I always drink diet coke when I'm on a hangover! And as soon as I can manage to eat something I go for really greasy things like chips.

In my case, my parents were the first who went to university.

My father was also the only one among his 4 brothers and sisters who attended a higher education institution. I have 10 cousins (all on my father's side, my mother has no brothers or sisters) plus a brother and 8 of us have got a university degree. I am, however, the only one who decided to continue to PhD level.

Don't know about Britain but I guess this is a fairly typical scenario in my country, i.e. in the 60s-70s higher education started to be more generally available but not everybody decided to attend it, and that was followed by a true "boom" in the 80s and the 90s when everybody started to think that without an university degree you are nobody.

I also sing in a choir - today we have our Christmas concert!!!

But since my PhD is in music it's not much of a break for me, I sometimes find myself analysing (from an academic point of view) the songs we sing rather than just enjoy them!

Anyway, I like writing too (creative writing I mean, not academic writing) and of course reading (not papers but novels, poems, etc.).

Wow, that's really useful information, however I'm a bit shocked that you only "needed" 5 hours a day (or 25 a week I think)... I tought 40 hours a week would be more appropriate and until now I've managed to accomplish it! (but I started my PhD only 9 or 10 weeks ago). But of course every of us has different disciplines and talent...

Had the job a closing date? If the closing date is yet to come, I suppose they would like to have the details of all the applicants before they decide who is going to be interviewed.

I hope it was only one bad day, but if the problems you mention in your post persist, I would try to do something about them:

-About the MSc/ PhD thing: is your masters by research? If it's a taught one, do you have to do a final research project? You could try to write your master thesis as a chapter you will be able to integrate later in your PhD thesis, or cover literature you will need for your PhD.

-My supervisor insists only in the fact that I'm doing my own PhD and the ultimate decisions about it are mine, even if he will be advising and helping me. So I think you should listen to your supervisors, of course, but at the same time taking your own decisions (of course this is not easy as at the beginning of your PhD you are working on an area you may not know well, and you don't know which are likely to be the right decisions). If the situation continues or gets worse, isn't there a head of postgraduate studies, or even the head of your department, who can give you advice?

Hi, Bobby, is it going better today?

In my country (Spain) I think it's extremely rare (not to say unheard of) failing the viva (which is more like a public defence) because if the examiners (which are 5 I think) think that the thesis is not good enough they would unofficially warn the student or his supervisor to have the thesis reviewed before a viva date is set.

The thing about the public defence is that (from the ones I've attended) it becomes rather a protocolary, bureaucratic act and the examiners would only say good things about the thesis and its author, hence losing an occassion of true academic discussion for the student.

Wow, congratulation!

Good luck vibes to Cardiff! I'm sure DJ is performing extremely well.

At my university, the supervisor may attend if the student wants him to do it, but he can only take part in the discussion if invited by the examiners.

Apparently I'm the only freaky listening to classical music while researching. It is even more freakish considering that the research is actually in Musicology. But I still adore Strawinsky!

No, don't give up but study funding possibilities, start with http://www.findaphd.com/students/funding.asp . You may also ask the department you plan to apply to.
I agree that 10,000$ would not be enough to finance a PhD, in my opinion it would only cover your living costs for 1 year (and you would have to be really careful about money and hardly buy anything), tuition fees excluded. As for the possibility of getting a job, consider two things:
-As an international student the number of hours you can work will be limited (I think 20 hours per week).
-Although many students manage to find a part-time job, maybe you will just have bad luck and won't find any. That can happen as well so don't rely on this possibility.
I think the better thing is to start a PhD having already a good idea on how you will fund it (already awarded scholarships, savings...) so that you will be able to finish it even if, during the 3 years, you don't get a part time job, extra funding...

Oh, and I am sorry about all you have been through, I hope everything's going better now.

Hi Matthew - I have never been in this position but I think that as long as you justify why you didn't start the PhD you were offered -and you definitively have a good reason- it would be okay. However, I wouldn't say in the application that I had been offered another PhD, I had to withdraw etc. unless specifically asked for.