Almost Over

A full realization has not yet hit that as of Monday I am completely done with my coursework for my masters program. Granted that pesky thesis is still to be completed, but that’s it. Hard to believe that by the time I finish in May I will have been in grad school for three years. It feels like it has been a lot longer. Relief and anxiety are the most appropriate words to describe how I feel about it. I am trying to let the relief run rampant and squelch the anxiety.

Par

This week has been excruciating in many ways. I am happy to announce I have now completed all the coursework for my masters program. Just that darn thesis to finish now. In addition to being the last week of school – the very last week, I interviewed ten people for jobs in my office. I can say without reservation that I hope not to interview anyone for a very long time. It is always good experience but normally we only do 3-4, so ten seemed over the top. Interviewing can be a wonderful confidence booster. However, it does compress the work week and when things are busy already, phew, I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

It gives me great pleasure to announce  for the first time in many months, I had a normal weekend. There was nothing normal about it – but it felt the way a weekend should. Lots of cleaning and organizing was accomplished. I slept in on Saturday and then met my friend B at the driving range at 11:00. We hit for an hour or so and then met B’s boyfriend JT (who some of you have previous acquaintance with) to play a round. I had the perfect first hole. It was a beautiful par. It could have been even better but I missed my first putt and had to settle for par. I basically killed everyone the first hole – and then proceeded at my normal level of expertise. But for having only played one other time in the last year I was feeling pretty good. The weather was beautiful, though slightly chilly. It was great to be outside. I feel like I hardly see the sun as it is now dark when I get off work. I was feeling so great afterwards I decided to go work out for an hour. I should have thought a little harder about that, since I have not picked up my clubs since this summer. Needless to say I could not move my arms this morning without groaning.

Changes

Here are some long awaited photos of my apartment. And the other big change – my haircut. This apparently is not that big of a change because not a single person has noticed.

I am finally feeling a little more settled in the apartment. The bedroom is not currently up to standards so no pictures of the back of the apartment – but you’ll get the idea.

The hair was meant to be a trim but I had a sudden urge to cut it all off again and my hair dresser B suggested an alternative route so we compromised with a lot of layers. I love it.

The Move

56 hours ago I received the key to my new apartment. It is strange to be living on my own, I like it but am not used to it. My father was a wonderful sport and spent all day Monday with me loading and unloading the truck and my car on multiple trips to Davis.

On our third drive he was carrying the bed and bookshelves. Pre-departure I asked if he would need me to follow him, the response was negative. As I was pulling away from the curb my mother comes running up the sidewalk flailing her arms in the air, “Your dad thinks you should follow him”, which I proceeded to do. I kept an eye on the contents of the truck for some time and then proceeded to get lost in my own thoughts. As we were approaching Davis I happened to look up and notice the top bookshelf had slid a foot or so out of the truck. I examined it closer – it kept sliding. At this point I am frantically searching through my purse for my cell phone - I watch in horror as the bookshelf continues to slide. I locate the phone (I should have grabbed my camera as well). The bookcase slips a little farther. I phone my father several times – no answer. I speed up and honk the horn – then realizing if the shelf falls I want to have plenty of room to stop and avoid injury to my car I slow down. By this time the shelf is leaning at an extremely precarious angle, held only by a small rope across the top edge of the shelf. Dad slows and pulls over – the shelf is saved and havoc avoided. Nothing like a little taste of what real anxiety feels like. Here is a quick diagram and photo.



Currently the apartment is a disaster, well I feel like it is, there may be those who would argue it is fine but my whole life feels out of balance with the state of disarray it is in.

Then there are the spiders. Upon informing G last week that I would be moving out her first question was, “K, who will kill your spiders?” My parents laughed, they should be laughing even harder now. After being uninhabited for two months small creatures, with many legs, laid claim to the apartment. They have not been overly welcoming to the new inhabitant. Especially disturbing is a large spindly looking spider with abnormally thick legs who is currently living under the bathroom vanity – we eye each other warily. After I have moved around for a while he sulks back under the edge of the vanity where he lives unseen. Light, both natural and artificial will send him crawling away. His neighbor a little up the side of the vanity but below the counter is an appropriately sized daddy long legs who is living with the skeleton of a past family member. Why are they still there after 56 hours? First it was sheer exhaustion that allowed them to remain alive. Last night I finally got some bug spray and a vacuum. I returned home with every intention of hitting them with the spray and vacuuming them up.

