History Girl: Its Raining, Its Pouring

Oh, glory days! It's raining here in Knoxville. My bright orange umbrella has done its job today, getting me from the parking lot to first classroom, then to the next classroom, then to the third classroom, and now to my office. In another hour and a half, it will get me to my car. It's nice here in the office today, with rain gently splashing on the windows and the sounds of the young men down the hall in the "party office." That's where my GTA partner in crime Matthew is located. A nicer group of young fellows you may never meet.

This week has had its trials. I had to skip the Monday lecture on Charlie Chan (yes, the intrepid Chinese detective, always smarter than everyone else, always cool and collected, always with that inscrutable Asianness about him) because my research and writing class had a guest speaker. While the guest proved interesting, especially in terms of giving us new Ph.D. students some insights into what lies ahead (it ain't pretty), I think I may have preferred learning about what Charlie Chan tells us about Sino-American relations in the 1930s and beyond. The real downside came when I walked to my car after class on Monday. Driver's side tire = flat as a pancake. Luckily, AAA is a nationwide service. Pretty soon a nice young man came along and put the donut on in place of the tire. The next day, I got a new tire. Pretty painless, as far as such things go.

Tuesday, I had coffee with Dr. S. at the nearby Golden Roast. She truly amazes and inspires. Down-to-earth, wickedly funny, smart, interesting--she's the whole package. We had a wonderful talk about how things are going along here at UTK for me, the world of politics, and, of course, history. She will be an absolute Godsend when I get into the process of researching and writing my dissertation. Hell, I'd say she's a Godsend right now.

The rest of the week has sort of been downhill. People out of sorts and acting cranky, me feeling like a dumbbunny in my classes, etc. Luckily, "my people" take good care of me. Below is a picture of Adrian, rapidly becoming one of my best buddies here at UTK. We have all three of our classes together, so there's plenty of opportunity to share information and ideas, as well as to vent to each other when we think we are each the dumbest person in class.

Last night, for the first time, I thought seriously about whether or not I wanted to stay here. I felt like I just wasn't succeeding, I was tired, there is more work than there are hours in the day (yet, here I sit, blogging). So, I did what I do when I feel a crisis coming on. I called my babies. First I talked with Maddie, then Heidi, then, my oldest boy, Reiner, then back to Maddie. Voila! Feeling a little better. I received a Facebook message from my first UTK friend, Maggie, who brought the wisdom of Grey's Anatomy to my situation. "You're like Meredith and Christina in episode 3 of the first season," she reminded me. In other words, I'm still an intern, stumbling around, trying to fit in. Maggie also reminded me that my entire first year will be like a hazing ritual. You simply need to get through it, and then things will look at lot brighter. I can see where's that so true. Studying so much theory this semester is certainly getting me down, but that won't be the way for most of my time here. You study theory in the beginning, just at CSUS in the MA program, but eventually you get to the good stuff, the actual history, the research, the writing.

Enough of my existential crisis. I snapped a few pix today to get my people at home a visual of how things go here. This next picture is what Volunteer Boulevard looks like between classes--a giant game of Red Rover, Red Rover.

I cross that to get from first discussion section to second, and then back again for third. Just people EVERYWHERE!

This next photo is of my office here in Dunford. This is where I spend several hours a week, sometimes working, sometimes talking with my classmates.

Yeah, it looks pretty dull, doesn't it? One day I'll sneak into the "party office" with my camera and show what an office looks like when the right group shares the space.

And, finally. My work for today. Exams, exams, exams, coming out of my ears, needing grading. The students had to write four identifications and one essay in class. Thank goodness, the handwriting has not been too bad thus far. But I'm only halfway done. Onward and upward....