oh canada

Okay, it *really* won't let me upload photos. It might be time to pay for our very own internet connection.

My news, um - i finished the GRE! It actually wasn't that bad. I spent three hours filling in little bubbles with a 2B pencil then bought a fat book about the Louvre as a reward. I don't get the marks from this exam for six weeks (!!!) but I think I went okay. There were lots of questions on material I knew very well and could answer immediately, lots of stuff I didn't know very well but had read or memorised in the last two weeks and could answer after a bit of thought, lots of stuff I was able to make an educated guess on (the way the points work rewards educated guessing) and only five I had to leave blank cos of having no clue at all. That's probably all I can tell you, cos of signing a stat dec about not revealing the content of the test to anybody.

Now I'm working on PhD applications and trying to figure out where I should live for the next five or so years. It's a hard decision, as always. Right now I'm loving Canada - this dude in hard hat and overalls just knocked on the door and warned me that if I needed to have a shower or cook stuff I should do so now cos they're going to cut off the water for a couple of hours (burst main). Which, when I write it like that, sounds more annoying than anything, but do the workmen go individually to every house in the block in Australia and give them advance warning? I don't remember it ever happening. And the other day a Ticket Nazi helped me figure out which train I wanted to catch, being very polite and "Ma'am"ing me. And when I was riding home at 1am last night a car stopped in a roundabout and let me go through first.

Ah, the idealism of youth. Ziggy's friend nearly got run over on a pedestrian crossing the other day (wearing a reflective raincoat) and the driver followed him down the street abusing him. These things happen too.

Where was I? Oh, lord, that's right. I was replying to all the emails from my students about their next assignment. I should get back to that and stop blathering about the Canadian stereotype.