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Archaeology, Running, Weigh In

What can I say, the last 2 weeks have been incredible. The island I worked on was spectacularly gorgeous and the work was very very interesting.

This is the sun setting over the water which is a rare sight on the eastern coast of Australia…

Stunning isn’t it?

Despite drinking beer EVERY DAY, doing absolutely no exercise and eating like there was no tomorrow I only gained 1kg. I thought it was going to be much much worse than that! I had planned an extensive running schedule that was thwarted when I realised it was dark until we got up at 6 and we worked pretty late everyday. Oh well, I will smash out some ks tomorrow.

Am still very tired, so will keep this short and sweet. Can’t wait to read all about everybody’s adventures since I have been away 🙂

Weigh In, Fartlek and a Tropical Island….

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Archaeology, Running, Weigh In

Hmmmmmm. I weighed in this morning. Up! by 300grams… 😦

I know why. I ate like I was on a holiday last week. Lots of rice, lots of beer and very weird or non existent lunches. Now, I know that rice and beer are not the enemy. But, for me, these things really add up. Carbs generally make me feel a bit blah. So eating a ton of them this week has proved to be my nemesis. Back to basics for me. With spring going gangbusters, its going to be much easier to eat more salads and fruits, strawberries are unbelievably cheap hear at the moment! YUM!

I ran my fartlek (!) session this morning, down at the park instead of on my road. It was a MUCH better session, I really had to push myself to get the last ones done. I covered 3.54km in 33 mins (I skipped the last bit of my cool down as I was stuffed.) These sessions are TOUGH! But I love it! I felt like I was doing something constructive in reaching my speed goal. I did have to trash talk myself a bit during the last few intervals  – I can’t repeat here what I said as it was quite nasty! But it worked in getting the job done!

Tough working conditions, I know!

Finally, I have to say ‘see ya soon’ as tomorrow I leave to a tropical island for work. I am very excited, its a gorgeous island! It sounds very exotic – to be doing archaeology in a place like that…. I will let you know how it was when I get back.  I can predict this though, I’ll probably have a weird tan when I get back, and the clothes I will be wearing are atrocious! I had to buy coral reef booties which are the UGLIEST shoes on earth. Meh!

Take care out there and stay happy

RunninBear

 

 

 

Why I Love Archaeology

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Archaeology, British Museum, Doctor of Philosophy

When I was living in Japan, I got to see some truly amazing exhibitions. Its common for a floor or space within large shopping complexes to be given over as a semi public space, and these spaces often show exhibitions of art and antiquities. During my 18 months there, I saw paintings from Monet, antiquities from Egypt and Ancient Greece, Samurai exhibitions and many other delights for the eyes.

I was transitioning in my career path. I had literally fled my former life and was searching for a new career. In the meantime I was teaching English to Japanese people and weighing things up in my mind……

During one of my solo visits to an exhibition, it dawned on me. These things that delighted me so much did not just turn up in these places, someone had to organise them. Who was that someone? Could I be that someone? My imagination immediately took hold of me and I envisaged myself working at the British Museum, well paid and immaculately dressed, organising wondrous items and their travels around the world. THIS IS IT! I thought. Im going to be a museum curator…..

So upon my return to Oz, I enrolled in a preparatory course held at our tertiary counterpart to university, TAFE. This was because, although I knew I could handle uni, I was wary of going in without a little practice so to speak. I did very well at this course and so during the last semester of prep, I enrolled in uni as an external student for a semester to get a feel of what it was like. I did a course that had two components, one was museums and the other was archaeology.

Long story short, I HATED THE MUSEUM PART!! Like hated it. It seemed so so so so so boring and the complete opposite of my highly paid, well dressed, imaginary job. BUT I LOVED LOVED LOVED THE ARCHAEOLOGY! It was so exciting! I had always been a bit of a geek about Ancient History, I loved it at high school and would make time to watch documentaries on tv whenever I could. I had a very solid interest in Egypt, like so many people, but had never entertained that my love of history could be a career. And here it was, being handed out to me. A career in archaeology……. I was hooked. And I have never looked back.

I have been studying archaeology now for almost 9 years. I have a bit of writing to finish up my PhD and then Im done. With studying formally that is 🙂 I have been gainfully employed as an archaeologist for about 5 of those years. Its never been boring for me and I look forward to each job I do, as its a little bit more of the human story that I get to interact with.