The spray was needed after my friend E told me a horrific tale about several spiders crawling out of her vacuum after being sucked up. As I hope to never see my spindly roommate again poison became the only option. My friend J told me to go with a wooden block smashing method, but that would require that my hand get rather close to the spider. When I returned home I marched back to the vanity with spray can in hand only to find that the spider was in hiding. I tried the spray out on a spider near the shower – with satisfactory results. Although he did run around for a while, I must be sure I don’t stand too close. However the spindly spider has not reappeared. I sincerely hope he is just in hiding and has not decided to seek a new home elsewhere in the apartment.

How to avoid the candy jar at work…

Our department often receives treats from all over the world. Between gifts we receive and items we pick up while traveling for work there are often many things to munch on; chocolates from Brazil and Europe, pineapple cakes from Taiwan, rice crackers from Korea, etc. I have often lamented that stricter rationing is not instituted to insure I am not grabbing one every time I walk by, often you will find me moving the jar or plate to an area where others are more likely to feed from it. Today my boss discovered the one sure way for me not to take any treats – he returned from Mexico with Tequila filled chocolates.

Night at the Paramount

This week I made two trips down to the Paramount Theater in Oakland. The first was on Monday to see Ray LaMontagne’s show with my friend C. The second was on Friday to watch North by Northwest with a group of friends. First off the theater is in opulent Art Deco style and the people there were great. I have not had such an enjoyable people watching experience in a long time. Monday’s show was really fantastic and I enjoyed it more than I expected. The movie last night is one of my favorites and it was a great group of people. But it really was the setting that added that extra something. The building is amazing.

Like stepping into another world. On Friday they had a organist playing selections from various movies - he was amazing. But that is why people live in cities, there are so many amazing things to do. Now don't get me wrong Davis has more "activities" than most cities its size because of the University but it is not the same.

J C G

Here he is. I only took one photo so that is the one you get. He looks more like a little man than a baby. Blond hair, blond eyelashes, blond eyebrows, blue eyes - a true Svz baby. He still looks like papa J though.

J is doing surprisingly well for having a child cut out of her abdomen yesterday. She was up walking today. Though last night she did threatened to kick my mother and I out because we were making her laugh to much and that hurts. If so we will bring her pain all week. They are keeping her at the hospital until at least Friday but more likely Saturday.

lil'J is very cute, his head is not deformed at all since she didn't squeeze him out - which made him incredibly pleasant right away. My mom took a million pictures and if she ever gives them to me I will post more.

How to spend a vacation…

1. Do nothing, even when homework is piling up and your thesis is looming large. This marks my third and final week of vacation. My boss was continually forgetting I am going to be gone. Last week she was shocked when I told her I would be out this week. It has only been planned since August so how was she to know? I fully intended to be productive and Sat I got as far as cleaning my room and doing some reading. Eventually I just gave in to nothing.

2. Visit your sister - she is having her first child. My mom wanted to wait until Wednesday but there was no way I was going to get research done at the library and help out after driving all day Wednesday and being there Thurs and Fri with Dad, C and G arriving for the weekend. Mom was persuaded - Tuesday would be the day. Me being me, flying somewhere every month this year, I decided that driving to Utah just was not going to cut it. So I booked one-way flights to Salt Lake and a rental car.

Insert stories about K and Salt Lake car rental companies. In Feb when I flew out to “do research for my thesis” I booked the cheapest rental rate and got a 2008 Ford Mustang. In June when I flew out to help J move I booked the cheapest rate and got a Jeep Grand Cherokee (which was helpful as J and I did a bit of shopping for the apartment). The rental for this upcoming trip will be a surprise - even I was totally blown away with the rate - $8.74/day that is $35 for four days, that is nuts and I didn’t even go with the economy rate. So while I indented to do nothing the week will be full. The drive back to California on Sunday sure will be interesting and a fitting end to a vacation.

3. Become so exhausted you will need a vacation after your vacation. Sadly no such follow-up vacation will occur. On Saturday 20 lawyers from Brazil landed in Sacramento and will be in Davis for two weeks. I will miss the first hectic week. Along with a reception the Dean of the Law School is putting on for our LL.M. students. The problem is that though the Dean hosts the reception all he does is show up, I ordered the food, planned everything, and then left it for my assistant and another colleague to put on. Am I nervous – I will worry about it when I get back and if nothing goes wrong I won’t worry at all.

