On to the next adventure...

I just realized that I've fallen behind on updating my faithful readers. Since I last wrote, in fact about a week after I last wrote, I was offered a 9 month teaching fellowship at a University in Ontario. So it looks as though the Ancient Historian will be heading back to her motherland once again for the forseeable future. I will be teaching Greek Epic, Latin Epic, Roman Civilization and second year Ancient Greek which makes me think that perhaps it is worth me changing my name. Who would have thought that me, a Roman historian, would be teaching literature and language. Oh well. I guess life is full of surprises. I'm actually really excited about it and look forward to teaching again. The job starts August 1st so as of next week, I will be heading back across the pond.

Yes, in fact, at the moment I am back in the UK. I came back to my old university town to graduated and have decided to hang around and visit people for the month. It's been quite nice, with jaunts down to London, Exeter, and Cambridge. The travelling has been interdispersed with work as I madly try to finish up this article I'm working on and two book reviews. Ah, the life of the academic...

Our hero finds herself unsure of the future, and thinking that unemployment might not be so bad...

So, my research job here in Victoria is almost over. It's been a great learning experience and has been a nice break from my own research. The prof I am working with here is great (my mentor) and we seem to work really well together. The project is not finished, but I hope I have given him at least some foundational work that he can then build on.

I don't really feel like I've been here. I've been on the move basically every 3 weeks since I got here, with my defense, giving papers, job interviews, etc. But in any case, as is the state of my life at the moment, I've been able to get a lot of work done, visit some people, and enjoy the West Coast life (although this last one not nearly as much as I would have liked). So what's next on the cards for the Ancient Historian? Well, I will be heading back to St Andrews to graduate in two weeks. I will then be staying over in the UK for the summer for two weddings, a conference, a trip to Italy, and hopefully some other adventures, although I am hoping to stay in one place for more than 3 weeks at a time. I plan to use the time to finish the article I'm currently working on and I've just been asked to review a book for the Classical Review so I guess I'll be working on that as well.

As for September, I don't have a job yet, and there are fewer and fewer options in the pipeline. If something doesn't come up, it sounds like I'll be moving in with my sister and her husband. As much as I am not looking forward to not having an academic job, I think the little break might be good for me. I'm hoping to get a new revised draft of my PhD thesis done so I can start sending it to publishers. I can also work on a couple of other articles so that when the next set of jobs come out, I'll be ready! I may try and pick up some temp work somewhere just to feed myself and start paying off my student loan, but we'll see. All I really want to do is teach so this little road bump is a little frustrating, but the Ancient Historian will persevere.

Now a Doctor...

So, it's been a while. The last three months have flown by. I moved back to Canada having lived in the UK and Europe for the last 3 and a half years. It was a bit of a culture shock, especially since I have just taken up a research job at the university where I did my undergrad. It's a town which is familiar yet different. Five years has really changed the town but perhaps it has also changed the way I look at a place. I recognize streets but not the shops. I remember places yet forget. I don't want to step back into my 22 year old life and thankfully enough most of my old friends are gone, but at the same time, it's easy to get comfortable, yet forget what I've experienced and how I've grown over the last couple years. I'm still struggling with the fact that I've left my comfort zone and left my friends, but my new job is going well, I've been learning a lot. My work is allowing me to get back into the texts that help us understand the ancient world and putting my own work back into context. It's been a great experience so far and I look forward to the next couple of months.

So, since we last spoke (or last wrote), I headed back to St Andrews to defend my thesis. Well, I'd have to say it was the hardest thing I've ever done but I definitely wouldn't trade it for anything. The whole PhD thing, well, I feel the same way. I don't want to do it again, but I definitely wouldn't trade this experience for the world. As for the defence, it's not everyday you have two experts who have read your "book" and have nothing better to do for just under two hours than discuss it with you. Yes, it's hard to hear the major issues with my work but everything they said will only make my thesis (and my future research) stronger. So now I am a Doctor, but the future of the Ancient Historian is uncertain. The state of the academic world is a mess. There are few jobs but I will keep trying and hopefully something will come up. If not, there's always Starbucks.....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I'm not a big fan of Christmas. This shouldn't be a surprise to people who know me. I don't like how it brings out the worst in people, the stress of trying to get everything right because some outside force (whether our family, friends, advertising, social pressures, etc) is telling us that's what we have to do. That said, this year, I've seen another side of Christmas and think that maybe, we in North America (and the UK although they are not so bad) could learn something from the Germans.

