Packed & Almost Ready

I expect by Monday of next week, I'll be marching with the penguins on the Falkland Islands, then New Georgia Island and ultimately Antarctica. I leave tomorrow. But first I have to finish packing and go on an interview this afternoon. The interview is in Philly.

I also had an face-to-face interview on Tuesday, and a phone interview yesterday, with a potential face-to-face interview when I return. The job search is definitely progressing. Taking a five year "sabbatical" does NOT seem to be an issue. My work experience and especially my Ph.D. seem to be my marketable skills. There seems to be a demand for risk analyst in this economic environment. I have to thank my advisor at Cornell for that. He did me well by steering my towards my dissertation topic - credit risk modeling. It's the essence of Basel II - retail credits.

Nevertheless, while all is positive on the job front, the three weeks in Antarctica is putting a little bit of a damper on the search. But then again it's my last trip for a while. My seventh continent. Beside the hiring process is a slow, lengthy process anyway. And often I'm not the only candidate, however it would be nice to be available for a second interview. But then again, in one case, I applied for the position back in November and they are just getting around to contacting me now. Oh well.

For the next three weeks, I can look forward to hiking and kayaking amongst the wildlife near Antarctica. I can't wait. Another huge anticipation is meeting the characters on the ship. And believe me there are ALWAYS characters. In the past five years, during my travels I'm met a lot of people from all walks of life. And I've learned a lot about the world and myself from these people. It's definitely one of the perks of traveling.

As for future posts from Antarctica, I'll probably not post again until I return. There is internet access on the ship but it cost $3 per minute!! I probably only use it to access email.

So until I return in 3 weeks…. cheers!!!