khigh

It's hard. I'm on the other side of 30 and I have a good paying job that I will hopefully be giving up for a lifetime of chasing adjunct work. It's scary to know my salary will be cut in half, but I still want to be accepted to grad school more than anything.

We had a temperature today (okay, it was 1 degree F), so I got to actually go outside and run around the lake again! Sunday is supposed to be really warm (15-20 degrees), so that means ICE SKATING! I bought a new pair of hockey skates for the season and pond hockey leagues start next week and that makes me more than happy. My NFL team also scored their bye week for the first round of playoffs, so I've been hearing people play the gjallarhorn chants all over the city.

Coffee went well this morning. Very professional and very informative. I enjoyed sitting down with my undergrad advisor's committee. They still remembered him though he got his PhD in 1999. They said that he had really good things to say about me. We talked about the weather and even how my undergrad advisor met his wife. He had invited his cohort and some medievalists to his apartment for tea and readings of Chaucer. She was in the medieval cohort. My research interests don't line up perfectly with anyone in the department, but they did say that it's not abnormal for students to have multiple secondary advisors, so that was promising, I think. We talked about my life in Mpls so far (surviving the winter- I LOVE WINTER!) and family. We talked a little about my job right now and when my boyfriend is coming home from his research trip. This is where things get a little weird for me. One of them asked how we met and I said at college. We did technically meet AT college, but not IN college if that makes sense. I hope introducing him at functions doesn't pose a problem in the future if I am admitted. I don't know how to answer how we met. Keep it vague? He was a one year contract professor in my department and I took some of his classes. We started dating about a month after his contract was up and I informed admin before I even talked to my friends/family about him. My work from his classes was independently reviewed and the grades were fair (okay, I worked harder in his classes to try to impress him). Will this ever have to come up or is it something I can avoid? They didn't question it further this time, but there are likely events that he would attend and marriage/babies are in the near future, so this issue isn't going away. I am absolutely more nervous after this meeting because I want it even more. I can't see myself anywhere else or doing anything else.

There’s only one U of M!

If either of you end up at the U of M, you will love Minneapolis. It’s a city that no one wants to move here and when they get here, no one wants to leave. We have the most theater seats per capita than any city except NYC. All sports are represented here from football to broomball. Outdoor activities are more than possible- you can ski or fish IN the city. We have shops and coffee and bars and restaurants. We are more progressive than Portland and have more bike paths than them. The city is growing, but still relatively inexpensive. Unemployment is so low that newspapers are calling Minne a miracle city. We have tons of Fortune 500 companies and in the running for Amazon 2.0. If you’re in the sciences, the Mayo Clinic cannot be beat. I moved up here about six months ago because I fell in love with the city after spending two days here. I’ll be staying even if I go to grad school. I only applied to the U. Don’t worry about winter. You can drive or there is warm public transportation. Downtown has the skywalks and the U has a tunnel system.

My boyfriend and I are both European historians (he does early 20th century Germany, I do 17th century Dutch Republic), so we tend to geek out. There is nothing like walking where your subjects walk or visiting their graves. We also set up the trip to Rome for a special time- the Ides of March. They do a complete reenactment of the death of Cesar and I would highly recommend it. We also combine cities on our trips because once you get to Europe, travel is very inexpensive. "My people" were in Amsterdam and Den Haag (the Hague) and Rome, so I got to see where Johan de Witt was cannibalized and go to the Rijksmuseum to see the paintings of the Dutch greats and the Van Gogh Museum (they are next door to each other) and we discussed early impressionist painters. You can walk the canals just the same as you did in the 17th century and watch the old boats and eat cheese. You can go to the Albert Cuyp markt or the Tulpmarkt and pick up kloppen (the wooden clogs) and tulips. The houses are mostly the same as they were in the 17th century. Amsterdam was not hit like Groningen, Nijmegen, and Rotterdam during WWII. There is tourist Amsterdam and real Amsterdam. I was in Groesbeek, outside Nijmegen, for Canada Day. The Dutch love Canadians because they were the ones that liberated the Netherlands in WWII. I went on the walk with a large group from the Canadian-American cemetery in Groesbeek across the border to Kleve in Germany. They do this liberation march every year through the countryside. You will see WWII all over the Netherlands. Buildings with bullet holes have markers on them. We always visit cemeteries because it reminds us to remember that we are actually studying real people that led real lives. In Berlin, we spent a lot of time at cabarets and walking the wall between East and West Berlin. We saw the watchtower and the water tower where people were held before being sent east. We discussed stoppelsteinen. They are small metal blocks set into the sidewalks of Berlin. They are in front of houses and apartment buildings and list the names of the people that were removed from that building by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. They are set just above the rest of the sidewalk, so you stumble on them- stoppelstein means stumbling stone. Berlin has a life of her own and you should never be surprised with what you see. She is the opposite of Amsterdam, which is a very clean and hidden city. You have to look for deviancy in Amsterdam and in Berlin, it is all in the open. Almost 30 years after the Wall fell and East Berlin is still VERY Russian. Travel is why I started learning languages. There is an entire world that opens up when you can speak at least some of the language of the people you are interacting with. Sure, most of them speak English, but they appreciate you speaking to them in their language. Most Americans don't appreciate this. It's so bad that my crazy plan B if I don't get into graduate school is opening a travel company with the boyfriend called "That American Travel" which would work more like a study abroad. A few weeks of culture and language classes and then a guided tour on the off beaten paths of cities. Sure, the Eiffel Tower would be on the tour, but so would the market in the refugee neighborhoods of Paris. Or, sure, we would see the Rijksmuseum, but also Jordaan, where the French enclave lived in the 1600s that is now a hippy commune. We would see the Reichsstag in Berlin but also Wedding (a very Muslim neighborhood) and/or eat borscht and rundfleisch with the old Russian men in the east. Alexanderplatz isn't only a Primark and TV tower. In Iceland, you would see the volcanoes and hot springs, but also have a beer with the locals and see a Viking ceremony. You would be traveling with historians that know the region and know the language and know the people. Grocery stores are one of my favorite places to go and Albert Heijn grocery is always the first stop in the Netherlands (Lidl or Kaufland in Berlin). Forget eating at tourist spots. Have local food with local people. Buy the chestnuts from the trash can fire in Rome (homeless people sell chestnuts there). That was a long post, but I have a few loves in my life- boyfriend, my rabbits, travel, history, and language. This post combined all but the rabbits, so I could go on and on about language and travel.

