15 November 2012

Balls in the air

You know how I feel right now?  Like this guy:

Except minus the resemblance to Carrot Top.  And with pants that fit.  And I don't give the people around me the impression that I love little children inappropriate amounts. But other than that, I feel exactly like that guy.  

Because I've got a lot of balls up in the air, and I can't actually say that without giggling.  Balls.  HA.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, I got an internship at a tiny little institution on the Danish border that's working to preserve a dying German dialect.  This is how I got the internship:

Me:  Hello, do you guys offer internships?
Them:  You want to intern?  With us?
Me:  Well, yes, if you take interns.
Them:  When did you want to come?
Me:  I was thinking early February after classes end, for a month.  
Them:  Awesome!  Just show up.  Can't wait to have you!

In fact, the process was so easy--they didn't ask for any documents or contracts--that I considered finding another internship, one that would give me the proper amount of hassle and irritation and make me fill out a stack of forms and dredge up documents more irrelevant to my life than the Dead Sea scrolls.  It was Al who pointed out that it's a solid institution, and their complete laid-back-ness about me interning was probably due to the fact that I was the first person in the history of the all things white and European that had ever called them up and asked for an unpaid internship in the Middle of Nowhere, Practically-Denmark.  I'm going to go with his reasoning.  Mine was longer and more complicated and involved words like "science experiment," "zombies," and "copious amounts of hallucinogenics."

What this means, though, is that I've successfully launched one more ball in the air. "Internship" is now up there with "Work," "Organizing Mexico," "School," "Grant Proposals," "Papers," "Presentations," and "Occasionally Sleeping."  Somehow, I've got to get Mexico organized, funded, vaccinated, and booked by August.  I've got to turn in five papers by early February.  I've got to produce two presentations by mid-January.  I've got to write between three and seven grant proposals with due dates ranging from mid-January to mid-March.  I've got to learn two languages.  I've got to find someplace to live (and someone to take my apartment) for the month of my internship. I've got a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it.

What I'm trying to say is, I've got a lot of balls up in the air.  Also, I love little children appropriate amounts.  

The End.

9 comments:

Roomie said...

Tina, Husum is NOT Denmark.

Don't be so American about geographical stuff!

Well, it's always easy to find someone for the apartment via wg-gesucht.de Living space (?) is rare in Göttingen at the moment, you know...

Anonymous said...
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Tina! said...

First off my internship is NOT in Husum, my internship is located in a tinier city a good distance north of Husum. Second, that city is located only 40 minutes from the Danish border. Third, I did not say that city was in Denmark, I said it was in Practically-Denmark, as defined as anywhere in Germany that is less that an hour's drive from Denmark. This rule applies to other countries as well. When I lived in Konstanz, for example, I lived in Practically-Switzerland. If we lived in Bitburg, we would be in Practically-Luxembourg. However, this rule is only applicable in Europe--in America, the geographical distance required to be Practically-in another country in greater. If you live in Wisconsin, for example, you are in Practically-Canada. Michigan is Practically-Canada. Minnesota is just Canada.

bevchen said...

The internship sounds very cool. Working to preserve a dying dialect gets my thumbs up anyway.

You said balls. *Snigger*

Roomie said...

So New Jersey is Practically-Greenland so Practicall-Denmark, too? :D

Anonymous said...

Of course not. If you set off from the Jersey Shore on foot, it would take you several weeks to get to Portugal, and even then only if you were Jesus. We're not close enough to any other country's borders to be Practically-anything.

--Tina

Roomie said...

Part you are Practically-New York, right?

Anonymous said...

Oh yes, that's true.

Al said...

you've got a lot of balls up in the air. but you have got 4 hands, don't forget that... :) looove...