Week 105: New Year’s Resolutions

3rd year, PhD Diary

It’s a very nice feeling to open a fresh, new diary for 2019, and make a list of achievable tasks for the day while having a morning coffee.

On New Year’s Day, I mapped out what my next 12 months will look like. I put semester dates, thesis milestones, deadlines and details of conferences into my diary. I am hoping to submit my thesis in December (which I still think is feasible, and regardless, I aim to complete it). My another resolution is to stay healthy, spend more time outdoors in the fresh air, do more yoga at home and reduce my sugar intake. I start teaching again next week, so this year is going to be extremely intensive.

 

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Week 105 was ‘writing & cooking’

I’ve been writing case histories for my conversation analysis chapter. There are 12 more cases left to analyse, which I’ll work on over the next three months. I am still deciding how each case history should be presented in the chapter and I’m reading the same book (Communication in Medical Care edited by Heritage and Maynard) again and again.

I’ve also enjoyed cooking. A homemade Japanese meal is real comfort food. It typically includes a bowl of rice, miso soup, salad, omelette, and grilled fish or sashimi. I made miso soup and omelette and added tiny dried shrimps on top of the rice.

 

Thursday dinner: Japanese style meal

 

Friday dinner: Bacon and spinach pasta bake

 

Very small tips to make your table Japanese

Two essential items for a traditional Japanese table setting are wooden Japanese chopsticks and chopstick rests. To make your table look Japanese, place these two items in front of a dish. The chopsticks are placed parallel to the table’s edge with the points towards the left.

Traditionally, the bowl of rice is placed on the left-hand side, and any liquid (like the miso soup) goes on the right. This layout is the same for tea; traditionally, the desserts are placed on the left and liquid (green tea) is on the right. But, like a western setting, this is based on the assumption that the individual is right-handed. The table setting now can vary! 🙂

 

 

 

My achievements in Week 105

  • Started working on my conversation analysis chapter by adding five (out of 18) case analyses.

Goals for Week 106

  • Submit my working draft to my supervisors.
  • Make transcripts of two more cases.
  • Prepare for teaching.