Thanks W2DN, and true say. I don't think she meant to and i understand her point of view.

Life goes on.

I'm think outda top of my head here. I haven't had such but If it is their proposal, then i think you should find out exactly what they want.

Perhaps. Though it may seem so, it is not my intention. I am merely getting other people's perspective on this.
I respect your opinion even if i might not agree with them all. I don't mean to cause any ill-feelings.

golfpro, in any situation, you are entitled to your own opinion but in this instance if you have nothing interesting to input please be quiet.

Of course. I'm not bothered with it.

Some interesting comments. Your right golfpro, I’m not emotionally damaged, just my male pride. After a brief reflection of that night, I decided it wasn’t worth the fuss but I let her know afterwards that giving me back the money for a friendly dinner wasn't the way to handle being uncomfortable with the ‘age thing’ but was a little insulting. She apologised.

However, I do appreciate the fact that it all has to do with people's personal preferences and understand her perspective but don’t you think that her reaction the next day after I told her how old I was during our chat over the table may highlight her insecurity with her own age?

Well, to add to the current situation of having to start my PhD later than i anticipated. I took this girl out from church to a fantastic fish restaurant ('cos she loves fish) two day ago, in the city of London- ok, i admit, i do like her. She is beautiful, intelligent, has a petit stature and knows what she wants in life and i admire that in a girl. In general shes girlfriend material.

We rarely talked on most occasions, so i wanted to break that invisible barrier between us by taking her out.
We had a wonderful time, the restaurant was excellent including the food and we enjoyed our conversations.

Yesterday, she called me and wanted to meet up. To cut the story short, apparently she has a problem with my age. You see, I’m 22 and she's 25 - but i have no qualms with this. She said it won't be right and bla bla bla....then surprisingly she handed back to me the money i used to pay for her own share of the dinner!!

I think I’ll stop here before i go on and on.

Come on guys and gals, what do you think?

That's absolutely true. Giving him a present would give him hope even if you do not see it that way. I would say no present at all would improve his vision as to the current state of things.

I agree with honesty.

The choice of gift might give a hint of how you feel, and make easy to break up when the time comes.

All the best

Exactly sue! I've come to realise that for anything to get done by the academics around here, you have to nag them.....a lot. I've been told this as well by other administrators who've had to put up with them.

They do want me onboard 'cos i did really well as an undergraduate and they believe i'm capable, that's why they were quick to offer me the position. I feel i owe them a chance at least, even if theres a little glitch at the moment.

Thanks a lot. How is yours going?

Yeah, i am checking out other offers in other unis that i could go for. This may sound daft, but i want to give them a little chance before i defect.

Thank jojo.
Well, the visiting professor, myself and some others that deal with funding in the Uni had a little meeting to discuss some opportunities available. There is, but not too suitable for a long-term project required for a phd, except a company is willing to take me on i.e fund me to undertake a project in their establishment.
After much pressure, my supervisor has decided to write a proposal today, which I could then use to apply for funding. So he's writing one and the visiting Prof. is writing another.
And since i do not want to rely totally on them, i contacted the project manager (that i turned down) who offered to help with a project. He's said no guarantees but he'll make some contacts on my behalf.
So things aren't looking too bad at the moment and all hope is not lost. I will remain optimistic.