I skipped softball practice this morning because I've got quite a bit to do this weekend. The next few weeks will be very busy with some friends visiting from Seattle, then my Fulbright Conference in Berlin, and finally my trip to Turkey. The weather today was really nice though. It was quite warm outside (relatively speaking).
I got back yesterday from my trip to Marburg. It was a really fun trip, and I enjoyed hanging out with Carissa, Sarina, and other people as well. The carpool ride back to Berlin was pretty interesting too. There were three other folks, and we just spoke German the whole time. I don't think any of them really spoke English well, so it was cool to just chat in German. This trip to Marburg really helped me see how far my German has come since I started learning the language, even more so just in this past year.
In other news, my article on study abroad is now up on BetterGrads.org. Its posting was bumped by a few days to coincide with their new blog series on scholarships. It's much shorter than the original article, but I think it still gets my main point across. More recently, I've been working to increase Scholarship Junkies' web presence via Twitter, Facebook, and site/blog updates. It's no secret that if you want to be seen as an expert on a given subject, you've got to consistently weigh in on issues related to that subject. Hence, the latest blog articles and cross-linking opportunities.
The plan for Scholarship Junkies is to continue with blog articles on recent, relevant topics (working on the next one now). At the same time, once we launch the new site (hit some technological snags...thank goodness for my colleague, Michael, who oversees our tech stuff), we will be able to generate much more new content and repost relevant information. From my perspective, we're not even running at 50% of our full capacity yet, so there is tremendous potential for explosive growth.
Speaking of Scholarship Junkies, our business account got dinged $15 from Chase for not having their "required minimum balance" for a "free" business checking account. I knew they'd changed their policies recently for personal checking accounts (hence, why I closed my account), but I didn't know they were doing it for business accounts too. The customer service rep wrote to me that their Business Select Checking accounts rewards customers for keeping more balances; I wrote back that a system that "rewards" customers by not penalizing them is no reward system at all and that we would be taking our business elsewhere. Bottom line: don't bank with Chase unless you've got lots of money!
Finally, I'm very excited for the coming months. I will be busy with one of two things: one, interviewing students for my Fulbright project; or two, traveling somewhere in Europe. I've got a number of short trips planned (both for work and for fun) for Istanbul (Turkey), London (UK), Trondheim (Norway), Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Paris (France), and Athens (Greece). If I can, I'm going to try and go down to Switzerland after my Fulbright grant period is over, since I have about a week and a half after that before I have to return to Seattle. One goal for Switzerland: bungee jumping! :)
Anyway, we'll see what happens. Cheerio.
Sam
I got back yesterday from my trip to Marburg. It was a really fun trip, and I enjoyed hanging out with Carissa, Sarina, and other people as well. The carpool ride back to Berlin was pretty interesting too. There were three other folks, and we just spoke German the whole time. I don't think any of them really spoke English well, so it was cool to just chat in German. This trip to Marburg really helped me see how far my German has come since I started learning the language, even more so just in this past year.
In other news, my article on study abroad is now up on BetterGrads.org. Its posting was bumped by a few days to coincide with their new blog series on scholarships. It's much shorter than the original article, but I think it still gets my main point across. More recently, I've been working to increase Scholarship Junkies' web presence via Twitter, Facebook, and site/blog updates. It's no secret that if you want to be seen as an expert on a given subject, you've got to consistently weigh in on issues related to that subject. Hence, the latest blog articles and cross-linking opportunities.
The plan for Scholarship Junkies is to continue with blog articles on recent, relevant topics (working on the next one now). At the same time, once we launch the new site (hit some technological snags...thank goodness for my colleague, Michael, who oversees our tech stuff), we will be able to generate much more new content and repost relevant information. From my perspective, we're not even running at 50% of our full capacity yet, so there is tremendous potential for explosive growth.
Speaking of Scholarship Junkies, our business account got dinged $15 from Chase for not having their "required minimum balance" for a "free" business checking account. I knew they'd changed their policies recently for personal checking accounts (hence, why I closed my account), but I didn't know they were doing it for business accounts too. The customer service rep wrote to me that their Business Select Checking accounts rewards customers for keeping more balances; I wrote back that a system that "rewards" customers by not penalizing them is no reward system at all and that we would be taking our business elsewhere. Bottom line: don't bank with Chase unless you've got lots of money!
Finally, I'm very excited for the coming months. I will be busy with one of two things: one, interviewing students for my Fulbright project; or two, traveling somewhere in Europe. I've got a number of short trips planned (both for work and for fun) for Istanbul (Turkey), London (UK), Trondheim (Norway), Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Paris (France), and Athens (Greece). If I can, I'm going to try and go down to Switzerland after my Fulbright grant period is over, since I have about a week and a half after that before I have to return to Seattle. One goal for Switzerland: bungee jumping! :)
Anyway, we'll see what happens. Cheerio.
Sam
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