Getting settled - Slowly

Hello everyone. Thought I'd add my bit to the news that Mike has been posting.

We are starting to feel a bit more settled in our new city. Sarah has now been assigned to her classroom and teacher at her new school and seems very happy. She is in Grade 3 and it sounds like she has been making friends pretty easily - something that seemed to be difficult for her for the last couple of years. Unfortunately a few of her acquaintances here at the apartment complex are not the sort of friend I am thrilled for her to have. She has reported to me that the boys (Grades 1 and 2) have rather a colorful vocabulary, and it appears that they combine their profane words in creative and surprisingly offensive ways. So far Sarah has not shown, at least in my presence, any inclination to follow their example, but I am looking forward to meeting some of the other parents at the school, and (I hope) finding some other nearby children with whom she can play. She is definitely not playing at their house as I have to assume these children are learning a lot of that language at home.

Sarah has begun to walk to school by herself and to play outside unsupervised - one big step for Sarah and a gigantic step for her parents as she has never really been unsupervised by us or a trusted family member/friend/professional before. So far she seems to be using pretty good judgment, but we are only very gradually loosening the leash at this point. I remember walking up the street or around the corner to visit friends when I was quite small - 5ish, and certainly walked to kindergarten with other children and with no adults. It is strange how nervous I feel about letting Sarah - almost 8 years old - out on her own - nonetheless, she needs to learn to be a bit street smart and independent and will need to actually go out into the world in order for that to happen.

My return to school is also going well. I have been finding the shift from thinking about Social Work practice and practice theory to thinking about research and research theory a bit difficult and just getting back into the swing of academia has been tough; however, I am loving this opportunity to read and write and think about things that I find interesting.

Today I found a position as a Teaching Assistant for a course taught to Master's students: "Social Analysis for Social Workers". It looks quite interesting and is taught as a series of modules by a number of the professors in the department, so it will be a good opportunity for me to meet most of the faculty over the course of this year. It does look like some of the course material will be somewhat new to me, so I'll likely be just a week or two ahead of my students, so I am a little bit nervous. The format of the course is a three hour session every week, with the first half spent in lecture and the second half being a facilitated discussion of the lecture and readings- that's my bit, plus grading papers.

There are five students in my cohort entering the doctoral program this year and all have very different and interesting backgrounds, so that has been good - though I really miss my PSU friends!

We are already all feeling some pressure to publish and present original research, in addition to needing to apply for the various sources of funding that are available, so there has not been anything so gentle as a gradual process of easing into the program - everybody is feeling some pressure to get right into it all! The amount of reading is huge, but at least most of it is interesting.

We are still car-free and that seems to be working well so far, although I am a bit worried about the winter weather and how it will seem to be waiting in the cold and rain for buses on a regular basis. I do buy a lot less rubbish at the grocery store now that I have to actually carry it home!

We are looking forward to getting into a long-term rental and becoming re-acquainted with our belongings. I know that I should be trying to be less attached to my stuff, but I have to say that's not really happening. I can't wait to have my kitchen stuff and artwork and cookbooks etc back in my possession again. It will be fun to set up house for real again as it has felt for the last two plus years somewhat like squatting - we used cardboard shipping boxes as end tables for two years!

Well, I have an early start tomorrow as I like to leave early and miss the rush on the transit system, so I will sign off now. All in all, I feel that we will be content here and that the standard of life offered will be very positive for all of us. (And even though I am not driving at the moment, it is SO nice to be back on the right (as in non-left) side of the road again!)

Love,
Margo