Are you homesick yet? ... The Christmas Edition

Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. 

~Oliver Wendell Holmes~

Am I homesick yet?
It’s a good time to relook this question because it is the Christmas season and I am not headed to the sunny shores of home to spend Christmas day with family at my Granny’s, and another day in the holidays with family and friends at my Mom’s. I am not feverishly cleaning my place, looking for curtains, putting up a colour coordinated but simple Christmas tree and wondering what day I would do my own entertaining. I am not rehearsing Christmas tunes, I have NOT heard one Kenny and Dolly Christmas song and I am certainly not running around looking for gifts. I could keep going on (black cake…hmmm) but I won’t.

So am I homesick yet?

What I am, after discussing all I would miss, is hungry … lol … But honestly, I miss home and I will definitely miss some black cake this season. Maybe I am homesick this time because I am a little sad, but a lot of that sadness is based on my own greed and love of people. I am a very social being and will miss all the hugs, laughs and interaction with all of the people I love and care about. I will miss, oh heck I am missing some of the excitement, but I am also enjoying the quiet moments.

Considering that I chat face to face with someone special almost daily, I assure you that I am still getting a lot of the interaction that I love with the people I love. But I really should have learnt to make black cake before I left or at least brought the fruit with me. I am hoping that I am dropping enough hints that whoever visits me first brings black cake with them. I can manage all the other dishes without assistance and goodness knows that I can bake but black cake is an art that I have not perfected (neither is rice, but don’t tell my grandmother.)

I got a Christmas card from a neighbour, an invitation to Christmas lunch, am spending some time with a cousin and attended the Department’s Christmas lunch so I am not totally alone. I also got a very nice email from a department (IDU) of the Uni at home. So I am not crying in a corner people, mourning the loss of family and friends. I may be a little homesick but I am managing. Furthermore, friends (new and old) and family are making the change easier by just keeping in touch.

No matter where you are and how I interact with you, know that just knowing you care makes a difference and makes being away from the familiar that much easier to handle.

Merry Christmas everyone! May 2014 bring more experiences, more lessons and lots more of life. 

Research Philosophy ... OMG!!!!

I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then

~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland~

The second module of the Certificate in Research was entitled Research Philosophy. Where do I even start?

Unlike the other course—Research Methods, from the Passion blog—we did not have an intense week of vignettes. Rather, this was an intense week of reading, self-reflection, and quite a lot of big words that were difficult to pronounce and sometimes understand. Of course there were still lecture sessions, but now they were three hours long and the group work never seemed to stop. I started the week a little worried as the course does have a rather odd reputation on campus. At the very least it is recognized as a necessary evil.

I was not impressed with the four pre-readings for two reasons: (1) there were four of them (I did have other work to do) and none of them a few pages long and (2) was I really supposed to understand them all? Now I love reading, especially things that catch my attention, I can relate to or are well written so I did get through two of them. But two paragraphs into the third one and I felt like Morpheus was trying to make me choose between the blue or red pill to see how far the rabbit hole went. Whoops! Just a tad too much for me!!  In addition to the pre-readings, when I looked at the schedule there appeared to be one or several readings for each session (talk about overload; I really felt like a student.)

I was therefore pleasantly surprised to enjoy the few sessions we had. Moreover, I really enjoyed the group sessions during the week. They allowed us (the students) to learn from each other, talk through what we had learnt, what we didn’t understand and kinda muddle through it together.

Now, about the teaching sessions in more detail… sigh. These sessions were thought provoking, interesting, befuddling at times and sometimes fun. Please do not think this story will have a typical ending i.e. expect poor session but it turned out to be great …no no no… this story has a totally different emphasis. Let me focus on the thought provoking part of the week. Have you ever asked yourself:

• ·         What is reality?
• ·         How do I view reality?
• ·         Are there multiple realities?
• ·         Does the reality of a situation change for the same person?
• ·         What is the truth?
• ·         How do I know that something is the truth?
• ·         Are there several truths?
• ·         Does the truth change according to the perspective of the viewer, thinker or individual?
• ·         Is the truth the same no matter whose point of view it is seen from?

