Day two: Sitting in a lovely home overlooking a lake in East Grand Rapids. The trees here are just starting to turn, some lovely reds reflected in the water. I could stay here a while. Sadly, I'm off to Madison in less than an hour, so this will have to be brief.
The day has been very busy, starting with a breakfast meeting at 7:30 am, fortunately at our hosts house so I only needed to crawl upstairs toward the smell of coffee. Then a late morning meeting, which extended into lunch - more bbq was recommended when one of us asked for something very American. Is that all people eat here now? My memory is that it is more southern than northern, but Grand Rapids is certainly not the south! One meeting led to another, and we ended up visiting some great media people in the downtown area. Check out http://store.flannel.org/about-flannel for more details on their really interesting work. Their films have great potential for getting people to talk about important life issues. First class productions. Don't be put off by their rather drab About Us webpage! Free 'tickets' to watch the videos online are there on the Player page (Support) I think.
Day...four? Yesterday was Madison - got picked up at 7am and had meetings all day and evening. It is interesting travelling with my boss - in every meeting he is 'in charge' and I never know what part I am going to have to play - what he will ask me to talk about, which questions he will send my way. To be honest...I'm finding it rather fun! It is exhilirating to know that there is nothing I can do to prepare, and a great exercise to think on my feet. And the people I'm meeting are all great too. I could do this for a long time - if only we could do it in 8-hour days and not be flying to a new city every day.
Also interesting is travelling with two men. I am so used to being on my own, so used to having to be independent, to taking charge, being in charge because there is just me...that it is a real challenge to know how to relate to them in the flurry of airport activities, meetings, etc. The fact that they are both African adds an interesting cultural dimension. I expect they find me challenging too! I need more men in my life.
Random thoughts on America. I had forgotten how extravagently spacious everything is. Wide streets, miles and miles of shops and restaurants and parking lots with no sidewalk/pavement so you have to drive everywhere. Huge houses with front and side and back lawns all merging into their neighbours lawns. Gardens in these upper-middle class neighbourhoods with nary a flower - just shrubs clinging to the edges of houses. Acre upon acre of sprawling single-story businesses with great stretches of lawn around them - so lush and weed-free that I wonder - how many tons of chemicals are being poured onto them every month and where do those chemicals go, what is this passion for the perfect lawn doing to the environment?
Was driven to Eau Claire today - lovely fall colours beginning. Brings back memories of summers spent studying linguistics in North Dakota and taking forays camping into Minnesota and Wisconsin...several decades ago! One particularly memorable night was after watching the film An American Werewolf in London...lying awake listening to coyotes (or was it wolves???) howl all night and finding it hard to keep the images out of my mind. The power of film!
Well...lots more I could say but I should be asleep. Jet lag woke me at 4am this morning...let's hope I can sleep longer tonight.
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