And tomorrow is December...yikes!

Thanksgiving was great - I got to see friends and family...and eat a lot of food! Wish my brother and sister-in-law were there, but at least they live fairly close to me.

I leave for Germany in a little over a month. Wow! Still lots to do: the apartment, learning more German, random other stuff.

I'm excited to go, for sure. But I'm starting to think about how it will be to be away from everyone. Even at Thanksgiving, it is hard for me to leave my family and friends. I can't imagine how it is going to be to be thousands of miles (and an ocean between) from everyone I know. It's a little scary to think about.

I'm sure that I'll have a great time over there and I'll meet a lot of people. And there is internet and phone communication. Also, I'll be really busy, so perhaps I won't have much time to miss people?

And thanksgiving is upon us...

The year has gone by so fast. I'll be in Germany in a month and a half...so much to do yet. Also thinking of how things were last year at this time.

The big thing is while I have friends to come home to, but there is no one else. Last year at this time I was in this crazy infatuation phase with an amazing guy. And things didn't work out...not in the way I thought they would. But nothing came from it. Perhaps nothing should.

I've been surprised at how lonely I get sometimes. I'm used to living alone, doing things alone, being alone. Somehow it is different now. This is not to say that I don't hang out with friends; I do. But I like to take care of myself as much as possible. And I'm not afraid to go to events without a date. I'm used to being a solo act.

Currently I feel jaded; about relationships and life in general. Getting out of here for awhile will probably do wonders for me. I know my life is good...I just want to appreciate how good it really is.

And after a loong hiatus, I am back.

Wow, i really need to update more often. Let's see things that have happened since I last posted: summer, a good deal of the fall, a book chapter I wrote was published, I got an internship next semester, and I am unemployed (until January).

Starting with the later, I was really disappointed. I thought that a teaching position in the fall was all but guaranteed, but due to budget constraints, it was not to be. I totally understand the reason, and the department has come through for me countless other times, so I really can't be upset about it. I applied to every school in the area, however, and didn't even get an interview. I believe I can be upset about that. Yet i know that the economy sucks, whether for individuals or organizations...so I do understand the predicament many businesses are in. In addition, I applied to many random jobs in the area without so much as an interview. Thus, I am on unemployment. It's not enough, and I feel guilty about taking it, but it is something. And I need to eat. It was about to be revoked a few weeks ago, but luckily I won my appeal.

So, on to better things: the book chapter that I co-wrote is published! It's in a giant book on performance management. It is really cool to see my work in print!

And the biggest thing of all: the internship. But it is not just any internship, it is in Germany!!!! I've never been outside of the US or Canada and have always wanted to travel but never had the time or money to do so. It is a paid internship as well, so I'll be making (a little bit) of money; enough to get by over there. I'm rather excited, to say the least, but there are some loose ends to be taken care of before I leave. The biggest loose end is my apartment. What to do with it: sublet, put it all in storage????? I'm coming back before the end of the semester, so I might not find anyone to live here. And I'm not relishing the thought of packing up all of my belongings. But honestly, I could be living in a less expensive apartment. I guess I'll see how that goes.

The other big thing is learning German. I took 5 years of French; so my foreign language training is not helpful for me at all. Trying to teach myself and it is going ok thus far. I'm trying to put in a couple of hours a day. I didn't think I'd need to learn much, but apparently my roommate over there does not speak English. Yikes! And i want to be able to communicate with people there in general. The company I am interning for does 70% of their business in English, so I'll be okay there. I'm just a bit nervous about speaking a language that I have had no formal training in learning. Granted, I'll probably get through more than a semester's worth of German on my own - I can accelerate the process a bit; I'm willing to spend a good chunk of time everyday learning.

I'm sure that lots more has happened in 6ish months...I'll try to update more often...I promise!