Durch Dick und Dünn gehen

Or 'Another Travel Post'

Since I failed to even leave my flat for Christmas/New Years beyond the grocery store, I felt the desire to get out of England for a bit once my projects were finished. It's a bit of a joke, since my projects are not even close to finished, but I like to lie to myself in order to feel better. This is how I came to a travel to Germany on January 25th.

I can say a lot of things about Bavaria. 99% of them are absolutely lovely, and the other 1% is only because it's currently cold enough there to freeze Hell over and I live in Europe for a reason. But I had never been to Germany, so it was automatically going to be stunning, no matter the weather.

I never really know what to write for a travel blog post. I mean, I write them, but I'm not certain they are entertaining or useful or that anyone even reads them. But I like to write, and I like to record, and here we are.

The Germans are a funny people. I mean that in the nicest way. They are very friendly (at least in Bavaria, since that's the only place I've visited) and welcoming, but listening to them talk in rapid-fire German is sort of hilarious. I can read German not badly, at least enough to manage as a tourist, but I don't understand a single spoken word beyond 'bitte' and 'danke'. Thankfully, most Germans speak a measure of English (better than I will ever speak their language, bless them). It reminds me of the Hungarians at Gibbs Hill Farm in Northumberland who didn't speak a word of English, but who I talked to for two hours one September evening.

Munich would take a few weeks to really see. But I like to leave things undone for my 'next' visit, like the proverbial throwing of a coin into the Trevi Fountain. You need a reason to go back. I have about six that I can think of off the top of my head, and in no particular order they start with BMW and end with October. Sometime when the weather is amiable and the trees are still green.

However, winter in Bavaria is stunningly beautiful. The sort of beautiful that Ontario never manages to look, no matter how early you get up after a night's snowfall. That constant state of greyish brown that defines the province cannot be helped along by snow and slush.

I'm not going to talk about museums, because in all honestly I wasn't overly impressed. I could go on for days about how beautiful Schloss Neuschwanstein is, but if you've ever seen a picture, words don't do it justice. Suffice it to say, the inside (in which you are not allowed to take photos) is just as stunning as the outside, at any time of the year! Pity about all that scaffolding right now which ruins the view from Hohenschwangau, but thankfully not from the front! It's unfortunate that Ludwig II never finished it and only lived in the half-completed palace areas for 172 days before he died. It was immediately opened to the public for tours, to pay back the enormous sum that had gone into it's construction. Though it is the model for Disney's castle in Florida, the real one on the slopes of the Bavarian Alps is much more picturesque inside in the completed rooms (do a Google search for hi-def images).

Amusingly, the true highlight of the trip was the hockey game on Friday. I've never been to a hockey game. I know; I fail as a Canadian. I only ever watch it at the Olympics. But when your cousin plays for Munich, you can't pass up a game! It was an edge of your seat one too, resulting in not only overtime, but a shoot-out. The fourth shot by Munich, by #19, was the winning goal. Yeah, that would be my cousin. ;) We sat in the wives section, of course, and afterwards had drinks in the VIP room (with free Bavarian style dinner - yum!) It was amazing and very surreal. I hope they have a great season and I am already excited for the prospect of more hockey games next year!

I need to go back to Germany during Oktoberfest and warmer weather. And Salzburg too, which is so much closer than I thought. It was especially wonderful to spend time with cousins that we've only recently reconnected with (their aren't many of us still living on that side, so it's really nice to make an effort). I spent 8 days sleeping with a four-year-old who throws tantrums and playing with a 1-year-old who is the most adorable creature ever and not thinking about my PhD AT ALL. That is what I call a vacation.

This is How I Write

New Year's Resolution Number n. In other words, I have no idea what number I'm up to now. I keeping making them; we'll see if I keep any of them.

Still, this blog was ostensibly for writing about writing, which I haven't been doing. I did finally finish the last academic paper on December 31st and it is now emailed to my supervisor. I can only cross my fingers and pray at this point. I'm rather proud of it, but that usually ends badly.

How about a blog post about how I write? Or how I start writing, would be closer to the mark.

I have three ways. Which one works at any given time is rather arbitrary. There's the 'by way of title', which is when I come up with a really good title (or someone gives me one) and then I have to spend a long time coming up with a good story idea to match. I like this, in that it doesn't restrict my writing topic, but it can sometimes be hard to go from a few words to a whole story.

The second way I write is 'by summary'. I know the basic plot of the story in my head, but then I need to flesh it out to actually write it. The only downside of this particular way is that the title usually comes last. And very often, the title is the hardest part! I often end up emailing writing friends for help because I simply have no idea. [Point in proof, the last story I finished had this issue. A friend gave me a title...as well as another one (see 'by way of title')!]

The last way I write is 'by first line'. Something like: 'She does, actually, go to Nepal. For a while.'

From there, the story generally just flows. I have no proconceived notion of where it's going to go; I just write until I come to an end. Or what I think the end should be. Summaries for these sorts of stories tend to be lines taken from the text. And the titles usually occur to me late at night or early in the morning when I can't sleep. [Often, that's when these stories occur to me to, as the line above did last night just before bed and then proceeded to keep me up half the night.]

Right now I have the above 'first line' story on the go, a 'by way of title' story and also, my favourite kind, the 'by summary'. It makes me happy.

A Very Happy New Year! Hear's to a great 2012!

Happy Holidays!

The Joys of Academic Writing

Two posts in a week? The world just tilted.

I have not been looking forward to this paper. I've made no pretense about it. I knew it was coming from the first week of October (and in some ways, before that) and I haven't wanted to write it since day one. Researching it for the last month was a lesson in self determination (or preservation), but I managed it.

