I’m not snowed in, nor am I snowed under!

But it is nice to be back home again now for Christmas and we have had a fair bit of snow down here. When I left Newcastle at the end of term we hadn’t seen any snow but looking at the Toon on the telly today it looks like they’ve had a decent amount in the North East.

I went down to London on Wednesday as the snow storms started to make their way in. I got out of the tube to a snowy view of the Bank of England. I was in the City to go and get my Portuguese bank account sorted. That was a gratifyingly straightforward process. I need to complete a bit of bureaucracy upon my arrival in Lisbon and then I can use my account and get my research grant paid into it! The snow really started to come down on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so I’m glad I got my London trip done out of the way first. Obviously the weather resulted in travel chaos. Lots of reports on the news of villages which have been cut off from the outside world – but somehow the camera crews and news reporters seem to get there!

But I can relax now, and what better way than writing my blog update. Christmas shopping is all done, my beers have all been organised for the festive period and I have even wrapped up my presents already. The girlfriend is on holiday so we can spend some time together a couple of days next week before Christmas gets under way properly.

But I have been busy since returning home. I have done all the plagiarism checking for the School and got that out of the way. I do like doing that and it’s always interesting to see what students try to get away with! I’m nosey like that! I have also been marking the briefing papers from the module I have been teaching seminars on. I was impressed by those, and they clearly benefitted from having such a great seminar teacher!!! But it’s good to draw a line under my role as a teaching assistant – an experience I have enjoyed immensely!

At the end of term I had a good time in Newcastle. Lots of little things needed to get done, especially getting all my printing, copying etc done. Also I needed to return all my library books! We had a good Christmas lunch too, we spent the society money very wisely on good food, beer and tequila! A really enjoyable afternoon. I also had a final meeting with my supervisors where they gave me lots of interviewing tips and a final pep talk before I go away.

The next thing looming large is my field research trip to Lisbon. I fly out 5th January until the 31st March. It will be the time when my PhD gets the data it needs. I’m really looking forward to conducting interviews in the foreign ministry, but am scared by it as it’s quite daunting! But it’s never a bad thing to be spending time in Lisbon and the reason I am doing my PhD and contemplating an academic career is to do this kind of field research. It will be an experience for sure, but at least I can build on my previous time in Lisbon and finding my feet again will be a bit easier.

So it’s nice to relax and look forward to Christmas and New Year. Before I know it the suitcase will be packed and I’ll be off to Lisbon (whether I feel I’m ready for it or not!).

But it’s the time to reflect on the year and the decade which has now passed us by. Ten years ago it was the time of year for mock GCSE exams, now I am staring at the reality of going off to Lisbon to my fieldwork for my PhD! So I’ve come a long way in the last ten years and so many experiences and grown up as a person. Let’s hope the next ten are as memorable and enjoyable.

Happy Christmas to all you blog-readers. And Happy New Year!

I will be writing my next post probably some time in mid-January from somewhere in Lisbon! I’m excited but don’t want to wish away Christmas and New Year.

So until the blog goes ‘continental’, cheerio and see you in 2010!