I just wanted to mention that of all the masters theses defended under my supervision (there haven't been that many) (just counted: 8) all of them got top marks. Well done, My Students!

I have been collecting a list of instances to use as examples for why I can't live in this country (yoga guy not smiling for an entire 1.5 hour session; museum guard yelling at child; lifeguard not saying hello when I'm the ONLY ONE IN THE POOL ON BOXING DAY; etc) but here's one that's actually meaningful.

At the Faculty Council meeting last week M was doing a presentation on the Center for Research on Prejudice, and explaining the kinds of projects we do and what we've published and our international collaborations etc etc and eventually he mentioned that we do work on "sexism and discrimination against women". Now, having some experience with this sort of presentation, I myself would have chosen not to say "against women" -- knowing that it evokes defensive reactions from Polish crowds. But he said it, and IMMEDIATELY a woman in the Council said "Why not against men?"

There are a few things I think about this:

1. Ma'am, are You an idiot? Are You seriously suggesting that discrimination against men is an equally significant research topic? Do You have no idea of the kinds of inequalities of power that exist in the world? That clearly favour men? This is not to say that discrimination against men doesn't exist. It does. But seriously. I would say that it can reasonably be asserted that studying why 1/3 of women are victims of domestic violence in one form or another is a more socially important question than why men are distrusted as nurses. And even if this asymmetry weren't true:

2. Ma'am, are You an idiot? Are You seriously suggesting that it's OK to tell us what we should study? Do I respond to Your research reports by recommending that You expand/change Your interests? And even if You did think so, why say it out loud? Maybe:

3. Ma'am, are You an idiot? Do You seriously want to assert Yourself in front of a group of Your peers by expressing the most knee-jerk, thoughtless, unconstructive response possible? Am I free to interpret this as an unconscious acknowledgement of Your own very real low status, as an attempt to ingratiate Yourself with the group You implicitly know holds power, i.e. the men? Why the fuck else would You say that?

At the time, what I said was, "of course, and against men." Because I have nothing to prove to that particular woman, and because M immediately said, coolly, that much sociological and demographic data indicate that women are more harmed by inequalities than are men. But seriously. Should he really have point that out? Really? It still needs to be said out loud? Would she have felt so self-righteous, so assured of acceptance, saying that in a country less sexist?

This is the #1 university in the land. Educated people. Theoretically.

Today as a gift to myself I spent some time cleaning up my apartment. Whew. Much much better. I also bought myself (again, I think) Jagodziński's original Chopin CD.

As a gift to the rest of You, I will at some point update my photo pages.

Meanwhile, I want to give a big shout-out to the Department of Psychology at the University of Tromso. I got a package from them this week, all wrapped in Santa paper and everything, and it was a UiT backpack. How awesome is that? To send me a gift for Xmas? And a backpack, which was #1 of my list of requests for Xmas this year? Awesome.

A selection of winter poems

.. written by my Intro students as a bonus on their midterm.

I.
Once again life laid bare
Chill winds descend upon me,
light and then shadow.

II.
People freezing, people sneezing
Winter is finally here.
Trees are glowing, and it's snowing
Winter is finally here!
Bells are ringing, Christmas singing
Winter is finally here!
Snow is falling, people in it crawling,
Winter is finally here
And Christmas is really really near!

III.
"The winter has home!"
said my mom.
I'm looking outside,
"Damn, she's right!"
No winter tires, no money too
And I think I'll have the flu.

IV.
Silent cries reverberating
through the freezing white.
Its cold, skeletal fingers
surrounding you, attempting
to steal this shy intimacy
hidden in your shadow.
The clutches reaching deeper and deeper,
silent, emotionless.
In this wintery void
standing naked
you feel nothing but shame.

V.
Winter is here,
I want to see a deer
I was writing too long, instead I went for a beer.
Outside the trees are covered in snow
I feel so low.
I went home, wanted to have a coke with straws
and to my surprise I found Santa Claus!

VI.
It's snowing, the wind is blowing
Christmas comes nearer, everything seems clearer
Put on your warm clothes and don't get a red nose!

VII.
Snow is covering
all our mistakes.
Hope it will cover
this one too.

VIII.
Midwinter wrongs the rites of spring
Its icy chill rakes the earth
As pensive lives with hope do think
of summer's warming rebirth.

IX.
Ho, ho, ho
We all see the snow.
Let us go for a walk
with the dog.
People feel the Christmas flow,
so all are sayin'
yo, yo, yo.
Children are playin' in the snow,
the parents are singing still the flow
Soon the winter is over
then the sun will shine.

X.
Ground of chaos is once again covered by pureness,
Sign of living has lost its traits,
In this utter whiteness.
Behold, the piercing wind that slices the peace in half,
Like the coldness that separated two passionate hearts from love.
The tranquility created by the snow.
Is it covering truth,
Or is it covering lies.

The Norwegians sent me a stack of exams to grade (by Monday). Half of them are in Norwegian.

Oh, Norwegians! Were You not listening when I said I cannot be trusted to objectively assess short essays in Norwegian? The more sophisticated their language, the less I understand them! These questions aren't about buying bus tickets!

I recently sent out an invitation to all our instructors and students for the annual holiday GALA, which is taking place tomorrow (check back here for no pics!). My favourite reply came from EH, who said, "Dzięki, podziwiam zapał, jednak z całą pewnością się nie pojawię z powodów wszelkich." Which, loosely translated, means, "Thanks, I admire the zeal, yet I most certainly won't attend, for all the reasons."