These are the types of questions that were being tossed at us (almost carelessly) during that week. The answers to these questions, or rather our answers to these questions or our point of view would apparently make it easier for us to determine our philosophical positions as it relates to research.

Seriously?!? Who thinks about this stuff? Who wants to do this much self-examination? What was I doing here? Was getting a PhD supposed to make me examine myself and my beliefs? Even scarier: were these questions really that difficult? For some persons I am sure the answers would come very easily because everything in their lives is so clear-cut and sure. But right now, right then especially in the face of all these differing perspectives, what did I really think? What was I sure of? What did I believe?

What do you believe?

Sigh… all this thinking is exhausting. Anyway … the week went by, I believe I participated and I know I learnt something. Words like ontology, epistemology and methodology all became a little clearer; I even think I get interpretivism and positivism. Unfortunately that didn’t mean that I knew the answers to the hard questions or that I was ready to complete the assignment which essentially requires my answers by January.

What do you think? What is the truth?

Some things change...

Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity. 

~Robert Morgan~

I have been thinking for a while what the next blog would be about and honestly could not come up with a good theme, thought or lesson. I have been correcting too many papers to think too closely about blogging, honestly. However, I have had a few fleeting, disjointed thoughts. If I was to attempt to find a common thread among those thoughts, and it may be a stretch, I could say that those thoughts have largely focused on the things that I love about being here or that I am very impressed by here but are very different from my own experience, while others have been about how similar some things are to my home. This blog will focus on the first section of that list—“Some things change”, with the list of things that are different. The follow up blog—”And some things stay the same”, will discuss those things that appear eerily similar.

Some things change:

• One of the most beautiful things I have observed here is that most everyone says thanks to the bus driver as they get off the bus. I LOVE IT!! It’s so polite and it doesn’t appear to be done by most people just because. Rather, it appears to be done out of gratitude. Those who don’t care just don’t say anything. So, as a line of people get out of the bus they look him or her in their face and say: Thank you, Thanks driver, Ta and other similar things. I guess I don’t have to say that I have warmly embraced this habit; it’s beautiful!
• This one is about teaching. Everything seems so well planned. There are set forms for marking, set guidelines as to what each band of marks represents and it is clearly laid out (in all the cases I have encountered so far) what you are looking for with each assignment as you mark. No guessing here! All students have access to these forms and therefore know exactly what they need to do if they want to excel. Puts the responsibility firmly in their hands.
• The library is AMAZING! You can walk in with your bag, phone or whatever. It is just expected that you will be responsible enough to stick to the rules of the floor. That means that if it is a silent floor each person respects that and if it is a group work floor, everyone respects that.
• Have I mentioned that the library is AMAZING!! Let us not even get into the fact that I put my books on an automatic ‘thingee’ and it gives me a receipt for my books and I get an email when they are due back. Returning is just as simple, place the books on the conveyor belt and get a receipt. AMAZING!!! Of course, as cool as this is, I have lost the human interaction (and I do love to chat).

...and some things stay the same

Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity. 

~Robert Morgan~

This blog as promised is the follow up from…"Some things change" and will be my list of the things that seem to have no cultural barriers (should I even say that?) A better way to put it may be that this list will include things that remind me of home and make me feel nostalgic… lol (that wasn’t any better.)

…and some things stay the same:

• Students! I so far generally (please note I did not say always) see more effort from the ‘foreign’ students than I do from the ‘local’ students. Doesn’t that sound familiar? When I had a conversation with a member of the Administrative staff about it she said, “Well they pay.” My first thought was I could be in the office at home sitting talking to anyone else in my own Administrative department and they would say something eerily similar if not absolutely the same.
• Shorts! Imagine my shock to come to the UK and see girls in what can only affectionately be termed batty riders (short shorts for those of you not familiar with the term). Lol. Fashion always comes before practicality! A girl has got to look good! Granted, they are wearing tights under them (sometimes very sheer ones), but I in my naiveté could not imagine wearing shorts in this cold weather (before now … hmmmm… I am already rethinking some outfits).
• Penguins! I almost did not believe it when I saw it but I saw a guy wearing his pants below his boxers. I really am naïve when it comes to fashion (Shakes my head) I expect to see this practice in the States; I somehow did not think that in this cold weather that anyone would want their boxers exposed to the elements that sounds like it would lead to a mighty cold butt!! But (lol) in their defence, locals are a lot more used to the weather than I am.

