All Good Things . . .

. . . must come to an end.

If you've been wondering why this space has been so quiet as of late, it's because I've been busy. You'll be pleased, I hope, to know that I am returning Stateside this summer to take up my new tenure-track position this fall as an assistant professor of English at the Augusta branch campus of the University of Maine. Talk about a paradigm shift. So the days of RobOnGuam.com are numbered, as are my actual days on Guam.

I’ve been interviewing for teaching jobs this spring. First interviews via phone have been on and off this spring, and three second interviews via videoconference came up at the last minute, all to be scheduled during the last two weeks of the term. Maine was my personal top choice, and I interviewed for two hours via polycom on Saturday, April 30 at an ungodly 6:00 am my time. For the search committee, it was a nice Friday afternoon. On Tuesday, May 3, the search committee chair called me and offered the position, which I happily accepted. Now the contract have arrived and been returned, so come July I will leave tropical Pacifica for not-so-tropical New England, in effect exchanging sashimi, mango salsa, and fresh papaya for lobster, cranberry relish, and fresh blueberries.

The University of Maine-Augusta (UMA) is one of the seven campuses of the University of Maine system. It's also the newest and most unconventional; originally the associate, two-year) degree-granting school of the system, like a community college, it is already well into its process of becoming a full four-year baccalaureate regional institution. The UMaine system’s and UMA’s strategic plans call for the associate’s degrees being shifted elsewhere within the system and more four-year degrees opened up at UMA, so the whole place is in flux. Nobody is quite sure what it will look like in ten year’s time, but I have some guesses: with its architecture program, its esteemed jazz studies program, and its strong community arts programming, I’m betting that UMA will position itself as the artsy, bohemian school of the system. The student body is largely non-traditional, mostly older and returning students. There’s also a healthy mix of traditional 18- to 22-year-olds, too, and there will be more marketing to them, as dorms are on the long-term wish list. UMA has also pioneered distance ed within the system and the state, so I will have lots of opportunity to design and teach online and interactive TV courses, which is very much the wave of the future in higher ed. In a nutshell, I’m moving into a “help us design a school” school, and it’s going to be great fun. UMA seems to be sort of a cross between a Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland “hey let’s get a barn and put on a show” movie and higher education.

I expect that Maine will be wonderful. Augusta is the trim and tidy little capital of the state, with an emphasis on little: population 20,000. It’s about an hour north of Portland and three hours north of Boston. Augusta is also is the gateway to the midstate lakes region and, a little further, the great North Woods for which Maine is famous. I gave away all my winter clothes and sweaters before I left for Guam, and now I need to rebuy that stuff all over again. (For the record, my birthday is October 9.) Maine is politically a blue state, both liberal and conservative in equally good ways, and certainly green in all senses of the word; environmentally, it may be the “greenest” state in the Union, and literally, it’s 90% forested. It’s also a relatively poor state, rich in resources but not necessarily in capital. Hence, education is taken seriously and I’ll be teaching in a place where college degrees really can and do matter.

My new colleagues and department, too, are wonderful so far. The search committee consisted of three very smart and cool women, the Dean of my College looks New England crusty but she’s really a charmer, and to judge from the interview my new Provost may have worked as a stand-up comic before entering academic administration. These are going to be very enjoyable people to work with. (One of the fun, more casual interview questions was “Can you cook?” I have apparently joined a department that’s big on potlucking, thus making this a concern of considerable import.) The department also seems to have an artsy vibe. It hosts the annual Maine Poetry Festival, for instance, which features readings, signings, small presses, and chapbook makers, all peddling their wares and enjoying the deep pleasure of hearing all the right words in all the right places.

Here’s my tentative schedule of events for the summer: I expect to leave Guam around July 1 and fly to Detroit for a few weeks in Michigan. My household goods will be in transit for at least a month, and I will need to freeload, er, visit people while my pots and pans are crossing both the Pacific and the continental USA. I will base myself in Detroit, go up to Fenton/Flint to see my mom and siblings, go to Lansing to see people and work in the collections of the MSU Library on a research project, somehow get to Ann Arbor to see more people, and leave Michigan from Detroit some time in late July. I’d like to take the train to Maine, as it would be much easier to buy a car and arrange insurance there than in Michigan, though I may choose to fly. I will stay at first at my friend Jim’s summer cottage on a coastal island somewhere near Bath; Jim is the theater professor here on Guam, and he goes to Maine every summer as he has since childhood. Then I’ll go up to Augusta, find a place to live, buy the car, get insurance, arrange to have my stuff shipped to my new abode, sleep for a half hour, then start the fall term.

It is an interesting though tangential point that my non-Michigan siblings are also located in extreme parts of the country—Dave and his wife in Florida and Kathy and her family in Arizona. If Jeff and his family or Jennie and her family should decide to move to Washington State, we will have planted ourselves in all four corners of the country. And I think that they should, as I would like to visit there.

I will try to blog in here for my last few weeks on Guam and attempt to sum up my experiences in this very complicated place that's America but not quite, really. And, at the request of several readers, I will begin a new blog in Maine, maybe with the word "Kennebec" in the title, as that will be my new county. Stay posted!

Comments

[Ron]

Congratulations, Rob.

[marcy]

OH. MY. GOD. Rob, I LOVE Augusta!! I have many Augusta stories - Emil and I lived in Boothbay Harbor for a year, and Augusta is where we would go to escape. The drive between Boothbay Harbor and Augusta winds along the Kennebec River, and it's absolutely gorgeous.

Crystal is still in Maine; I found her via Google a few years ago (but have since lost her email address, alas; I had a massive mail crash a while ago).

So when do you get here? We might come see you this summer; it's about fourteen or so hours from mid-Michigan to Maine . . .

[Rob Kellerman]

Marcy, I've just updated your email address on gmail -- this is why you didn't get this news sooner. I sent out a mass mailing and wondered why I didn't hear from you. Man, I am TOTALLY geeked about this move. I'll be in Michigan for most of July, then Maine toward the end, when I'll hang out on Jim's island. Augusta in early August (boy, that just sings, doesn't it?), again depending on when my stuff arrives from points Pacific. I'm getting quotes on shipping right now, and I may not get the stuff any closer than Boston or maybe Portland. If you wanna come help shlep my worldly goods to Augusta, you certainly have my blessing! I'll also need to Google Crystal and hunt her down; I think that she and Jim are in metro Portland. I feel like I just won the academia lottery!

[Kim]

How lovely that you got to experience both Guam and Maine. I stumbled unto your blog about Chamorro Village, and then this one. I lived in Guam for high school and later moved to Maine as well. (And, btw, attended the UMA- UCB campus before graduating at Orono!) I wish you good luck in your travels.