We've seriously neglected this blog of late as we have both been swamped with work, teaching and job interviews. Here's a quick update on things:

The Job Hunt

• UT-Austin's LBJ School of Public Affairs called to let Marc know that they are putting together an offer for him for a cross-campus position with the Center for International Energy & Environmental Policy. No word yet about the status for Shuwen (who interviewed there earlier in Nov), as the committee hasn't met to determine that. We are keeping our fingers crossed.
• Marc has an interview at Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy on Monday! It's a great program with some really sharp folks, and they only have 1 opening, so the competition will be stiff.
• Meanwhile, we are continuing to send applications out and are hoping for followup news. Things may be unsettled until Feb or March.

On Running

• Thanksgiving is around the corner, which means Turkey Trots! We will be running in one at UNC on Sunday (Marc usually brings home a turkey from this race), and Marc is racing in the Gallop & Gorge 8K in Carrboro on Thanksgiving morning.
• Nov 22nd (Sunday) update: We won 2 turkeys (but donated one to the Food Bank), since Marc easily won the UNC 4-mile turkey trot in the trails (finishing in ~ 22 mins), and Shuwen was the 2nd female (and 1st in the non-student women's division in 29:01). Sometime in Jan/Feb we will pull out that bird and invite a bunch of friends over for a meal.
• Nov 26th (T-day) update: Marc won our local Thanksgiving Gallop & Gorge 8K to start out T-day with some exercise :) Chapel Hill News article here

Our Travels

• We will be headed out of town Nov 30 for 5-6 weeks to Mali, Bangladesh (for Marc), Singapore, Thailand, France, then to AEA in Atlanta, and DC (for Shuwen). So, we are frantically trying to make sure we have everything that needs to be done before that taken care off. We are also starting to wonder how we are going to pack for this trip!
• The trip will be a mix of work & pleasure as we will see Marc's friends from his Peace Corp mission at Bamako, Mali; family & friends in Singapore; have a vacation in Phuket, Thailand with Shuwen's parents; get some work done here & there ; meet with collaborators in Dhaka, Bangladesh & Singapore; and attend conferences (in Bamako, Atlanta & DC).
• Wish us safe travel luck (Shuwen is notorious for really lousy travel luck, but sometimes Marc's presence helps negate it).