Hallo, auf Wiedersehen
01:17 on Monday, September 27, 2004 • Responses off
By the end of this year, I think I’ll have spent as much time away from home as I have at home. In about 11 hours I board a plane for Germany, where I’ll be doing some consulting work until the beginning of November. As I mentioned previously, my goal during the dissertation phase of the Ph.D. is to work full-time three to four months out of the year, which will afford me the ability to work full-time on the dissertation the rest of the year. I know too many people that spend four or five years on their dissertation because they teach throughout the process. When I teach, I give it my all, and I think for practical purposes, getting through the dissertation expeditiously will require me to stay out of the classroom as much as possible.
The November schedule is already peppered with some trips scheduled to see friends and colleagues around the state, then the wife and I are off on our honeymoon to India for all of December. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to India (last trip in 1992), and I’m very much looking forward to returning.
It’ll be interesting to be in Europe during the run-up to the presidential election. I’ll miss the televised debates (which, given the increasingly scripted format, probably doesn’t mean anything) and the professional talking heads on TV. I’ve deliberately veered away from writing anything overtly political on this site (or, for that matter, absolutely anything of consequence whatsoever) or a while. This will change soon, and yeah, this is a hint that something’s in the works. ssshhhhh.
Is all of this exciting? Yes. Exhausting? Yes. More than anything, though, right now I just feel lucky to be able to do what I’m doing and to have people in my life who support and enable me to do…this, whatever it’s called.
More from the other side of the big pond (the one on the right this time)…