Not dead.

Hey everyone, sorry it's been so long between posts. It has been a little crazy around here lately, but today finally is the first day of spring break. This is very exciting. Not in a Fort Lauderdale/Cancun wet-t-shirts-and-frat-boys kind of SPRIIIIIIING BREEEAAAAAAKK!!!!!!! kind of way. More exciting in a I-still-have-loads-of-work-but-for-a-whole-week-
I-can't-get-assigned-any-NEW-work
kinda way. I have already slept for a full 8 hours (together! in one night!) for the first time in over month, which was fun. And it's almost 11.30 and I'm still in my pyjamas, so I think it's a very successful break so far!

So the last few weeks have been filled with the usual school madness (what made me think it was a good idea to schedule my presentations for the Ergativity seminar for every two weeks?) with presentations and assignments and whatnot, plus the added fun of teaching the first years - or rather, grading their homeworks/assignments/exams. Actually, I really, really like my classes (the rowdy afternoon kids even more so now!) but the week where I had assignments AND exams to grade, plus two presentations and a paper due was not amongst my favourites.

Oh and then there was my day-from-hell where I stayed up 'til 3 working on my handout/presentation for the seminar, only to find, when I went to print it the next morning, that the file corrupted and wouldn't open. This was on my long day - class from 9.30-6 - and the seminar was the last class of the day. (Also, we had prospective students in my classes all day). I spent the whole day re-typing it during and between other classes. Ten minutes before the seminar starts, I finish, hit save and go to print, only for word to crash and lose the file! Young Gie (tech guy) retrieved it for me, but the file corrupted and only the first 3rd would print. So I had that much handout and then just had to wing it from there!

Still. It could always be worse, right?

Last weekend (actually it was from Thurs - Sat/Sun) we had the Prospective Students weekend, where a bunch of kids who got accepted into the program come to check out the place and see if they want to come here. It was loads of fun, but very busy and stressful to organise. (I am once again grateful to be only VP, so I just have to step in when Sylvia is overloaded - she does most of the real work!) Anyway, it was pretty cool - they seem like a generally nice bunch of kids (but the average age was shockingly young!) and we had some great parties. Thursday night we took them out to Maya Quetzal, a Guatemalan place a few streets away for dinner. Friday night we had a grad student pizza party and Deniz's house and Saturday night we had a massive potluck 'event' with faculty, students and everyone, at Adam & Andy's house. That last was a riot. At some point during the evening someone produced a box full of hats, plus a boa, gloves and some purses, and then Andy just dragged Deniz upstairs and shoved her into this frock they'd found at a vintage shop... and then later Andy modelled the frock he'd worn for the last Halloween party... I'm not sure if the prospectives think ALL our parties are like this, but if so we have a lot to live up to!

(And now, there seems to be even more call for silly dress-up parties... Adam is keen for a drag party in march or april. And Simin is very keen for a departmental Halloween party in October! I think there might be something in the water...)

Anyway. Yes, madness. Oh, and the potluck was great because I got to cook... I made profiteroles (not enough though - double batch next time I think) and I made palak paneer from scratch. It was a different recipe than I used in Brisbane, more spices, and I improvised a bit too. It was great, and my kitchen smelt fantastic!

So anyway. Spring Break is finally here, and I am very happy. I will be staying here and working most of the time, but there's scope for some fun things as well, which is nice. Tonight a bunch of us are going to see A Clockwork Orange (which I've never seen before) and there has been talk of bowling at some point as well. Also, Sylvia and I are going shopping with Amy who is looking for a wedding dress - we are to be her defenders against scary, bossy, wedding-shop ladies! Girls night with Kara, Mary and Chelsea is also still happening, but there's no Austen movies for a while, so we've expanded to costume drama generally. This week is Chicago (which I've also not seen) so we have to try to find some 1920s style snacks - anyone got any ideas?? Aside from that, I want to catch up with my no non-linguist friends too. I'm hoping that Jelena, Charlie, Megan and I can manage to meet up. We're thinking of going and pretending we can afford to buy shoes, or something! (Ah, the sad life of a poverty-stricken student...)

Actually, the clothing situation is getting a little worrisome - I have holes in everything! My one decent pair of jeans are dying, my purple Cons are getting very tatty, I have three shirts with holes, my pyjamas are coming apart, and let's not even discuss the socks-and-underwear situation. Sigh.

La Aldea (the graduate residence where I live) has announced its prices for next year, and I took great pleasure in telling them where they could stick it. Deniz has a house not far from here, a pretty nice place, and the whole house costs less than does 1 room in a 2-bed apartment in La Aldea! I am REALLY keen to find a house for next year. I want yard space, for entertaining, and for keeping some distance between me and neighbours! The noise around here drives me nuts. Jelena got a job in town for the summer, so that might make it easier for us to find someplace cheap before the fall semester rush happens too.

Anyway. It's almost noon now, so I suppose I've been slothful long enough. I should get up and get organised for grocery shopping and whatnot. Is it sad when grocery shopping is an exciting outing? We might even get to go to Target, too...!