German Christmas Markets! I've had my first experience of them and I'd have to say they are absolutely wonderful (except for the hoards of people but that's my own problem). The lights are gorgeous, the smell of Glühwein (kind of like Mulled Wine) and baked goods, and all the amazing wooden ornaments and other crafts all laid out. People aren't rushing around, pushing people in Malls, under neon lights, trying to get this year's "must have". The markets are rows of little huts, in the shade of the cathedral, and are covered with little lights. It almost has a sense of home-y-ness about it. There is music playing but it is not the overpowering Christmas music you find elsewhere. People are just milling about, drinking Glühwein, eating, and chatting. Maybe the sense of urgency just isn't here yet since there are still 3 weeks till Christmas, but the feel of the season is completely different here. I might actually think about liking Christmas...

Now, for some Bratwurst!

Three countries in two weeks... Part 3: Scotland

Well, needless to say, my trip back to St Andrews was not nearly as eventful as the rest of my travels. Although, I did forget how long it takes to get there from Edinburgh. Next time I live some place, I'm going to live somewhere that has an airport! All these buses, trains, cabs, etc. are really getting to me. So, I arrived in town about mid-afternoon and headed straight into the department so I could print off my thesis! Yes, the purpose of this quick trip back to town was to submit my PhD thesis. I got into the office to find that the PDF program on the computer was broken and since the IT person doesn't trust us postgrads to have admin access to our own computer, there was nothing I could do to fix it. Thankfully, P had her computer with her so we were able to print it off and celebrate! When you submit your thesis, you need to print off 3 copies, so, I'm single-handedly killing the planet with my 300 page thesis (900 pages total). Eeeek! Here is a nice stack of just over 3 years of work:


On Monday, I took it down to the Bindery to get it bound, then walked to the Registrar's office to drop it off. The registrar's office is like a fortress. They won't let anyone in so you have to buzz to get them to open the door. The conversation at the buzzer was as follows:
Registrar: Hello
Me: Hi, I'm here to drop of my PhD thesis
Registrar: Oh, I guess you want to be buzzed in then?
Me: Yes, please.

Seriously, what did they think I wanted? "No, I'll just leave these 900 pages here on the doorstep in the rain and you can come grab them whenever you feel like it." Ugh. So, in I go, to the Golden Palace, or whatever they think they work in. I was directed to a woman at a desk who told me just to set it down here and she wrote out a receipt. No fireworks, Congratulations, or even a smile. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it was kind of a lunchbag let-down. I trudged back up to the department, 900 pages lighter, and bought three books and a coffee as a present to myself!

Unfortunately, it was not yet time to celebrate. During my time in town I had two job applications to finish so I went back into the office to work on those. We did end up all going to the pub later and I spent the next 3 days I had in town visiting people, grabbing pints and coffees, and finishing up the job applications. It was really weird to be back in town, especially since most of my friends have left. It was also weird to go into my old office and find that everything has changed. The office has pretty much had a complete turnover, so it is definitely not my space anymore. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was weird. So there you have it. Three years of work is now gone, out of my hands, fini! I will have my defense sometime in the next 3 months but as of this moment, I can't really think about much. It's been an interesting experience, kind of like giving birth I suppose. It's had its ups and downs, and I don't think I'd want to go through this again, but I don't think I'd trade these past three years for anything!

So, now I'm back in Germany for my last month. It's crazy to think at how fast these last 3 months have gone. I feel like I haven't really accomplished anything, and am especially disappointed with myself over the state of my German, but I can't be too hard on myself since I've actually got quite a bit done: Finished thesis, gave two papers at international conferences, presented part of my thesis at the research seminar here.... Nothing to sneeze at. So now I just have a book review and an article to finish before Christmas. Should be able to take it easy at bit and enjoy the Christmas markets...

Three countries in two weeks... Part 2: Germany

First, I guess I have to say, that this doesn't really count since I live in Germany all the time, but since this was a brief interlude between my two other trips and I never actually went home, this does count as traveling! So, I got off my plane in Frankfurt Hahn (the Ryanair airport about 2 hours outside of Frankfurt) and since there was actually no way for me to get back to my town that night, I decided to head to Cologne (also about 2 hours away) and visit H who also has a fellowship from the Germany government. I guess it is now worth having a little aside about German transport since I didn't include my epic train journey in my introduction to Sweden's post. I know I said in an earlier post that I loved German trains because they are never late, are clean, etc. Well, I have learned my lesson! Since it is about a 5 hour journey from my town to Frankfurt Hahn I decided that I would catch an early train just to make sure that I arrived with plenty of time. I am so glad I did. My train was a hour late! The Deutsche Bahn had no other alternatives for me so I just had to wait around and hope that I would be able to catch the last possible bus for me to get my flight. Fortunately, I made all my connections and arrived at the airport about 30 minutes before my flight took off. Thankfully, the airport is tiny, I had already checked in, and only had hand luggage. Looks like I'll be getting my money back for the ticket which is exciting but it was way more stress than I needed at the start of my trip.

