The Emily Carr Party

At the end of first week every term, my college has a party, called "The Emily Carr Party." It's an event that the graduate student committee throws to try and help us start the term off on a low-stress high-fun note. I went to last term's party, but only stayed for a short while since I was still really tired from moving and didn't feel very social. Plus, last term's party had a kind of frat-party feel. And as many know frat parties aren't really my kind of scene.

Since last term's party was a bust, I had originally planned to skip this one. However, the president of our graduate committee also happens to be in my program and studying early modern urban British history. At our seminar last Thursday he asked me if I was planning to go to the party. He's been really sweet in his efforts to get me out and about and meeting people, so I told him I'd give the party another shot. I'm so glad I did.

Last night's party was much better organized and fun. Less "hormones on parade" and more "cool people talking about interesting things and having fun." I had a great time, met some really nice people, and even was able to have a Long Island Iced Tea (for the first time since leaving the States). Pretty cool. Other than the yummy (and free!) drinks, I spent most of my time talking with a woman doing an MsT in medieval English literature. Her master's topic sounds really intriguing because she is actually studying female authors from different periods (Elizabethan, Victorian, etc.) who wrote on medieval literature. She's in the process of applying to DPhil programs, but expressed her frustration on how her topic straddles so many periods that it is hard to find someone she could study under, and a program that would know where her topic fits. I feel for her frustration. It must be incredibly difficult to figure out where you want to study, if there are no obvious scholars doing the things you want to do. No easy answer really presents itself.

Other than the party, I've been having a fairly calm weekend. I'm trying to finalize my trip plans for my first visit to the Ipswich archives. I'm thinking I will try to be there for a few days in third week (so not this week, but the week after). I'm really excited about diving into the records and actually seeing the extent of what they have. Hopefully the next few weeks will be full of new and interesting discoveries. I'll definitely plan to keep you all updated on the progress!