I traveled during breaks as an undergrad and during this way-too-long gap year I'm currently in. I've been to Reykjavik, Amsterdam, Nijmegen, Groningen, London, Paris, Berlin, and Rome. I LOVE Rome and the Netherlands. My trip to the archives in Rome and Amsterdam were short, but solidified my research interest. Most places were "fun" travel, but I make a point to go to at least one archive day for each location. Except Reykjavik. That was an accidental 2 day trip (one on either side of my travel to the Netherlands). Accidental because it was supposed to be a short 2 hour layover each way, but the day I flew through to Amsterdam, the airport was on strike. On the way back, Iceland had just won the Eurocup, so the airport/country was on strike. Never fly through Iceland if you want to get somewhere fast, but do if you want your flight reimbursed and free lodging/meals/transportation/beer because of EU regulations.

My languages have to be diverse. I stumbled on this thread because I have an unhealthy obsession with foreign language (minored in it), but my area of study is 17th century Dutch foreign policy. I want to look at the relationship between the Dutch Republic and the Italian city-states (Papal States and Venice) during the Anglo-Dutch Wars. So, Dutch, Frisian, and Italian is needed for that. Foreign policy in the 17th century was written in French, so added that. A lot of secondary literature is in German, so that needed to be added. Afrikaans was added for a paper on colonization of South Africa. I also use Duolingo to keep up and have picked up some of my favorite books that have been translated into my other languages. I have Crime and Punishment in Dutch (among many others) and have started collecting books in Italian, French, and German. I know the stories, so I'm not worried so much about understanding the plot, just the language. Fairy Tales work well for this also.

Depending on how cold it is where you move, I would take one coat and buy the rest when you get there. Though, as I think about it, if you’re going north, but tons of fleece lined leggings to wear under your pants. They don’t take up a lot of room and make all the difference. Craigslist is a godsend, especially in university towns. I got a lot for free and the rest at Ikea.

I’m starting to get in a groove to distract myself as the anticipated release date for admissions draws near. I’m rewriting a paper on the influence of the American West on the rules of baseball from 1890-1908 because there is a call for papers next month for the 19th Century Baseball Conference in Cooperstown in 2019. Boyfriend and I have also started research for an article to co-write on the experiences of women in Berlin in 1945. Not my area of expertise, but his, and that’s okay.

I know this is old, but I'm sure others are still wondering about learning foreign languages. The one thing that really helps for me to pick up languages is watching movies and listening to music that I am already familiar with. You will pick up quite a bit of grammar from Disney movies. I'm currently working on language number six this way and have reading ability, listening, writing, and some speaking this way (Dutch, German, French, Frisian, Afrikaans, Italian in that order). Once you pick up a language in a language group (Dutch-German-Frisian-Afrikaans or French-Italian), the other are fairly easy. Belt out that Let it Go (Laat het Gaan in Nederlands) and don't let people judge you. Fear of speaking is what hurts a lot of people when learning a language because they don't want to sound silly.

If you want more information on Vanderbilt of Nashville, let me know. Boyfriend got his history PhD there in 2010. He's a German historian, but worked in early 20th century looking at turn of the century culture and the evolution of the perception of the body in art, dance, and psychoanalysis.