The biggest kick I get out of being an archaeologist is the tangible connection that we can experience with the past. In my research, I have held in my very own hand objects over 2 million years old! Thats freaky deaky old my dear reader! Its not even made by us (Anatomically Modern Humans are a bit younger than that). But we can observe so much from these objects. Its like a virtual time machine

It continually blows my mind that we, as modern humans, can interact with objects made by people like or a little bit like us, but who lived a life so dramatically different to the one we live today. Archaeology has provided me with an intellectual love affair with the past that generates so much happiness in my life. I love interacting with the objects of the past, talking to other archeologists about the past and thinking (and daydreaming) about the past. Its such a massive contrast to the iPhones, twitter, Facebook, uni, tv, movies, restaurants, cars, houses and other things that crowd our lives today.

Archaeology is the best career choice I could have made, although its definitely not as well dressed as my imaginary job.  I wear a lot of ugly clothing, and often look terrible at work as its always outdoors and here in Australia, usually hot. But fashion aside, it sustains me in a way that no other job has. And best of all, all my mates are archaeologists as well. Its like a tribe, we all get it. And we can get rowdy, very rowdy indeed, its true………

So thats why I Love Archaeology!

If anyone else out there is an archaeologist, I would love to hear how you got into it and what you love about it……. Don’t be shy!

Busy People Get More Done

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academic papers, Life, PhD

During my undergrad, I worked full time and studied full time. My motto was BUSY PEOPLE GET MORE DONE! I managed to fit in a 45 hour work week, 4 subjects a semester, where I attended all lectures, tutorials and got all my assignments done on time and with good grades, and I sustained a pretty awesome social life.

Life is getting very busy for me at the moment, and I was reflecting on my old motto last night. I need to get more done. I like being busy. Its time to dust off those cobwebs and get cranking. I have a few ideas for academic papers swirling around in my head that with a little effort could up my publications. I also have to smash out some more words on the thesis. I have neglected it a bit recently. No more excuses. ITS ON!

Let me know how you juggle all the facets of your life……..

Lets get acquainted….

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healthy-living

Hello out there,

This is my first ever blog.

By venturing online, I am creating a venue where I can voice my ambitions and make them accountable. Im interested in a lot of things, many are works in progress.  My two priorities at the moment are finishing my PhD and concentrating on wellness and fitness. I want to use this space to share my plans, track my progress and make some friends along the way.

So I have set some goals:

• Have a full first draft of my PhD by the end of September 2012
• Reach my goal weight of 65kg by 31 Dec 2012.
• Run 5km by end of October.

I have a plan to achieve all of this.

The Phd is, well, moving slowly.  I need to write a lot of it, but I feel like I am a bit stuck. It seems ironic to use a blog to help me write – shouldn’t I be just be writing my thesis?? Well, yes but I think this is a good forum to vent my frustrations with the thesis on someone other than my husband who is also finishing his PhD. Others out there who have done or are doing a PhD or any kind of study really, will know what I mean.  I think that by engaging in some ‘free’ ‘unstructured’ writing, I will be calmer when I am thrashing out some of the bigger issues relating to my research.  We will see……

In regards to fitness, I am using some apps on my phone to help with learning how to run and not collapse in a sweaty heaving mess after a few minutes.  Im into week 4 of a an eight week running program after a few weeks off due to nasty shin splints and I seem to be coping! I will be tracking my runs here and sharing the gory details, let me assure you its no easy task at the moment.  It can only get better!

And I’m devoting myself to healthy sensible eating.  Im not going to lie, I love a beer just as much as the next gal and chocolate is frankly the best thing on the planet.  Im just going to be moderate. I’ve got 19kg to lose to get to my goal.  This blog will be a place to record my body transformation.

There is the beginnings of a veggie garden outside, we rent our place so we can’t dig holes (which is one of my favourite pastimes being an archaeologist!). There will be pics of my “babies” (also known as vegetables) as they grow and get turned into dinner. There may also be pics of said dinner.

As I mentioned, Im an archaeologist with a passion for stone artefacts.  So you might see rocks here from time to time.  I can get a little over excited about them, you have been warned!

I plan to use this blog like a diary, where I will record all my trials and tribulations and of course my successes. I have a backlog of crazy stories and adventures to share. Most importantly, I’m locking in those dates and will be working hard to get there.

This is my running reminder…….