19 septembre 2006

blah

why am i not writing here? because i don't know what to think. i feel so much like a graduate student, still. i teach 2 days a week, and the rest of the time, i go to a few meetings here and there and i work in my office from time to time... i am not sure what i'm doing, actually. i still have tons of things to do to get settled here, like getting a new driver's licence, new licence plates, parking permits, health insurance, car insurance, home insurance, stuff like that. i guess monday is my "real life" day. tuesday, i try to work in the office. wednesday, i prepare my courses and do nothing. thursday and friday mornings i teach, and then in the afternoon i try to work in the office. that's about it.

i drove to school today, instead of taking the streetcar + subway. it's much faster (15 to 20 minutes instead of 30 to 45 minutes) but i paid $12 for the parking!

ok, on a happier note, i found two nice photographs (tulips) to hang in my office. i'll also bring my huge world map and maybe the guggenheim museum picture too... it feels so... dull, still. and yesterday, i was down in the big liberal arts office to give my transcript to someone and took this opportunity to ask about getting some "stuff" like enveloppes, paper clips, etc. because i have nothing at all in my office... and the nice person gave me the bookstore catalog and told me to choose the stuff i wanted and he'd go get them for me! pencil sharpers, file organizers, tacks, post-its, markers, book holders, note books, staplers, erasers, ... ... it felt like christmas :)

one last thing: yesterday i sent an application to tesol to be on the publication's committee...

3 commentaires:

Anonyme a dit…

Yes, that was my first-year experience! I felt restless, seemingly having a lot of things to do, but I did not truly do anything significant. Things that can be done within minutes in West Lafayette could take several days, such as getting my car registered and changing my driver's license. Finding the right building and the right person to get things done at school took much more time than I had expected. I was not doing anything huge, but I had to dress nicely and held my head high. I was restless, but anxious, in retrospect. I guess these feelings were all part of the transition.

lucie a dit…

xiaoye: oh thank you! i'm glad to see that this is normal! does it get better later? how's your second year compared to your first year? can you dress ugly now? ;)

Anonyme a dit…

Yes, it is much better now. I start to feel having more control in my life. I used to work/write a lot at home because I could not concentrate at school. Now I do a lot of writing in my office. Unless I need to teach or go to a faculty meeting, I wear really casual cloth when working in my office and walking on campus.