Categories: work, australia, life
Date: 18 March 2009 04:20:33
Sitting in cafés, drinking Brazil, Watching old ladies struggle up the hill. The sun is winking at me, giving me the eye, There's no better place to watch the time trickle by. 'Cos we're living in the city, there ain't no room for peace, Wow, we're living in the city, there ain't no time for sleep, Hey, we're living in the city, where everything is free, Oh, where I wanna be, hey hey, is living in the city. So sang Des'ree; she can keep her living in the city to be honest -- I find it rather draining. And I was only there two nights! I was glad I stayed in a hotel, as I could sleep in a bit and I hit the bed fairly soon after the [enjoyable] harbour cruise, but two days in Sydney's CBD is enough for me. During the day it is too busy, at night it swings between quiet areas and areas of drunken frenzy, and I do find it rather dirty and depressing. The harbour is nice, at least sometimes [I am not overly enamoured of it, to many people's disgust], but I find the city a mish-mash of strange and conflicting buildings and as a place I'd rather avoid. But that is me. I have friends who love living in the CBD and all power to them -- I'll stick to the suburbs. Or Finland, as a recent Facebook quiz suggested: a nice cool place by a lake in a forest sounds ideal for me. The conference was alright: some useful talks, some not-so-useful talks, some entertaining talks, and some talks that would send the most caffeinated person to sleep. I got some useful information on back-office systems and met some interesting people from around the world. I enjoyed lovely food and coffee, and there was a nice harbour cruise as well [photos to come soon]. But it is nice to be back home.