Past Week
Mmm, long silences are now becoming common on this blog - sorry - my mind is in my head and not for public consumption.
Anyway, I have some things I want to tell you about, dear reader, if there is a reader out there or even if they have left in disgust. Well, I'll speak to myself.
The last week has been a culmination of long anticipated things. On Saturday morning I went and helped out painting the back drop for the church carols with a bunch of other wonderful women from Wild St. It was fun but I was incredibly incompetent. I am not sure they'll be able to use my work.
Then I went home and cleaned and cleaned. I'd been living in an absolute disaster of a room - things piled everywhere. It was a complete mess and it reflected precisely how I feel about my life so I wanted to fix it. And fix it I did.
It meant when I got up at 4.45am on Sunday morning to catch my 6.30am flight (am I crazy??) my room, at least, was neat, clean and organised as is possible in a room 2.5m x 2.5m filled to the brim with stuff.
I had booked an early flight to go to Brisbane, so I could spend the day wandering around before having my first pre-conference meeting at 3.30am. But I really didn't think it through. For example, although my flight was at 6.35am, I arrived in Brisbane at 7.20am - because they are an hour behind. I caught the bus to the hotel at 7.40am and dropped my bags there. Then I walked from the hotel (on the edge of the Botanical Gardens) through the Gardens and across the river to South bank. The Gardens were beautiful - with that rich tropical soil smell and amazingly large lizards everywhere. I love the way they walk - almost zigzagging across the lawns. South bank is beautiful - there are similar things there to Darling Harbour, but instead of concrete there are trees, and grass and other beautiful little winding pathways with bougainvillea arches. I didn't eat much on the flight, so by now it's 10.30am and I'm getting quite hungry, so I stop at a Dutch Pancake house have 10 little poffertjes with maple syrup. Mmm, so tasty. Then I wander through the markets, unsuccessful in my pursuit of a hat, and then decide to go to the cinemas. The cinema is only $8.50 and Where the Wild Things Are is on. Karen had been wanting to see it for a while so I thought I might as well - seeing as she is often a cultural compass for me.
And it was gorgeous - such a sweet sad movie. I texted Karen: "Loved it. I found it heartrending and really quite sad. I felt as Max. I am Max".
Then I wandered back through the markets, now thinking of buying an umbrella. Brisbane is like walking through warm soup. It's always extremely humid and you can feel the pressure of the water soaked air against your skin.
No umbrellas are to be found, so eventually I buy a tube of sunburn cream and methodically apply. I have to walk back over another bridge into the city and it's uncovered and extremely hot.
Once back over the bridge, I wander through the city and stop at the shops for some supplies (coke zero and peanut butter and bread for spare cheap meals, plus some chocolate).
Back at the hotel I finally am able to check in, and I get up to my room and rehydrate. I am so relieved to be out of the heat. Then, the view out my window includes a gorgeous hotel pool, so I head down for a lolling swim in the water.
Then we have our pre-conference meeting, followed by walking over the bridge again for the conference launch. At the launch, we are treated to some student entertainment and then a interesting potted history of Queensland. Then we head out to dinner and slightly overwhelm the cafe with 25 people all turning up at once. They cope admirably.
The next day the conference starts full on and we have a very interesting indigenous welcome and then a student panel before the first keynote, who clearly feels like they've already retired. Then it's lunch and more presentations. My roundtable goes well.
Finally we have a special interest group meeting and I head out to dinner with a couple of the others from my SIG.
Tuesday is an extremely long day. The AGM is at lunch which leaves little time for a break, and then straight after the end of the day we have an hour off before going to the conference dinner at Customs House. I choose to spend the hour in the hotel pool.
I catch a cab to the conference dinner because I don't want to walk in my nylon type dress.
Once there I have a fabulous time with some other delegates over wonderful food, except that we win the trivia comp but are then disqualified because they think we cheated (we didn't, but oh well).
I walk back to the hotel with another delegate at close to midnight.
On Wednesday it's another busy morning at the conference, before deciding not to go on the Bond Uni visit because I'm worried I'll miss my plane.
Instead I go to the movies and see the Invention of Lying with another delegate before catching a cab out to the airport. I'm early so I sit and surf the web on my laptop before catching the plane.
The plane is not full and I manage to find a seat with a spare seat next to it, which is very nice, and instead of being a canned sardine I feel distinctly human. The dinner is ok and then finally we are back in Sydney. It's 10.30 before I get home and 12.30 before I get sleep, so first day back at work is long and draining.
But I have Wicked! to look forward to so that helps. Running out of my lunch break so will write again about it...
