27 November 2009
By Matthew Salois
One of the things I miss most about my home in the US is getting to celebrate Thanksgiving. Last year was my first Thanksgiving in the UK and as my wife and I were still new to the country, we just couldn’t believe how hard it was to find tinned pumpkin puree! In fact, it proved such a challenge that we decided to pay an exorbitant amount of money to have it shipped from a specialty store in London. It was worth it, though, and was a small price to pay to have a pumpkin pie, a small taste of home. (We have since discovered that you can get tinned pumpkin puree at Waitrose!)
For those who might be unfamiliar with the holiday, the fourth Thursday of November is set aside as the national holiday of Thanksgiving each year in the US. There is no school and no work but lots of eating and lots of traveling, as the weekend marks the heaviest travel period of the year. There is also lots of (American) football, shopping and sales, and there should be lots of gratitude. After all, the holiday has its origins in the pilgrims’ celebration of surviving their first very harsh winter in New England, with life-saving help from the Native Americans. Most Americans probably have similar stories of sitting around the table and taking turns sharing what they’re thankful for before they can tuck in to the big feast.
Today is Thanksgiving in the US and I have spent the last 5 five days in Texas presenting a paper at a conference which my department graciously funded. Since I was already so close to home and it was so close to Thanksgiving, I was able to buy a much cheaper ticket from San Antonio to Orlando to see my family just in time for the festivities. I didn’t expect this, but it turns out that the conference I attended served as a great precursor to Thanksgiving.
During my time in Texas, I met several people who were intrigued that I came all the way from Reading, England and wasn’t even British! I met numerous other post-docs and graduate students hoping to play the network game to get a foot in the door for an interview and hopefully a job. The pervasive theme in the conversations I had was the difficulty my American colleagues were encountering in finding ANY kind of job at all. Many were worried they would not get a single interview before their graduation. For as scarce as academic positions seem in the UK, they are even scarcer in the US. I can only imagine the concern and the trepidation these beleaguered PhD students and fellow post-docs must be feeling.
And so, I left the conference to head home for Thanksgiving feeling very thankful. I have made complaints, both in private and on this blog, about my fixed term contract job. I have made criticisms and offered suggestions for improvement in the careers of post-doctoral researchers. But, today I am just thankful for my job. I am thankful for the education I have and for the opportunity to do what I love. I am thankful I have a comfortable office and great colleagues. Today I am just taking a step back and reminding myself of the career I do have, and I’m truly grateful for it! I may not have my dream post yet, but I am thankful that I’m on the right track.
David Proctor27 November 2009 at 07:49 AM
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Happy Thanksgiving! I still feel full.