Looking just at this…

Looking just at this journal, you'd think there was nothing going on in my life. When the truth is that there are some fairly big things going on in my life, in fact, one might say huge things, and I'm not allowed to talk about them yet, which is driving me more than a little crazy. Soon, I promise -- with any luck, at least a good chunk of this should be settled by mid-January, and I can tell you guys about that at least. If it's a comfort, I'm keeping a private journal with detailed entries on it all, so whenever I am in a position to finally talk about it, you'll be able to read what I've been thinking about over the last few months. Still -- sorry for the cryptic!!!

I can tell you a little bit. I do have an interview scheduled at MLA, for a job near San Diego. I've had various requests for more materials for jobs, which may turn into interviews -- about six so far, I think. A few in Chicago, the rest all over the place. Kevin has an interview scheduled for early January in Ann Arbor, and the big news is that we're actually going to England in early January to look at two jobs for him there. There wouldn't be full-time work for me right away, but there'd be some part-time teaching, it looks like. My agent likes the idea, because if I teach less, he hopes I'll write more. We'll see. We need to make a decision on one of the England jobs by January 15th. I'll be in England from January 7th - 16th; I'll also get to visit Elaine and Farah while I'm there, which should be v. nice. I am entirely torn about the idea of moving to England -- on the one hand, living abroad! Access to Europe! So cool! On the other hand, so far from friends and family! Love Chicago, very settled here! It's all so confusing!

Other than that, the main thing happening right now (that I can talk about) is the semester wrapping up. I had a really great academic day on Thursday, the last day of classes. Not only did I have a couple of very nice conversations with colleagues (who seemed quite sad that I'm not staying at Roosevelt, which was gratifying), but I had a good afternoon class and then a truly great evening class. Some of my students said my classes were the hardest they'd had at Roosevelt -- others said that they were the best. Good things to hear as a teacher, I think, especially when they come together. :-)

Today and tomorrow I'll be doing the last of my grading, and then I'm all done. Tuesday, I fly to California; I'll visit Jed for a few days and then join Kevin at his parents for the holiday. On the 25th evening, I catch a red-eye to Philadelphia to attend SALA (S. Asian Literature Association), followed by MLA (Modern Language Association). I'll be presenting a paper I wrote in grad school, "Singular Hybridity."

Tonight, we have the first Kriti planning meeting for the new festival; I'm going to spend a good chunk of the day just cooking rice and curries, which will be nice. Tomorrow, go downtown and apply for a visa for England; also get my car emission testing done and pick up Kevin's suit from tailoring. Tomorrow evening, we host a condo board meeting. And then Tuesday, pack and go.

1 thought on “Looking just at this…”

  1. For what it’s worth, I moved to England four years ago and have absolutely loved it – fantastic Indian food, gorgeous landscapes and castles – what’s not to love? (Well, yes, everything you mentioned about friends and family…for me, it’s all worked out pretty well with yearly visits, but the decision is different for everybody.) Hope you have a great trip in January, and good luck making the decisions.

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