still here

Yes, after a long absence, I am back on the blog.

Two things happened to cause the time away. The first was summer school - teaching Introduction to Personality twice a week for three hours each for six weeks was an all-consuming affair. It probably didn't help that I had no chance to prepare before the session started because of my dissertation and defense. It was truly a fly-by-the-seat-of-my pants experience where I was often reading the chapter to be taught just a day or two ahead. Finding old PowerPoint presentations from when I was a T.A. for Intro to Personality helped a bit. But I am oh-so-glad it's over...well, almost (does this sound familiar). I still need to finish reading final papers and grading final exams but the last class was last night and I am at the very least taking this morning off.

It's interesting to be on the other side of the fence, having been a student for so much of my life. As a professor (the students called me Professor Kang) I think that I am pretty rigid (take attendance, points off for late papers), expect a lot (challenging exams that seem reasonable when I put them together), but am also approachable (based on student feedback). I also enjoy trying to have activities in class - group work, review jeopardy, etc. I was glad that the class had 16 students and not 160. Another thing I became conscious of was how I interacted witih students, particularly outside of formal teaching time i.e. during breaks. I had to remember I couldn't treat them like peers (although a few were my age or older) and had to be more cautious about things that might be seen as teasing with a friend but could be taken the wrong way by a student in a lower-power position.

One funny quirk of mine that was pointed out by students was my tendency to smile. My Mom says that Thai people smile all the time - when they're happy, when they're nervous, when they're embarrassed, etc. I think this is what I do. One student said that it seemed like I was encouraging them to understand the material. Another I think thought I had a twisted sense of humor on at least one occcasion. I remember that when I worked in the group home the boys thought I was happy to see them get consequences because I would seem to have a smile. I wasn't of course, just...nervous?

I've also had to learn the reality of dealing with students with issues. It looks like I will have to give two students an incomplete or university withdraw (counted in your GPA as an F but doesn't signify you did F quality work) because of all the classes and work they've missed due to personal issues. During a short six-week session it's really hard if you miss more than a class or two. I'm meeting with one of the class deans today to talk about one situation.

Speaking of class deans, I just applied to be a freshmen/sophomore class dean. This position is a combination academic advisor/traditional dean. You both help students in their everyday issues, but also deal with students who are having problems of various sorts. Summer is filled with a lot of programming - programs for new students and their families and then orientation. I spoke on the phone with a current dean (there are 10 freshmen/sophomore class deans so it's not really a "high" position) on Friday and had a good conversation. I figure it also can't hurt to meet with this junior/senior class dean this afternoon to talk about this student. I like that this position allows for interaction with students, is close by, and pays decently. In thinking about the job I was originally a little worried that I would have some of the same frustrations as my last student affairs' job (intellectual stimulation). But this time around, it would also make it easy for me to continue to collaborate with my professors on research if I wanted and to potentially teach another class. We'll see if I get an interview.

The second reason for my leave of absence was this site called blogbinding.com. I was all excited that I could get my blog from the past year put into bookform (I still love paper and permanence), but discovered it also takes the words and no pictures. So that was a little discouraging but maybe there's just a trick I haven't discovered, yet in transforming my blog to printable form.

Random musings from the past month:

- From a recent psych conference: Happiness as studied by time-use research is most highly associated with active leisure time (passive leisure is pretty high up, too). Things like commuting and work are low on the list. French people may be slightly happier than Americans but this may just be due to having more vacation time. Life satisfaction on the other hand is more tied to having a higher household income, more education, being married, etc.

- Happy 2-year-anniversary to Ezer and myself! We celebrated a day late (his practice, my summer school class) with dinner at this out-of-the-way neighborhood restaurant called The Good Fork (http://www.goodfork.com) - an American/Korean owned/run by a couple. The place had a good vibe, and it was a satisfying, well-priced meal. We hadn't mapquested our way there and ended up taking this roundabout way that included a drive through a heavily Hasidic part of town. It was an interesting cultural experience since neither of us had ever been in that neighborhood.

Ezer remarked that it seemed shorter than 2 years, my mother said it seemed like we'd been married longer. Maybe it's like my friends with kids who now can't imagine/can hardly remember their life before them. It is hard to imagine my life without my sweetie. I hope we at least get to the 50-year-mark together. But if Jesus wants to come sooner that's more than okay.

I remember when I was young I used to pray that he wouldn't come back until I had the chance to get married, have kids, etc. I like to think I know a little better now. I was watching the movie Capote on video last night and there's a scene where they're in/at/on Costa Brava in Spain. It was so beautiful and it made me wish I could have the time and resources with which to travel the world and go to places like that. But I was also reminded that heaven with be more breathtaking than all of it and that even if I don't get the chance now there will be unlimited beauty later.

- Enjoyed visiting my friend and meeting her new adopted daughter for the first time. I really appreciate having had the chance to go through this journey with my friend and her husband and to hear the nitty gritty of everything. Their willingness to be open about their experiences, thougts, and feelings really allows the glory of God to shine through.


- What's that saying about the worth of old friends...old friends are great. At the wedding I went to in May, there was a group of us (some of whom are pictured above) who had met during our time at UCLA as graduate students. I've kept up with quite a few of them one-on-one but this was one of the few times we'd really been together as a group again. It just made me happy. Looking back, that time was one of the best experiences of community fellowship I've had in my life.

- A friend who recently moved to town likes to swing dance. Good news for me! I went to his dance studio's Friday night dance a couple of weeks ago and got to swing for the first time in....a couple years? Naturally, I have much rust, but the best compliment I received that evening was when one of the instructors danced with me and said that it was "lovely."

- It's amazing how quickly you can start feeling old(er). I've been getting significantly more white hair than in the past. It's one of the few times I wish I was blonde. There's no hiding it when your hair is as dark as mine. But I really don't want to start thinking about coloring it although it seems like everyone and their mother (literally) does it these days. Ezer says he likes the Maxine Hong Kingston (Chinese-American writer) look.

That's all for today..to be continued...