Hey Jojo,
I wrote a long reply and it just disappeared! Short answer to your query is "Yes. You will be able to change supervisors. Its a long process but its worth it!"

Hi H,
Check out Kate Turbian (?sp)for scientific writing and Skunk. Tell me how you get on with it.

What's in it for China?

Do one which takes you into an academic discipline such as sociology economics or philosophy. Medical anthropology, health economics and moral philosophy will definitely be useful post-doc. Be prepared for the hard work ahead.

Feedback on written work is different from talking about it. Writing is a skill which is sorely lacking in me. Its just so HARRRRRD! But I do believe that practise makes perfect. Just have to keep at it.

Oops! forgot to mention that he's a professor in theology and religious study from another uni. Met him at a conference ages ago. I've always believed that when you ask, it may be given. Alternatively, he could have said NO.

Hi J,
Just got a positive response! He's agreed to comment on my written work. How good is that?

I approach post-docs within the uni and academics from other universities to comment on my written work. That's because the sun doesn't always shine from my sups *&^%. What do you do?

yes, golfpro, you gave sound advice. Lucky dot, go to a reputable bookshop and read up on everything you want to know about doing a PhD. It is definitely not an extension of your Master's programme. Far from it. It'll be your hardest challenge in life. The PhD will always be there but your youth will be sucked out of you by the PhD process ( a little dramatic with a dash of truth) Good luck and keep us posted.

My hair is looking a bit wonky now: will need a proper cut. Cheap and cheerful is it not. Perhaps I should just let it grow into pony tail and forget about hairdressers for the next year?
Any thoughts on that?

Illegible handwriting is a tell tale sign that the writer is a "hard to reach" character, closed, wrapped up in their own little world and generally a difficult person: my previous supervisor was such a character.
Commenting on work that is not their area of expertise is simply disastrous. Having to dumb down your writing so that it can be understood by them is just so condescending : my current supervisor fits this profile and is just about to be sacked, by me.
What have you done to rectify the situation?

In the long run, food as treats is really a bad idea both psychologically and physically. This applies to both man and woman. I'm off to buy a 3 in 1 (printer,scanner and photocopier), and mushroom foraging as a treat for finishing the 5th Chapter.
And when Chps 6& 7 are done... well, I'm thinking about it.
Good luck with kicking the bad habit of comfort eating.

Thanks everybody. Just to let you know that I have finished the section on what distinguishing dialect from language. Horray!

I browse the electronic journals, the bbc news website,the postgrad forum and gumtree website.

I think that time frames are arbitrary. Some chapters take hell of a long time and others are just short and sweet. You are doing the right thing by writing as you go along.
Well done.