Otherwise, even

Not at all too polite - but I would assume that either the paper was edited by the supervisor (or someone) for English before submission or if not, that would have been stated as a reason for rejection. Journals do have to give reasons - so if it was the English, that should be stated.

Othersise - whether being rejected means anything much is impossible for us to say without knowing more about the paper and project than is possible on a forum like this.

As long as the hypothesis is valid and the work is relevant then it should be OK.

Proving the null hypothesis is still a valid piece of work but you would need to be able to address criticism of the choice of the original question (I'm having some of that trouble myself - it's very common) and probably publighing opportunities would be compromised. If it doesn't work at all - again you need to justify your choice and thoroughly explain why.

It's also wise to try to leave some time for a 'subplot' i.e. a related expt that is more likely to yeild interesting results. I put in a subplot in my 2nd year when it became clear I would have serious trouble getting enough data to draw a firm conclusions about the main issue. It means my end PhD will be a collection of related papers rather than one central piece but that's common with experimental PhDs.

Some lyrics from a couple of real corkers:

'Beware the white girl, she's like a strawberry'

and 'when I was young I loved the apricots but now I'm a man I like the mangoes' 8-}

My colleagues were rather shocked when I bought those - I had to actually sing them to the kiosk-man so he could find them.

F'il mish mish!

Koshary - I LOVE it! The ultimate junk food but it's OK - it's 'ethnic' ;-}

Funny thing that - the dirtier the shop - the better the koshary. Then of course they started a couple of posh koshary places.

I never got into backgammon - but I did get into Arab pop music. What a shame we don't have a microphone - I can still sing some of my favourites. I'm going to bed but.....

I did this - took a place because it was offered and funded but then left at the end of the first year (9 mo- not a full 12). I am now doing another funded PhD in a subject of my choice - but many years later. I have met quite a few people who have done this - but I think you would have to be funded by a different funding body next time. That first time was a really miserable experience that haunted me for a long time - but then you find it has happened to a lot of people.

Oh the 'fragile' thing reminds me of another story. I had a landlady once who told me that men's and women's undergarments should never be washed together because 'a woman's parts are very delicate'.. Snort!

And people were so helpful - I used to keep it a secret if I needed something doing and wanted to do it myself or it would becaome a full-scale mass mission and I would be besieged.

Well I started my PhD at 41 - are you saying I'm too old

The funding thing seems to vary by subject. In some fields it's very common to self-fund because funding is so scarce and research costs can be minimal. In that case I don't think it matters as long as you do a reasonable job like anyone else, funded or not. So I'm not sure I would make that the criteria unless you really need the funding - in which case the answer is simple. Otherwise I would make the project and supervisor your first priority.

Nadia - I think a lot of this is just down to different personalities and temperaments. I've never been seriously homesick even going 18 months without coming back to the UK (and not more than once/year). I have much sympathy with those who do. For me as well, the place is very important. There are a lot of places I would not like to live although I would make the best of it.

I actually get seriously restless because we are now committed to staying in the UK (insert long story). The desire to go back overseas is almost painful sometimes. And I guess that is a bit how homesickness must feel.

The problem seems to be that this time you are married. I've lived overseas both single and married and for me, it was definitely more fun single. You don't integrate into your new place the same when you are a couple, but you can't enjoy being there alone anymore because you miss your partner. I know some people prefer moving as a couple as you are basically socially self-contained but I think it takes the fun out of getting out and about, moving freely and meeting new people.

How long will you be here after your husband goes back?

Then when I went back newly married it was - what no children ? Youprobably know that the word for 'bride' is the same as 'doll' in colloquial and a married women remains a 'bride' until her first child.

A couple of expat co-workers, male * female, were riding a donkey cart, as you do, along the north coast. The donkey driver turned round and asked them how many children they had. When they replied 'none' (you know how it is - sometimes it's simpler not to get into the whole 'but we're just friends' thing...) he snorted and exclaimed that his donkey had 5. And that was the last he spoke to them.

Oh ... resists urge to tell more stories must....do...work...tonight....must.....

Oh I most certainly did!

I was single the first time I lived there then went back later with my husband. Oh how deeply deeply lamented was the tragedy of my singleness. I had a spiel in colloquial that went: All men are like children; first with their mothers, then thier wives. It will be a black day when I get married. That generally stopped that trend in the conversation. I'm sure we could swap stories for hours on this theme!

It's the actual physical health issues that would worry me - I guess it depends where you live. I'm pretty robust myself, but my husband had health issues that are incompatible with living there and that has made me a bit cautious for my daughter.

I've often had that problem living overseas - that people want to speak English rather than help practice thier own language. That's my excuse anyway for my sad second/third/whatever language skills

Well in the Uk this is something you would need to sort out with your chosen potential supervisor - it's not some sort of policy decision made by the institution or even the dept. I expect it's similar in NZ. Surely if you are thinking of proposing your own project you must know who your appropriate potential supervisor(s) in NZ would be. I would have thought that would be the first thing to sort out and then approach them directly.