It's 8:30 PM here and Paela is in bed, even though it is 5:30 PM back in California. Her rapid adjustment to this timezone is in part due to the required extra time we need in the morning to get Rebecca to work as well as being a quick bodily response to the early arrival of the sun. I also woke at 6:40 AM local time and was miserable because the sun couldn't be turned off. It amazes me how strong the sun was in the morning since, due to the cloudy weather, we haven't seen it since. There are no markers for direction in this place: no mountains, no hills, no sunlight. As a result it is easy to get lost and have little information as to where you are going -- we have been lost three times during the four attempts we have made to drive in the Boston area.
Monday morning, I ran to campus by 8 AM in order to finish the remaining incisions for my thesis. After a few unscheduled adjustments, I was ready to open my doors at 10 AM. I attepted to become invisible and sit down the hall from the gallery -- as to not have undue influence on the reception of the show -- I was gratified that my presentation offered a captivating enough visual to draw people in upon first glance. However, Tuesday evening's reception was dry and quiet. The San Jose State art department does not put forth a good effort to encourage visitors to their Tuesday evening gallery stroll. I believe I had a total of 20 people stop by. That is the sign of a dying art department.
Wednesday, Rebecca stayed home with the movers while they put our belongings into boxes all day long. Paela enjoyed playing hide and seek in the maze of towering boxes that our apartment became. I did a few class visits and talked with my thesis committee about my final project. There were some very important critiques made about the relationship I had made between the presentation and the conceptual content. On the whole, it was a success. However there is much I still have to learn for the future [who doesn't have more to learn? :) -bec].
While I spent Thursday on campus -- again to discuss my work with various classes -- Rebecca and Paela watched the movers pack our boxes onto the truck and empty our apartment. By the evening it was cleared in time for us to clean (in the hopes that it would lessen the deduction from our rent deposit). Kate Masleid came over and talked with Rebecca until late hours while I stayed out with my colleagues for one last hurrah. I will miss CADRE folks. They are good folks.
By 9 AM Friday morning, our car was loaded onto the moving truck and I was off to campus to tie off all the last loose ends I had. I took down my show (it is still such a tragedy to me that a Masters program would only let your display your seminal work for 4 days) and returned all keys. I said goodbye to my studio and it was about that time that I realized how much I will miss the excellent woodshop facilities. We went out for Chinese one last time with Karl and Angela and I spent much of the day borrowing their car to run last minute errands. Already I miss the cultural influence of the Pacific Rim.
We left early Saturday morning. The airport was no trick, neither were the two long flights -- Paela enjoyed the turbulence and landings [again! again! -paela], while star cat was quiet the whole trip by sleeping much of it in the dark under a seat. While we checked into the hotel, Paela kept asking if we were going to grandma's house. I believe she assumed that since the last time we travelled on a plane resulted in a two week stay at grandma's house, that this trip would be similar. Instead, my sister and family came to see us late at night and Paela saw baby Cameron before going to bed. We have no apartment: we only have a hotel. We hope to find something soon and to get settled so I can start job hunting. Hopefully, getting settled in Boston won't be a challenge.
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