Hopefully the nephew arrives tomorrow!

Birthdays

B turned 21 on the 11th and J will soon be having the actual birth day of the newest addition to the fam. Thus I have been reflecting on birthdays. I fondly recall my 21st birthday and the rousing
Happy Birthday song sung in Chinese. I can still sing it today, to the delight of my Chinese speaking students, friends, and once a visiting VIP from China who had come to meet with the UCD Chancellor. The most recent use (actually it is not the most recent use because I recall singing it for L and B while in Atlanta) was this summer at a party given for the international students I work with by a German woman who's husband used to be a professor at the law school.

At this party a group of Brazilian students and a group of Mexican/Chilean/Venezuelan students decided to have a sing off. They gathered everyone and each group had to sing a song in their language. Being completely outnumbered us Americans were probably the worst performers - actually we let our boss sing by himself. After several rounds a Turkish student tried to get Jia Yin, a timid student from Bejing, to sing in Chinese - she protested. Coming to her aid I rounded up two Taiwanese attorneys and another mainlander -we sang a rousing round of 'happy birthday to you'. I was quite please upon realizing we were singing what was probably the only song that would be unquestionably recognized -we finished to thunderous applause.

Want to know how to make a birthday memorable - sing in Chinese!

Big Brother

Last week I began participation in a pilot program for AAA. I am thrilled about $100 in gas cards and %5 off next year’s insurance charges and the other fun stuff to come my way. I don’t even mind the round black GPS container affixed to my dash. I am, however, a little concerned that ever movement of my car is being monitored. Granted there are numerous benefits:

1. there is a button and speaker in my car so that AAA is just a push away
2. with the GPS they will know exactly where to send the service truck (let’s hope I never have cause to use this feature)
3. I can login to the web site and see the exact route my car traveled that day, how long the trip was and at what speed I was traveling
4. I can set up alerts so that I receive a text message or email every time I reach or surpass a certain speed (this feature will not be activated)
5. I can receive a text or email every time my car goes outside a preselected area (a Geofence)
6. I can also view my speeding history to see if at any time I have exceeded the maximum speed limit I selected
7. At any time I can login and see where my vehicle is located

Now all of these features would be fascinating if I was stalking myself, there are in fact many scenarios where some or all of this information could be very helpful. But I can’t help wondering where all this information is going to go. Do I really want to receive 50 text messages every time I get on the freeway and exceed my selected speed limit? If I set the limit at 90 will that be a red flag for the pilot observers? All I can say is that I am glad that as a 16 year old my parents did not put one of these into their cars-although looking back it may not have been a bad thing. In fact during the 90 minutes I waited for the thing to be installed almost every other participant mentioned how great this will be for keeping an eye on their kids. My issue with this is –are they going to hold themselves the same standards (especially as regarding speed) as they hold their children. One can hope.

Quote from the memo: “…we believe this technology has huge potential as a safety device….[you] can view driving reports that can help [you] improve [your] driving behavior. But a lot of what we’ll use this for is still to be determined….”

The Wonderful World of Disney

Last weekend I was able to spend three and a half lovely days at Disneyland. It is the first non-work related travel I have done in a while. It was lovely, though incredibly hot. I checked the forecast everyday for four days before departure and it was way off. The trip was full of adventures and unexpected surprises – like a 50 minute massage at the Grand Californian Hotel. My parents were in Anaheim for some of the weekend, on a totally unrelated trip, we got to do quite a bit together. My dad was brave enough to spend almost all of Saturday with C and I. Another fantastic feature of their being there was that they drove down, so even though we flew they we still kind enough to drive us to Walmart on the first night of our visit for a quick purchase. The best part was I did not receive a single phone call from the office nor did I check my email during the trip. Fantastic!

Farewell Cottontail

Yesterday, with as much grace as I could muster, I accepted yet another piece of fateful news at work.

I should back-up by explaining Tuesday our department gathered for a fateful unit restructuring meeting. I knew it was bad news when the director phoned to say she wanted to meet individually with me and the Academic Coordinator before the department meeting. No one else was requested for an individual meeting and I prepared myself for bad news.

