The Great British Beer Festival 2008

It's 2.49 in the morning. I just got back to my little room at King's College - Great Dover Street after the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival final day. I've been volunteering here since Thursday, pulling pints (serving beer) for hundreds and hundreds of punters (customers). If you work both the AM and PM session (which I did) your day lasts from 11.00 to 23.00. Then there's "chill-out" in the staff area upstairs until 24.30 or so, during which the festival director tells everyone how the business went that day, etc. and you get to kick back with a pint or two or three or four. The festival rents buses to take the volunteers to the various accommodations around London. One is really well taken care of volunteering at the GBBF.

Because this was the last day, when the festival closes at 7pm, we have a 3-hour cleaning session and then at 10 o'clock there's a big staff party with free buffet and all the beer you can drink. Plus various beer nerd frivolities. Then there's a 12.30 bus and a 2.00 bus. I took the later one because I was enjoying myself.

On the way home tonight, I got a bit wistful seeing London pass by my bus window. It's a great city with a great vibe. A vibe that you can feel even at 2.00 in the morning. I got wistful because I was thinking about the fact that we are leaving in November. A bit silly since we never even lived in London (we both kind of regret not doing that, at least when we first moved to England), but it's just great to see all the historical buildings and what not. And the Thames river looks amazing at night. At 2.00 in the morning, there isn't much activity and most buildings are dark, but here and there lights are on, the bridges are lit up, and the clock on Big Ben is glowing. Last night we drove past the Battersea power station (the one on the cover of the Pink Floyd "Animals" record). I've only ever seen it from the train, but this time we were on the other side of it and really up close. Quite a building. I will definitely miss this place.

Having said that, I am really looking forward to moving back to the US. We're ready. It's been 5 years living in Europe (four years in England) and it's not exactly easy being in a foreign country by yourself with all family far away.

Last year when I did volunteered at this festival for the first time, I ended up working with a great team and for a really down-to-earth manager. We got along, so they added me as "permanent" staff this year (i.e.- the staffing people assign me to that team permanently and don't try to bounce me around to other bars at the festival as needed). Whereas last year, I went into the situation blind, this year I had an idea what the whole thing is like and went into it already accepted in a team. And more prepared for the whole thing. I had a great time and tried a lot of really good beers. My favorites were St. Peter's Mild, Theakston's Grousebeater, and Regal Blonde.

Hopefully, at some point, even though we will be back in the US, we can come back during the festival and I can work there again. We'll see what happens with air travel, though!

Great British Beer Festival 2008

The British Inquisition

On Friday, August 1st I passed my PhD defense. It was one of the most unpleasant events I have ever experienced and I am so happy I never have to do it again. Why was it not fun? Well, I do not think anyone goes into their defense full of happiness and joy, but I was not aware of how stressed I was about it until afterwards when I got home and slept for ten hours.

The defense was scheduled for 10am so I arrived around 9:15 to go over my notes and pace around. My supervisor arrived at 9:45 and we waited together until it was time to go into the conference room. The panel chair came to fetch us just after 10am and we went up to the 5th floor. I was sort of numb and not feeling my nervousness - it was an out-of-body experience. As we walked into the room, the examiners stood up, introduced themselves, shook my hand and then we all sat down. The panel chair (who looks exactly like Stephen King) went over the order of proceedings. The examiners would have specific questions first, and then it would be more of an open discussion. I am not sure exactly when the 'open discussion' happened because I certainly missed it. As soon as the chair handed over to the examiners, they fired questions continuously for two hours. I expected difficult questions. That is what the defense is all about.

Lots of the questions were testing me to see if I really did the work, so those were not hard to deal with. There were particular aspects of my work that they seemed to have problems with - mostly word and term choices, and my fundamental philosophy regarding the media and society. I expected them to zero in on what I knew were the weaknesses of my research, not stuff like that! One of the examiners comes from a sociology background and he wanted to know why I didn't reference a particular theorist that he especially likes. Umm, because I didn't use sociological theories!? He had the same question about a term I used to refer to the connection between news and society - why didn't I use the sociological term for it? These questions seemed pointless and designed to highlight my lack of knowledge, but they were still manageable. The absolute worst part of the defense was dealing with the other examiner. She had a really strong Italian accent and had the most abrupt way of speaking that most of the time I couldn't tell if she was asking me a question or making a statement. Even worse, when I answered her questions she gave no sign of even hearing what I said. No nodding or comment or disagreement - nothing! It was incredibly uncomfortable.

