Year 5 at HogwartsOxford

Whodathunk, when I signed up for this deal, that I'd be staying on for five years? I sure didn't. Well, here I am, back in Oxford for the fifth time around, and for the fourth and hopefully final year of my doctorate (*knocks on all available nearby wood*).

I'm ready to buckle down and finish this thing. I can't wait to have a job. But I also can't wait to see what year 5 has in store - hopefully more travel, as I haven't done nearly enough since I've been here, and meeting even more interesting people.

I had my Confirmation of Status exam on Thursday (the second major assessment before the final defense), and it seemed to go well. They had a lot of concerns as usual, but I'd rather they tell me these things now than wait until I'm done.

The term officially starts about two weeks from now, but I had to get here early for the aforementioned exam. For the first time ever, I arrived at night in Terminal 4, so I booked a room at the Yotel in the terminal so I wouldn't have to worry about potentially missing the last train/bus if the plane arrived late! If you haven't heard of it before, the Yotel is a "capsule" hotel modeled on the Japanese capsule hotels and the type of amenities you'd find in first class. The rooms are teeny (actually, they're not terrible if you book a premium room, but I couldn't afford that), and they overlap so alternating rooms have a lower or upper bed. There are no closets, just a single hanger for hanging suits and a rack for storing luggage. I couldn't use the fold-down desk because my luggage was in the way, and the bathroom was pretty much a long narrow shower with a sink and toilet all in one. The room was about the length of the bed, that's it. But it was a fun experience, the room service was good and the people were nice, and I felt a bit more relaxed than I would have if I had gone straight to Oxford the night before.

In addition to the usual academic work, the start of term brings the usual Junior Deaning tasks: coordinating talks, meeting freshers and the like. The next few weeks are going to be very busy!

Hopefully I'll get some time to post a bit more this year, and I hope everyone's term is going well. xxx