She began with “K, this entire plan is dependent upon you being here working 80-100% from now until next September. If this is not your plan you need to tell me now because things are already in motion”. First, how unfair to say the restructuring of the department depends on me. Second, I should hear the proposal first so I can take consider the offer. What does one say, “Um, that plan will not provide any stability for the unit and I might decide to apply for other jobs instead”. I kept my mount shut and listened to the offer:

They give me another promotion (+) I will believe this when it happens

I keep the Summer Masters Program (+ and -) and nothing else

I get rid of the academic year LL.M. and its horrendous admissions process -Hallelujah! (+++)

In addition I get the 4-week Orientation program and nothing else (+ and -)

I get to work 80% Sept-May and 120% May-Aug. On Tuesday I was not happy with this plan but after looking at the positives I recognize it is a great improvement over what I went through last year and I am a big fan of working 10-5.

Wednesday the real blow came. I arrived at 10 and the news I receive (I have not even turned my computer on yet) is that my office has been sacrificed in the space war. I have been exiled to the smallest most remote office space in our department. If I can fit all my stuff into the new space (which I can’t). I will miss the huge window in my old office, through which I enjoy watching the three little cottontail bunnies who frolic in the grass outside.

The Outrageous Pizza Heist

Last night we held a pizza party for the LL.M. students and their families at Steve’s Pizza in downtown Davis. We crammed a group of over 40 in the back room along with 14 large pizza’s. It was quite the sight. We were so numerous the restaurant actually ran out of glasses and was giving out clear plastic picnic cups to customers.

C and I were visiting after the party so I invited her to come join us for pizza. Near the end of the evening C, A (my assistant) and I were standing to one side of the room visiting with some of the Korean judges, I noticed a strange woman in a white shirt out of the corner of my eye. A moment later she came walking past me holding two pieces of pizza in a napkin. I watched her walk past dumbfounded then turned to C and A, “I think that woman took some of our pizza.” Sure enough we observed her circle around the table and take a seat at a booth inches from our table. With our six eyes on her she reaches to our table and takes another piece from the pizza tray. She startled our French LL.M. student, F, who is sitting right next to the dish. F glances at the three of us watching (by this time we are all staring down the lady) from across the room with a look of bemusement. When the woman indicates to the boy who materializes beside her that he should also take a piece from the tray F becomes concerned. Meanwhile my fellow observers and I are debating if we should say something to the woman and her son. We continue to stare and discuss as I notice a man in a red shirt standing against the wall nearby obviously taking stock of the large amount of pizza still available on our tables. Simultaneously the woman notices us and pulls a ten dollar bill out of her purse, says something to the boy and sends him away from the booth. I know she noticed us and I breath a sigh of relief thinking she is sending him to pay us for the pizza they stole. The boy stops to say something to the red-shirt man and proceeds to the counter to purchase drinks for the family. The man then circles the table. I rushed to the counter and asked for 6 boxes. There is a mad dash effort from C, A, myself, and several of the students (who have seen what is going on) to pack up all the pizza before the man sweeps in so the students can take the pizza home.

Defeated, and hopefully feeling guilty, the family exits the room (but not before checking out the pizza situations with other groups nearby). A reports the woman had the presence of mind to ask one of the students who exactly is in our group and what our party was for. She then made some off-hand comment about them joining the wrong group – lies and slander.

By this time we are all highly bemused. After everyone else has departed, C and I are standing at the counter so I can pay the bill when the birthday guest of a large party in the other room walks in to shouts of “Happy Birthday”. Right behind him I see the smiling bobbing head of the woman in white. I remark to C, “It looks like perhaps they really were with the wrong party”. However, as we exit I noticed the family is nowhere to be found. But, there they are seated with their drinks and empty napkins at a table outside waiting for their next unsuspecting victims.

I survived!

This was a trip unlike any other I have experienced. Saturday I had a lovely dinner at a corner café and walked around for a few hours before packing and heading to bed. To be safe I asked for a wake-up call Sunday morning at 6:30. Sadly as soon as the phone stopped ringing I went right back to bed and woke up 20 min before I needed to leave. A series of unfortunate occurrences resulted from this, along with the discomfort of having to sit on a plane for 10 hours after not having had a good shower that morning.

