One Drink Wednesday

It has officially become more challenging to find things to write blog posts about. Sometimes we have things to do planned, but often Justin is working over much of the weekend. Other times one of us is having big feelings about something (like last week with my birthday feelings), but it really wouldn't be ideal if it was happening weekly. Mostly things have settled down.

The PhD work is still going well overall, but it is very busy. I had been working towards some preliminary data collection, but for reasons beyond my control (participant availability), that has now been postponed by a month or so. Instead I have switched to preparing for my first milestone which is coming up in August. In Australian PhD's, milestones are the regular check ins that you have with the panel of professors that oversee your work. They essentially make sure you are on track and progressing at a reasonable pace. The first milestone is at the 6 month mark, and is pretty informal. Its more about making sure the project is feasible and appropriate for a PhD, rather than measuring my progress. But I still have to submit a written report and do a little presentation. So things are busy, but good.

There is a white board in our lunchroom at work. When I first started working, it was about half full of doodles. Over a few months, it slowly filled up the rest of the way. Lots of people drew things on it, but no one ever erased anything. A few weeks ago, while planning the first instance of after-work drinks, I decided it was finally time. I erased the whiteboard. I did this at the end of lunch, while people were still in the lunchroom. It sounds strange, but as I was erasing everything, it felt like everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief. It was time for a new whiteboard message.

Since then, I've been using the whiteboard to facilitate social events (which, btw, we need to talk about how I somehow became a social organizer in Australia). After our first attempt at after work drinks was a success, we decided we needed to create some structure around this, and make it a relatively regular event. So me and one of my friends came up with One Drink Wednesday: a low stakes, mid-week research respite. Most of the people who work in our building drive to work. One drink Wednesday means they can come out, be social and still safely drive home. While we aren't going to have ODW every week, we are going to try and get it going as regularly as we can. We had our first ODW last week, and it was another success. Hopefully there is more to come in the future.

Somehow, the executive decision to erase the whiteboard, and its subsequent usage to make plans, has made me responsible for all whiteboard messages. And as I mentioned above, apparently I've become a social planner? So that is kind of strange. I've never really thought of myself as a particularly social person. Yes, I have okay social skills, but historically I'm not great at making plans or rallying people. Or, at least I didn't think I was. I don't know if its a hemispheric thing, or a desperation thing, but in Australia I've somehow become the person that makes plans and organizes events. If I'm being honest, I'm not sure how I feel about taking on this role. I mean, I think I'm okay at it. But I'm just not sure if it feels like me yet.

I think that's all I have to say for this week. I know this is the shortest post I've had in a while. Is there anything you guys want me to write about? Questions you have for or about Australians? Particular things you think Justin & I should eat/drink/do and then tell you about? Specific parts about life in Australia you want to hear about? Please let me know! I'm happy to take direction.