feuervogel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
feuervogel) wrote2016-08-10 08:14 pm
feuervogel) wrote2016-08-10 08:14 pm
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It's the little things...
The 1st of August, right after I moved here but before I cut my finger, it rained really heavily for a while in the afternoon and overnight. There's some construction going on across from my department's building, which apparently is affecting the drainage, because the ground floor/basement (where the TA offices are, of course) flooded.
(The rain was kind of like this, taken 4 days later.)
University maintenance got there with dehumidifiers and fans and cleaned it up, but they had to replace the carpet (and probably some other stuff). One of the offices had tile under the carpet, so that added to the delay. So, long story short, none of the TAs have offices right now. My teaching mentor is letting me use her office to drop my stuff between classes and if I need to work quietly. There's also currently an empty office which the profs are letting us use in the meantime. They aren't sure when it's going to be finished, but they hope before the end of the month. (There are also 2 classrooms down there, which we need.)
These stitches are annoying the crap out of me, and I can't wait to get them out.
My apartment is an ongoing saga of maintenance requests. First, my hot water was nearly boiling when it came out of the tap. Apparently the hot water heater had been set as high as it goes. Then when I decided to try my mailbox key, it worked, but there was no point, because the lock mechanism was absent entirely. (A lot of mailboxes have that problem here.) I picked up a washer and nut and a flange off the ground, where there are dozens, got my wrench, and fixed it myself.
Then my air conditioner started leaking inside, which resulted in a new unit being installed, because the old one was clogged and pretty fucking gross actually. And now my oven doesn't work properly. I decided to make a pasta bake, turned on the oven, and the upper element (broiler) didn't heat at all. The lower element did, so it baked, but not efficiently at all. Also there was a mysterious smell of gas, which is doubly bizarre because there isn't even a gas hookup here.
Now for some more positive things.
I'm really excited about History of German, and there's a small conference that we're hosting in October, which is required for that class. It's during fall break, which is kind of a bummer, because I had planned to go home that 3-day weekend, but I'll survive. I can go the previous or following week, maybe. I'm done at 11 on Fridays, so if I don't have a lot to get done and don't have to wait too long for buses, I can head home in the early afternoon.
We're supposed to attend all departmental events, like conferences and colloquia and invited speakers, which I understand but I hope doesn't conflict with spouse visits.
The other grad students are nice. One of them is also a nerd and he has piercings (like, plugs and snakebites and a septum, etc) and he watches Steven Universe. There are 2 Germans and another American woman. I seem to be the only linguistics-focused person, but I'm ok with that. After the horrific experience of my residency, I was apprehensive about living alone and being in a place without people I know, but I think this should be better. (And I have friends a mere couple hours' drive away in Atlanta if I need it, and Ben's 5 hours away, rather than across the country.)
My course load this semester is History of German, Teaching College German, a post-war literature seminar (I don't recall the title), and Languages in Contact. Next semester I have 3 required courses and might be taking Russian 4 (I'll need to catch up/keep up on my own this term somehow).
I may or may not have explained earlier that I need a second non-English language for the MA, and I picked Russian for reasons. I took a year at UNC, and I was going to continue this semester but a) it doesn't fit into my schedule and b) it's an undergrad course and doesn't count toward university requirements of 12 graduate-level credits. But the program director and the Russian head are working with me to find something that works. Which is good! They seem to want us to succeed.
Now I'm going to see if I can find the new Steven Universe and watch that. And probably redo my toenails. Tomorrow's the first day of teaching! (I have accelerated elementary German, which is for people who've had some before but didn't place into 2000 level.)
(The rain was kind of like this, taken 4 days later.)
University maintenance got there with dehumidifiers and fans and cleaned it up, but they had to replace the carpet (and probably some other stuff). One of the offices had tile under the carpet, so that added to the delay. So, long story short, none of the TAs have offices right now. My teaching mentor is letting me use her office to drop my stuff between classes and if I need to work quietly. There's also currently an empty office which the profs are letting us use in the meantime. They aren't sure when it's going to be finished, but they hope before the end of the month. (There are also 2 classrooms down there, which we need.)
These stitches are annoying the crap out of me, and I can't wait to get them out.
My apartment is an ongoing saga of maintenance requests. First, my hot water was nearly boiling when it came out of the tap. Apparently the hot water heater had been set as high as it goes. Then when I decided to try my mailbox key, it worked, but there was no point, because the lock mechanism was absent entirely. (A lot of mailboxes have that problem here.) I picked up a washer and nut and a flange off the ground, where there are dozens, got my wrench, and fixed it myself.
Then my air conditioner started leaking inside, which resulted in a new unit being installed, because the old one was clogged and pretty fucking gross actually. And now my oven doesn't work properly. I decided to make a pasta bake, turned on the oven, and the upper element (broiler) didn't heat at all. The lower element did, so it baked, but not efficiently at all. Also there was a mysterious smell of gas, which is doubly bizarre because there isn't even a gas hookup here.
Now for some more positive things.
I'm really excited about History of German, and there's a small conference that we're hosting in October, which is required for that class. It's during fall break, which is kind of a bummer, because I had planned to go home that 3-day weekend, but I'll survive. I can go the previous or following week, maybe. I'm done at 11 on Fridays, so if I don't have a lot to get done and don't have to wait too long for buses, I can head home in the early afternoon.
We're supposed to attend all departmental events, like conferences and colloquia and invited speakers, which I understand but I hope doesn't conflict with spouse visits.
The other grad students are nice. One of them is also a nerd and he has piercings (like, plugs and snakebites and a septum, etc) and he watches Steven Universe. There are 2 Germans and another American woman. I seem to be the only linguistics-focused person, but I'm ok with that. After the horrific experience of my residency, I was apprehensive about living alone and being in a place without people I know, but I think this should be better. (And I have friends a mere couple hours' drive away in Atlanta if I need it, and Ben's 5 hours away, rather than across the country.)
My course load this semester is History of German, Teaching College German, a post-war literature seminar (I don't recall the title), and Languages in Contact. Next semester I have 3 required courses and might be taking Russian 4 (I'll need to catch up/keep up on my own this term somehow).
I may or may not have explained earlier that I need a second non-English language for the MA, and I picked Russian for reasons. I took a year at UNC, and I was going to continue this semester but a) it doesn't fit into my schedule and b) it's an undergrad course and doesn't count toward university requirements of 12 graduate-level credits. But the program director and the Russian head are working with me to find something that works. Which is good! They seem to want us to succeed.
Now I'm going to see if I can find the new Steven Universe and watch that. And probably redo my toenails. Tomorrow's the first day of teaching! (I have accelerated elementary German, which is for people who've had some before but didn't place into 2000 level.)
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I use kisscartoons.com to watch SU
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(Alternately, could the smell have come from an adjacent apartment?)