Sunday, September 30, 2007
Labor day
Or I suppose I should say labour day is tomorrow, apparently, so I have a much needed three-day weekend.
Day of rest
For the first time in absolutely ages I did pretty much nothing all day long. Delicious!
The one accomplishment is some late night cleaning. I've vowed to be better at housekeeping this move, so I scrubbed the bathroom, utility room and kitchen. The big accomplishment is actually a result of purchasing a ladder yesterday: after using it for its intended purpose of changing a lightbulb, I have set it up as a bookshelf. This means my mantles, which had been for books can now be "filing cabinets". Which means that the counters in the kitchen no longer have any paper on them. Which means that the kitchen is now just a kitchen (well, and computer room....)
Also lots of vacuuming difficult corners, which I hate doing but want to stay on top of.
Tomorrow I'll clean the front of the house and organize the random crap that is lying around up there.
And do something vigorous.
The one accomplishment is some late night cleaning. I've vowed to be better at housekeeping this move, so I scrubbed the bathroom, utility room and kitchen. The big accomplishment is actually a result of purchasing a ladder yesterday: after using it for its intended purpose of changing a lightbulb, I have set it up as a bookshelf. This means my mantles, which had been for books can now be "filing cabinets". Which means that the counters in the kitchen no longer have any paper on them. Which means that the kitchen is now just a kitchen (well, and computer room....)
Also lots of vacuuming difficult corners, which I hate doing but want to stay on top of.
Tomorrow I'll clean the front of the house and organize the random crap that is lying around up there.
And do something vigorous.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Early mornings
I wish that my early waking weren't the result of jet lag, but it is lovely to be awake early. It is 8:10 am and I have already: cooked breakfast and washed up, done a load of laundry plus hand washables and hung them to dry, done a bit of yoga including head stands which I am starting to be able to do and enjoy, and made my bed.
Oh, and Sydney bird calls in the morning are a wonderful and strange symphony.
Oh, and Sydney bird calls in the morning are a wonderful and strange symphony.
A nice welcome
Yesterday I saw my very first wild cockatoo, sitting atop the flag pole of my local pub. They are apparently everywhere here, but for some reason I have only seen pictures until now.
Driving rules II
The most horrifying bit of going to Italy was realizing that I was colliding with people on the streets there too, since I was keeping to the British side of the sidewalk! I hope, hope, hope it is only evidence that I have successfully linked foreign=stay to the left in my pea brain.
Back in OZ
It is 5:15 am local time, and I've been up, to varying degrees, for a while now.
The trip to Italy was a very interesting one, though not in the way that Italian travels are classically envisioned: it is quite different to go to a foreign country from a bad-ish spot of culture shock in an adopted country than from home.
While no 24 hour airplane journey (Sydney-Singapore 8 hours, 3 hour layover, Singapore-Rome 13 hours) can be termed "easy", I was surprised by how non-traumatic the flight and ensuing time change were. So I got to Rome in reasonably good shape. But man, I was in such a foul mood! I had no desire to speak in Italian, tour sights, navigate restaurants (good food, but language and cultural barriers to navigate). So I ended up spending most of my time reading mystery novels (great anti-jet-lag), visiting some American friends, and cooking at the apartment I was staying in. And as is the case here, the best bits were being with other Americans, which I find totally fascinating, since in the US I tend to seek out non-Americans. Fortunately, I have spent lots of time in Rome on a number of different occasions, so it was hardly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity squandered.
Siena was more my style. I love everything medieval, and Siena is all medieval. It also brought back fond memories of Orvieto. I found that by the time I got to Siena, my Italian had shaken off some of its rust, which helped with navigating the landscape.
The conference was a good experience. Interestingly, there I sought out the Aussies! (And a stray Kiwi). Perhaps that was because there were only two other Americans (whom I hung with as well) and a pretty big delegation from down under. I am still quite unsure where I fit in the academic landscape, but that is not a subject to get hashed out here....
Then I got the stomach flu. Which was just plain gross and ruined any improvement in mood.
I think being away might in the end have been good for me, since it has disrupted the anxious funk I was in before leaving. I have hardly thought at all about whether my sofa will fit since I have been back! And it was nice yesterday in my walk to work to realize that it was a familiar path.
The trip to Italy was a very interesting one, though not in the way that Italian travels are classically envisioned: it is quite different to go to a foreign country from a bad-ish spot of culture shock in an adopted country than from home.
While no 24 hour airplane journey (Sydney-Singapore 8 hours, 3 hour layover, Singapore-Rome 13 hours) can be termed "easy", I was surprised by how non-traumatic the flight and ensuing time change were. So I got to Rome in reasonably good shape. But man, I was in such a foul mood! I had no desire to speak in Italian, tour sights, navigate restaurants (good food, but language and cultural barriers to navigate). So I ended up spending most of my time reading mystery novels (great anti-jet-lag), visiting some American friends, and cooking at the apartment I was staying in. And as is the case here, the best bits were being with other Americans, which I find totally fascinating, since in the US I tend to seek out non-Americans. Fortunately, I have spent lots of time in Rome on a number of different occasions, so it was hardly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity squandered.
Siena was more my style. I love everything medieval, and Siena is all medieval. It also brought back fond memories of Orvieto. I found that by the time I got to Siena, my Italian had shaken off some of its rust, which helped with navigating the landscape.
The conference was a good experience. Interestingly, there I sought out the Aussies! (And a stray Kiwi). Perhaps that was because there were only two other Americans (whom I hung with as well) and a pretty big delegation from down under. I am still quite unsure where I fit in the academic landscape, but that is not a subject to get hashed out here....
Then I got the stomach flu. Which was just plain gross and ruined any improvement in mood.
I think being away might in the end have been good for me, since it has disrupted the anxious funk I was in before leaving. I have hardly thought at all about whether my sofa will fit since I have been back! And it was nice yesterday in my walk to work to realize that it was a familiar path.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)