1. I got on the wrong metro – this NEVER happens and speaks to how tired I was.

2. I neglected to have breakfast

3. Totally disheveled

4. The hotel desk people held me up to say goodbye for a lengthy period

The one amazing thing was that in my groggy state I made it directly to the correct airline counter in record time, when I did not know where I was going or if I was even in the right terminal. I finally fed myself in the airport and sank into a large leather chair near my gate which smelled heavenly. Of course we boarded the plane early. Naively I thought my luck was changing. The deception continued, everyone was ecstatic about leaving early. As we boarded the flight attendant informed us that there were only 80 passengers on a plane with 214 seats. I had my choice between three seats to myself in the middle of the plane or two seats on the side next to the window. I opted for the window and settled down quite contently. It is a good thing we were all comfortable because we sat at the gate for two hours waiting for an electrical problem to be solved.

At length I arrived in Atlanta! It was wonderful to see L and B, especially since I have not had a chance to visit with them since their wedding. The weather was lovely. I wanted to kiss the ground when I landed. Monday L took me to see the Atlanta Historical Center, lovely, thought provoking, and entertaining. That evening for FHE we set off rockets. No arrests were made, though all rockets were lost. I also saw my first fireflies, which I was surprisingly enthused about. The visit was fantastic and they were great hosts.

My flight left early Tuesday morning, so I set my alarm with plenty of extra time – unfortunately the alarm gods were against me once again (why stop a trend). L kindly woke me ten min before we had planned on leaving. I threw things together and we headed out the door. The plan was for B and L to see me to the metro/subway station and set me off to the airport. Unfortunately the way was barred by an accident which blocked all lanes of traffic and the Police turned us away. Change of plans, we took L back to their apartment and B drove me directly to the airport.

He dropped me off at exactly the time I had hoped to arrive - 7:00am. We made good time. Apparently, not good enough though. When I went to the desk to get my boarding pass confusion ensued. At the bottom was printed something to the effect of – this flight is full, there are no available seats, please check in at the gate to receive a seat assignment.

There genuinely were no seats to be assigned. At least 7 potential passengers were not able to get on the plane. The woman at the gate seemed so pleased with herself when she announced that she could still get me home via Philadelphia and I would arrive in Sacramento at 9:21 that evening. My jaw dropped. California time it was around 3am and I would get there at 9:21pm that night, thus not arriving home until after 10pm. My consolation – a round-trip ticket anywhere US Airways flies (after my experience I am not sure this is even worth it). I sat in Atlanta until 1pm then headed to Philly and finally Sacramento.

When I finally landed I was ready to melt into the ground I was so relieved. One blessing is I had a great excuse to miss the department meeting Tuesday afternoon. Upon receiving the recap on Wednesday morning I am pleased I missed it.

I still have not unpacked and am suffering with a strange sense of time. Example: After dinner (probably around 7:30) I got online and started reading the paper. When I was finished I looked down at the clock on my toolbar and it said 11:30. Now it felt like 11:40, so I believed that was actually the time, I was however confused how I could have wasted the entire evening when there was so much to do. In a panic I marched into the kitchen to discover it was only 8:40, phew! My internal clock is having major issues. I guess I can be grateful to be alive, and to have had such a wonderful time in Paris.

This morning for the first time…

The alarm clock worked! While it has been nice to know what time it is, sadly the alarm has not gone off the last two days. This morning, the final of the conference, it finally went off. But in order to turn it off I had to reset the entire clock. It no longer shows the correct time. Tomorrow I am asking for a wakeup call. In terms of work, things have gotten better. I will send back about half as much stuff as I came with. Yesterday the congress took a break for the afternoon so I had time to go take a nap, visit Notre Dame, a cemetery south of the city, and have a lovely dinner. Still having plenty of time to get some good reading and journal writing in, do my laundry, and take a walk after dinner.







Yesterday I was finally able to enroll in the last course I have to take for my Master’s program. It is strange to think this will be my final class. Even stranger because I already have taken the class – with the same instructor even. Unfortunately that semester was when my boss P quit and I was working 15 hours a week in Sacramento while working 30 hours a week at UCD, and taking three classes. Plus this instructor and I did not get along – hopefully we can overcome that this time. Because I have already taken the course I had to wait until after classes started to enroll with the instructor’s permission. I got the last spot. She did make me panic a little when I emailed her and she indicated she had given the permission number for the last spot to someone else. I would only be able to have it if this student decided not to attend, and none of the other professors would let me into their sections because they were full. Thankfully the professor frightened the other student off by mentioning how difficult her class would be – something I know from experience and I got the spot.

