The Bachelorette
Back in 2014, around the time that I moved to Norway and started this blog, I joked with a close friend that I was The Bachelorette. I told her in jest that instead of men, I was courting countries to see which one I would end up with. She laughingly agreed.
Germany is an old family friend. His parents know my parents, and we have a long history together. He's an introvert and a homebody - the exact opposite of my extroverted personality - but somehow, we work together. He complements me. I know him so very well, and I trust him. Germany is strong, warm, and comforting.
In contrast, Norway is young and hip. He's in incredible shape, and he loves being outdoors. He came into my life at a time when I expected him the least but needed him the most. We had a whirlwind romance that ended too soon, but he will always have a place in my heart.
New Zealand is Norway's younger half-brother. I've gone out with him a few times, and I find him fascinating. He's outdoorsy and attractive, but he's also exotic and cool. He always smells fresh, even after a long hike. I really wish I could know him better.
Each time I see Svalbard, I fear it will be my last. He is rugged and wild and adventurous. He plans carefully and fears nothing. He's taught me to take control, to trust my skills, and to take calculated risks. He's shown me that anything is possible with the right gear, and frankly, I like the person I've become because of him.
Brazil is the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. He doesn't come from money, and he's worked for everything he has. His personality is outgoing and colorful, but he can turn on the dark, swarthy charm at the drop of a hat. He's an incredible dancer, and even in public, he always holds me close.
When I first met him, China would barely speak to me. He didn't trust himself in my presence. Eventually, we discovered a mutual love of biodiversity and had a much easier time speaking the language of Ecology than either of our native tongues. He introduced me to an array of exotic foods, and we bonded over culinary curiosities. I get him now.
Antarctica is a rough-and-tumble guy. He served in the military for years and has the scars - both physical and mental - to show for it. He has a thick beard, calloused hands, and a work-hard-play-hard philosophy. More than anything else, he has a deep appreciation for the power of the natural world and seeks to harness it, not conquer it, and leave the world improved in his wake.
Then there's the United States*, who is difficult to personify as a unit. He is a leather-skinned, tattooed Oregonian with a taste for craft beer. He is a truck-driving, deer-hunting football fan in Michigan. He is a well-dressed, type-A Bostonian with a beach house. He is a lobster fisherman and a fifth-generation farm boy and a lawyer. He is mountains and rivers and cornfields. He is traffic jams and soccer games and the last gas station for 200 miles. He is a multi-dimensional conglomerate, and I never truly understood him until I had left him.
I have spent the last 10 years of my life traveling the world in search of my perfect match, the one place where I could settle and build a life. I have had incredible adventures and made incredible friends. I have fallen in love with multiple locations, and I have felt my heart stretch so thin across the globe that I thought it would snap.
And I have decided.
I have chosen my place to settle down, and it is Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Yesterday, I officially accepted a tenure-track position at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Starting in 2019, I will be an Assistant Scientist in the Biology Department. I will have my own lab, my own students, and the freedom to research whatever I find most important. I will be empowered to write my own grant proposals to fund my studies and publish papers describing my results. In short, this is my dream job.
In some ways, this decision is a homecoming, because I am laying down roots in the country of my birth. But I did not select this location because of its nationality; I chose it because Woods Hole is the place that matches me best. I love the WHOI way of doing science, with its shoot-for-the-moon hypotheses and boundary-pushing inventions. I love the collaborative, collegial atmosphere that pervades my institution. And even beyond that, I feel more at home in this small beach town than I ever have anywhere else. Woods Hole combines all the best elements of previous places I have lived and loved, and it is the place where I belong.
Still, staying in the United States has its benefits. The National Science Foundation is an incredible resource for research funding, and by working in the U.S., I will have access to our national resources - ships, ROVs, AUVs, and submersibles. Sure, my country is subject to the same budget cuts that plague researchers the world over, but the infrastructure available to American scientists is unmatched. After all, there's only one Alvin, and he lives in Massachusetts. We will become good friends.
My decision to settle on the Cape also means I remain metaphorically single and still free to see other countries at will. By joining the staff at WHOI, I have successfully avoided the teaching obligations that accompany traditional professorships. WHOI scientists can teach occasionally if they choose but are not tied to a semester-based schedule year after year. I will have no lectures to give and no exams to grade, so as long as I can find the funding, I'm free to travel the world and research as I please. It's like constantly being on sabbatical.
I'm very excited to take this next step in my life and my career. I count myself incredibly fortunate to have secured a position at a world-class institution, and on top of that, to continue living in a place that I love with the person that I love. I have found my long-term home.
