29th Birthday

A busy, busy day...

Morning:
1. Receive an acceptance message from the organizer of the 4th PhD Student In Development Economics Network Seminar at Namur University! The decision has been delayed due to a large number of applicants. My job market paper is still accepted as one of the six papers presented at the seminar. This is a good signal. Also this will be a very good opportunity to present my research to the audience outside LSE: what Tim strongly encouraged me to do.

2. Send a CV to Mark. Struggle on what to do with my contact detail during my stay in Tokyo late December (see below). Receiving a call in Japan with my UK vodafone handset costs 1.25 pound per minute. I put my Japanese pay-as-you-go mobile number in the end.

Afternoon:
1. Book a return flight to Japan. Strictly speaking, I don't need to go back. But why not relax a bit just before the climax of the job market process starts early January? All seats for Virgin Atlantic have already gone for my preferrable dates of departure. All Nippon Airways have got some seats on the aircraft flying to Tokyo on 18th December. I will be back in London on 26th December.

2. Collect job openings advertisements from the JOE website. 22 schools so far...

3. Talk to my supervisor. He read my job market paper thoroughly for the first time before this meeting, and he says, "With this paper, you can apply to anywhere you want." I don't believe my ears. He gives me a couple of suggestions to improve the introduction, which most people will only read. As he's away from London later next week, I need to revise it by next Wednesday. On the issue of the choice of fields of research and teaching, he tells me to write down a field that you want to teach as a secondary field. So applied econometrics is fine. Regarding the fourth reference letter, he says that a teaching reference from Oriana is a good idea given that East Asians have a bad reputation on teaching (which is sadly true...).

Evening:
1. At STICERD Welcome Reception (it's the beginning of a new academic year!), talk to Valentino, who got a PhD in economics and is now a lecturer at Department of Government. Ask him about what is like to get a job in a political science department. Get useful information on it.

2. Book Eurostar return ticket to Brussells for the Namur University conference (see above). Will leave on Thursday 26th, one day before the conference, because the earliest Eurostar train doesn't make it to the beginning of the conference. The conference organizer is very helpful, offering accommodation at some PhD student's place for two nights. Although it's in the middle of a job market process, why not do sightseeing a bit? As Eurostar on Saturday is all pricey, I book the earliest morning train on Sunday. Need to find an accommodation in Brussells on Saturday night.

3. Catch Oriana when she's leaving her office and ask for a teaching reference. She says yes. I will give her a copy of teaching evaluation from students that I got two years ago.