Farewell Party

My departure really is getting close: less than six days, now.

As a last chance to catch up with friends before I leave, I had a farewell party on Saturday. Twenty five people came, including five from out of town. I did have an amusing, if inconvenient moment, where I went to pick Patrick up from the airport, only to find out he had travelled to Canberra by bus. Given that he had told me he was never again travelling from Sydney to Canberra by bus, I thought a plane trip was a safe assumption, but apparently not. We all met safely in the end.

It was nice to see Sarah again after a long time: something like two years, I think. It was also good to see Anna and Yu Heng, although it had only been two months in their case.

Dinner at the restaurant (Bollywood Dimensions) was nice, if a little more expensive than I would have liked. It was interesting how people segregated: at one stage it seemed to be all of the physicists on one table, and all of the Fennerites on the other. Actually, quite a few people were both, but we ended up on the physicists' table. Although I couldn't talk to everyone, I guess it was a good thing that I ended up with the people I see slightly less often.

I had various possessions that I thought I'd pass on as reminders of me, so I awarded them to people for various achievements or amusing moments over the last six years or so. From Auro's "it's easier for eggs, they just sit there" award (the prize being an egg that just sits there), to Thanh's studying snake (for her magic achievements helping me score 120% on one assignment during Honours), everyone won something. The awards varied greatly in desirability (although there was a distinct bias towards the useless trinket, I'm afraid!), but the thought behind them was the same in each case: I'm so grateful to you all for being such good friends over the last few years.

Most of all, I hope that you keep in touch. I'll maintain this blog, so keep reading it, and send me an email now and then to let me know what you've been up to as well. As Patrick said, I do reply to emails, so you will hear from me more personally if you put in the effort.

The night ended with some Bollywood dancing, which greatly amused the spectators. For some reason, the girls preferred to hang around at the back and watch the guys, but I think we all had fun.

The end of the night came and we went our separate ways. It will probably be ten months until I see everyone again.

I did enjoy the next morning with most of the out-of-towners. Sarah and Kaine had an early train, but Anna, Yu Heng and John were able to have a rather interesting breakfast and lunch. Apparently pide is breakfast food now! Also, I still need to work on my pancake making skills. I got the ratios right, but perhaps the ingredient list is even more important than the quantities - and sugar is not a substitute for milk!

One further farewell visit took place that afternoon: to my grandparents in Wanniassa. I showed them a little of Mexico, and we chatted a lot about what I expect in the next year or six. I think cold weather, hard work, and wonderful experiences sum it up.