One-Day-One-Job Challenge

My job hunting progress has been slow and unsuccessful so far, as I have been enjoying life and living in Scotland. But as the summer is coming to an end, I am now committing to a new challenge: I hereby publicly announce my sincerest intention to apply for one job each working day until my savings run out and I need to go back to Germany and claim unemployment benefits. Wish me luck and stamina.

Winner

I won two tickets for a reading at the Edinburgh International Book Festival!

'Tis the Season

It's festival season in Edinburgh.

Festival Carnival

Every summer the craziness happens, Edinburgh fills up with people, rent and hotel prices sky-rocket, students sublet their flats and move to the countryside, tents, stages and arenas are set up all over the city for the Edinburgh Jazz&Blues Festival, the Art Festival, the Military Tattoo, the Festival Fringe, and the International Festival. This is a big deal here and affects everyone - even me who lives in the outskirts of the city and doesn't have much business in the centre.

When I had a dog

I once had a dog. I found him at a beach on Skye where he jumped around in the water barking at seagulls and then at his own echo coming off the cliffs. He was reasonably well-behaved, quite upbeat and self-sufficient. He drank water from the streams and ate grass. He liked watching me eat, too, from up close. He followed me along the beach, up the cliffs and across the heather. When I climbed over gates he found holes in the fence. Such a smart dog. I called him Go Away but he wouldn't listen.

Scraped Knees and Tetanus

I scraped my knee quite badly when my bike and I took a dip in the canal. I had always thought that wounds heal best when they are left to dry after cleaning, and form scabs which fall off after some time. But according to my mum, according to my paediatrician, it's better to leave the wound covered. This way, it will heal better and leave less scars. I can see that, since scab can rip and break (or get pulled off), especially on the knee. So I have been washing my knee once a day, putting some ointment on it and a bandage loosely on top (it's too big for band-aids). It looks like it's healing fine although it stays oozy due to the ointment. But I am sure all signs of it will be gone by the time I marry :)

More Phone Yawn

While I am waiting for my care package from Germany with a replacement mobile phone (my phone fatally drowned), I am now using my flatmate's mum's phone with extra big buttons. I love the big buttons! Also, I am experiencing life without 24/7 access to social networks, e-mail, and Google maps - interesting and not all bad.

Water Damage

When your phone takes a dip there is a great chance that it will survive it if you do things right. After serious water intrusion (in my case my phone was in my trouser's pocket when I fell into the canal, and it took me maybe a minute to get out) you will have to have it cleaned by a specialist to prevent corrosion, but that is actually not that expensive (GBP 20 in Edinburgh for an iPhone).

A Dream Come True

Have you ever felt really, really good after doing or achieving something that you have worked for or planned for a long time? I remember my elation when I submitted my PhD thesis and never had to look at it ever again - it was a huge relief and like a heavy weight taken off my chest. Or when I received my postdoc fellowship - I opened the letter right in front of the mailbox in the hallway and danced up the stairs to my apartment and couldn't wait to call and tell my parents. And when I eventually lived in Princeton, it was so cool, it sometimes felt unreal. And then all the things that happened last year when I was travelling and dancing and hiking, there were moments when it felt like a dream come true.

July's Giving Me the Blues

This month, I am giving the blues another try. Blues dancing looks great, feels really nice, and doesn't come easily to me. I find it difficult because the music is really slow, and it is harder to maintain balance with the body weight on one foot all the time. I have always meant to get into it, did the occasional beginners' lesson, and even went to a workshop in New York City once (see here and here), but never had access to regular, weekly classes until now. For three weeks now, I have been taking two weekly lessons plus social dancing, and I am going to a workshop this weekend. I thought that while I am still light-years away from my hard-earned lindy hop skills I can at least more or less follow most blues moves. However, today I was asked by one guy I was dancing with if today had been my first blues lesson, and by another if I even liked blues music...

I guess I didn't do too well after all.