The only remaining element of the program is my thesis. I submitted my proposal almost two weeks ago and still have not heard anything from my committee, not even a “Thanks Kristen, we received your proposal and will get back to you”. I am going to guess they are busy rather than fear that they hate it. Though knowing the three professors I have asked they will tear it apart even if they like it.

My hotel room is located on the 4th floor of the hotel (which in France is actually the 5th floor). Thankfully they have a miniature elevator (so small in fact that I missed it the first day and walked up two flights of stairs with my luggage before they stopped me to point it out). The elevator is quite interesting, it probably has not been examined for safety in years and though it says it holds 3 people you would have a difficult time squeezing two people in. The fourth floor happens to abut someone’s apartment and this someone is a fantastic opera singer. Amazing. The first night I arrived he was singing Broadway melodies and I assumed it was a CD. Then two nights ago he was singing Opera until 2am. I realized at about 1:30 that it was a live performance. Last night he was trying to sing a song where he just couldn’t seem to hit the correct note because he kept singing the same notes and stopping then repeating, over and over again. I'd liken it to a broken record, though not painful.

Today is my last day in Paris! I must say I am quite excited about heading to Atlanta to visit L and B. What will I do to enjoy my final day in Paris? I would like to simply walk around – but after this week I already have some rather nasty blisters. Perhaps I will just go sit in the Park and relax, after I sit here at the conference for a few more hours and do my homework once the participants have all left at 1:00.

Case of the nonexistent alarm clock

The only recent excitement of my trip is the fact that I have not had a clock or alarm. This morning (the first for which I had to be at the conference at 8:00) I neglected to ask for a wake-up call. Which had more to do with my trepidation concerning the people at the front desk than forgetting to ask for one.

The conference is interesting, though the sponsor room has not been terribly busy, which is bad for business. I initially thought it was going to be great but traffic died down substantially. I am so paranoid nothing will come of this it almost makes me sick. If the rest of the days continue like this I will be bored out of my mind by the time the conference ends Saturday.

Of the problems I am facing one thankfully has been solved. One of the other sponsors was handing out travel clocks with alarms – so my punctuality is saved and I am quite relieved.

The Saga Continues

Day 2 saw the continuation of my foul luck. Monday morning was a disaster. I woke up and headed to the hotel for the set-up, turns out set-up actually IS on Tuesday. I was grateful for the extra time but it was chaos and confusion at the hotel. I decided to use the extra time to iron the logo table cloth. Horrifically the moment the iron touched the fabric it melted the cloth away. This would not have been too bad except the hole is right in front next to the logo. It took everything to keep from falling apart. I was so distraught I actually prayed the table cloth would be restored, or that I could go back in time 1 minute. It was so surreal. Since the table cloth was not going to be miraculously made whole I simply had to find a way to hide the hole. I ironed some cleverly placed folds to hide the hole. It also took quite a bit of time to remove the melted plastic from the iron so that I could iron my suit, thankfully when I removed it from the closet there were no longer any wrinkles.

By the time it was 11:00. I was so emotionally exhausted I just crawled back into bed. L de G, who I lived with when I was here on study abroad chose this opportune moment to call the hotel to set up a time for us to go to dinner that evening. This woke me up a bit and I was able to get some work done after that.

I was feeling slightly better and decided to take advantage of the rest of the day and venture out into the city. I visited a few places and then got on the metro. I was not certain where I was going to go at this point so I simply changed trains a few times. I realized I was hungry and decided to head over to the Louvre for lunch and then visit the museum. However, I got off one stop to late and as I was standing up top trying to get my bearings this person I had seen several metro stops previously walked up and started talking to me in French. Disturbingly he had been following me for several metro and had only just been able to catch me – I should have kept walking. I pretended like I did not understand a word he said, which was not very difficult because he was Moroccan and had a terrible French accent. In about 5 min he explained that he had been in France for 6 years and was still looking for a job. By this time I was incredibly annoyed that he was bothering me and indicated that I needed to go to the Louvre, I started to walk away and he followed me. I spent the next hour trying to get rid of him. Finally I bought my ticket into the museum and when he tried to buy one I told him no. It was all horrific, and now I am terrified of running into him again.

