There is a custom, well sort of, for the doctorate candidate to give a small token of appreciation to his/her supervisor(s) on the day of his/her dissertation. Usually this is done during the dissertation party or for some who choose not to have a celebration party, the gift section could be done during the post-dissertation reception.
Although it is still a big unknown as to when I am going to have my dissertation, I have started thinking about what to get for my three supervisors. I had a few ideas for the gift but had not been actively doing the shopping. Well I would love to but just did not really have chance to shop for dissertation gift.
I was showing my Travel Companion around during my recent trip home. We went to a departmental store doing some shopping for him. While we were done and began to move to the exit for dinner, something caught my eye. I stopped. Yes that would be a nice gift. A set of elegant chopsticks with oriental design printed on them. I personally like the set a lot. Great. This will be a meaningful gift. Since I am Chinese and chopsticks do resemble Chinese culture, it will remind all three of my supervisors who are Europeans that they once had a Chinese student. It must be expensive. I looked at the price; did the staff mark the price tag wrongly? How could it be so cheap?! So without hesitation, I know what I should be getting for my supervisors as my dissertation gifts. Apparently my Travel Companion also likes the design of the chopstick. I told him to choose a set with the design he liked most. At the end, I checked out four sets, three for my supervisors each and one for my Travel Companion for his new condo's decoration. When I got home, I showed my good purchase to my family and they liked the chopsticks too. The funny bit was none of my family members had the price guessed right; they thought it was costly.
This is how I like it, a good buy. To me a good buy means you do not have to put too much effort in searching for the item; rather it appears to be serendipitous and better still it will not cost you a fortune. Hmm, come to think of it, I do apply similar concept to many aspects in life.
♥ every page of my imagination
