1.25.2008

Raising the Rent

So our rent got hiked. Keep this in mind: if you want to live in a small (about 500 sq. ft.) one-bedroom apartment in SC, it'll cost you 1075 a month.

It's an appropriate allegorical event for how I'm feeling right now. My shelves in the bunker are rapidly approaching seriously-full status and are, at this point, literally bending under the weight of the huge tomes on European history. As of my meeting with my adviser the other day, I'm responsible for 1789 to the present in my field statement, which bumps up my reading list by about 50%.. I'm producing my dissertation prospectus and applying for things while I'm simulteneously trying to keep up the pace of the reading and writing. Somewhere in there I'm teaching middle eastern history.

The real thing that's bothering me, though, is the feeling of social dispersion. I miss Oregon, as ever, but I find myself missing even how things were last year here in SC. Our cohort still exists and we're all still friends, but the gatherings are infrequent and people are often too exhausted, or just antisocial, to go out. The most important piece of advice I got from my former advisor at UO was that the quality of your fellow grads is as important as the quality of the program you're in as a whole; if you don't have smart, supportive people to spend time with, the experience is miserable and isolating. This term just sucks for everyone, but here's me hoping it turns around a bit and we spend more time drinking and talking shit about the department together.

As an aside, it's raining like nuts. So at least the drought's over.

6 comments:

noncoupable said...

Awww...cheer up! Too many of us are out of the country this year. We will be back next year!!! :) Well, mostly. I promise socializing.

ninjahq said...

Oregon will always be here for you! Much like the easter bunny, but more tangible!

clumsygirl said...

Also, there's no reason that yous couldn't come with us on the annual coast trip... other than dollars, of course.

Chrissy said...

Christ on a bicycle! That is a lot of money for rent on a shoebox! I will now stop complaining that that is what we will certainly spend renting a house here in P-town.
Oregon misses you too, and as mentioned above, it will always be here for you.

players stay up.

Kelly said...

I agree. More fun times should be had, more laughing, as well. We can make that our goal for Feb.

SuperJew said...

The last few sentences of this post KF, has succinctly detailed why my grad school career (post-Oregon that is) has sucked balls. Whoever at UO told you that was dead on sir. People make the difference. I also second the notion that when it's raining nuts (or in my case, snowing nuts and freezing ass cold) it doesn't help the situation. Uggghhh, but it's nice to know we can gripe and moan in tune, even from 2,000 miles away.