Oh man, Hil, that's tough. Because it would be a total field trip. Like the vampire tours in New Orleans. Washington Passover Tour! Would it help if you printed out google maps directions?

Heh. We seem to have run into a cultural miscommunication. Wallybee's father wanted to have a serious talk with her this morning. He's concerned about the amount of beer she's been drinking lately. He noticed there were several bottles in the recycling bin lately.

After she stopped laughing, she explained to him the concept of 'ginger beer'. Later that day, she found an empty bottle on his desk, along with an English-Chinese dictionary. She's still laughing about it.

Ask the officemate. Consider it as an anthropological experiment, only with him as the expermintee.

omnis, love, I have no idea what to say. In your shoes, I'd just wait for a sign or something, telling me to move.

I'm hungry and want to have lunch, but it's hot and there's stupid haze outside which makes it hard to breath. But I've been hungry for 20 minutes now, so I think I'll suck it up and go the 10 minutes back and forth to get myself sushied (following brilliant officemate suggestion).

And now, in the English Isn't My Native Tongue corner:

I currently have *no* in-roads

I have no idea what that means.

I think he means that he doesn't currently have any connections that would make it possible to break into academia, so this position would at least give him that access if he decides to go that route. But I'm sure Omnis will explain at a more reasonable hour.

I thought that's what he meant. But I have no idea what "in-roads" means.

"in-roads" are metaphorical ways into something. Generally, one "makes inroads", which is more or less the same as making progress. "Through advertising, country music radio has made inroads into the Hispanic community" (Huh. The online dictionary gives it a negative flavor, which isn't really my understanding.)

Hil, on the 250 word thing, I'd bet they're looking for some "philosophy of teaching" stuff. This kid had this issues, and I helped in this way, which is indicative of my general collaborative/direct/pop-tart-based teaching style"

Shir, making "in-roads" into something is making the first path into it, like the first person to carve out a jungle path with a machete.

Thank you, DebetEsse and WindSparrow. We don't have this expression in Hebrew.

And, IOI'm5yearoldN: Best (real!) name in Ancient Rome? Sextus Titius.

I had to force myself not to giggle in class.

I had a very interesting dream guest starring an adorable buffista.

Hil, I second the recommendation for finding a job/interview coach. After a few months of rejections when Tom was laid off, he went to a coach and then got job offers for the next THREE interviews he did. It really helped him, because he is not good at interviewing (or talking to new people) at all.

I think one of the recruiters he worked with set him up with someone. It was a couple hundred bucks, but totally worth it.