Got My Paper and I Was Free...

From an email from student services at the University of Washington:

Congratulations Josie D. Randles, your request to graduate with a Master of Science (Speech & Hearing Sciences) has been reviewed by the Graduate School and is approved.

Ok, so I guess now it's *officially* official. :) And apparently a diploma will show up in about 4 months, so I'll have that to look forward to on my return.

A little note about the title of this post... I know it's familiar to at least a few of you. It's from the Indigo Girls song, Closer to Fine. I was in the 9th grade the first time I heard it, and it became an instant favorite. I ordered the cassette tape as a free choice in one of those "selection of the month" music clubs along with Sinead O'Connor's "I Do Not Want What I Have Not Got", Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians "Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars", and U2's "The Joshua Tree". I'm sure there were others, but they escape me now (although I'd put good money on Wilson Phillips' debut album being among them). I do remember that I wore out each and every one of those cassettes, and when I think back, it is the songs from these albums that provide the background to most of my early teenage angst. :)

I've been thinking a lot about music lately, and the associations I have with particular songs or artists and times in my life. I wonder why certain songs kind of "stick"? The Indigo Girls and U2 seem as relevant to me now as a "grown-up" as they did when I was 14 years old, while Sinead's Nothing Compares 2 U and Wilson Phillips' Hold On just seem maudlin & cheesy, though still enjoyable in a guilty pleasure kind of way. I suppose the easy assumption there is that some music is just better than others...

I also wonder, do all these songs all take me back to high school simply by virtue of my having listened to them so often, or is it something more than that? And so, which songs will I associate with *this* time in my life? With this trip? And now I'm curious... when you think back to the "soundtrack" of your life, what sticks out? Come on, play along. Entertain me. Your choice can be from anytime in your life; you don't have to pick the teenage angsty stuff. Leave a comment or send me an email.

Oh, and if you're not familiar with this little Indigo Girls song, track it down and check it out, and as my sister Cory would say, "listen to the words". :)

Goin' places that I've never been...

Map of the World
Originally uploaded by Josie R

Caryn had the brilliant idea of putting out a map during my going away party so that everyone could sign it with their well-wishes.

It's a curious mix of melancholy and anticipation I'm feeling these days. I know this trip is going to be amazing, but my oh my, am I going to miss you guys...

Here's a very silly poem Tobias wrote and performed in my honor:

As Josie now begins her trip
We say "goodbye"... with trembling lip.

She'll board a plane.
She'll board a bus.
She'll board a boat.
She'll think of us.

She'll see the world.
Wonders abound.
She'll fly the sky.
She'll trudge the ground.

She'll cross the ocean!
She'll storm the sea!
She'll find a rest-stop
(where she'll stop to pee).

She'll brave the mountains.
She'll cross the gorge.
She'll meet many people.
Dear friendships she'll forge.

She'll learn their words.
She'll eat their bread.
She'll visit their houses.
She'll learn what's said
in houses & bars & temples & churches
in cafes & bus stops & dives & lurches

Of Americans
both false & true.
What a wonderful gift they're giving to you.
To see through their eyes of the world we live.
There can really be no better gift to give.

So Josie for safety
as you travel far lands
with American passport held in your hand...
I ask you to practice these few lines with me
With your hand on your heart...
...on the count of three:

"Oh Canada, my home & native land...."

Thank you, Tobias. :) And thank you to the rest of you for joining me. Especially those of you who traveled from far away places of your own!

From Russia, with love...

Saint Basil's Cathedral (2006-01-055)
Originally uploaded by Argenberg

I picked up my passport from the Russian consulate today. I'm all set to enter Russia in late October. The picture in this post is of St. Basil's Cathedral which is in Red Square in Moscow. It looks like this picture was uploaded last October, and it looks like I'm going to be in for some chilly weather. I suppose I'll have the vodka to keep me warm.

Funny story from the Russian consulate.... when I dropped off my passport last week, I was greeted by some seemingly unfriendly Russian faces. (We Americans are I know spoiled by the cheerful, albeit insincere, greetings that are thrown about by customer service representatives around the country...). After being shouted at by the man behind the counter "You vill gif me everysing!", I was feeling something less than comfortable about leaving my passport behind with no receipt or anything.

The man begins rifling through my paperwork (passport, photo, visa application, letter of support from a Russian travel agency) and then suddenly looks up to ask, "Ver else you say dis 'dup' for double-u?". I was momentarily taken back, having no idea what he might be talking about. I paused and stared blankly back at him, looking I'm sure every bit an idiot. Then suddenly it occurs to me he must be referring to the "dub" in University of Washington or "U-Dub" as we Seattlites refer to it. UW being listed on my visa application in several places. So I ask him if that's what he's referring to. "Yes, yes", he replies, "in vat ozer states you say dis?" I'm still a little confused. "Are you asking me if they say 'dub' in say Wisconsin?" I ask. "Yes, yes!" he more enthusiastically responds. "Hmm... I'm not really sure..." I start, "I don't know if that's something everyone in the US says or if that's just part of the Seattle vernacular." (Vernacular of course being a word that every person who speaks English as a second language is I'm sure familiar with.... ). He looks at me and shrugs, and then says, "You also say dis... 'v-dup' for folksvagen". I smile at this. "You're right... we do say that." This apparently strikes him as quite funny, despite having been totally unamused by me up to this point, and he laughs loud and heartily. "Ok, you come back next Friday. Same time."

I did go back, same time, same place. He wasn't there, so I didn't get to tell him that a little research has revealed that it seems "U-Dub" is used in Washington & Wyoming, but it doesn't seem to be the norm in Wisconsin. Hmmm... curious.

School's out... forever?

So I have officially completed graduate school. As of 5pm today, my last class is complete, all reports are turned in, all clients have been seen, and I've met the requirements for that master of science. Wowza. It does feel slightly anticlimactic, I will admit, but there's a distinct sense of accomplishment creeping up on me. I certainly took my time getting here, and I know some of you had your doubts along the way, but looks like I made it.

A huge thank you goes out to all of you who supported me along the way. You know who you are, and you know I couldn't have done this without you. And a big congratulations to my fellow classmates, 21 "master clinicians" all of whom I know will accomplish great things.

So what's next? Who knows?? I'll probably come back from this trip and complete my clinical fellowship year at a local hospital, and maybe I'll even decide to go back for that PhD.... but right now, beyond gallavanting around the world for several months, I really don't have much of a plan. That feels a little strange, but I think it's OK with me.

Some things that are good for you hurt a bit, it's true...

syringe
Originally uploaded by ad-vantage

I think this is it as far as the big scary shots go. Several hundred dollars and one very sore arm later, I've been immunized against Polio, Meningitis, and Yellow Fever. By the by, who knew you could still get Polio?? I've also got a 4 day cycle of live Typhoid vaccine hanging out in my refrigerator, and I picked up a prescription for several hundred malaria pills and a couple of other antibiotics to combat various travel illnesses, during the description of which I was frankly tempted to cover my ears and sing "la, la, la, I can't hear you". I did decide to forgo the $700 series of rabies vaccinations, so please keep your fingers crossed that I don't get bit by a monkey at any point on this trip.