Trip Summary

The bottom line is still unknown and the jury are deliberating on it. However, the trip was an important one, and most of the goals I set for myself were met. First, I met many important people, whose decisions will govern our lives in the near future. I may add that I think that I left good first impressions on most of my new acquaintances. My seminar went very well, despite not preparing for it as much as I had wanted to. I made some tours around campus and in Hyde Park area and decided that Hyde Park is definitely a much nicer area to live in. My only frustration comes from the fact that, still, I have no concrete way of assuring our visas applications and our income. I received an offer to become an instructor, instead of a student. In some constellation this can help us get tuition remission and better salary. We made great progress, no doubt, but until I see it finally taking shape I will still have my doubts.

Tourisiness Trip

When you arrive at a new country the immigration officer usually asks you "business or pleasure?". I don't know what to answer. Sure, most of my time on this trip to the US is in NYC for pleasure; however, the main reason for this trip is to see Cincinnati, the university and check opportunities for a place to rent. That's pure business. I even deliver a seminar in the university. So, I'm on a Touriseness trip!

Accepted to UC

Yesterday I received an e-mail from the University of Cincinnati to study towards a Ph.D. with full scholarship and a yearly stipend. The hard work paid off.

New Blog

I have decided to launch a new blog, called to "News View". That blog will summarize my views about puzzling world news. I hope you enjoy that.

GRE results

It's over!
And it went very very well. I got 800 on the quantitative and 640 on the verbal.
People are usually awed by the 800, as it is the perfect score, but I think that the 640 is much more impressive. 800 in quantitative is the 94th percentile, which is nice, but the 6 percent that receive 800 prove how easy the quantitative section is. However, 640 is the 91st percentile, which includes all the native speakers of English taking the test. For a non-native speaker, who has never lived in a country whose language is English, like me, that's like being in the 99th percentile.
I'm very very pleased.

Now the focus shifts to the following:
1) Helping D move to my place.
2) Getting back in shape.
3) Getting accepted with all the financial aid we need.
4) Meeting all the friends and family whom I have neglected in the past 3 months.

Good luck to us. :-)

GRE time

By this time tomorrow I will have finished my GRE test and I will have known the score.
I have never in my life studied so hard for a standardized test. I have taken a preparation course, studied hundreds (literally, hundreds) of words in the vocabulary, and taken numerous tests. In recent tests my quantitative score is wavering between 750-800, mostly near the higher part of the scale, while my verbal score is not so predictable. Usually, the verbal score is around 600, but one of the tests I took yesterday scored 470. That's due to the adaptive nature of the GRE and the weight it gives to the first question(s). I hope that tomorrow I'll be around the 600.

After the test all the energies shall be focused on Dana's move to my place and on our later move to (hopefully) the USA. The flat requires refurbishment, at least replacing the air conditioning and fixing the toilets. Then, we need to see how much, exactly, are we going to receive if we move to Cincinnati. That requires a talk with the prospective professor, K.

A writer is hidden in me?

Today I received one compliment, which I have never thought relevant to me. The verbal instructor in my GRE course told another student to take my GRE essays as a model of good writing. I have never in my life been praised for the things I write, especially essays. During high-school my best ever achievement was scoring 85 in one essay, and the teacher asked me if my girl friend at that time helped me. It is a long gone dream to become a writer in a journal (and I don't mean a scientific one) or an author of books. I just never thought I had it in me. Well, do I? Probably not, as GRE essays are far more technical than artistic. Nonetheless, this is a really nice compliment. GRE is salubrious, and if you don't know what that word means, you are not ready for your GRE.