In Masters level, typically, if you take 6 credits or less your status is considered part time. If you take 9 or more credit hours, then it is considered full time. It does not matter how many courses you take, what counts is the number of credit hours.
Pastrami is a smoked corned beef. If you buy corned beef you can make your own pastrami any afternoon. Of course, you can make your own Homemade Corned Beef if you have 3 weeks to let it cure.
The easiest solution to that problem is to do your salting in the winter so you can take advantage of nature's refrigerator for a few weeks. To make pastrami, you start by making corned beef. Corned beef is a beef brisket soaked in brine (with some sugar and spices). By smoking corned beef, you turn it into pastrami! Smoking adds flavor to the meat.