So, back to Germany. I arrived in Cologne on the first night of Carnival (the main part occurs in February but it's basically a 4 month party). The town was insane. Having spent most of my time in the last 3 years in small towns I wasn't really ready for a big city. Also, it was quite a culture shock since my limited experience with Germany has been in the East and a trip to the West is almost like being in a different country. Thankfully, I was staying with H and we just toured around and had another nice 3 day holiday. First stop was the Roman Museum. Cologne was a Roman colony (which I got to write a bit about in my thesis) founded by Agrippina the Younger (sister of Caligula, wife of Claudius, mother of Nero). Since I do a lot on provincial religion and Roman colonies it was really fun to wander around the museum and find all the stuff I have read about over the past couple of years. In the city there is also the Praetorium (the provincial governor's residence). They have some amazing Roman stuff and it was great to tour around and see stuff but not really have to work.

Our next stop was Bonn. It's about 30 minutes away on the subway (or by Train). It was the capital of West Germany until the capital was moved back to Berlin after unification. Our real reason for going there was to see Beethoven's house. He was born there and his childhood home has been changed into a museum. H and I spent far too much time in there just playing with some of the computer archives. They have also made a 21st century version of his only opera, which was 3D and consisted of particles rather than actors. Kind of neat but I think I prefer staged opera. After, we walked down the Rhine, then headed back to Cologne.

My last day consisted of heading to some of the shops, and one last stop, the Gestapo headquarters in Cologne. The museum is mostly in German so H and I just sort of looked at pictures and such but probably didn't get as much out of it as we could have. The basement was turned into a prison and there is still all the graffiti from the prisoners on the walls.

To catch my flight to Scotland, I had to leave Cologne at 2:15 in the morning. I was slightly worried by this since the bus left from the Train station and areas around Stations are not usually the best place to be late at night. However, Cologne seems to not do the whole sleeping thing. The streets were still busy just like it was the middle of the day. People were still sitting in restaurants and pubs and, since I was going to be by myself at the train station I figured I'd hang out in the 24 hour McDonalds, the McDonalds was packed with 13 year olds just hanging out. It was surreal. No problem getting the bus and I headed off for my next adventure..... Scotland!

Three countries in two weeks... Part 1: Sweden!

I just got back from my last set of epic travels. First stop, Sweden! Back in the spring, a call for papers came up for a conference on the ancient family and since this is a topic I have touched on a bit in my PhD, I figured it would be worth submitting an abstract. It seemed to be organized by the Classics department in Birmingham and since I hadn't yet had the chance to visit there, I figured it might be a cool place to go. Anyway, my paper was accepted and the email concluded with "look forward to seeing you in Sweden". Sweden? I asked myself. Hmmm. I went back and looked at the conference details and sure enough, it was organized by the Classics department of Birmingham but in conjunction with the University of Gothenburg and was to be hosted in Gothenburg. And so it happened that I was able to head to Sweden, about two weeks after I had returned from South Africa.

Two of my friends from St Andrews had moved to Sweden about 5 months earlier so I decided to extend my trip a bit and visit them as well. So, off to Gothenburg for the three day conference. I arrived a day early and spent most of the day in Museums. First, the main museum which boasts the remains of a viking ship. It also explained some of the Norse traditions and I am definitely interested in doing some more reading on Norse polytheism and Viking history. I then headed off to the art museum since my ticket from the other museum got me in there as well. I have to say, I'm not really an art person, but it was quite neat to see some of the Swedish artists who are not really known outside of Sweden. I spend about an hour just wandering then headed back to the hotel. As far as the conference went, my paper seemed to go well, and I got to meet some really great people.

The day after the conference I met up with K and J for another exploration day in Gothenburg. It was then I had the truly Swedish experience. I believe that Tolkien had the Swedish in mind when he came up with the idea of hobbits. They really do eat all the time. First, there's breakfast. Then about an hour or so later, they have second breakfast. About an hour after that it's time for Fika, which consists of Tea or Coffee and Cake. Then it's lunch time! Then around 3, it's time for more Fika. Then dinner. Then about an hour or two before bed it's time for more, you guessed it, Fika. I really feel like I got to see the inside of most of Gothenburg's coffeeshops. We took a break from eating to head into the Modern art museum, which was even more confusing then the art museum. It was almost like walking into Ikea! At around 6:45 we caught a high-speed train to Skövde, and from there then headed north to J's parents' house. They live on a farm just outside of a town called Skara.

