Doesn't every air con repair man come to your office, say he'll have to come back again, then offer to sell you some freshly caught fish from his ute? Well the first part is certainly universal! This was one of the tastiest, most succulent bits of fish I have ever had. The whole fish was in an esky with the massive tail still lying in the tray. The size of chunk he wanted to sell me for K20 (about A$10) was way too big so I asked for half. It was still whole, and Chris had no knife and nothing to wrap the fish with. Proceedings were all a bit unclear but I paid and went away, and reckoned that somehow I'd get my fish… which I did 2 hours later when he tracked me down to my unit and handed me a bag. So I had spicy coconut fish curry for tea and I reckon it's one of the best meals I've ever made! Though I did feel rather inadequate when I popped next door to ask my neighbour to open the tin of coconut milk as my opener was broken, and she just opened it in about 5 seconds flat with a knife… what a skill!
Today was officially 'Friday Find a Friend Day' as I could feel that empty weekend looming and knew I needed to do something about getting some company and getting off campus. Today I met an Italian woman who's been here a while who reckons it is okay to walk solo to the Lodge or take the PMV into town as long as you avoid early mornings and any time from dusk onwards, so I had determined to walk down to the Lodge tomorrow in any case and use their fitness centre, have a massage and sit by the sea with a pizza and a beer for some simple pleasures on my own. Not a bad fallback position! But then I managed to make an arrangement with the other Endeavour Award holder in town, Liz a young woman from Melbourne who stays at the Lodge, to go to the market in the morning and then we can take it from there. I am very excited – a companion!!!
I am finding it seriously interesting to be in the shoes of a newly arrived international student again. It is more than 20 years since I last did, and I am obviously seeing things through different eyes now. The sense of isolation is really quite overwhelming. I suppose if I were here as part of a group of other newbies that might make it easier, but I plan to take a whole fresh look at what we do to plug students arriving on their own into networks. Everyone has been very friendly, and a few people have asked how I am and whether I need anything, but basically they have their own lives to be getting on with at weekends and evenings and they are not looking to complicate life by adding a new person to the mix. So weekdays through the day are great – I have an office to share with someone (and her parents studied at JCU!), from next week I have people to interview, there is the morning tea for all staff at 10 am, and if I want I could go to the dining room for tea. So it's not that I have no contact with people, but apart from Monday night when I went to a formal dinner as a guest of DWU, I have been home alone each night and it is starting to weigh on me. I think the fact that I can't just get up and go for a walk through the city streets compounds it. Another interesting thing is that I feel drawn to other visitors… and it is not just a case of cultural closeness, i.e. that a lot of the visitors are westerners, as many aren't, it is the fact that visitors are also 'apart' from the main society simply by virtue of their other backgrounds, and are also likely to be more open to hanging around with a newcomer. So it is making me re-examine all our rhetoric on the integration of domestic and international students. It is certainly something to strive for but not something that can ever happen overnight I think, though it would help if more of our students had been through the same experience themselves.
I feel vaguely like I am missing out too… like there is a whole world of adventure out there that I am being cautioned out of interacting with because people are kindly concerned for my welfare, but it is claustrophobic and I know that I am going to have to make some changes soon. But I am still finding my feet… I have a plan! Br Hugo picks up some students from near the Lodge each night at 6 and drops them back later so I am going to see if I can get a lift back at 7 each day and walk down there in daylight for a couple of hours before that for the gym and a swim. That should work at least for a while!!
And as for yesterday's comments on the sexism in the ex Miss PNG's comments yesterday, I eat my words… I read some of the Townsville Bulletin on line today (yes, how far have I sunk….though in my defence, I did read the Age too!) and the Bully had features on a woman being sexually assaulted at the Barracks, and on the Miss Townsville Grid Girls competition….aah dear!
It seems quiet so far tonight but I have been warned this won't last… as today is fortnightly pay day when nobody stays at work late if they turn up at all, and where the nearby settlement parties on till the bottles of home brew run dry…. But for me, it's gut nait!
PS – I spoke too soon…. the singsing has started!
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