2005-11-03
Bachelor Weekend
Okay, so Birgit is off tomorrow to the West Lakes Regional Conference of the AAGs. I'm home alone until Saturday evening! Wow... what to do.
First, I hope to work on my lectures for next week. These ones will pick up again, fortunately, as this week's are kind of stale. My class just took its midterm on Monday, and today I could see the exhaustion on their faces. So I'm going easy on them this week.
Then, I hope to work on my literature review for Helga, as this is my preliminary examination. I'm up to a 13-page, single-spaced outline. I spent today going over the journal articles and book chapters I have read this past month, noting the page numbers I marked as important to my dissertation and putting these citations into the outline. My hope is that when I go through and write the damn thing, I will have all the citations and page numbers for every topic. So even if I have to reorder and completely rearrange stuff, I don't have to try to remember afterward where I read that the EU is a macro-institution stemming from a shift in the dominant economic regime during post-war U.S. hegemony... you know?
I'm into Hungary again. I am excited to see Istvan and Detti -- hopefully they are still coming over here just after the new year dawns. We had tickets to the Yucatan for 10 days in January, but of course, a hurricane just blew through; so the trip seems to be up in the air a bit until we figure out whether or not electricity is back on the Isle of the Women! Also, who has been spending Istvan and Detti's money in Thailand -- credit card fraud or some other issue. Just remember, never trust bell hops in Athens. But I don't know the full story, and I'm keen to hear it all. All I know is I am hoping those two don't get screwed out of mucho Euros and that they can still come.
Oh yeah, so back to the exciting, bachelor weekend, yeah? You know, the one where I'm going to study the whole time. At least most of the time. That is the life of a grad student. Live to survive until the next extended break, then work like a dog. I do think I'll get a chance to meet up with my neighbor and play a round of Ticket to Ride (a new game Birgit and I bought on a whim last week that totally rules -- think chess with trains), but I kind of want to get tipsy too. So maybe I'll go to the nearby biker bar and just shoot some pool. The neighbor on the other side seems like that sort -- what better chance to get to know him.
My Mum comes on Saturday. I'm really excited! I'm finally going to get the first haircut of the semester! Ridiculous, but I've become so dependent on her way of cutting my hair, that I didn't dare go see anyone here. And okay, yeah, so it is free. Busted -- that's the best thing about it. I can't wait to just hang out with my Mum. She hasn't been down to visit since mid-May, right before I left for Hungary. It's been too long.
Well, that's all the news that is fit to print. I'm kind of keen on the idea of watching some Hungarian South Park that Krisztian gave me last summer. I may very well just drink a beer and brush up on my vulgar Hungarian skills. Jaj, de jo...
First, I hope to work on my lectures for next week. These ones will pick up again, fortunately, as this week's are kind of stale. My class just took its midterm on Monday, and today I could see the exhaustion on their faces. So I'm going easy on them this week.
Then, I hope to work on my literature review for Helga, as this is my preliminary examination. I'm up to a 13-page, single-spaced outline. I spent today going over the journal articles and book chapters I have read this past month, noting the page numbers I marked as important to my dissertation and putting these citations into the outline. My hope is that when I go through and write the damn thing, I will have all the citations and page numbers for every topic. So even if I have to reorder and completely rearrange stuff, I don't have to try to remember afterward where I read that the EU is a macro-institution stemming from a shift in the dominant economic regime during post-war U.S. hegemony... you know?
I'm into Hungary again. I am excited to see Istvan and Detti -- hopefully they are still coming over here just after the new year dawns. We had tickets to the Yucatan for 10 days in January, but of course, a hurricane just blew through; so the trip seems to be up in the air a bit until we figure out whether or not electricity is back on the Isle of the Women! Also, who has been spending Istvan and Detti's money in Thailand -- credit card fraud or some other issue. Just remember, never trust bell hops in Athens. But I don't know the full story, and I'm keen to hear it all. All I know is I am hoping those two don't get screwed out of mucho Euros and that they can still come.
Oh yeah, so back to the exciting, bachelor weekend, yeah? You know, the one where I'm going to study the whole time. At least most of the time. That is the life of a grad student. Live to survive until the next extended break, then work like a dog. I do think I'll get a chance to meet up with my neighbor and play a round of Ticket to Ride (a new game Birgit and I bought on a whim last week that totally rules -- think chess with trains), but I kind of want to get tipsy too. So maybe I'll go to the nearby biker bar and just shoot some pool. The neighbor on the other side seems like that sort -- what better chance to get to know him.
My Mum comes on Saturday. I'm really excited! I'm finally going to get the first haircut of the semester! Ridiculous, but I've become so dependent on her way of cutting my hair, that I didn't dare go see anyone here. And okay, yeah, so it is free. Busted -- that's the best thing about it. I can't wait to just hang out with my Mum. She hasn't been down to visit since mid-May, right before I left for Hungary. It's been too long.
Well, that's all the news that is fit to print. I'm kind of keen on the idea of watching some Hungarian South Park that Krisztian gave me last summer. I may very well just drink a beer and brush up on my vulgar Hungarian skills. Jaj, de jo...