When they had asked all of their questions, the chair asked me to wait downstairs and he would come get me when they had made their decision. My supervisor and I left the room and as we walked to the elevator, he turned to me and said 'wow, they really gave you a grilling but you did great.' At the time I wasn't thinking of it that way, I suppose because I had no idea what to expect. Apparently my defense was quite intense compared with others he has been to. Lucky me! He also mentioned how difficult the Italian examiner was to understand and talk with. At least it wasn't just my own feeling towards her!

So we went and sat back where we had been only two hours earlier and waited. And waited. And waited. For 50 minutes. Finally the panel chair came to get us and didn't give anything away. As soon as I walked into the room the examiners were smiling and said 'congratulations' and shook my hand. I was surprised because it took them so long to make their decision I thought there must have been some disagreement between them. Maybe there was, but the panel chair read the results and they voted to pass my thesis with nine changes. As he was reading I kept thinking, nine changes seems like a lot, how could it pass? I felt confused. The examiners had been unpleasant, especially the Italian woman, and now they were smiling at me. But I also had to make changes or 'final polishing' as the panel chair phrased it. Several of the things they wanted me to change were pointless and would not improve my work. It was all so odd. During the interrogation they acted like they hated my work and now it just needed 'polishing'? After that, they congratulated me again and I left.

R met me downstairs and from my facial expression he surely must have thought I had failed. Indeed, I felt like I had failed for some reason. Even though I was granted the PhD and can use the 'Dr.' in front of my name, it did not (and still does not) feel like an achievement. It feels more like I survived a horrible hazing ritual to get into an exclusive secret society. A couple of weeks ago I read somewhere that the post-defense reaction is typically similar to post-natal depression, and I can understand that now. Maybe it is simply recovering from the intense stress of the situation which had been building from the moment I finished writing. Or maybe it is the realization that the huge amount of time and effort spent researching and writing the thesis, preparing for the defense, getting through the defense, and making the necessary changes is all to gain entry into a club that I am not convinced I want to belong to.

~K

July Update

It's been busy. Very, very bissy! So, we haven't been able to write a blog entry for a while. Here's one to get you caught up.

K's PhD. She has gotten the date of her "viva": August 1st, 10 am. This is when she will meet with the panel that is going to approve her PhD. It is also known as a "defense". She will have to answer any questions they have about her thesis and hear about any changes that they feel need to be done before it can be approved, if any. Wish her luck!

Visitors. My sister and her fiance have just been here for about 10 days. It was their first time in England, so it was great to show them around. We went to Stonehenge, the Jurassic coast, Winchester, Salisbury, and a trip to London for two days. Other than that, we just were hanging out around here, partaking in various aspects of English culture. It was great just to spend time with them and we were sad to see them leave. Photos HERE.

On the work front. As you know, I've been struggling a bit with what to do about giving notice of my departure. When is the right time? What exactly should I say? Etc. Well, a few weeks ago, I took my former line manager aside to ask his advice. Not only because he has worked there for 14 years and I trust him, but also because I really wanted him to be able to make plans for losing me in November. So as per K's suggestion, I went for it. He took it really well and was happy for me, though he said I would be sorely missed (nice to hear!). Because he wasn't quite sure what to tell me with regard to giving official notice, he said he would ask someone that he knows well in HR without giving any clues as to who it is he is asking about. I got some pretty good advice. Basically, I can give unofficial notice at any time (to my line manager or the school director, for example) to allow them time to plan accordingly. However, until I have given official written notice, they can't do anything (whether it be accepting my resignation or taking action to get me out of there sooner). HR also said that it was unlikely that they would fire someone earlier than the date stated in a resignation letter, especially if it was a good employee. They were glad to hear that this mystery person was actually concerned about leaving them in good stead, but they also said that sometimes it's better to be selfish. In other words, only give the required amount of notice (in my case, 2 months). --- I've been mulling this over for a while now and I haven't really come to any firm decision on my own. K and I talked about the idea that I give them notice after her PhD viva is over (on August 1st). My problem is that both the course leader and the school director will be away for most of August. Furthermore, my hand is basically being forced now because one of my colleagues is trying to get the school director to OK the expenditure of a new laptop for me and I'm running out of excuses! The cat might be completely out of the bag within the next week or so!

