Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Making Friends for Afar

Because Mr. JP live 45 minutes away from our respective universities, it has been very difficult to cultivate friendships with colleagues. No one wants to drive 45+ minutes one way to come have dinner or watch a movie. And we don't want to drive that far either to hang out with them - especially because everything seems to conflict with Sparky's naptime. Needless to say, the last two years here have been a little lonely. No family is nearby, and our friendships with colleagues are not deep. (On top of that there are practically zero women in my School so I'm especially isolated). Moving away from all of this makes me realize that there are not very many people to say goodbye to. I wonder how we would manage life had we stayed.

At our new university, we'll be sickeningly close to our colleagues - maybe even living on the same street! I get to work with and live near my close friend from graduate school. The young faculty seem very sociable, and I thrive when I can hang out with people every weekend. The new U. has many women faculty my age. I am looking forward to making new friendships, and I can't wait to move!

2 comments:

~profgrrrrl~ said...

Having just solved my own 2-body problem, complete with baby and long commute from my university, I found myself just nodding and nodding in agreement. It feels like a social debut, doesn't it?

Congratulations!

Karina said...

It sounds like it will be wonderful to have so many people nearby to hang out with. Congratulations on the big move!