Honestly I am sure there are other things but right now they are not coming to mind. 

Passion

Passion is energy. Feel the power from focusing on what excites you.

~Oprah Winfrey~

 

To complete my PhD I need to acquire some skill doing research which makes sense as it is a body of research. This translates in my programme to completing a Certificate or Diploma in Research, where the Certificate is 60 credits (bare minimum) and the Diploma is 120 credits (nuff work). The first module of this programme called Research Methods finished a few weeks ago and I want to share my observations, and maybe the major lesson.

The co-ordinators of the programme divided it into 12 vignettes (so English) of an hour and 50 minutes each over the week. A bit painful it seemed when I thought about it before, as it meant that we would be sitting in a classroom setting (groan) from 10 am till 6pm daily with reflective group work (really?) to wrap up each day. I did know though that it was a ‘necessary evil’ to complete my major goal, so I put on my happy face and my good attitude and I got ready for the week.

This programme also meant that I would get to meet and ‘socialise’ (maybe interact is a better word…hmmm…) with persons outside of my department as the programme was run by the Business School for all new PhD students, in addition to students completing a Masters in Research (wow). I was betting that they would not allow us to choose our groups but would place us in groups to force interaction so I was sure I would meet some new people.

Each vignette was presented by a Lecturer, Doctor, and Professor (your get my drift) of the Business School’s various departments: Strategy & Organisation, Human Resources, Management Science, Economics, Accounting and Finance, the Centre for Entrepreneurship etc. Each individual presented on a different research method that they used in their PhD work or that they are using in their current research, which meant that we were not discussing the method in isolation but in some context that illustrated how the method could be used and be useful.

Anyway my thoughts on the week:

• I am not a nerd! Some of the people that I met are so intellectual that they can seem intimidating. I was not sure that I could relate to them in my normal fashion, if you know what I mean, where my normal fashion means using small, simple words. (lol)
• I had great fun in some sessions, especially those that utilised active learning techniques and got us up and involved. One presentation I was involved in was especially fun as my team’s topic was about work and play and we tossed ‘a ball’ (wadded up paper) to each other as we spoke. Simple but effective!! ( I was petrified at first, I cannot catch to save my life, so I had the ball first)

• Some sessions were just not what I was expecting and the titles were very deceptive. For example, in the vignette entitled, Historical Methods and Perspective I was certainly not expecting to hear about Colonialism, Feminism and the like, although it did all make some sense in the end. 
• Lunch will be provided does not mean hot food (lol), something I am becoming very acquainted with in the UK. No rice and peas, no macaroni pie, no beef stew peeps. No! Lunch will be provided on a university budget means assorted sandwiches (not cheese paste and tuna… but sexy sandwiches), assorted pastries, cookies, juice, water, coffee and tea.

I think I am taking too long to get to the point.

There was one consistent trait with every presentation, and that was passion. Each presenter had a passion for the research method or the specific research they were discussing. Even the guy talking about an area that to me was more boring than dirt was smiling, animated and passionate about his research, his work and his PhD years or sometimes all of these. But that passion always shone through.

I highlight one individual who was such an inspiration in so many ways. (I don’t have their permission to talk about them so this will be slightly vague) With a first degree in a creative area, an MBA and a PhD, in addition to one of those truly mixed up backgrounds (born here, raised there, studied here, completed research there etc. etc.) the individual shone as an example that being true to yourself, your background and being passionate about your cause and research, no matter how different, can still lead to success in your chosen field.

So what I learnt, what my major lesson was (hmmm how do I put it) is: choose your work, research, (dare I mention them … relationships) and activities wisely because being passionate about whatever it is makes that much more difference. It makes you smile, it makes you animated, it makes you committed, it makes you a better presenter and it will see you succeed.

 

 

 

 

Three encounters ... #3 ... Don't you need special shampoo?

Man can learn nothing except by going from the known to the unknown

~ Claude Bernard ~ 

 

Here is the final instalment of my three encounters.

