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Hello all!
I’m so excited to tell you all about the wonderful time Ian and I had visiting my new school’s campus last week. Our one year anniversary was Tuesday, and that night after a lovely day together (a year already? and what a year it’s been!), we left LA on a redeye for Newark. We were there for about four days, and it was… an incredible experience. Unforgettable, really. We met with department faculty, staff, and current graduate students who could not have been more friendly, fun, hospitable, and informative if they tried, and (ahh!) we met my POI (the professor I’ll be working with). The meeting with my POI and one of his PhD students was so much fun! I can’t wait to work with these fine people for the next several years!
In addition to meeting current faculty and students, we also went apartment hunting. We accomplished our hunting in just a few hours, many thanks to the last minute car we rented and to finding basically the paradise of apartments at the end of what was several otherwise discouraging hours of looking. The apartment complex is lovely and just a short walk from White Clay Creek (pictures below!), Newark’s Main Street which is the social hub of the city, and Old College, where the art history department and my classes are housed. There’s also a university shuttle that stops right at the complex, which will be a godsend in the winter (and sleepy mornings). They told us that they’re considering building a dog park. This was surprising because… what apartment complex builds dog parks? We’ve always wanted a puppy but never considered getting one in our current living situation… but the apartment complex we found is lush and green and pet friendly and I can think of all these great places our little puppy would love running around and playing. So, we might end up adopting a puppy sometime in our tenure here. (I know this is sort of irrelevant but the thought of a cute little puppy running around the greenery of our apartment complex makes me really happy 
) Unfortunately, we weren’t able to leave with a signed lease or a deposit down (which we were hoping to), but they promised to follow up with us when a unit becomes available in our timeframe — and they’ve already been in touch twice! Very reassuring.
One of our nights there, we attended a student production of the Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s version). It was phenomenal! (Albeit with a soundman who liked some people’s microphones more than others 
) We also got to try a bunch of local coffee shops (I’ve now picked out two that I know I’ll be frequenting — Brew HaHa! and Brewed Awakenings), restaurants, and went to a restaurant that makes its own gelato. I bought my obligatory University sweatshirt, a tshirt, and ended up getting some PJs too! Ian also got a nice tshirt, but most of their men’s clothes were royal blue and bright.
I spent the entire trip thinking that the UDel Blue Hen was actually the Road Runner from Looney Tunes. I can’t shake it. The Blue Hen looks just like him to me. It’s endearing but I admit that I burst out laughing almost everytime I saw it. Meep meep.
Newark is really small (a population of 30,000 when school is in session). It has one movie theater that has three screens. Tickets are about $6 which is a welcome change from LA’s $10+ tickets. The nearest Target and Best Buy are a 20 minute drive away, housed in the famous Christiana Mall that serves 3 or 4 neighboring states. The Maryland border is 2 miles away. New York, Baltimore, DC, and Philadelpia are all relatively short drives away (30 minutes to two hours), however, if we don’t feel like driving — there is an Amtrak train station on campus that we can take to any of those cities! I don’t think we’ll ever be bored. We rented a car last-minute on our first day in Newark — mostly so we could sleep in it! We were so tired, and we spent the hours between 6 to 10am in the bookstore and the only coffeeshop we could find that was open (our friendly airport shuttle driver drove us most of the way to Main street in the morning when he saw we were walking down the road from our hotel… This was a godsend because it’s a pretty long walk!). We got the last car that Hertz had! And it turns out that the car was extremely useful! Ian got to see how traffic behaves in Newark. There are a lot of one way streets and several hills and freeway onramps that surprise you if you don’t turn at the right moment. Traffic will be a lot better than Los Angeles though (that’s an understatement). Parking was 25-cents per 12 minutes, so we’ll have to get used to that. Luckily, we should be okay walking to the town center in the non-snowy months.
Unbeknownst to us, we visited UDel during “Decision Days,” the decision weekend for undergraduates, and thus we constantly ran into/walked along with tours full of bright-eyed freshmen and impressed parents. It was a somewhat poignant reminder that I’m separated from this phase of life now and that over the next 2 (or several, if I’m lucky enough to get into the PhD program), I’ll be learning how to teach these “youngins.” One exciting moment (as if all moments on this trip weren’t exciting for my very easily excited self) was when someone told me that as a TA, I’d probably be explaining to undergrads why they got something wrong on their test, and my mind did a mental “Success Kid” meme. How cool is that? I love explaining art history to people, and so to actually be in a position where I can explain it to undergraduates for the betterment of their (grades, personal selves, knowledge, etc.) is something that I’m really looking forward to doing. I’ve heard that TAing for my department is excellent preparation for when one moves on into academic teaching positions. The undergraduates I’ve encountered seemed to be consistently and genuinely excited about and involved with their university, but I think that my level of excitement to be here for graduate student exceeds all of their enthusiasm combined! (Yes, I am the superwoman of being excited about Delaware!! I can’t help it! Sorry!)
Delaware is basically heaven. I’m thrilled about the program and my fellow students. I hope that I can keep up with them — they’re all incredibly smart, successful, well respected young scholars and I admit that it’s a little bit intimidating to be surrounded by such prestigious students! But hearing of all their successes (mostly via the department’s newsletter), moreso than being intimidating, had me beaming with pride that I’ll soon be part of such a stellar department, and under the guidance of a faculty that seems to genuinely care about their students’ academic successes and growth. I haven’t even begun, and already my heart is tethered to this place. I can’t imagine going anywhere else for my MA, or for my PhD, and I’m hoping that the department and I will have a mutual excitement about each other so I don’t have to leave in two years! Seriously. After this incredible week, there is no other program for me. No other program that I’d rather study at. Not Yale, not Virginia, not Maryland, not Columbia. This is it. I know that over the next two years I’ll grow exponentially as a scholar and I can’t imagine not doing my PhD here with this POI. I know I’m jumping the gun a little already thinking about my PhD when I haven’t completed the MA yet, but — I applied to the PhD program in the first place, anyway. I knew from the start that I could see myself being here for five years, and I now I know it like the back of my hand. I can’t wait to start learning, researching, writing, and forging new relationships in the Fall!
Although parts of our trip were stressful — like getting to our hotel at 6am and not being able to check in until 2pm (a full work day practically), and apartment hunting — it was mostly exciting because we got to experience this new, quaint little college town! It was absolutely gorgeous and I personally think it was pretty romantic considering it was our anniversary week, although I’m sure there are more romantic places than the University of Delaware. (Then again, the University hosts two annual contests each year for: current student lovebirds who are enrolled at UDel, and another contest for alumni lovebirds.) We got to relax, walk around, explore, see art, and one of the channels was doing a marathon of “The First 48,” a crime show that we enjoy. We met lots of local folks, too, and it isn’t uncommon for some people to live across the border in Maryland or commute to Newark from Pennsylvania — and everyone we met was very nice! Overall, it was a wonderful experience and I think we both had a great time!
Here’s a few pictures from our trip!
Old College @ the University of Delaware. Old College is the oldest building on campus. This is where the art history department is housed. Surprisingly, even with all the tours going on, no one was ever in front of this building so we consistently got the best shots!
Inside Old College.
Old College also has an impressive art gallery.
This is White Clay Creek, a short walk from our (hopefully) new home! They have a trout stream that you need a license to fish, but there is also a good body of water deeper in the creek for fly fishing if memory serves me correctly.
Us at White Clay Creek!
And this is one of our wedding photos, because really the best part of last week was that I’ve been married to an amazing man for a year already! Best year of my life. Here’s to many, many, many more!!