Decisions, Decisions.doc

I'm happy to announce that the future is starting to look a bit clearer. There's nothing groundbreaking to report but some decisions have been made in the last week in effort to get a better hold on just what I'll be up to in the coming months. The muddy waters are starting to settle.

The first task was to make a decision about the rapidly approaching holidays. This was the toughest call of them all. One of the kickers of the program is a Dec 31 final submission for our dissertations. I don't know if there could be a more inappropriate choice for the formative conclusion to the program. What this has lead to is utter uncertainty about the month of December - Will I be free and clear by mid-month? Will I have the dissertation approved by Christmas day? Or will I be revising alongside getting ready to ring in the new year? I hope the last option isn't anything I'll encounter, but it's all unclear. Add to this the fact that when I board the plane home to Canada I want to have my second MA (over-qualified much?) all wrapped up. I want to be reading for pleasure on the plane, not thinking about revisions. Add the third ingredient, one more week of Euro fun and traveling before heading home and I think a mid-December departure would be too rushed - hell, it'd be in four weeks.

Unfortunately, this means that I'll be missing the holiday season for two years in a row. It's the worst time of year to be away from my family. BUT, what we both have to look forward to is a return home a few weeks later. Hopefully turkey and a few Christmas themed dinners can be had in the new condo in January. That's right, as you might have guessed, I'm staying the holidays but then making a prompt return to Canada in mid-January. I've even been eying a few flights. What this allows me to do is get the dissertation wrapped up by the end of December, travel for a week or two in the new year and bid adieu to Europe for the time being.

As much as I was originally interested in exploring the possibilities of work over here, in addition to bleak job prospects and huge starting costs, I realized that deep down I want to return home. Staying over here and starting to blaze a new path would mean moving to a new city, making new friends, finding a new job, and generally starting from square one. I've started from square one three times already in the last year and I'm ready for some stability. So you're on alert - the Doctor is returning to Canada mid-January. The hope is that an apartment in Toronto will follow, as will some sort of employment by the month of March (fingers crossed).

With this tentative plan mapped out, I've managed to secure some holiday work to tide me over for the month of December! After interviews at H&M and Bank Fashion (both of whom balked at my student visa restrictions in one form or another) River Island (one of the more popular stores here on the High Street) recruited me on for the Holiday season. I head into the store tomorrow to learn more about what exactly I'll be doing, but I think it will make for a productive December (and make the time before homecoming go by much quicker). I searched out a small job for three reasons: a) I need a bit of money to travel in January before the trip home b) Forty hours a week on revisions is just ridiculous - I'd rather do 20/20 and c) British Pounds just about double when crossing the border and are converted into Canadian dollars (a little start up money is desired). It may not be the most glamorous, but it'll pay some future bills. I can also finally add retail clothing to the LONG list of other jobs I've had in addition to school.

A tentative date home: CHECK
Holiday work to make some cash: CHECK
A plan for the first quarter of 2010: CHECK
Plans for one last hurrah before the journey home: CHECK

It's hard not be home for the holidays, but after a lot of soul searching, this is the way to do this chapter justice. Loose ends get tied, the dissertation is finished properly, and I hit two or three more spots before touching down on Canadian soil. I am looking forward to it immensely.

Tomorrow is a whirlwind day. I've got a huge to-do list before heading off to London to visit Talia for the weekend. Berlin isn't far off!

Doc's Prescription of the Day: The visit to Coventry this past week brought home the reality of the atrocities of war - the city was decimated. The journey to Berlin next week will be yet another time for reflection. The ghosts of young innocent men and women lurk around every corner in Europe. Lest we forget.