The problem is that this paper has nothing to do with museums. It's 10,000 words about educational systems and the problems ICTs have caused in the traditional system. It's not interesting. I'm quite certain it is for some people, but educational theories, complaints of ICT destroying modern schools, and fifty other similarly veined arguments, have never held much interest for me. But I know I have to write this paper as the basis of everything that comes. This paper has to prove, basically, that learning outside of school is just as important, if not more important that learning within. And that using ICTs increases that learning potential. It has to prove this, because that is the basis of my bid for museums in my thesis.

But it's not going well. I'm at 3000 words right now, and it's neither flowing, writing or making sense. It's bogged down in five different learning theories which all sort of overlap each other, complicated by three that are for ICT in different uses, complicated by the fact that kids have a sixth opinion. It deals with too much and yet doesn't really come to any conclusions yet (it will). I'm bored writing it. When I'm bored writing something I find it almost impossible to write. I'll do 200 words in an hour. When I am interested and enjoying what I'm writing, I can do 2000 words in an hour (academic work; non-academic is about 4000 in an hour).

Short of having someone read it over right now, I'm not sure what else to do. And I hate letting people read unfinished work. I may have to just slog through the next 1000 words really slowly to get over this learning theory hump and onto the factual part of this paper. Hopefully that will be easier to write and flesh out. This part is like pulling teeth. And the headache isn't helping. I slept horribly last night, and lost two hours the night before. Tomorrow is presentation day and I really need to be awake and well.

Oh, the joys of being a PhD student. At least I am currently listening to the lunch seminar I missed (an account of writing) and hoping that perhaps that inspires me.

New Adventures

This post may ramble around a bit; my apologies.

A week ago I attended the Museums on the Web 2011 day at the IWM in London. It was rather a last minute addition to my schedule, all told, because my supervisor was chairing the day. I find conference attendence awkward. I am not very good at networking (though I realise that is sort of the bread and butter of being a PhD student!) and find approaching groups of people to be a lesson in nerve-wracking terror. Blessedly, there were a few good friends attending! The downside of this was that I don't believe any of us really did much networking. At least I have put names to the faces of Twitterers I've followed for ages and I will feel less terrified about emailing them for assistance in the new year.

There were a variety of very good topics raised and some truely surprising presentations. The most startling for many was a presentation on the advanced level that photographic imaging has reached. I had no idea that a single picture could be 22GB worth of data in detail! It seems to be mostly art galleries that are going in for this level of image detailing, in order to make available works of art on their websites, which technology that allows for pin-point zooming on the works of the great masters. If I was still an art history student, I am certain I'd be bouncing in my seat in happiness. It is still amazing to me to realise how far technology is coming on a day-to-day basis.

The conference was also an opportunity to meet with a former MA collegue, who is assisting with the DREAM conference next May in Denmark. I desperately want to go (despite the high cost), and would welcome the opportunity that the pre-phd conference events would allow me. As my supervisor is once again chairing, I am hopeful something can be arranged. The conference, plus travel, plus accomodation would be a very large fee indeed and I'm certain it's not in my budget. A travel bursary will certainly be applied for!

I have began paper compilation. By which I mean, I am now trying to organise the pages and pages of notes I've taken over the last month into some semplance of useful order. It's not always easy, but I have a workable outline that will likely change on a continuous basis until I write the conclusion. It is due in four weeks, however, so next week I must definitely begin the writing process.

Work has been heavily interrupted due to lack of sleep. Finally, the residential services committee contacted those of use affected by the outside noise yesterday to explain the situation (after 4 weeks) and promise that it will be resolved by next weekend (which will make it 5 weeks since I've had a good night's rest). Of course, the matter of compensation was thrown around at the meeting last night, but it is a valid point. I hope I won't end up being the one to run a campaign again estate services, though. I don't have the time! Though I will happily flag wave my heart out. After this many weeks, after a week now of lost work, I would like something as an apology (besides a verbal 'yeah, we screwed up...sorry', which is what we got last night). I'm not hopeful, however.

Lastly, through much trial and error, the trip to Munich in the new year has been booked! I will be gone a week, able to see one of my cousin's home games and also tour museums to my heart's content. And there will be beer and food at the best tavern in the city. I am most excited and dearly wish I didn't have to wait until the end of January. But it will give me a light at the end of the tunnel for this paper and the research for the next one (easier, I hope!). I'm certain there will be a post about it all in February.

That's me for December. Look for an update in the new year with much Christmas holiday cheer attached!

Remember, Remember

This will be a short post. In case you were wondering.

November 5th has to be one of my favourite dates. Obviously, it has rather a lot of significance for England, especially where fireworks are concerned. I have been listening to them for nearly two weeks, what with the Diwali celebrations. They never really stopped, but last night they were definitely louder. Tonight I have my headphones blaring in order to drown them out. I don't much go in for fireworks, but there is a certain historical symmetry there, if you consider it. Though Guy Fawkes hardly used Roman candles to try to blow up Parliament.

Mostly, I love this date because it's my Aunt's birthday. Therefore, it has always been impossible to forget. And tomorrow is my mother's and then the next day is my father's. And the next day after that is one of my other aunt's. November is just one of those months in my family!

Moving onwards; in short. This week has been something of an accomplishment, since I only began this degree a month ago and I have already delivered into my supervisor's hands a 5000 word paper which received some very nice comments. I feel I am officially a student again, which would be worth much celebrating, except I don't really have the time. Seeing as I'm a student again. It's a funny old circle. Now my walls are decorated with Gantt charts, monthly planners, training plans and my bookshelf is full of books (as it should be).

I am absolutely loving this.