Fall days

Let’s start with the always more important personal aspect of things. We have comfortably settled in. The Feher-Gavra crib is still kicking and has also acquired new decorational items. We had our housewarming party yesterday, which turned out really well. Unfortunately, I couldn’t party very hard due to a nasty cold that lay its ugly eyes (and claws) on me… but I will survive and hopefully feel a lot better by tomorrow.

On the professional side, the past few weeks were mostly up by two things: teaching and comps. The former was challenging but also rewarding. I have a little more than a 100 students eager (for the most part) to learn Biopolitics, this time in a real-life classroom setting. I’m responsible for four recitation settings with about 25 of them in each. I think it’s going well, although beginnings are always labor-intensive. I will know more after their first test.

And as far as the comps (comprehensive exams) are concerned, I’m very glad they are over. The idea is that you have to be able to answer 4 questions (about 6 pages each) in 9 hours. In my case that meant two 9-hour marathons (on Tuesday and Friday) in two subject fields, in my case American Politics and Biopolitics. I did enjoy the learning process and I think it will prove useful in the future… nevertheless, I could not call the whole thing a pleasant experience.

Back to the bright side: we also managed to squeeze in a cheat day each week (=burgers, pancakes, frozen yoghurt, etc…. I may write about our awesome new diet some day but let’s just leave it at that for now) and an Offspring show.

The future looks pretty good too: we will participate in a Republican rally in rural Nebraska, see Tschaikovski’s Fourth, Five Finger Death Punch (in the framework of a trip to Kansas) and Amon Amarth. But most importantly of all, continue to live our days in great love and harmony.