Prairie-bound

I am currently on a layover in the Denver airport, on my way to a job interview at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan. It is a for a faculty position in the psychology department, and although last August/September I thought I had decided I wouldn't apply to faculty jobs, I'm actually pretty excited about this position.

In related news, Jeff has an official job offer for a faculty position in the psychology department at University of Regina, and is working on negotiating the terms. He recently turned down an offer for a faculty position at MSU Billings. I also have an offer for that position I applied to in Hawaii. Our fears of unemployment appear to be over.

So basically, when Jeff found out he had an interview, he asked about possible employment opportunities for me in Regina, and sent my CV to someone in the department. They immediately began encouraging me to apply for an open clinical psychology faculty position. In a sense, I chose not to pursue academia, but academia decided to pursue me. Not sure whether I'll get caught, but it's nice to be chased :)

And although my whole life I have sworn I would never move somewhere flat, or live far away from the ocean, it appears that we may be prairie-bound. The chances that Jeff will accept the offer in Regina are high, as this department seems to be exactly what we have been looking for in many ways. Not too big, not too small, communication and collaboration across areas within psychology (the clinical faculty and experimental faculty actually know each others' names!), what appears to be a supportive environment with fairly good organization, and apparent interest in faculty as people with interests and lives. So far, it seems to have many of the qualities we liked about University of Oregon.

The city of Regina, although cold in the winters, and very flat, also has many good qualities. Similarly not too big and not too small, community-oriented, lots of parks, progressive (it's in Canada, after all), and recently ranked as one of the best places to live in Canada. I had no idea where it was until Jeff showed me on a map, and to be honest, I'm pretty sure many of his Canadian friends and family weren't 100% sure exactly where it was before looking it up recently. But life on the prairie may be just the kind of slower pace we could use right now.

I'll be sure to give an update soon, after I return from my interview. Whether I get offered this job or not, I'm really hoping that my visit over the next couple of days leaves me with a positive impression of the city, because pretty soon I may be calling it home!