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#1 Dec 25 2011 at 4:18 PM Rating: Excellent
I finally received a copy of the letter confirming my employment as a slave research assistant in Karachi, Pakistan yesterday. It's just for 3-4 months, but that's what I can get, so no complaints, really.

The conditions of the contract are better than with most equivalent programmes in the West; the pay is quite high for Pakistani standards (and about twice as much as I'd need) and as I understand it, it's a government scholarship, so tax free, too!

With today showing again that Pakistan is a country that does have potential, I just need to wait till I can call the embassy to determine whether I need to go there or to the High Commission in the UK. I just hope I can attend some awesome events like this in the summer.

I'm really, really happy. I'm at a point in my life where I don't really have the qualifications to get academic jobs and this was the only one I've applied for so far (sort of the only one with a 3 month visa application period and also my first choice by far), but it helps to be well-connected and European, I guess. Smiley: smile

#2 Dec 25 2011 at 5:28 PM Rating: Good
Sounds like it's going to be quite the experience for you! Congratulations Kal!
#3 Dec 25 2011 at 5:37 PM Rating: Good
Plus, at some point in the last 3 days I got to the point where I can listen to whatever in Urdu and actually get the gist a lot of the time - watched most of that linked political rally live, and honestly it just felt like history is being written.
#4 Dec 26 2011 at 11:32 AM Rating: Good
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Congratulations Kali. Smiley: smile That's ******* awesome!
#5 Dec 27 2011 at 10:14 AM Rating: Good
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Congratulations!
#6 Dec 27 2011 at 3:24 PM Rating: Good
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Congratulations Kali, I'm quite jealous. I should start applying for these kinds of programmes for next year.
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#7 Dec 27 2011 at 6:25 PM Rating: Good
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How long til we hear about a young German woman who has gone missing in the Middle East?

I'm still not sure why you would choose that area for an internship when there are so many other, non-turmoiled, areas in the world.
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#8 Dec 28 2011 at 10:53 AM Rating: Excellent
TirithRR wrote:
How long til we hear about a young German woman who has gone missing in the Middle East?

I'm still not sure why you would choose that area for an internship when there are so many other, non-turmoiled, areas in the world.


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#9 Dec 29 2011 at 11:37 AM Rating: Good
Pakistanis aren't Arabs. There's Iran inbetween and that's the size of Europe!
(It's also not Middle East - South Asia is the word.)

Not that I don't <3 the idea of getting to see Dubai or Doha.

And honestly, they just e-mailed me again. I'm getting an above average wage for the area, free accommodation, work in the field I asked for (with no relevant modules at uni to back it up till after the fact) and I've got zero experience so far, apart from one 2 week internship. In Europe, I'd quite possibly only get an unpaid internship cleaning test tubes. I also don't have university lecturer friends in Europe who can set me up with an institute.

Plus, cost of living is so low that I can probably live off my Pakistani scholarship while saving up my European scholarship for a couple of months. That way, I can actually add $1500 or more to my savings account in 3 months (normally I save about $150 a month). While still getting to travel South Asia a bit.

I would apply for other internships in other countries, but the organisation I signed up for send out offers after my holiday starts and I'd rather work the whole time - and Pak visas take 3 months to go through. So I can either take this, or risk not getting anything for the summer and having all sorts of other disadvantages for a chance to maybe work in the west.
#10 Dec 31 2011 at 5:34 AM Rating: Good
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Kalivha wrote:
Not that I don't <3 the idea of getting to see Dubai or Doha.
I've been in Doha, wasn't all that impressed. Of course, I've only seen the Airport there and at stupid times late at night and early in the morning, but I've been there! (The lottery at the airport where you could win a brand new Bentley was kinda cool though.)


Edited, Dec 31st 2011 12:37pm by Aethien
#11 Dec 31 2011 at 3:11 PM Rating: Decent
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Congratulations :D Sounds like it's a major win for you!
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#12 Jan 01 2012 at 10:40 AM Rating: Good
His Excellency Aethien wrote:
I've been in Doha, wasn't all that impressed. Of course, I've only seen the Airport there and at stupid times late at night and early in the morning, but I've been there! (The lottery at the airport where you could win a brand new Bentley was kinda cool though.)


Meh. Mostly I import crap from there and like the idea of not giving some random guy loads of money just because he happened to head that way anyway.

I do want to see the places, but that whole area (Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi & Bahrain) is just too much like Israel to my liking, conceptually. Actually, worse than Israel. The only thing that makes it less worrisome for me is that it's all on a smaller scale.

That being said, all those places are still on my (rather long) short list for 2013 - and Dubai is very much near the top because again, I've got good chances of securing a great relevant placement through people I know.
#13 Jan 01 2012 at 10:46 AM Rating: Default
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I have an unhealthy obsession with North Korea. Not really relevant unless you count the fact that the few times I've stopped in here in the last few months, the thing I consistently saw was Kali talking about Pakistan.

Congrats.

Some cool pictures so my post isn't meh:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dutchct/collections/72157627923846387/

Edited, Jan 1st 2012 10:47am by Paskil
#14 Jan 01 2012 at 11:15 AM Rating: Good
Consistency is good, right? Smiley: tongue
#18 Feb 01 2012 at 7:28 AM Rating: Good
Congratulations!

Remember that if your kidnapped and find yourself part of some harem? Nix will rescue you!
#19 Feb 01 2012 at 10:21 AM Rating: Good
Actually, I'll probably be living in a female only part of town with servants & armed guards posted outside (paid for by my employer), does that qualify as "some harem"?
#20 Feb 01 2012 at 10:23 AM Rating: Decent
Kalivha wrote:
Actually, I'll probably be living in a female only part of town with servants & armed guards posted outside (paid for by my employer), does that qualify as "some harem"?


That's mighty close to one. I just hope your employer doesnt want any extra benefits from you.
#21 Feb 01 2012 at 10:24 AM Rating: Good
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If I know my harems, then those armed guards are going to be absolutely useless once the martial artists start showing up.
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#22 Feb 01 2012 at 10:31 AM Rating: Good
I'm basically living in a male free place so that no one can do anything more against my will (not as easily anyway); it seems to be the norm in South Asia.

Martial artists would be kind of funny.
#23 Feb 01 2012 at 11:51 AM Rating: Good
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Congrats. I look forward to seeing a cure for science.
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#24 Feb 01 2012 at 12:22 PM Rating: Good
I will be doing computational biomedical chemistry science there. Well, computational chemistry in an institute for molecular medicine, anyway. I was kinda surprised they have the resources.
#25 Feb 01 2012 at 1:35 PM Rating: Good
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Also, have fun over there. Smiley: smile
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