After that experience the solitude of the Louvre was wonderful. It is an amazing place. You can be in an area full of people and turn a corner and suddenly find yourself in an almost empty corridor full of treasures. So much has changed. I was there at least once a week when I was here before and I found tons of new exhibits, along with many old favorites. It was off to the garden after that and then back to the hotel where I rested my feet while waiting for Laurence. We had dinner at this charming little café where I ate what was probably one of the best desserts of my life. She then took me around Paris in her car which was great fun, especially when we were pulled over by a French Policeman. By the time I got back to the hotel at midnight I was more than ready for bed.

Journey

This trip has been something else. Friday I finished work around 10:30pm and went home to pack. I had barely started and still needed to do laundry. At 1am I discovered the information I had been sent by the conference was incorrect and most of my materials for the conference would be arriving a day late. Luckily, I had the foresight to mail my table cloth and sign along with a few brochures to my hotel. By 2:40am I could barely keep my eyes open. I took a nap until 3:30am which gave me enough time to leave around 4:14am. When my dad came in at 4:10 to tell me it was time to go I was still asleep and rushed to shower and finished getting everything packed. We made it to the airport where I met one of my students who was on the same flight to Atlanta. He works for an LDS lawyer in Brazil and the church is one of their biggest clients. We talked about how they are helping the church purchase land for another temple in Brazil.
The flight to Atlanta was cramped and seemed much longer than 4 hours. I was not able to sleep so I was especially grumpy when I arrived in Atlanta. It was nice to see the student (R) at the food court and have lunch together. After he left to take the metro to go see Atlanta - since his layover was over 6 hours, I went to go and buy some Euros. Unfortunately the clerk at the exchange told me my corporate creditcard had been declined. Panic. So I had to get 200 Euros. At this point I am freaking out because I don’t want to have to pay for the trip and I still had the hotel bill to pay. I phoned home in a panic and got the number for the credit card company. When I called they said that nothing was wrong, I am just not authorized to get a cash advance on the card. I was breathing much easier at that point. Soon after I boarded the plane to Paris. When we were rolling out onto the tarmac I opened my large shoulder bag and the purse I had placed inside of it was gone. At this point I am so tired I can’t remember if I took it out and put it down somewhere or if it could have been taken out by someone else. The last time I remembered seeing it was when I put my iPod into it on the flight to Atlanta.

The only things I can remember being in the bag are my chapstick and iPod, other than that I think it was empty. I think. I have not noticed anything else missing. I am sad to experience Paris without a soundtrack. I hope whoever ends up with it enjoys the MoTab. By then I was wishing I had stayed home in bed.

For the flight I requested a window seat because I can't sleep on a plane if I have to sit straight up, I have to curl up against the wall. There was a kid sitting next to me and I heard his mother from a couple rows away telling the stewardess to make me move so that two of the four members of her family could sit together. As the stewardess approached I resolved to be generous until she said that the seat they wanted me to move to was a isle seat. Then I could just picture myself sitting there totally frustrated and tired for the entire 9 hour flight. The plane was ancient, with no personal movie screens so I knew the big screen at the front would keep me up the entire flight if I relinquished my seat in the very back row to move forward. On top of that the last thing I wanted to do in my exhausted state was get all my stuff out of the overhead bins and move across the plane when everyone else besides this family was already seated. I could just picture how sick and tired I would be upon arrival if I gave up that window and I told the stewardess so. After the news was broken to the family the kid left and was replaced by his obviously upset father who (as a large man) helped make my flight quite unpleasant.

I was not the most energetic of individuals when the plane landed. And to fit my mood it was raining – I neglected to grab the coat I had intended to bring with me when I left the house Saturday morning. After getting off the plane it took almost an hour to get to the metro station at the airport. When I tried to buy tickets for the ride to Paris and for the rest of the week all three of my cards were declined by the automated station. After my experience Saturday in Atlanta this made me incredibly anxious. Luckily I had cash so I went into the ticket office and was able to purchase what I needed. I was so tired the poor girl at the desk could hardly understand my French.