I've cried in front of my undergrad advisors quite a bit, actually. He thought it was a good thing, because would you really be stressing that much or crying if you didn't care? I had one final that I cried all the way through. It was for a directed reading/independent study, so thankfully I was the only person in the room. It was a one question final. The question was "What is the historiography for the Dutch Republic in the 17th Century? Describe in order and in detail." I blanked on names, but could remember the story. I turned it in with tears streaming down my face and he told me I stressed too much over it because he didn't need the names. Let's see. He's seen me cry about grades, family life, extracurricular activities, movie nights for the history club, boyfriend issues, etc. The one time he got mad was when I cried because another professor wrote that I could be an "arrogant bitch" and "needed to not care so much because [he] doesn't care." He wrote this on my senior seminar paper. That professor was angry because course evals were turned in the week prior and I was very harsh in my criticism. Advisor wasn't mad at me, but at the other professor.

Update on the coffee invite. My undergrad advisor called me today. He was the one that set up the meeting. He is really pushing hard for me to go to the U because he went there. Thankfully, according to the ones I've talked to at the U, he was very well liked in the program and his advisors are still (mostly) there. He does act like Dr. Sheldon Cooper (from the Big Bang Theory) sometimes, but he is one of my favorite people in the world. He is the type of professor that will stop class to get you a cup of coffee if you look tired or call you after class if he thinks you had a bad day or didn't seem to understand that day's lecture.

It does make me feel better to know that the people hearing back are usually in fields that require interviews, meaning they have one more step than us in the humanities.

I moved up here for this program. I wanted to experience a real winter before deciding if I want to live here for the next 5-7 years (or forever, which is 100% the plan now). I'm from the south (Oklahoma and Texas), so I hadn't experienced a real winter like up here. I love both outdoor activities and theater and Minneapolis has the most theater seats in any US city other than NYC. I'm also a sports fanatic and love baseball (Cubs, though I like the Twins too), hockey, football (skol!), and soccer. I also wanted to be close to an international airport and have access to museums. I fell in love with the program and the campus since moving here. I knew a lot about it before making the move because my undergrad advisor got his PhD here, but I needed to experience it. They also have a department that can support my Dutch studies, which you don't find many places.

I too have been surprised at the cost of transcripts for others. My undergrad sends them out for $5, including postage. ETS and I also had a fight about my scores, but like you, I didn't have to pay more. They seem to be the hardest part of dealing with the whole application process.

For 2017? For academic, I graduated from my undergrad as a Top 10 Non-Traditional Student, got Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities, and published. For professional, I spoke at commencement and was Student Government President and inducted into Phi Alpha Theta (History Honors Society), Phi Sigma Iota (Foreign Languages Honor Society), and Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science Honors Society). Personally, I traveled Europe both alone and with the man of my dreams. I saw Reykjavik, London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Groningen, Nijmegen, and Rome. I moved across the country to the most beautiful city in the USA (Minneapolis). 2017 overall was not bad. I miss my boyfriend and him being here would have made the year perfect. For 2018, I hope I get into grad school. I applied for ONE US program, so everything rides on that. I hope to travel more (already booked trips to Chicago for Opening Day and Rome, Athens, and Cairo for a summer classics trip). I can't wait to see my boyfriend again. He'll be home within the next month or two. Happy New Year to you!

Thank you! I've met the first two already a few times in the fall. I've been going to consortium events for a few months, so I think that helps a little. They've heard me talk about my topic of interest a few times. I'm worried because they lost their Dutch guy, who is the retired prof that's supposed to be there.The only one I have not met yet is the retired prof, whose books are what got me interested in the Republic. I told my boyfriend that it's like meeting a rockstar! These three combined made up my undergrad advisor's dissertation committee. On your second point, I HATE "like" and "you know" and up here, "dontcha know." My sister had a "like jar" growing up, so every time she said "like," she had to put a quarter in the jar. That brought back memories!

Is it a good sign or does it not mean anything if two of the professors at the school at which I applied want to meet for coffee next week? It would be those two plus the retired prof in my main area of obsession. Of course I said yes, but I don't know what to expect.

I've spoken with most of the faculty of the department of the university I applied to. I just let them know that I was talking to other professors, also. In my field, this also helps build a "team" of advisors so you can get multiple perspectives on the same topic. My app also asked me for at least 2.

This thread makes me feel not alone. Sure, my boyfriend has his PhD, but he got his years ago, so he has forgotten how hard the wait is. No one else really gets it.

I only do leather for dressier meetings. I have my hot pink Columbia snowboarding gloves for the rest of the time. Thankfully, I only have to visit UMN and, like real gophers, they have an amazing tunnel system.

The one thing I haven't seen anyone mention (or I just overlooked it), is a nice pair of leather gloves. Not the rough-leather kind that you would use for working outside, but a nice pair of leather gloves. I would also suggest hats. I wear the ones with ear flaps for less dressy occasions and, honestly, a nice felt fedora looks great and keeps your head warmer than if you went without. Sunglasses are a must. They will help keep the blowing wind out of your eyes and sun reflected off snow can be blinding. I'm an Oklahoma transplant in Minnesota.

I had this too, as an intended history major. Let's just say, I only took Survey of Math (patterns, time card logistics, best delivery routes, etc) and did poorly on the quantitative section. I didn't have time to retake it, but I hope the adcomm knows that "historians don't math."