Feeling fresh for a fifth Freshers' Week?

Technically, this is my fifth Freshers' week (it's my sixth year in tertiary education, but one of these was spent working in a high school in France, so I missed out on the revelry that year).

I'm feeling fairly fresh, in that late September/early October always signifies a new start for me, be it a new city, a new home, or a new course - this year, shock horror, only the last one is true, as I embark upon my PhD. As soon as the leaves take on a russet hue and the light jackets come out, I feel like something new is starting. I also have three new housemates, a new haircut, and a renewed vigour for York post-holiday to Germany and France.

However, it's a raggedy kind of start to a new year, seeing as there's quite a bit to mop up from the MA - I've spent today writing a summary of my dissertation to send out to all the parents and schools who were so wonderfully helpful with lending me their children, and I am now exceedingly motivated to turn my and Samir's dissertations into one entity, as our joint talk at the MancSalFiL is now officially on the program, and as such is officially just 33 days away. I've also had the pleasure of a little side work in doing some style editing for the journal Iberia, as a result of meeting the excellent Ángel at last month's LAGB conference.

As for the start of the PhD, it's currently enshrouded in a haze of unknownness. To be fair, term hasn't officially started yet, so I'm not exactly behind before I've started. But for the first time, I really don't know what I'm getting into - my days of taught tertiary education are now firmly behind me, and research is my future, but I don't know where to start with my (fairly vague) proposal, whether I do have any lectures or training sessions, or when I'll next interact with a colleague face to face.

I guess that, for the moment, I just need to focus on the projects I still have to do, and not worry too much about the PhD just yet. After all, I'll have three years to worry about it, starting at the welcome meeting on 10th October...