K is working several days per month for the media school doing research and currently has two interesting projects underway: one on journalists and emotionality in relation to traumatic news events; and the other on Islam and terrorism on UK university campuses. She has also started volunteering for two days per week at the Bournemouth YMCA gym.

Exercise. We're still going to kickboxing "drill rounds" on Saturdays together and I am continuing with Jeet Kune Do and Kali. On August 3rd, I will be "grading" for Level 1 Jun Fan (Jeet Kune Do). This is instead of Level 2 Kali because I couldn't find anyone to train with me that had Level 1 Kali. Also, K has started doing weight lifting twice per week at the YMCA. One of the guys that works there is giving her free personal training sessions in exchange for yoga instruction. He has also offered to give me free weight training sessions, too. I am going to start with that tomorrow evening in an effort to bulk up my upper body.

Where Our Sights Are Set

We have just hit the 145-day mark in our countdown to repatriation. Every once in a while one of us has a tiny little "freak-out" about the whole thing. It's kind of scary actually. K probably feels like I did when we moved to Europe (not as scared because it's almost like going home). We will just have some major readjusting to do and we have no idea where fate will take us.

The US is an enormous country, but strangely, we have been having a tough time picking a place we would like to live. We would like to try to maintain a "European lifestyle" (public transportation or walking, small neighborhood with good independent shops and restaurants, etc.); have good job opportunities to do something we enjoy; be near family and/or friends; have good transport links to easily see family and friends that don't live near us; not rely on a car; vibrant cultural scene (concerts, movie theatres, festivals); liberal political atmosphere with opportunities for activism of various kinds; good beer brewing; the possibility outdoor fitness activities; and a chance for us to buy a nice, reasonably priced house.

So, we have a list of places. A list that keeps fluctuating. Sometimes there's just one place on it, other times there have been a lot of places on it. This is something that has been going on for well over a year, but now that repatriation is imminent, we are looking at it much more seriously. By this time next year, we will hopefully be firmly ensconced in this new place of our dreams. The plan is to move "there" in January 2009.

Below is the list. It is divided into three sections. THE LIST! is a list of the places we like the most. If you were to say it out loud, you would have to put one or two thumbs up and say it with gusto and a smile. The List is the "batter's box" for places that we like, but don't necessarily tick off enough of our criteria to make it into THE LIST!, though might jump up there at some point. Again, to say it out loud, you say it somewhat flatly, but with a positive inflection in your voice. Finally, the list is for places that we definitely do not want to live in. Pronounce it with a slight hiss and contempt in your voice. Without further ado, in no particular order:

THE LIST!
St. Petersburg (or Tampa area), FL
Portland, OR
San Francisco (area), CA
Austin, TX
Idaho
Seattle, WA

The List
Charleston, SC
Savannah, GA
Arizona
Montana
Washington DC
New Hampshire
Colorado
New Mexico
Hawaii

the list
Everywhere not listed above

---

Hmm... decisions, decisions!

145 Days, 12 Hours, 46 Minutes

Cabinet minister: Brits are 'bloody miserable'

Politics.co.uk - Friday, June 20 10:35 am

The junior transport minister has caused a minor political storm by calling his countrymen "bloody miserable".

Writing on his blog, Tom Harris, MP for Glasgow South, said Britain had never had it so good, but that it had not made most Britons any less grumpy.

"There are more two-car homes in Britain today than there are homes without a car at all," he said.

"We live longer, eat healthier (if we choose), have better access to forms of entertainment never imagined a generation ago (satellite TV, DVD, computer games), the majority of us have fast access to the worldwide web, which we use to enable even more spending and for entertainment. Crime is down.

"So why is everyone so bloody miserable?

"What happened to that post-war optimism and commitment to common values?" he continues.

"Are they gone forever and if so, why? If not, how can we bring them back?"

The blog provoked an instant response from the Tories, with shadow treasury chief secretary Philip Hammond saying: "The short answer to Mr Harris's question asking why everyone is so miserable is, 'We've got Gordon Brown as our prime minister'."