+19 months ...

Blogging! A post, an actual one.. mosh momkin

 

:)

 

I miss writing/venting.. I do. But it is getting harder & harder to steal some time.

 

U guys are lazy too by the way, not all of you but the majority

 

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aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, this is a quick post about our/my life in glasgow  

-I still can`t find a proper tag for posts written here, I am just calling them "glasgow  "-I am in my office right now, which is getting way too familiar and I am not liking this feeling AT ALL! I am too tired, really I am but all in all, happy! I passed my annual review 2 weeks ago, we don`t have exams or anything but we need to make a presentation for a panel of professors and they "judge" our progress. 90% of the time -across all schools and specialties- students pass this stage unless MAJOR concern is noticed "no one wants to lose a paying student I guess.. haha" but here I am, passing my second review to date. Imagine 4-5 professors listening to me for 15 minutes blabbering away and wishing I just shut up.. "ok, ok.. u pass.. please spare us your non-sense already" :D

 

I am too lazy to translate this post in Arabic as I don`t have an access to Arabic keyboard and juggling between windows is so ever irritating especially with low-quality tools that hand an virtual Arabic keyboard, so apologies

 

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I have been allocated this office for a little over 19 months ago, I -as usual- documented the date when I first MET my office, when our brand new desks/PCs/file cabinet arrived and we were ready to go!

 

My officemate is from Mexico, his Mom from Sweden and he is 70% away! He has a part time job in the US and his research context is conducted there as well, so I am pretty much alone!

 

Anyone fancies a desk with unlimited internet and printing facilities, contact me plz :D

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I would say I have been working really hard, ma 7ada by7ky 3an zaito 3iker! It was easier when we had our first flat, I was literally 3 minutes away from office! Now it is more like 15 minutes -12 if you want to be exact but with rain it takes 15 and it is ALWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYS always raining- :( but who is complaining

 

Alaa2 , hiyam, and Anas are enjoying, adapting better than me for sure . I am trying my very best to be around but this PhD is really demanding thing, it is true it depends on your level of attachment/ownership, i.e. u can take it easy and plainly go with the flow, but all in all u need to focus and work hard. u need to -actually- research!

 

depends on yr supervisor(s) too of course, and I have two. Both are of the sorts that u can call: smart, demanding, open to ideas, and above all -for me at least- modest!

 

- zay 3inna b jam3atna bel zab6!-

 

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For all of these 19 months, I have been one of 3 last "windows" remaining lit , even during weekends & public holidays. Our "our!!" building HOSTS over 200 PhD students, each office has 2 students. We have admin and some Professors too but they all leave by 5 PM :P

 

whenever I leave my office "again MY" I used to have a quick count of how many windows are still "warm and vivid" :) I can say that over 80 or even 85 % of the times I counted I was one of those last 3! Not something to be proud of I`d hasten to add., probably more like a lack of time-management skills :O)

Few weeks ago I went to level 8 -ya3ni 8th floor but that`s how Scots say it- :D - to see if I might manage to meet one of these other 2 life-spirit-lacking persons "who knows, it might be a she!" haha I went there and to my surprise I found that the room is actually a photo-copying room! I thought we had only one such room in the building but apparently no! )later on I figured out that we have 3 rooms not just the one I used to use) so there you have it, I am one of 2 miserable PhD students who stay late all night long for weeks and weeks and weeks ,,, and more weeks!

I need to get a life, I know

 

I still need to "meet" the other "window" - I am certain s/he is not a room because the third copying room is on a different floor/level

 

 

I think I need to enjoy this PhD path/road/journey/experience a little more, stop being fixated on the "studying/researching" aspect of it. But I am not sure I will be able to

 

I simply want to finish as fast as possible! EVERYONE tells me I am going to miss these days and should make the best of it but I don`t know, I just tick differently on this issue

 

 

Maybe I am wrong, usually I am! But I am stubborn too

 

I want to give more time to the family , to activities of Scotland as international students call it but I do not know where/how to start. I am not afraid of falling in love with the city/environment, that I am sure of, I am kind of eager to come home, home and start DOING something. Straightforward and just that! I don`t know

 

I wanted to upload some pictures but I still do not own a camera-enabled phone and the camera is being occupied by Anas, he broke the lid already and deleted a lot of pics!

7awayan!

 

But just to give u a glimpse of taste,, the office is very small even for one person so imagine too! we have a kittle and a small coffee, I mean TEA , TABE, 2 desks, ma3 mostalzamathom :P, 1 file cabinet, 1 white board -who I, the semi-great I asked for and solely use- we have book shelves as well.

 

the photo copying room has 2 printers, one veeeeeeeery huge and high-tech and one .. ordinary functioning printer

we have a fax machine "what is THAT!?" a shredder and a water-cooler, a small fridge  -where people steal food from other people!" u know, life-as-usual

 

I know I am going to miss all of this, the great academic atmosphere , the unlimited access to journals and books, unlimited printing! -I remember how my Professors had to print their own extra material for the classes, from their own money!- but still, and with everything that is going on at our part of the world, I want to finish this thing and head back HME. Will I regret this mentality, I hope not :D

 

 

 * my office is at level 3 btw in case u find yourself near Glasgow university

 

** I guess u know why I passed my review, I talk A LOT

 

*** please don`t point out to my typos + poor writing skills, my supervisor is doing one heck of a job on this account

 

:P

 

 

Astawde3okom Allah