Handed In!

Yesterday morning I handed in my thesis!! I am officially no longer a student :o) However, I also don't have my degree; I still need to wait for up to two months for my reviews.

The past few weeks have been a lot of work but I never really felt rushed or overly stressed. There was no big build-up or dramatic last-minute disaster, so I can be thankful for that. However, I did originally aim to finish a few days early, but it didn't quite happen as planned--and at one point I even wanted to hand in several weeks early so that I could give a final seminar, which for some reason was never required of me...

Yesterday, after I handed in, my supervisor, Naomi, and her partner (who also happens to be one of my advisors), took Seth and me out for a swanky lunch at Cafe Vivaldi, located at the ANU Union. Naomi won't be in next week, so it was the last time I will see her, unless I bump into her at an international conference, so it was a bit sad to say good-bye. She has been so fantastic and gracious to me that I will probably go through some sort of 'supervisor-withdrawal'. At least I will be able to keep in contact with her and get her advice while I try to publish a paper or two and hunt for jobs.

The past week Seth and I have been trying to meet up with friends for the last time. A few days ago I met with my 'field assistant', Julian, for lunch and a good chat in the Union, then ran into Sam, my running/biology buddy. Before this, Seth and I went out for coffee with the international students at Johns, whom we hadn't seen since we left last semester. At first I felt strange about meeting up with them, particularly since our lives in Downer seem so different from what they were at Johns, but once we saw them, I began to really miss everyone and started to regret not visiting. That group of friends has been something else--so happy and generally carefree, yet each person has such a unique background and culture to contribute. For example, on Monday Fahad invited us over to B&G (a self-catered residential hall he recently moved to) and we had some Pakistani food for lunch, which included an awesome dahl and curry. Things like that are always very memorable. Gosh, I'm really going to miss those guys!

Yesterday I met with Warren for coffee for the last time, then last night Seth and I finally got together with Oanh and Hawk for an Italian dinner at probably the cutest restaurant in Canberra. Despite our attempts, we hadn't seen those two since we moved out nearly 16 months ago! That also made me a bit sad because Hawk, in particular, is the neatest guy, being extremely quirky, sarcastic, yet overall a big friendly softy. I wish we got to see him more since moving out :o(

We are continuing our mission to meet with people and so are spending our last weekend in Sydney. We caught an early bus to the city, then had a few minutes to wander around Paddy's Market before going to Darling Harbour to see an old high school friend of Seth's. She had been living near Sydney with her husband and little girl but this was the only time we were able to visit them!

They dropped us off in Leichhardt, and as we waited for Shelden, Carmen, and Carlos to return, we enjoyed a FANTASTIC mocha at Bar Italia (on Norton St), one of our favourite places. It struck me then how comfortable I feel in Sydney and how much I will miss it. However, Seth ensured me that Boston will be even nicer, so at least I know that I won't be missing out when we leave Australia.

We finally met up with Shelden, and he and Seth took off for a rugby match (apparently it is a big one), and Carmen and I had dinner in, while Carlos (her nine-year-old boy) went out to watch the new Indiana Jones. It was great to hang out with Carmen--I hadn't realised it sooner, but it has been a really long time since I had a chat with a girl! I hope when we move to Boston that I am able to make some good friends, or at least visit Bo while she is there!