The Newberry Library is gorgeous. It has high ceilings, intimidating chandeliers, and strict security. Trust me, all of that adds up to beauty.
My presentation was successful, I think. For me it is always difficult to tell because I blank slightly when presenting and don't really tune back in until the Q and A. But the Q and A was really good. I answered a lot of questions and people seemed really interested and engaged. As my mother already pointed out, perhaps they had a lot of questions because I hadn't been clear, but I prefer to believe that they just found it interesting.
I have now walked the streets of Chicago alone after dark. It was successful. I made it back to the hotel safely with Thai food in hand. My hotel is pretty great. They let me check in super early, gave me free parking, gave me coupons for free breakfasts, and have been uniformly friendly and enthusiastic. My status as a VIP might be the reason for all of this. Seriously, when I checked in, my reservation said VIP on it. It must have something to do with having booked using the Newberry rate.
The first three people I met at the conference were from England. The couple sweetly gushed about how much they are in love with America. I gushed back about my love for England. On a more disappointing note, the man from the University of Aberdeen grew up in Ohio so did not have a Scottish accent. False advertising, if you ask me.
Small talk is not something at which I excel. Sadly, that is a huge part of conferences. You're supposed to network and make connections that you can leverage throughout your future in academia. I'm doing my best to seem charming and intelligent. We'll see if I can keep it up.
You *are* charming and intelligent. The trick, of course, is to get that point across to people. Not something I enjoy either. =)
ReplyDeleteI miss you. I wish we were mired in academia together. But I wouldn't trade my eighth graders for your freshman, and I bet some of them would fit in well with your best discussions. Not all. But some.
Grace, I wish you were in academia with me, but I'm also glad that you're happy. Academia isn't all sugar plums and libraries, sadly enough. And there is no way that I would ever trade students with you. I love my freshmen (most of the time).
DeleteHey, I've studied at the Newberry Library! Does that make me a VIP? I really liked it there. It was so quiet. Paul went with me once.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday tomorrow. Will you be in Chicago for it?
English is a precise language - which makes it fun to play with. Your mother actually said maybe you had left them with a lot of questions, not that you might have been unclear. Being unclear is one possibility. Being incomplete is another. A third is opening up entirely new avenues of thought. Can you think of more?
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! We all wish we were in Chicago with you. Or riding in the car for your drive back. Or hiding under your mattress to welcome you.