Travel to the hotel was filled with more lovely delays. I did manage to come to the rescue of a very confused Australian family who needed directions. When I finally emerged from the underground I was wishing I had printed out the directions to my hotel so I did not have to keep pulling out my map. I was looking forward to a long nap! After a sleepless Friday night and at most seven hours of sleep since I woke up Friday morning I felt a nap well deserved. Imagine my chagrin when I arrived at the hotel at 10:30am and discovered under no means could I check in before 2 pm. Ah, the French. The gentleman at the desk was kind enough to let me deposit my bags in the breakfast room. By the look of all the bags already there I could tell I was not the first to arrive that day.

I left my bags and went to read in the Tuileries garden. Though wonderful to be here - I enjoyed the trip little. And usually the traveling part is one of my favorite parts of travel. After a while it grew cold so I decided to get up and walk around. Halfway through the walk it started to rain, then pour. My goal was to get to Notre Dame and sit inside the cathedral and read. Unfortunately there were several hundred people in line waiting to enter, I had never seen a line before. But then, the last time I was here it was winter, and though the weather today is comparable it is still August. I figured I was far enough away that it would be 2 by the time I got back to the hotel, so I started the long march back in the rain, stopping off at Starbucks to get some hot chocolate to distract me from my cold damp sweater.

Success, they gave me a room and I rushed up and collapsed on my bed. When I awoke it was still light out and I guessed it must still be Sunday since I did not think I could have slept all night, but it was slightly dark so could have been early morning. It took some time to orient myself to what was going on and clear the fog from my brain. In the end I only slept for 4 hours and I am looking forward to a hearty night’s sleep tonight. Although the night clerk is interesting – old and nice – but my American personal boundaries keep me from being too friendly and I think hotel clerks should stay behind their desks. The hotel itself is only two short blocks from the Tuileries and only 3 or 4 from the Louvre. It is a perfect location for me.

Pending Departure - How does one find time to pack?

I know it is hard to ask for sympathy right before your boss sends you off to Paris, but when your flight leaves at 6:00 am on Saturday and you will be working 12-13 hour days on Thursday and Friday it is difficult to be enthusiastic. Do I sense doubt? “Ah, but K you thrive off the chaos of it all”. You are correct, but all things in moderation, please. 

When it rains it pours, a new semester begins next week and I have not yet received a response from my thesis committee about my proposal. Even an acknowledgment they received it would suffice. Perhaps they are so blown away they don’t know what to say. Hopefully reading it did not kill them. 

In addition I have deposited my car at the repair shop and am soooo looking forward to the hefty fees I will have to pay to reclaim it. Not that I was planning on buying anything in Paris anyways. 

This week will bring big changes at work as one group of LL.M. students will be leaving and another arriving. Interestingly (for those of you who have been following the Georgia/Russian conflict) I have a student coming to study in Davis from Georgia. The airport he was to leave from was destroyed (though I am not sure what exactly constitutes destroyed, but that was how he described it) so he had to travel to Armenia and catch a flight from there. The professors at the law school are going to love him in all the current events discussions.

With the comings and goings I am receiving all sorts of interesting gifts. A pair of earrings from Turkey, which arrived today, take the cake so far. I love that one aspect of my job is I get to spend so much time with such a variety of people. Countries represented for the next nine months are: Georgia, Turkey, Kenya, Mexico, Germany, France, China, Taiwan, Korea, Iraq and India. Should be an interesting group.

In The Beginning....

Since my life is so absolutely fascinating... I figured beginning a blog might be a good idea. Perhaps this week was not the ideal time - as I am in the middle of more projects than I can complete, but then, there is no time like the present.
 
Life for the past month and a half has been consumed by work and vain attempts at finishing my thesis proposal. After much trepidation I finally have a thesis committee, now I just need to get my proposal to them. My chair has given me a completion deadline of May 2009 (which I am just fine with). I am looking forward to finishing my masters.  Looking forward to it more than I can say. If my children ever indicate they are going to work full-time and simultaneously attend school full-time for their masters, they will get an earful from me. I am proof that it is possible, but I would not encourage anyone to put themselves through this.

Over the summer work has kicked into high gear. I have 38 foreign attorneys I am coordinating a summer LL.M. program for and 16 LL.M. students arriving this month for a 9-month academic year LL.M. program - phew they keep me busy but I do so enjoy them. Thus the thesis progress has been slow.

There is so little time, but since my trip to Paris (for work - my second voyage of the year) begins on the 23rd and it will be something I will definitely want to post about I figured I better start early. Who doesn't love new ways to use up already scarce time?