69/365 Thursday, 03/10/2011

This a picture of downtown Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where I had my third campus interview in a row. Even though I was not offered the job, I really liked getting to know the town and University. According to wikipedia Eau Claire got its name: "because early French explorers journeying down the rain-muddied Chippewa River, happened upon the Eau Claire River, excitedly exclaiming "Voici l'eau claire!" ("Here [is] clear water!"). 

The two rivers intersect downtown and the University campus is close-by. There was still a lot of snow on the ground but I'm sure the town is really pretty in the summer and spring. There are also many ethnic restaurants, in part due to the Hmong community, which is always a plus in my book! My impression was that German has a lot of institutional support at the University, which is always a good thing to hear, especially for someone like me who lost their job precisely due to a lack of said support. While I am somewhat disappointed at not being offered the job, I am glad I was able to get to know another interesting town and University. Over the years I have gotten to know quite a few places on campus interviews that I probably would otherwise never have visited!