You could also stay in Poland or go to south or east of Germany, where climate is more stable and continental.

I know. It's not the right reason but at least it's a reason. I want to call myself Dr Apollo and I want to put it on my business card and I want to tell people like Gillian Mcwhatever and Paul McKenna that they are pathetic.

golfpro said: "[more as a career progression tool...is anyone actually doing it for fun?"

I don't do it as a career progression tool or why it's needed for research jobs in academia. Actually that wouldn't be enough motivational factors for me to carry through. I'm only doing it because I want to prove myself that I can do it and because I like the challenge and because I want to call myself Dr Apollo...

I have an Ipod nano. Now I'm thinking about buying the Ipod hifi from APPLE for £200 (the one where you just plug your Ipod in).

This might be smth I'll regret later. Anybody having any advice to share?

Why are British people (being very generalistic here-apologies) so obsessed with getting on the "property" ladder???

In other countries it's perfectly accepted to rent a flat (even if you are a doctor and have a family and earn a lot).

Apart from that I feel that house prices in UK are a bad joke (apart from the "houses" themselves which all look the same, have no privacy, have tiny little rooms and so on).

One day, the property market in UK will implode as it's completely ridiculuous. NatWEst & Co are secretly laughing about the public and their obsession with mortgages. In my home country I can buy a villa-style house with a huge garden for £150K. But that's probably country-specific and comparisons are not always possible.

3k a year? That's £250 a month. Did you live in a tent on the university campus and pay no rent?

LOL

correction: waste, not was

thecoastman has said it all. I completely agree so better listen to what he said before you was a life (the only one you have by the way)

Explanation of second option: full-time with teaching (not P/T)

Dear All,

just a quick survey:

who is a full-time PhD student (not teaching at all) and who is a PhD student/teaching monkey (like me)?

I agree.

And quite frankly, I think you are depressed because of your non-existant sex life.

I agree as well. We should not just tolerate but also welcome other beliefs, cultures etc.- however, only if it's a two-way process and the other side also accepts our heritage.

Nevertheless, I think the word tolerate is patronising, as you said.

Sorry, just a quick remark off topic:

Obviously I'm not from UK and I just have to tell you all about my little observation: having lived before in many different countries I've never come across so many polite people like in the UK.

Whereas people in other countries seem to be relatively outspoken and direct (maybe too much), in England the biggest fear of most people seems to be being perceived as rude.

I'm not critisizing this, it's just an observation..

A lot of people with MA or MSc think they can add a PhD or MPhil very easily-one or two more years of study and that's it. They don't know, however, that a PhD has idiosyncratic characteristics which are entirely different. In other words, a PhD is tough and if you don't have the innner desire to complete it you will soon decide to quit.

It's a marathon and as expressed through this analogy, only crazy people decide to embark on such an endeveaour.