I just decided that I should participate here........... I have been reading this thread since it was created.
So, my next goal for today is to do a power point presentation for a conference!

Good luck to all!

I have moved to different cities quite a few times (for UG studies to a small city, for work to a small island, then got tranfered to another city), even to a different country (UK as an Erasmus student in Wales and for my first master in Midlands), so I have quite a few experiences from moving and settling down.
As all the others said, try to socialise. Try not to stay in your house. Go to the park or to the local pub, speak to the people next to you, go to university events.... You will find people, who may not become your friends, but with whom you will be able to socialise!

I think I will do another one! I am working in education (with children with special needs) and I read a lot around the subject every day. Also, I have quite a few ideas that could be good research proposals, and it would be relatively easy to do the research while working. My current PhD is in a different area, so every day for me is almost like reading for two PhDs...

We'll see....(my bf will kill me!!!!!!!)

In Greece, Eurovision is always a huge issue (I can't understand why, though)! It is kind of a national pride issue! This year, everyone is sooooo pleased that we managed to get the 8th (I think) position, with a song that is considered as "very Greek" (written in Greek, having traditional elements, like the Lyra and the drums...).
Personally, yesterday, I preferred to watch a DVD!

I prefer writing everything on paper, too. And given the fact that my first language is not English, you can imagine how lond it takes to write something.....

A dentist, especially if he is your father (!!!) can be really scary! He always does his experiments on my teeth, and then tells me "It would have been better, if I had taken off that tooth! I will never do that to someone else!!!"

Then comes my physiotherapist! I used to have a major problem with my knees. The doctor told me to try physio for a couple of months and then have a surgery (with a success rate of about 20%). My physiotherapist took my case very personally and decided that he was going to heal my knees! That meant a lot of pain! And him saying "you are in pain, not me! So, I am not stopping!". To cut a long story short, after 3 years of pain, my knees are almost OK now!!!! So, he was right!

And finally, the worst experience of my life is from a GP in UK. I was an exchange student and I had a cyst at the basis of my spinal. I had very high fever and terrible pain. When I managed to get an appointment at the GP (mind you, it was my first time in a foreign country and I was feeling so lonely and in great pain), a nurse saw me and said that it wasn't an important case, and that I should go back again the following day to see the GP. The following day, the GP examined me and told me that I had the shingles and prescribed some drugs. When I called my GP in Greece, he told me that it couldn't have been the shingles (I can't remember why but he insisted) and we had a fight over the phone. He then told me to take the medicine.... But the next day, without taking the medicine, the cyst had burst and I was perfectly fine! I called my GP in Greece and he said "That should have happened! It wasn't the shingles!". When I returned to Greece, I was told that I should have gone through a minor surgery and I would have been perfectly fine on less that 15 minutes!!!! BAAAADDD GP!!!!!!!!

Contacting my supervisor was the best thing I did!!!!
She managed to solve the problem and I got an apologising email from the administartive officer!!!!!!!!
When you have power things are so easy!!!!!!!!
Thanks everbody for your support!

I have emailed my supervisor. She said that she will look into the matter...
I'll keep you posted!

It is rediculus, isn't it?
It's not that I have to do an official upgrade or anything like that.... There is nothing that may cause any problem. In fact, I am not asking them to comment on the progress of my reserach, just that I have finished year 2 and moving on to year 3. This is a logical procedure...when you have been studying for 2 years, then you will start your 3rd year!
Maybe I am being irrational, maybe they don't understand what I am saying...I don't know!
It would be really sad, especially in the current economic climate, to miss this opportunity...:-(:-(

That's what I did! I wrote the letter, emailed it and asked them to put it on a headed paper and sign it! And the response was
"we can't give you a letter like that. We can't say whether you are eligible to move to your third year of studies. We can only comment on this year".
I think that tomorrow I will contact my supervisor and ask for her help! May she can talk to them! She had already asked me, a couple of months ago, if, by getting all the documents that I need, everything would be OK with my job and future scholarship. And when I told her that everything would be OK, she then told me to ask postgrad office anything that I would need...
We'll see..............

======= Date Modified 18 May 2010 18:25:25 =======
It's the graduate reserach office.... and unfortunately, I am not based in UK and it isn't possible to contact them in person before the deadline for the scholarship...
I had a similar problem last year, when I couldn't find the person who was responsible (he didn't answer any of my emails) and, sadly, I didn't get the scholarship because of him.... I don't want to lose it again (I am almost sure that I will get it, if I provide the necessary documents)....
Sad things....

I am eligible for a scholarship in my country (it's about 9000 euros per year) and in order to apply, I need a letter form my university that I have completed my second year of studies and I am eligible to proceed to my third year.
BUT the admin people are telling me that they can't give me a letter like that. They have a ready-made letter, that says that I am enrolled at the university and this is all they can give me...
Shouldn't I be angry at them? I am going to lose the scholarship if I don't have this letter...
What can I do? Should I ask my supervisor to talk to them? (She can't give it to me, it has to be from the administrative office)

A rule of thumb (as i Was told by muy sups) is 3 timess the length of your recording... That means that it should take you aboy an hour and a half to two hours for each...
It took me about that long for my interviews, but then I had to translate them into English, so it was much more work for me....