#3... Don't you need a special shampoo?

Headed up to four weeks in the UK and on my second cold, I had not gotten a chance to wash my hair for a variety of reasons: I was sick twice … stupse…(not washing it then to make me sicker), I had no dryer (bought one last weekend) etcetera…etcetera. I went to the dentist for my first examination and right next door is a salon with dryers. Quick thought that this would be better than holding a blow dryer over my head on my own until my hand hurt and it would make sure that even though I am sniffling I would have a clean, dry head. So, I turned, walked in and up to the desk and asked, “how much would it be for me to get my hair washed and dried?”

She looked petrified. I can’t think of a better word.

“But, don’t you need a special shampoo?”

I responded with a shake of my head and she asked “how do you dry it?”

I am trying to think how I felt at this time, but I can’t think how to explain it; I wasn’t upset, I wasn’t annoyed, I was just determined to get this hair washed and not have to dry it myself. I said, “just a normal hood dryer like the one in the corner over there” as I pointed to the dryer I could see behind her. I could still see some alarm in her expression but after we established that I was willing to do it even though she had no experience with hair like mine and that I didn’t want to make an appointment (there was only one other person in the salon being worked on) she said she could do it for 15 pounds.

She took my coat, settled me in a chair, put on a cape and towels (girls you know the routine) and then asked me to sit at the sink. She started out pretty easy and I could feel that she was being cautious, so I let her do the cautious thing for a while before I told her she could really use her fingers in it and give it a good scrub (which is what I really wanted). It was wonderful … produced a moan, to which she laughed. I could feel her getting more comfortable.

We moved back to the chair, where she settled me under the dryer although she did ask before putting the hood on if there was any particular way I wanted the hair put under the dryer or just how it fell. By this time I understood that the questions were largely from inexperience and uncertainty and she just wanted to make sure she was doing everything right. So I smiled and said that however it fell was fine.

So there I am under the dryer (must be the first time I was glad to be under one), she comes around and asks if I want tea, coffee or something else to drink (WHA?) and then periodically comes to check on my hair as it dries. I must mention that throughout this entire episode nothing on me got wet but my hair at any point which for me is amazing. No spilling at the sink, no water dripping as we went back to the chair and no water as the dryer hood was on (wow!) me and my clothes were dry.

It was an interesting experience, the one patron that was there turned at some point and said to me that my hair was beautiful (I blushed and said thank you) and the lady who washed my hair said I taught her something. I got a price list for other treatments and thought; you know what I would come here again.

 

 

Three encounters... #2 ... Its f*king cold isn't it?

What I enjoy most is travelling to different places and meeting new people. For me, it's all about life experiences, and I'm grateful that acting allows me so many interesting and fulfilling ones.

~Jensen Ackles~

 

Still on that lighter note here is encounter two of my three encounters.

#2 ...Its f*king cold isn't it?

I am walking to the bus stop, on my way to my first rehearsal and nervous when I see a very nice older lady at the bus stop. She was well dressed: nice red coat, black slacks, lovely silver hair which was styled perfectly and a nice bag. I walk to the bus stop and say “Good evening” (I can hear CO quarrelling with me as she reads this, why this black girl don’t hush she mouth nah?).

That lovely lady looked at me and she said, “It’s f*king cold isn’t it?” I must tell you that it is still weird to have a discussion with someone who could be my grandmother and they swear. However, like a lot of the people that I have encountered here she struck up a conversation. She gave me good advice: stock up on vitamin C and take it regularly, make sure I use a lot of garlic, wear several cotton layers to trap the heat and dress warmly at home as the heating has gone up again (her f*king bill is already 50 pound and she doesn’t have the heater on).

She asked where I was from, talked to me about her motion sickness and encouraged me to come to the club she was heading to that was very spiritual and relaxing. Our conversation, though short (she was only going two stops, but she didn’t want to walk because it was f*king cold and her feet hurt) was lovely. She appeared to be a warm, spiritual, spirited lady, who not only liked my accent but encouraged me to do well in my studies and get out to new things and meet new people.

She left by saying she hopes that we meet at the bus stop another time and that I should try to get out to her club. I really wish I could remember the name of it. Sigh.