And the move

Is becoming more real. My mom was in town for a huge logistical confab about stuff and dates and everything else. A moving company guy came yesterday to do the real inventory and estimate, and he was great. He sat and talked with us for quite a while about how the move works. My house gets to be loaded onto a container onto a boat and sails out of Baltimore, and either around Africa or through the Panama canal--not sure which--and then to Australia! It will take 70 days door to door. He got sidetracked at one point telling horror stories of boats that get caught in storms and containers get broken up with all of the waves and crashing around!! He then assured us it was very very unlikely....

But my furniture has an adventure to look forward to and I get to whisper to them stories of the lands they will pass by....

I am getting close to the time where I buy my plane tickets too. Now that WILL be real.

And I must plan my goodbyes with everyone. Sad, scary, exciting...

I submitted a paper today for a conference in Sienna, Italy, in September. A carrot to look forward to...sort of like my conference in Melbourne was a carrot to get me through this semester, and look what happened there?!?

More movies

6. Cosi (more self-mocking humor, very sweet movie though).

Aussie movies

Another thing, I have signed up with Netflix for my remaining time here, with the sole purpose of watching as many Australian movies as possible in a desperate attempt to glean insight into the national character and to get used to their accent! So far, I have seen:

1. Oscar and Lucinda (beautiful--loneliness and isolation are a piece of the puzzle)
2. Strictly Ballroom (Self-mockery is definitely a part of the national character)
3. Sydney--A story of a city (Made for TV, but a nice historical tour of the city--convicts!!)
4. Muriel's Wedding (More self-mockery, bits with Sydney in the background)
5. Mad Max (Not sure why such a cult favorite, but more about the loneliness, convicts, at least metaphorically)

Next up: Cosi, Priscilla, and Lantana....

Changes

No surprise, but I don't know how much longer this blog is for the world. I hope that I'll get back into the blogging habit, but it may be at a new site.

I have officially finished my semester at my current position. Thank God! It has been a very rough semester. Everything they say about first-time teaching is true. I felt like I was on a treadmill for 15 weeks that kept getting faster as I got stronger. There were rewards, but I am not yet in a position where I can appreciate them.

I have had a "boyfriend" in NM, though definitely of the sort of practice boyfriend with training wheels. It isn't fair to him to post the details, but suffice it to say, I am not in love, and it has been equal parts frustrating and nice to have him around.

In keeping with my life-long tradition of dramatic left turns, my next adventure is going to take place in Australia! I have a 3-year (renewable, extendable, etc etc) post-doc at a university in Sydney. In marked contrast to my current position, it seems just about perfect, albeit very very far away....

So my next 8 weeks or so are about reveling in free time, planning an international move, and saying goodbye to all that is American about America. I am sad in a lot of ways, though technology makes even being in the opposite hemisphere almost a non-event.

So do stay tuned for packing lists, quandries over which furniture to take and which to sell (did I say they are paying for everything to be moved??? I have achieved my goal of the next move being paid for by someone else!)