Well, New Zealand emailed me back about the photo tour and it was kind of mixed news. The photographer who organizes the trip informed me that right now, the trip doesn’t have the minimum number required to make it worthwhile (which is 4 people). He politely suggested an alternate tour that leaves in September, which is also a 15 day expedition in the South Island of New Zealand, but focuses on the wildlife, since that one is a confirmed go. Really, the wildlife one could be cool, but I don’t really have the desire to shoot exclusively wildlife. My heart is still really set on the original trip I booked. I also feel like the trip is still 6 months away…don’t they anticipate that at least 3 more people will sign up in that time? pout. So I think I’m going to email them back and tell them that I’d still prefer to go on the late November trip and to just notify me when they have enough people signed up to confirm that the trip is on. The downside to “wait and see” is that I am not going to be able to rush out and arrange my plane ticket and transportation until (or if) they get enough people. My balloon has deflated a little bit, but I’m still hopeful that everything will work out.
In other news, I’m really pulling to have 99% of my thesis drafted by Friday so I can email my advisor to read over it for revisions and suggestions before I have to hand in a final copy. I feel like my original draft was so raw that he couldn’t give me much of a real critique. I just want to make that he feels like I’m actually following the guidance he gave and not just effing everything up. It also looks like I may NOT actually have to have a committee meeting and orally “defend” my paper. Apparently the division that my studies are in does not require anything except to have my readers read and grade my final paper. But being in a slightly different program for “experienced professionals” may have different regulations, which makes no sense because you’d think people who have real jobs are used to making presentations and wouldn’t benefit from the extra requirement of having to defend, especially if it’s not required for normal daytime students. I emailed the office once again (I think I’ve emailed them approximately 43583490588485545 times in the past week) so now I’m back to waiting. I would be so ecstatic if I don’t have to try to schedule 2 professors who are impossible to get ahold of to be in the room at the same time as well as trying to beg for some time off during the day so that I can bus to campus and have this “meeting”. It also means I would probably get a few more days to work on my paper. BLAH. Luckily, for better or worse this will be over by Tuesday May 26th (well not for worse because then I’ll have to pay another $1400 for another quarter at OSU to finish this thing, but we’ll pretend that it’s not even a possibility, ok?).
Here are some pictures of our neighborhood I took on a walk with Morgan last weekend. You know. Instead of doing my thesis. \m/
