Thank you, all, for such an encouraging response to my last post. I’d like to write more about my childhood in the various places I grew up, about my raising my daughter bilingually, and about life things in general, so there will be more posts of that nature to come. For now, time is limited. All my writing time is dedicated to wrapping up my dissertation. My last chapter is off my desk and I’m working through revisions. Funny thing is, the closer I get to being done, the more I almost feel sad to part with this all-consuming project of mine. I’ve come to really love writing and researching my topic and I cannot believe that I will have put together a 200+ page manuscript on it in the end. Yikes.
Time spent away from writing has been used on researching something even more exciting: our upcoming trips this summer, a mix of family reunion, conference work, and PhD reward for us. Those of you who guessed Prague are right! We’re heading to San Francisco, Prague, Munich, Vienna, and Romania this summer!
That’s a lot of travel and a lot of airplane trips, hotel room nights, and unpredictable days with a baby. I will definitely take any travel tips from you parents out there as those days approach. But there will also (hopefully) be a lot of sharing of things we love with C., and as long as she’s with us, and not bored, she’s a really happy baby. And since travel is anything but boring, we should be golden. Right? Except for maybe on those long transatlantic flights…
In anticipation of our trips, I’ve been practicing my film-making skills. Here’s a short film from our recent trip (over the winter holidays) to my alma mater, Miami University of Ohio. Any other Miami alums out there? It had been nearly ten (ten! this really dates me, doesn’t it?) years since I was there and so it was quite a trip to revisit it through my ‘grown-up’ eyes this past December. I took T. to my favorite eatery, we met up with friends, we walked and walked and walked through campus, and I remembered the joys and the angst that accompanied those long-ago undergrad days. All in all: Miami, I love you, but I’m so glad not to be nineteen anymore.
*Music: The Heart of Life, John Mayer (only because John Mayer is the soundtrack to the Miami memories inside my head).
That’s so exciting that you get to do all that traveling! I’m envious, seriously! We have plans of our own cooking up, but they’re a bit more long-term, and it’s hard waiting :) I hope the travel with C. ends up being wonderful!
Soooo cute! Love this video… made me cry… :-) Good cry though. You have a lovely family!
Love it!!
What song did you use?
Thanks, Jess! The song is “The Heart of Life” by John Mayer.
S.
Congrats on finishing your dissertation! Having just submitted mine, I know how you feel – for me it was quite difficult to let go at the end, having become attached to my thesis and watching it grow over the past years. But at the same time, it feels sooooo good! :)
Your travel plans sound great. Baby in tow, it should be all the more exciting.