2005-09-08
Playing the Game of Lecturing and Finishing My Dissertation, While Still Attempting to Become King of Catan!
So the first day of teaching came and went. Basically, I quickly realized, that I have always disliked TA-ing, because I am not my own boss. I was far less nervous today lecturing than I typically am when TA-ing. Of course, this lack of nervousness did not mean I was overly confident -- I couldn't sleep the night before and was up until nearly 5 a.m. tossing and turning, checking my fantasy soccer team's results online, etc. (By the way, my team is getting slaughtered by Colin Flint's, Trotsky International III, and some other British friend of his. Plus, Colin's two kids are even beating up on me. I'm in last place. It is disgraceful. I may need to solicit the help of some British friends of mine that are into this stuff, as I don't know squat about soccer... or football, or whatever.) I digress...
Birgit and I have really become addicted to this new game we bought last Friday evening, when we were too lazy, tired, and stressed to meet up with friends, go out and do anything, or leave home. The game is called "Carcassonne." Brilliant stuff! The type of game geographers dream for. You lay tiles and create the landscape as you go. You must strategically place your seven players so you get the most points by thieving people on the roads, etc. Very easy, fast, and fun. We basically play the game every night now and just chat... getting all the stress off of our chests, so to speak. We never used to play games much before, except for Sequence (which we received from my former advisor at UMD, Gordon Levine, for our wedding). Recently, though, after playing a game of Settlers of Catan with our friends Steve and Sandy and putting together a puzzle with my Mum and Chris up at their cabin, we are hooked. Strategy games are really good at helping me destress. I'm thinking, but not about my lecture tomorrow or New Orleans or my dissertation or the fact that the lawn is up to our knees because our mower is broken. Instead, I'm thinking about how to crush Birgit's kingdom!!!
Back to lecturing -- I'm not sure I even discussed the syllabus. I just went over it very quickly and haphazardly. I hope they understand it. Or even read it. Because I didn't feel like reading it to them. Instead, I was focused on making the class laid back and sociable. I started the class off with some Russian Ska music that my friend Gerhard gave to me in Vienna this summer after watching one such band at a free concert there. That brought several of the students up to my podium after class offering to "rip" me some Gypsy Punk and other Russian Ska. So that was cool. I had the students get in small groups and introduce themselves to one another -- they actually chatted and had a decent time overall, and I think it already made a difference. I'm going to throw them into a simple group project tomorrow or on Monday with different people, so by then, every student should know at least seven to ten other students in the class.
Back to life... I just IM-ed Birgit at work. Good day for her over there. I'm debating going out for a pint with her coworkers at Macalester College this evening. It might be better if I don't bother, as I'm stressed. But if I don't get out of the house... well... yeah. Hmmm... I suppose I should get back to work here. But basically, I'm keeping this page up and running now, indefinitely. Partially, because I can't be bothered to start yet another blog. But also, because my research continues on, even though I'm not in the "field" as such anymore. So here I am. Back in Minnesota. More confused about my research than ever before, and hoping to God I can figure out "who" I want to interview before December. I am now thinking of attempting to do a mixed case study of Hungarian translators working at the EU -- as a community of Hungarians living outside of Hungary within the EU, but also as a group responsible for translating neoliberal policies for Hungarians in the country to understand -- modern day Martin Luthers?! Creepy thought! Then, I was thinking of interviewing members of the state bureacracy within Hungary that are responsible for putting some of these policies and regulations into action. Get their perspective on it all -- the good, the bad, and the ugly of belonging to the EU. The geography of it all? Oh yeah, as one of my committee members mentioned to me yesterday, I should probably remember to include geography somewhere! :)
Birgit and I have really become addicted to this new game we bought last Friday evening, when we were too lazy, tired, and stressed to meet up with friends, go out and do anything, or leave home. The game is called "Carcassonne." Brilliant stuff! The type of game geographers dream for. You lay tiles and create the landscape as you go. You must strategically place your seven players so you get the most points by thieving people on the roads, etc. Very easy, fast, and fun. We basically play the game every night now and just chat... getting all the stress off of our chests, so to speak. We never used to play games much before, except for Sequence (which we received from my former advisor at UMD, Gordon Levine, for our wedding). Recently, though, after playing a game of Settlers of Catan with our friends Steve and Sandy and putting together a puzzle with my Mum and Chris up at their cabin, we are hooked. Strategy games are really good at helping me destress. I'm thinking, but not about my lecture tomorrow or New Orleans or my dissertation or the fact that the lawn is up to our knees because our mower is broken. Instead, I'm thinking about how to crush Birgit's kingdom!!!
Back to lecturing -- I'm not sure I even discussed the syllabus. I just went over it very quickly and haphazardly. I hope they understand it. Or even read it. Because I didn't feel like reading it to them. Instead, I was focused on making the class laid back and sociable. I started the class off with some Russian Ska music that my friend Gerhard gave to me in Vienna this summer after watching one such band at a free concert there. That brought several of the students up to my podium after class offering to "rip" me some Gypsy Punk and other Russian Ska. So that was cool. I had the students get in small groups and introduce themselves to one another -- they actually chatted and had a decent time overall, and I think it already made a difference. I'm going to throw them into a simple group project tomorrow or on Monday with different people, so by then, every student should know at least seven to ten other students in the class.
Back to life... I just IM-ed Birgit at work. Good day for her over there. I'm debating going out for a pint with her coworkers at Macalester College this evening. It might be better if I don't bother, as I'm stressed. But if I don't get out of the house... well... yeah. Hmmm... I suppose I should get back to work here. But basically, I'm keeping this page up and running now, indefinitely. Partially, because I can't be bothered to start yet another blog. But also, because my research continues on, even though I'm not in the "field" as such anymore. So here I am. Back in Minnesota. More confused about my research than ever before, and hoping to God I can figure out "who" I want to interview before December. I am now thinking of attempting to do a mixed case study of Hungarian translators working at the EU -- as a community of Hungarians living outside of Hungary within the EU, but also as a group responsible for translating neoliberal policies for Hungarians in the country to understand -- modern day Martin Luthers?! Creepy thought! Then, I was thinking of interviewing members of the state bureacracy within Hungary that are responsible for putting some of these policies and regulations into action. Get their perspective on it all -- the good, the bad, and the ugly of belonging to the EU. The geography of it all? Oh yeah, as one of my committee members mentioned to me yesterday, I should probably remember to include geography somewhere! :)
