Well, two days ago I was going to tell you that summer was finally poking its head around the corner here in Sydney's winter wonderland, 1 but the "cold front" these past few days would have made me a liar. It actually tried to rain here over the weekend, though, admittedly, it didn't try very hard.
Next week we'll have been here almost exactly seven months, which is kind of frightening when we realize how much we have yet to do before going home. You've probably noticed by now that these weekly blog entries the past few weeks have tended toward the short, straightforward, even cynical at times. It is natural (as I've said before) for a dip in enthusiasm after six months of living in a new country. Beyond that, though, sometimes I've simply run out of things to say.2 After a while, living in another country ceases to be any more interesting than living at home... so we've watched nearly 24 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in half as many days,3 D is hopelessly and painfully addicted to Spider Solitaire on the computer,4 and Chad is keeping a seriously committed exercise routine.5
One of the key things to recognize about living overseas for an extended period of time, though, is that all the typical baggage that you carry and deal with back at home does not actually go away just because you did. On a personal note, this means that for the past few weeks, D has been fighting off one of her "low times" with no clearly apparent cause. On a professional note, it means that we have to start thinking about starting to look for jobs that won't begin until a year from now-- this is a key issue, especially for D, who is looking for professorships and faculty posts for Fall 2006. With applications for these positions closing as early as October 2005, and with her writing already behind schedule, our remaining time here heavily booked, and not a lot of information available about where Chad's job will take him at that time-- this has been a source of much stress for her. The fact that her writing is not really coming along at this point does not help.
Like everyone here who always lives in Sydney, we no longer see it as tourists do. Going places with D's parents a few weeks ago helped us to see it with fresh eyes, sort of, but most weekends we are not all that compelled to go to all the many sights and tourist-y places around town, even though we have certainly not exhausted them. We did go to the Australian museum downtown to see their exhibit on forensic science... it was very CSI and designed for older elementary kids and teenagers, so we PhD students felt a little out of place "solving" the mystery by following the forensic evidence. But it was kind of cool to get to do a lot of the things we see on TV, and there was quite a bit of "inconclusive" evidence, so there was an actual challenge involved. Grissom would be proud of us.
D's American friend Mary who has been working with the dance company D observed in July did find something new to do in Sydney, though. On Thursday, D and Mary went to a proper "high tea" at the Tea Room in the Queen Victoria Building. Way more filling than mere "afternoon tea," and considerably more complete than even "Devonshire Tea," this was the real thing imported direct from the motherland.6 Let me put it this way: the tea menu was five pages long, while the wine list was a mere page. Finger sandwiches, little cakes, scones and jam... It even came with a real Englishman to serve it! Mary and D had a grand time amusing ourselves over a proper tea.
In less than two weeks now we're leaving again to go see the big red rock in the middle of the continent... and a few other things along the way. Chad's friend Mark is joining us out there in the middle of nowhere, so we should probably make some actual plans instead of just playing it by ear...
New photos up every couple of days now-- I'm really trying to get caught up!
;)
- D
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NOTES
1And by "winter wonderland," I mean "chilly
nights, very little rain, and, for the most part, pleasantly cool temperatures
that require a light sweater when not standing in the sunlight."
2Those of you who know D may find this
difficult to believe.
3Which brings us, for those of you who are
keeping track, halfway through season 3.
4One of the preloaded games with Windows XP, but
if you don't have it and want to see about the fuss, you can play it
here. But be warned-- it takes quite
a while to get the hang of it, and you might get hooked. PS: I had to download
a Java program to use this website.