Visit to Australia
21 November 2002
It's two months since my last e-mail and almost Christmas again. The year seems to have gone by incredibly quickly and it will probably be less than twelve months before we move back to Melbourne. We have been trying to make the most of the time here despite the recent uncertainty about Robert's work.
The weekend after Labor Day we were invited to Palm Springs for a friend's 40th birthday. Alex was celebrating with a party by the pool at a small hotel there. Our friends Chris and Kurt whom we had met in July decided to come too at the last minute and so drove the 600 miles to Palm Springs as the airfares were not cheap with only short notice.
It was a very relaxed weekend. Most of the guests were from Los Angeles where Alex lives. I showed my ignorance of American daytime television (hardly surprising since we watch no television at all) by asking one guy I met there what he did for a living; he explained he appeared on "The Bold and the Beautiful". I didn't ask which one he was.
On the last weekend in September our friends from Vancouver, Greg and Alex, visited San Francisco again for Folsom Street Fair. We went to the fair with them and with Chris and Kurt. It was quite a different experience from last year, now that we knew quite a lot of people in San Francisco, with a lot of socializing. We stayed all afternoon and met up with a few guys we had met either last year at the fair or else in other places in the US when we had travelled. The fair brings a lot of visitors to San Francisco.
Castro Street Fair is the weekend after Folsom Street. This was more of a local thing with fewer visitors from outside the city but nonetheless an interesting afternoon and another day of glorious September sunshine before the waning daylight and fog of October and November.
The following weekend I was off to Orlando for the American Society of Anesthesiologists' Conference. This is the biggest annual anaesthesia conference in the world. Our lab had some research to present at the conference, so my trip was paid for (or rather, I paid for it and will eventually be reimbursed). I had been somewhat disappointed not to get to the ASA conference last year when it was in New Orleans and was keen to attend the refresher course lectures.
In terms of scientific content the conference was something of a disappointment after the World Congress on Pain in San Diego in mid-August. That conference was very much about new research and many of the lectures I attended contained material which was really very interesting from both a pain-research and a clinical perspective. The ASA conference was much more about clinical information which was not exactly new or cutting-edge. The social aspect of the conference seems to be more important for many American anesthesiologists, and while I did see a couple of people from Australia, and James Cottrell whom we had been next-door to on Fire Island, I didn't really know enough American anesthesiologists for the social aspect to be a highlight.
My other new experience in going to the ASA conference was flying America West, which was cheap and was the worst airline I have yet flown on. The lack of food or drink didn't really surprise me, but the lack of any air-vents above the tiny seats and the flight attendant hollering at people to stand up and let others get to their seats was a little disturbing. I now see why they're referred to as "America's Worst".
Ten days after returning from Orlando I deserted Robert again, this time to visit Australia. He has put up with a lot of being left at home in the last month, which has fortunately coincided with his work being busy: a new project for Kinkos (the printing company, not the clown).
I spent two weeks in Australia, most of it in Melbourne and the final weekend in Sydney. It was good to get to see my family and many of the friends I had kept in contact with via e-mail during the 15 months I had been away.
Visiting my sister in Marysville with my father.
I apologize to those I didn't get to see; it was a very full two weeks and you're always welcome to come and visit us in San Francisco. Luckily my cousin Elizabeth was visiting Melbourne (from Europe) at the same time. I was also pleased to see the two relatives who had been born while I was away: Phoebe and Thibault.
Anne, Phoebe and Elizabeth.
Thibault.
The weekend in Sydney was not a long visit but was busy enough. Attila was kind enough to pick me up from the airport and I caught up him and Ken Webb for lunch there on Saturday. I went to the closing of Gay Games followed by the Farewell party. Half of San Francisco seemed to be at the party as well as most of the people I know in Sydney and some, like Michael, Vince and Fillippo from Melbourne I hadn't seen in the preceding fortnight and others, like Antonio, whom I had seen in Melbourne as well.
With Bill Simpson at the Closing Ceremony.
It was also a very pleasant surprise to see quite a few guys I hadn't seen for a long while including Jianni and Ian from Auckland. While I was in Sydney, Robert went to Los Angeles for the weekend to visit Bruce and Billy. We coordinated the return flights so that we met up at San Francisco Airport and could share a cab home.
The following day, our friend Cath came to visit from Sydney. She is staying for two weeks to take in the shopping highlights of San Francisco. We have both been very busy at work during the week so she has been quite independent seeing the sights. On the weekends we have been able to do things together.
