Just Say NO to Giant African Snails

On Thursday evening, after a wonderful week in France, I caught a plane home for break! The flight was delayed however, for two hours on the runway because the pilot was doing a routine inspection around the plane and accidently hit his head! A standby pilot then had to come in, which is the reason for the delay. But after that, the flight was fine. The plane wasn't full and the seat next to me was empty, which is a real gift! I was able to stretch out over the two seats and sleep for most of the flight.

When I landed in Philadelphia and went through customs they asked me where my home was. I really couldn't answer, and had to think for a minute about how to reply. "How do you define 'live'?" I asked him. "I have legal residency in the UK, a passport from the US, an old permanent address in Princeton Jct., a new one in Cranbury.... I don't know where I live!"

In response to my uncertainty, I was then sent through a gauntlet of additional security checks. (I guess they figure that someone who doesn't know where she lives must be a security threat to someone!) My particular favorite was the "agricultural" security wing, where the posters instruct you to NOT bring in any giant African snails- I made a mental note of that. I was asked if I had had any recent contact with cows or other livestock- (nope!)- and/or was carrying any raw or cooked meat- (yikes! I surely hope not!)

Once customs was assured that I was not a hoof and mouth disease carrying agent, I was set free into the US! Yay!

Forget Britney Spears, THIS is Chaotic

I am so excited for this weekend, because I am going to PARIS!

It will be so much fun to meet Lourdes and Paloma there. This week has been so insane, however, that I feel like I have barely had any time at all to get organized or plan. There has been major drama here with other students, I have a paper due on Friday, I am simultaneously juggling two different marketing efforts (one for a conference, one for a museum exhibit), I am planning a college-wide trip to Wales, and oh yeah, class.

All I have right now is a one-way ticket to Paris for Friday and a hotel reservation. I need to buy a French phrasebook and maybe a guidebook too?

Chaos. Utter chaos. But I will be going home in a week :D

Law Skool?

I wrote a paper a few weeks ago entitled, Heritage Legislation in Portable Cultural Property: Theoretical Background and Present Application in the People's Republic of China. I got my grade back for the paper today and I did well... REALLY well. My professor wrote, "this is one of the best discussions I have ever read of the legislative and legal complexities that a country can face in trying to protect its portable heritage". My grade was actually only one point lower than perfect.

The thing is, I also really enjoyed writing this paper. Analyzing foreign law is like trying to solve this cultural enigma, and once you get it it becomes all so clear. You know the rules and now you can play the game.

So now I am beginning to seriously wonder... should I think about law school? There are lots of debates about studying law in a PhD program versus studying law at law school. Right now I am opting for the former, mainly because I am very specific in the kind of law I want to study. But in order to be respected as knowledgable in the field, you need a JD after your name.

So yeah... food for thought... who knows what could come down the line (and yes, this is all part of my ingenious plan to never actually enter the real world- Sallie Mae catch me when you can!)