Into the Deep End

Today I was hit by a water balloon.  Yep.  A water balloon.  There I was, minding my own business, taking a walk with my new housemate Mary, enjoying the beautiful autumn day, when all of a sudden, my left side was drenched.  We had been walking past one of the university's most prestigious residence halls--a beautiful edifice known as St. Salvator's Hall (or "Sally's" for short).  I was in no doubt as to where the projectile originated--one of the upper floor windows of the hall.  I must have been quite a letdown for the thrower as I barely paused when it hit me.  I did take a quick moment to look up for the culprit, but he/she was skulking out of my view.  So I shrugged it off and kept walking and chatting with Mary as if nothing had happened.  

Consequently, my healthy distaste for undergraduates has been justified.

I must admit that once the initial moment of irritation had passed (a matter of seconds) that I found the whole incident rather humorous.  The part that makes me chuckle, even as I write this 9 hours later, is that the missile came from "Sally's".  Throwing water balloons at unsuspecting passers-by sounds exactly like something my mom would have persuaded someone else to do while she was in university!  She would have stood innocently by and watched the spectacle.

My day of drenching didn't stop there.  Oh, no.  I'm too much a child of "Great Big Mess" (my mom's childhood nickname, if you can believe it) to get by with only one dowsing.  Mary and I casually walked back to the house where I changed, and then headed off to North Point cafe for a hot chocolate.  You can tell where this is going, can't you?  As I reached to snag one of the marshmallows Mary was offering me, I somehow managed to dump half of my hot chocolate on my left side.  The same side, I might remind you, that had been Undergraduate Target Practice less than an hour before.  And it wasn't my lap that received my beverage.  That would have been too much like right.  Nope, I somehow managed to bathe my shoulder in the chocolate goodness that in a better world would have ended up satisfying my tummy.

I can assure you that I carefully avoided people holding glasses of red wine at the reception following the Reformation Studies Institute's first formal lecture this evening.  I was wearing a cream colored corduroy blazer, and given my track record for the day, I wasn't taking any chances.  The third time was not going to be the charm!

Needless to say, today was quite a way to kick off the first official year of my PhD.

And what a year it is shaping up to be!  I had to hit the ground running when I arrived back in St. Andrews on Sunday.  I have new housemates, new responsibilities at the School, a new office, and a new job!

As most of you know, my friend Lisa and I had been living in a cozy little house in town for the month of August.  While I was home in America for my September holiday the other two housemates arrived!  Mary is a masters student from Harrisburg, PA and is studying Modern History.  Xiaoyan is a masters student from China studying business finance (poor girl, stuck in a house full of historians).  We all get on quite well, and we're settling into the rhythm of living together.  I'm sure I'll be writing more about them all in the future.

As for new responsibilities, one of the professors from The Institute for Scottish Historical Research (ISHR) of which I am a part (in addition to the Reformation Studies Institute) asked me to serve as the Seminar Hostess for this year.  That means I'm responsible for greeting guest lecturers and arranging the refreshments for the seminars the Institute holds every fortnight.  And my friend Siobhan (also in the ISHR) asked me to help her organize the Institute's Reading Weekend in late November. The professors, faculty, and postgrads of the institute will be going to a country house north of Glasgow for the weekend, and will hold an informal sort of conference.  Its a prime opportunity for the members of the Institute to share their research in a casual setting, and for everyone to get to know each other a little better.  Siobhan is in charge of the weekend and asked if I could help her keep things organized and keep her sane!  This should be interesting...

Oh! As a PhD student in the Reformation Studies Institute, I finally get office space!  I just found out today that I am sharing an office with Siobhan and my friend Andy.  I'm very excited!  It will be good to have a place to work that I only share with two other people, as opposed to the carrel in the library that had me surrounded by dozens of people!

I also have a new job!  My friend Lindsay was kind enough to recommend me for a position she held last year watching the children of the headmaster of one of the local schools.  The girls, aged 9 and 12, are sweet, bright, and cheerful.  I will be watching them a couple of afternoons a week, helping with homework, supervising music practice, making sure Otto the dog doesn't run away, and basically ensuring that the house isn't burned to the ground and that the eldest doesn't try to sell the youngest to the gypsies!  So far, I enjoy watching the girls, and so far, they seem to enjoy me.

All in all, I'm excited about this new year, and this new degree I'm embarking upon.  And given the events of this week, I know that the next three years certainly won't be dull!