We are entering what the Americans so non-denominationally call "the holiday season". Next week we celebrate Thanksgiving which for us will mean giving thanks for me having completed the first USMLE exam next Wednesday and having two days off work. Over Christmas and New Year we have no plans as yet.
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The weekend after Labor Day we were invited to Palm Springs for a friend's 40th birthday. Alex was celebrating with a party by the pool at a small hotel there. Our friends Chris and Kurt whom we had met in July decided to come too at the last minute and so drove the 600 miles to Palm Springs as the airfares were not cheap with only short notice.
It was a very relaxed weekend. Most of the guests were from Los Angeles where Alex lives. I showed my ignorance of American daytime television (hardly surprising since we watch no television at all) by asking one guy I met there what he did for a living; he explained he appeared on "The Bold and the Beautiful". I didn't ask which one he was.
On the last weekend in September our friends from Vancouver, Greg and Alex, visited San Francisco again for Folsom Street Fair. We went to the fair with them and with Chris and Kurt. It was quite a different experience from last year, now that we knew quite a lot of people in San Francisco, with a lot of socializing. We stayed all afternoon and met up with a few guys we had met either last year at the fair or else in other places in the US when we had travelled. The fair brings a lot of visitors to San Francisco.
Castro Street Fair is the weekend after Folsom Street. This was more of a local thing with fewer visitors from outside the city but nonetheless an interesting afternoon and another day of glorious September sunshine before the waning daylight and fog of October and November.
The following weekend I was off to Orlando for the American Society of Anesthesiologists' Conference. This is the biggest annual anaesthesia conference in the world. Our lab had some research to present at the conference, so my trip was paid for (or rather, I paid for it and will eventually be reimbursed). I had been somewhat disappointed not to get to the ASA conference last year when it was in New Orleans and was keen to attend the refresher course lectures.
In terms of scientific content the conference was something of a disappointment after the World Congress on Pain in San Diego in mid-August. That conference was very much about new research and many of the lectures I attended contained material which was really very interesting from both a pain-research and a clinical perspective. The ASA conference was much more about clinical information which was not exactly new or cutting-edge. The social aspect of the conference seems to be more important for many American anesthesiologists, and while I did see a couple of people from Australia, and James Cottrell whom we had been next-door to on Fire Island, I didn't really know enough American anesthesiologists for the social aspect to be a highlight.
My other new experience in going to the ASA conference was flying America West, which was cheap and was the worst airline I have yet flown on. The lack of food or drink didn't really surprise me, but the lack of any air-vents above the tiny seats and the flight attendant hollering at people to stand up and let others get to their seats was a little disturbing. I now see why they're referred to as "America's Worst".
Ten days after returning from Orlando I deserted Robert again, this time to visit Australia. He has put up with a lot of being left at home in the last month, which has fortunately coincided with his work being busy: a new project for Kinkos (the printing company, not the clown).
I spent two weeks in Australia, most of it in Melbourne and the final weekend in Sydney. It was good to get to see my family and many of the friends I had kept in contact with via e-mail during the 15 months I had been away.
Visiting my sister in Marysville with my father.
I apologize to those I didn't get to see; it was a very full two weeks and you're always welcome to come and visit us in San Francisco. Luckily my cousin Elizabeth was visiting Melbourne (from Europe) at the same time. I was also pleased to see the two relatives who had been born while I was away: Phoebe and Thibault.
Anne, Phoebe and Elizabeth.
Thibault.
The weekend in Sydney was not a long visit but was busy enough. Attila was kind enough to pick me up from the airport and I caught up him and Ken Webb for lunch there on Saturday. I went to the closing of Gay Games followed by the Farewell party. Half of San Francisco seemed to be at the party as well as most of the people I know in Sydney and some, like Michael, Vince and Fillippo from Melbourne I hadn't seen in the preceding fortnight and others, like Antonio, whom I had seen in Melbourne as well.
With Bill Simpson at the Closing Ceremony.
It was also a very pleasant surprise to see quite a few guys I hadn't seen for a long while including Jianni and Ian from Auckland. While I was in Sydney, Robert went to Los Angeles for the weekend to visit Bruce and Billy. We coordinated the return flights so that we met up at San Francisco Airport and could share a cab home.
The following day, our friend Cath came to visit from Sydney. She is staying for two weeks to take in the shopping highlights of San Francisco. We have both been very busy at work during the week so she has been quite independent seeing the sights. On the weekends we have been able to do things together.
We are entering what the Americans so non-denominationally call "the holiday season". Next week we celebrate Thanksgiving which for us will mean giving thanks for me having completed the first USMLE exam next Wednesday and having two days off work. Over Christmas and New Year we have no plans as yet.
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