DAY FIFTEEN: Halfway

A bitty day of laundry, packing, cinema, yoga and some work. Emerging from a cinema into a sunny afternoon is always disorienting, but outside The Astor Theatre (pictured) there is the added challenge of immediately crossing a 12 lane highway (with 5 lanes of cars and a tram in each direction!). I hold my breath for those who are impatient and cross before the lights change as they dodge through the traffic like athletes. 

At home I have been strict about my work schedules. Sticking to a 9-5 and keeping weekends free has been my work-life balance mantra since I started the PhD. Here though, I have submitted to an inevitable blurring of this boundary and I can see why it works for some. It can be nice to break up a working day with a trip to the bakery or convenient to fit in a bit of admin on a long Saturday bus journey. 

The blurring has been manageable in a city where I don't have the other commitments of a normal life, but I look forward to spending evenings with my friends rather than my laptop.

Halfway round the world, halfway through the trip, halfway working, halfway adventuring.