* For the record, I am also marrying an American.
Germany is an old family friend. His parents know my parents, and we have a long history together. He's an introvert and a homebody - the exact opposite of my extroverted personality - but somehow, we work together. He complements me. I know him so very well, and I trust him. Germany is strong, warm, and comforting.
In contrast, Norway is young and hip. He's in incredible shape, and he loves being outdoors. He came into my life at a time when I expected him the least but needed him the most. We had a whirlwind romance that ended too soon, but he will always have a place in my heart.
New Zealand is Norway's younger half-brother. I've gone out with him a few times, and I find him fascinating. He's outdoorsy and attractive, but he's also exotic and cool. He always smells fresh, even after a long hike. I really wish I could know him better.
Each time I see Svalbard, I fear it will be my last. He is rugged and wild and adventurous. He plans carefully and fears nothing. He's taught me to take control, to trust my skills, and to take calculated risks. He's shown me that anything is possible with the right gear, and frankly, I like the person I've become because of him.
Brazil is the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. He doesn't come from money, and he's worked for everything he has. His personality is outgoing and colorful, but he can turn on the dark, swarthy charm at the drop of a hat. He's an incredible dancer, and even in public, he always holds me close.
When I first met him, China would barely speak to me. He didn't trust himself in my presence. Eventually, we discovered a mutual love of biodiversity and had a much easier time speaking the language of Ecology than either of our native tongues. He introduced me to an array of exotic foods, and we bonded over culinary curiosities. I get him now.
Antarctica is a rough-and-tumble guy. He served in the military for years and has the scars - both physical and mental - to show for it. He has a thick beard, calloused hands, and a work-hard-play-hard philosophy. More than anything else, he has a deep appreciation for the power of the natural world and seeks to harness it, not conquer it, and leave the world improved in his wake.
Then there's the United States*, who is difficult to personify as a unit. He is a leather-skinned, tattooed Oregonian with a taste for craft beer. He is a truck-driving, deer-hunting football fan in Michigan. He is a well-dressed, type-A Bostonian with a beach house. He is a lobster fisherman and a fifth-generation farm boy and a lawyer. He is mountains and rivers and cornfields. He is traffic jams and soccer games and the last gas station for 200 miles. He is a multi-dimensional conglomerate, and I never truly understood him until I had left him.
I have spent the last 10 years of my life traveling the world in search of my perfect match, the one place where I could settle and build a life. I have had incredible adventures and made incredible friends. I have fallen in love with multiple locations, and I have felt my heart stretch so thin across the globe that I thought it would snap.
And I have decided.
I have chosen my place to settle down, and it is Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Yesterday, I officially accepted a tenure-track position at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Starting in 2019, I will be an Assistant Scientist in the Biology Department. I will have my own lab, my own students, and the freedom to research whatever I find most important. I will be empowered to write my own grant proposals to fund my studies and publish papers describing my results. In short, this is my dream job.
In some ways, this decision is a homecoming, because I am laying down roots in the country of my birth. But I did not select this location because of its nationality; I chose it because Woods Hole is the place that matches me best. I love the WHOI way of doing science, with its shoot-for-the-moon hypotheses and boundary-pushing inventions. I love the collaborative, collegial atmosphere that pervades my institution. And even beyond that, I feel more at home in this small beach town than I ever have anywhere else. Woods Hole combines all the best elements of previous places I have lived and loved, and it is the place where I belong.
Still, staying in the United States has its benefits. The National Science Foundation is an incredible resource for research funding, and by working in the U.S., I will have access to our national resources - ships, ROVs, AUVs, and submersibles. Sure, my country is subject to the same budget cuts that plague researchers the world over, but the infrastructure available to American scientists is unmatched. After all, there's only one Alvin, and he lives in Massachusetts. We will become good friends.
My decision to settle on the Cape also means I remain metaphorically single and still free to see other countries at will. By joining the staff at WHOI, I have successfully avoided the teaching obligations that accompany traditional professorships. WHOI scientists can teach occasionally if they choose but are not tied to a semester-based schedule year after year. I will have no lectures to give and no exams to grade, so as long as I can find the funding, I'm free to travel the world and research as I please. It's like constantly being on sabbatical.
I'm very excited to take this next step in my life and my career. I count myself incredibly fortunate to have secured a position at a world-class institution, and on top of that, to continue living in a place that I love with the person that I love. I have found my long-term home.
* For the record, I am also marrying an American.
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