The next three days were spent relaxing, playing Wii, and making little trips around the surrounding countryside. Sweden looks a lot like Canada in places. It almost felt like I was home. Weird. One day, we went into Skara to look at the Cathedral and went to the local museum where 30 bronze shields are displayed. One day, a farmer was plowing his field and hit something. He looked down and called the local authorities. They brought in some archaeologists and uncovered 30 shields and some other artifacts, most likely some kind of ritual deposit. So cool! The rest of my trip was quite relaxed and it was really nice to visit with K and J and just shut my brain off. When it was time to leave, they put me back on the train and I headed back to Gothenburg. Next stop.... Germania!

South Africa

Last week, I headed down to South Africa to give a paper at a conference on Family in the Ancient World. A great excuse to go traveling, I seized the opportunity, submitted an abstract and was accepted to give a paper. I flew from Frankfurt directly to Johannesburg, a 10 hour flight. I've gotten pretty good at long haul flights but this one was slightly different in that I didn't change time zones. So, no real excuse for jetlag. I just had to make sure I got some sleep on the plane, which of course didn't happen. I use these long plane journeys to catch up on all the trashy movies which have come out.
So I arrived in Jo-burg at about 7:30 in the morning. The conference organizers agreed to pick us up from the airport and drive us to Pretoria since public transport doesn't really exist at the moment (but they are working on it for the 2010 World Cup!). It definitely made me feel better since I've heard some pretty nasty horror stories about safety down in South Africa.
The guest house we were booked into was beautiful. Everyone pretty much had their own cabin type thing and the whole area was pretty open with beautiful trees and 3 pools. We ate our breakfast outside by the pool. I could definitely have gotten use to that lifestyle. The one unfortunate thing about South Africa is that every building is pretty securely walled in, with high walls and either razor wire or electrified fence. No one walks anywhere because it is not safe so you get a little stir crazy.
The conference itself was great. It was part Classics/part Theology and it was very interesting to learn how a different field approaches questions and problems in the same time period. I learned a lot, not only from the differences in methodology but also through talking to people, many of whom were from Africa. It really opened my eyes to the way they view the world and the life that they lead. It also made me really appreciate my life in Canada and in Europe. As one of the conference speakers from Zimbabwe said to me after hearing about Canada "you live in Heaven". Makes me really think about how much we take for granted.
The final day of the conference consisted of a trip to a game reserve (about 2 hours from Pretoria). It was great just to get out of the city and see some more of the African countryside, for good or ill. We drove past the Platinum mines and shanty towns (quite a change from the area we were in Pretoria). I still find it amazing with all the technology and advancements we have made in the 20th and 21st centuries there is still a huge number of people living without water or electricity, and what is especially surprising is that these places are about 45 minutes from some of the richest places in the city. Many of these people work in the city and commute for 2 or 3 hours by bus each day and then come home to nothing. Crime is rampant and I heard stories of people who have almost nothing having their few worldly possessions stolen from their one room aluminum box (basically) while away at work. It really breaks my heart, but in many areas, the poverty is directly related to the government and how corrupt it is. We can't just throw money at these countries as it just goes to help fund the government rather than the people who really need it. I'm not sure what the solution is, but whatever we are doing, it's not working. (Sorry to get on a political rant, as I don't normally do this, but it just made me so hurt, and angry, and confused, all at once)
So, back on track. The game reserve was amazing and we saw all kind of animals, mostly from a distance but it was cool nevertheless. It was almost like being in a zoo but with no fences and the animals can actually come right up to your car (baboons especially like doing this). I almost had a sort of Jurassic Park type moment, but we didn't really see any carnivores (they were all sleeping). We saw a crocodile from far away, lots of Baboons, Giraffes, Zebras, Ampalas, and even a couple rhinos. A great way to end a conference!
I am now back in Germany and have 2 papers to give in the next 3 weeks. No rest for the wicked, but it's my own fault for signing up for all this stuff. I'm getting tons of stuff done and this semester has been really great and very good for me, but I do miss teaching and will hopefully be able to find some kind of teaching post for next year. It's really weird just being paid to sit in an office all day and think. Feels very isolating, which is in part probably also due to the fact that I don't speak the language well so I haven't really met that many people yet. The scary thing is that I've almost been here 2 months which means I am almost half done. Time sure flies.