whybother?

First, Miracle is doing well. He is still with us and although he looks distinctly manky, he seems happy. I’m still concerned that we’re being cruel to him by keeping him. We are feeding him the correct foods, although probably not often enough. He spends quite a lot of time outside his cage, playing on the floor and going for little flights around the room. He loves to snuggle, which I find bizarre behaviour in a bird. He particularly likes my hair, i.e: to sit in it and ‘groom’ it. Yuck. We are all very attached to him, so if he snuffs it, we’ll all be affected. Oh, well. You can but try.

Sydney. Where should I begin? To start with, I had to travel down on Sunday, as we had a 9am start on Monday. As I utilised this state’s amazing public transport system, a two hour trip took about 4. I checked in to my hotel: an 18 storey monolith across the road from Central Station. Nice. I took in the king-sized bed, the mini-bar and the plasma screen and decided I could probably cope.

I hooked up with a colleague for dinner, then adjourned to my space to peruse the pay tv channels. Didn’t find much to excite me, so reverted to my book. Fell asleep a few pages later.

Now, keeping in mind the fact that I have been on a strict, calorie controlled weight loss regime, I sauntered down to the buffet breakfast. I was confident I could exercise self-control, so indulged merely in a slice of toast (unbuttered) and a modest spoonful of baked beans. Still hungry, I decided that a little fresh fruit couldn’t do any harm. And those orange and poppyseed muffins are so small, they couldn’t possibly contain many calories, right? Just to be safe, I had two.

A few of us walked over to the bus stop. Did anyone realise that there are so many buses entering and leaving Central, every 30 seconds or so? Could anyone have imagined that there would be so many people, all trying to cram on to said buses at once? And that not one of them could crack even a small smile, let alone inform you which freaking bus you need? No, they live in the city. They know what they are doing. And besides, THEY HAVE EARPHONES SURGICALLY IMPLANTED WHICH MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO HEAR YOU!

Exhausted, we arrived at the training facility. 15 university trained individuals with backgrounds so varied and experience so extensive it was incredible. To be seated in a class room with an airconditioner that could not be set to anything other than freezing or off, in a room where doors and windows could not be opened for fresh air, for 8 hours.

Amongst the group were a couple of nurses, a teacher, a former police officer, a solicitor, any number of social workers and psychologists, and me. All of us have been on the job for anywhere between 2 and 4 months. Guys, WE ALREADY KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO TEACH US. In fact, some of us (not me!) could teach this freaking course. To say that we were bored and frustrated would be an understatement. And this was day one. Ugh. Suffice to say, it wasn’t pretty.

I shall continue my tale another time…