Saying goodbye
Last night Andrew and I hosted a farewell party for the first couple to move away among those Wesleyan professors who have been part of the circle of friends from our first year in Bloomington-Normal. Josh and Carolyn and their little Liam will be missed by those of us left behind as they go back to their hometown in Nebraska, where Josh found a new job.
As we packed up party food leftovers for the guests of honor to take home, the four of us recalled our first meeting, when Josh and Carolyn took us for a dinner out during Andrew's interview visit. We regaled our dinner hosts with tales of fascinating intersections of democracy and monarchy in Canada like the Speech from the Throne and they told us about the unexpected gems of our potential new home, like the Normal Theater. Their friendliness deserves some credit for our decision to come to Illinois and for making the first couple of years here that much more enjoyable.
Our friend Carola observed earlier this week that academics often don't get to hold onto people for long because students come and go, non-tenured professors and postdocs often move to new positions after just a few years, people leave town/country for other job prospects outside the profession, etc., but it means that an academic can end up having friends all over the world.
So this time, as we say farewells once again to academics moving on, as has happened already in Madison and Calgary and will probably happen again in Bloomington, we'll just have to keep in mind that there's now someone we know in yet another far-flung place who would be fun to visit if we find ourselves in their area.
As we packed up party food leftovers for the guests of honor to take home, the four of us recalled our first meeting, when Josh and Carolyn took us for a dinner out during Andrew's interview visit. We regaled our dinner hosts with tales of fascinating intersections of democracy and monarchy in Canada like the Speech from the Throne and they told us about the unexpected gems of our potential new home, like the Normal Theater. Their friendliness deserves some credit for our decision to come to Illinois and for making the first couple of years here that much more enjoyable.
Our friend Carola observed earlier this week that academics often don't get to hold onto people for long because students come and go, non-tenured professors and postdocs often move to new positions after just a few years, people leave town/country for other job prospects outside the profession, etc., but it means that an academic can end up having friends all over the world.
So this time, as we say farewells once again to academics moving on, as has happened already in Madison and Calgary and will probably happen again in Bloomington, we'll just have to keep in mind that there's now someone we know in yet another far-flung place who would be fun to visit if we find ourselves in their area.