Back in Black

There's some more great news I haven't really had time to let people know about. I've been offered a job teaching physics and chemistry at a really good school (Raleigh people think Broughton, SF people think University), and I am very excited. They were already talking in the interview about adding German (and possibly English) to my load as things progressed, which I am also looking forward to taking a crack at. I do like to diversify. I was a little concerned about whether or not I could actually pull this off, but I sat in on the classes last week and helped students with their questions, and successfully explaining in Norwegian how the valence electrons in a covalently bound molecule determine the molecule's shape certainly helped build my confidence. I like my colleagues and the students, and I am really looking forward to starting next week. My only regret is that I didn't join the faculty soon enough. The school is part of a consortium of schools working on educational issues together, and the faculty is going to visit another consortium school in Nice at the end of the month to trade notes and talk shop. In the spring it was Milan. Unfortunately, though, the tickets are already bought and I'll be staying here this time. Of course, Milan and Nice can't hold a candle to Sacramento, where I attended my most recent teaching conferences, but I'll try to make the best of it.