try a roll or a piece of fish than I did. Most of the time I couldn't identify everything I was eating, so my opinion of whether I liked it or not was completely based on taste and not what my brain thought about it... Also, there was an endless amount of green tea. It was awesome! I am posting a picture of it below...
Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone who is reading and posting comments! I'm really, really glad that so many of the readers of this blog are reading it to get information about doctoral studies. Please keep asking me questions and commenting, I love it!
Happy New Year!!!
The next quarter starts today! Winter quarter classes for my cohort begin tomorrow, but today is the official start for the whole school. For whatever reason, today has also felt like the real start of 2011. I like to think that I am prepared. I have my list of resolutions clutched tightly in one hand and my organized binders in the other. After I purchase notebooks today at the campus bookstore, I should be ready to march out into the world of statistics and grant writing.
I have a lovely list of resolutions, which I have every intention of keeping! I always post my resolutions on the fridge door. This keeps me accountable to myself and also everyone who eats at my house... My resolution success rate for 2010 was 60%. That isn't great, but it also isn't awful.
This year, a couple of the resolutions are focused exclusively on creating a better school/life balance. Last quarter, I basically stopped doing healthy things like exercising. I also lost weight (from stress, not for my health), had worsening insomnia, and got walking pneumonia. I have chosen to view these as signs that I was not effectively balancing my obligations. I have signed up for a yoga class, thought through some ways to manage my time better, and I'm hoping that I will see some decrease in my stress.
As for the break, well, it was incredibly short. Also, the stress of the other project that I've been working on never really abated. Overall, the best of the break was my sister's visit, and the worst was trying to force this project forward. As a completed manuscript isn't due until February 1st, I expect the first month of this quarter to be intense and full of edits and re-writes. (I actually should be editing right now, but I wanted to start the quarter off with a post. Also, posting here is much, much easier than the edits!)
Our complete grades from fall quarter have still not been posted. I am hopeful that the grade we're awaiting will post this week. I've never been at a school where the grades from previous classes are still in limbo when the next classes start. It feels unfinished, and as I am a linear thinker and a bit OCD, it makes me slightly uncomfortable.
Finally, on a positive note, my sister and I found the coolest sushi place! I love it! I am trying to get everyone who comes here to go with me. It was the most calm dining experience I've ever had and sort of felt like slow-dining. Basically, sushi is made by the chefs, without customer input and put onto these little boats that float around in front of the patrons. If a patron wants the sushi, he or she takes it off the boat. There are some tiny signs that give you a rough indication of what each type of fish might be, but there is no explanation of the rolls. It was so relaxing. Oddly, I think that I found it so relaxing because it was completely out of my control. I sat there and watched the boats go around, and if I was moved to try a roll or a piece of fish than I did. Most of the time I couldn't identify everything I was eating, so my opinion of whether I liked it or not was completely based on taste and not what my brain thought about it... Also, there was an endless amount of green tea. It was awesome! I am posting a picture of it below...
 | ||
| Soothing Sushi Ships |
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