Anyway, I have some things I want to tell you about, dear reader, if there is a reader out there or even if they have left in disgust. Well, I'll speak to myself.
The last week has been a culmination of long anticipated things. On Saturday morning I went and helped out painting the back drop for the church carols with a bunch of other wonderful women from Wild St. It was fun but I was incredibly incompetent. I am not sure they'll be able to use my work.
Then I went home and cleaned and cleaned. I'd been living in an absolute disaster of a room - things piled everywhere. It was a complete mess and it reflected precisely how I feel about my life so I wanted to fix it. And fix it I did.
It meant when I got up at 4.45am on Sunday morning to catch my 6.30am flight (am I crazy??) my room, at least, was neat, clean and organised as is possible in a room 2.5m x 2.5m filled to the brim with stuff.
I had booked an early flight to go to Brisbane, so I could spend the day wandering around before having my first pre-conference meeting at 3.30am. But I really didn't think it through. For example, although my flight was at 6.35am, I arrived in Brisbane at 7.20am - because they are an hour behind. I caught the bus to the hotel at 7.40am and dropped my bags there. Then I walked from the hotel (on the edge of the Botanical Gardens) through the Gardens and across the river to South bank. The Gardens were beautiful - with that rich tropical soil smell and amazingly large lizards everywhere. I love the way they walk - almost zigzagging across the lawns. South bank is beautiful - there are similar things there to Darling Harbour, but instead of concrete there are trees, and grass and other beautiful little winding pathways with bougainvillea arches. I didn't eat much on the flight, so by now it's 10.30am and I'm getting quite hungry, so I stop at a Dutch Pancake house have 10 little poffertjes with maple syrup. Mmm, so tasty. Then I wander through the markets, unsuccessful in my pursuit of a hat, and then decide to go to the cinemas. The cinema is only $8.50 and Where the Wild Things Are is on. Karen had been wanting to see it for a while so I thought I might as well - seeing as she is often a cultural compass for me.
And it was gorgeous - such a sweet sad movie. I texted Karen: "Loved it. I found it heartrending and really quite sad. I felt as Max. I am Max".
Then I wandered back through the markets, now thinking of buying an umbrella. Brisbane is like walking through warm soup. It's always extremely humid and you can feel the pressure of the water soaked air against your skin.
No umbrellas are to be found, so eventually I buy a tube of sunburn cream and methodically apply. I have to walk back over another bridge into the city and it's uncovered and extremely hot.
Once back over the bridge, I wander through the city and stop at the shops for some supplies (coke zero and peanut butter and bread for spare cheap meals, plus some chocolate).
Back at the hotel I finally am able to check in, and I get up to my room and rehydrate. I am so relieved to be out of the heat. Then, the view out my window includes a gorgeous hotel pool, so I head down for a lolling swim in the water.
Then we have our pre-conference meeting, followed by walking over the bridge again for the conference launch. At the launch, we are treated to some student entertainment and then a interesting potted history of Queensland. Then we head out to dinner and slightly overwhelm the cafe with 25 people all turning up at once. They cope admirably.
The next day the conference starts full on and we have a very interesting indigenous welcome and then a student panel before the first keynote, who clearly feels like they've already retired. Then it's lunch and more presentations. My roundtable goes well.
Finally we have a special interest group meeting and I head out to dinner with a couple of the others from my SIG.
Tuesday is an extremely long day. The AGM is at lunch which leaves little time for a break, and then straight after the end of the day we have an hour off before going to the conference dinner at Customs House. I choose to spend the hour in the hotel pool.
I catch a cab to the conference dinner because I don't want to walk in my nylon type dress.
Once there I have a fabulous time with some other delegates over wonderful food, except that we win the trivia comp but are then disqualified because they think we cheated (we didn't, but oh well).
I walk back to the hotel with another delegate at close to midnight.
On Wednesday it's another busy morning at the conference, before deciding not to go on the Bond Uni visit because I'm worried I'll miss my plane.
Instead I go to the movies and see the Invention of Lying with another delegate before catching a cab out to the airport. I'm early so I sit and surf the web on my laptop before catching the plane.
The plane is not full and I manage to find a seat with a spare seat next to it, which is very nice, and instead of being a canned sardine I feel distinctly human. The dinner is ok and then finally we are back in Sydney. It's 10.30 before I get home and 12.30 before I get sleep, so first day back at work is long and draining.
But I have Wicked! to look forward to so that helps. Running out of my lunch break so will write again about it...
Comments
Post a Comment