Monday, November 17, 2008

No jet-lag, but...

So I woke up at 5:30 this morning, not able to go back to sleep. I was fine all day yesterday, because I slept well the night before, until 10:30pm, when I was just too tired. Tonight I will have to force myself to stay awake until midnight, which is when I usually go to bed at home, and then I will hopefully be able to sleep until 8.

Anyway, my first day went well. I lectured for an hour and a half, and I think it was okay. The professor who invited me is sitting in on the lectures, which works out--he asks questions for clarification for the students, who I think are shy about asking questions as English is not their first language.

I feel as though I'm being courted while here for a job, though. The fact that he wants another two professors to come here was discussed at length during lunch, and apparently this school has, for foreign applicants at least, a very strict requirement for citations. One must have at least two papers with more than like, 200 citations or something. Very few younger people have this (I do just because of my luck in what I did in graduate school). I was trying my best to say no, because that is just not a possible two-body scenario I'm willing to work with. But, at least it's a compliment, and I guess it would possibly be easy to get a job somewhere at least.

Now I will take a "shower" (in quotes because of course there's no curtain and it's a hand-held shower head that you use while sitting in the tub---good for my lazy side but not satisfactory for my shower needs), and I guess finish preparing for today's lecture, which happens in two hours.

by Topher at 4:36 PM |