zaterdag 17 april 2010

Reality

Currently, I am a ‘visiting scholar’ at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), working on one of the chapters in my PhD thesis. Specifically, I am here to improve my conversation analytic skills and to write a chapter on typing in police interrogations. Coincidentally (or not?), CA (conversation analysis) started in CA (California) in the 60’s. Lucky me!
Life here is incredible. I wake up to a bright sun every morning (really, there are no exceptions) and I make sure the palm tree is still standing in front of my window on one side and the mountains still look beautiful on the other side. I then pluck an orange from the tree across the street and make my way to the beautiful beach-side campus of UCSB. Once there I take very exciting classes, I have discussions with very motivated PhD students and I attend meetings and data sessions with fellow visiting scholars and inspiring professors. On the weekends I travel to great places like Berkeley or Las Vegas where I do not only attend fascinating conferences, but I also have fun. So, can life get any better than this?