You Are Going Home?

Our department is interviewing new faculty candidates, again. I guess it means we are expanding.

As the tradition goes, everytime a candidate comes, the department will appoint 4 graduate students to have lunch with him/her.

I was picked for today's lunch.

During the eating and talking, the candidate asked us, among other things, what we were going to do this winter.

When it was my turn, I said:"I am going home."

He sounded surprised:"What?? You are going home???"

"Yeah."

"And your advisor agreed to let you go home? Who's your advisor?"

"Err...Dr. B."

"For how long?"

"Err...a little less than a month."

"Will your advisor still want you when you come back?"

I studied his eyes behind those frameless glasses, hoping to see any indication that he was just joking.

I saw none. He was serious.

The disdain in his eyes annoyed me.

Since when had going home become a sin?

"For my defence,"I tried to prove I wasn't a slacker,"I haven't been home for like 5 years."

"OK."

Well, somewhere, some day, some graduate student's PhD life will be very long and very hard.

Just not here, not in this department, I hope.