Thesis Afterlife and Teaching Challenges – The Bamberg Chronicles, part II
Welcome to the second part of my Bamberg chronicles. In my first post (Bamberg Chronicles I) I told you about this convenient plot twist – my new job -, me moving to Bamberg, experiencing all the new and crazy stuff about distance teaching due to CoVid19.
I was busy those last months. I had some nasty problems with be bureaucracy and officaldom because they, too, had problems because of CoVid19. When you are an Austrian citizen, you need certain things in Germany, like a tax payer identification number and so on. It took me actually three months to get everything up and running, but I am finally getting my full wage as laid down in my contract and in the right tax category.
It was a real tough time – first, being away from home was quite a surprising challenge. Not I was bored or feeling lonely, it was just the simple fact that I am used to talk to someone when I get home in the evening. Of course, you can talk on the phone but it is not the same. But okay, I am about to get used to it. I found a new routine of everyday working life. I love my new office and I like my colleagues. I had some struggles with the way of distance teaching – but, again, this semester was so crazy, who hasn’t.
And I submitted my thesis, by the way. And, well, I am waiting now for all my supervisor’s reports to come and then, when my last exam is over, I will be calling myself Doctor. So, submitting my thesis happened quite different from what I wanted – I wanted to hit the Submit-button and then lay on my couch, next to my man, drinking wine and watching our favorite movie and just relax. I submitted my thesis alone, in my flat at Bamberg, with my mom on the phone. Then I called my love. And then I went to work and in the evening I cooked my favorite dinner, opened a bottle of wine and watched on of my favorite movies (in this case “Fool’s Gold” with Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson). And yes, I know, it’s a crazy and very non-realistic movie, but I like it. It is simple, funny and it’s relaxing.
I started a new series of books – the Temperance-Brennan-mysteries by Kathy Reichs – yes, exactely, the books who inspired the series Bones. I am actually at nr. 6 and in my last two months at Bamberg I read a novel per week at least. I enjoy my alone-time. And I was so awfully tired – I still am – since my thesis submission, I have no words for it. I talked a lot with my friends who already did submit and they all told me the same story. That they, too, just are missing some days, weekends, spent on the couch or in bed, dozing and sleeping, talking with no-one and just living the moment by doing and thinking nothing. I still have some days, when I cannot get my brain into working mode. It is quite annoying when you want to work, but nope, not a chance, your brain won’t work.
But I did it, I submitted my thesis and now I have all my time for my job and for my articles. And I had my first online experience by attending a virtual conference, the TUG’2020 (the TeX User Grop conference). Here is a link to the conference webpage. The LaTeX ninja (epigrammetrist Sarah for you) and the happy Noob (that’s me) were talking about people in the humanities working with LaTeX and about the empowerment for this special user group. You can find more information on LaTeX and our Noob-Ninja-posts on Sarah’s blog the LaTeX ninja. And I was invited to join a session at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds next year – there, I will be covering the role of language in different social classes during the Arian controversy. And I was so happy to got that possibility and I hope it will work out. Abstracts are submitted, now we will wait for a decision. 😉
You see, there are a lot of things going on right now – well, as usual with us epigrammetrists. I am enjoying my time at home – working in my academic home office at Graz. I am preparing some new things for courses I will held in the future and there are some articles waiting for a revision… and I am somehow procrastinating the hell out of myself, I have to admit. But, then again, it is summer, we are still experiencing a crazy time and I just figured out that I can do my reading at my lounger on my balcony, in the sun. Feels like holidays…
We epigrammetrists decided to blog only twice a month – at least for the summer. Because we are very busy and there are a lot of blog posts waiting for you. As you can see. So, this is my second part of the legendary Bamberg chronicles…
Stay safe and healthy, enjoy the sun – and stay fierce.
All the Best, Astrid 🙂