Two premature goodbyes

This probably doesn’t need to be said, but I am absolutely dreadful at goodbyes. I was bad enough bidding farewell to my loved ones for this little 9-month stint in Perth, so the thought of leaving the great friends I’ve made here, potentially for several years until I can return to Australia, has been stowed away at the back of my mind. I was expecting not to have to deal with this emotional turmoil for six weeks yet, but a couple of cases of unfortunate timing meant that this week brought some unwanted surprises.

The easter bank holiday just gone and ANZAC day coming up on Friday (stay tuned) means that this working week is only three days long, which has made for a nice gentle return to lab after Sydney. After a very long Tuesday morning in surgery harvesting brains and spinal cord for next week’s experiments, I was absolutely ravenous and therefore pretty excited for an overdue EaRN lunch with the boys. Our party consisted of current lab regulars Ryan, Marcus, Andy and myself, plus our good friend Alex, who was back home in Perth for the first time since moving to Tasmania for the latter half of his PhD two months ago. We ate lunch at an Italian café on Broadway, the main street near campus; I had a very scrumptious seafood spaghetti that left me in a food coma for the rest of the day. There was a lot of catching up to do between mouthfuls of incredible italian food; Andy has just got back from three weeks of conferences and holidaying in the USA, I’ve been in Sydney and Alex has been settling into his new workplace at the University of Tasmania. Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t have nearly as much fun as he did at UWA; he says everyone’s so serious that he can go through the whole day without speaking to anyone in the lab! All we do here is chatter; I can’t imagine being silent all day.

Conversation soon turned to my upcoming departure, and it was here that we realised Alex wouldn’t be coming back to Perth until after I leave. Alex has been such a sweet, friendly person to work with and he really made an effort to make me feel welcome when I first started, despite not being on Lindy’s team. Next to Ryan and Marcus, he’s probably been one of my closest friends in the lab. It made me very sad to have to hug him goodbye in the car park and return to the lab knowing I won’t be seeing him for ages!

The next day, my nerves were already in tatters but about to take a battering on an even bigger scale. Lindy’s research assistant Carole, fellow Englishwoman, all-round laboratory queen and the Mum of our team, was going on a six-week holiday, meaning she won’t be back until my feet are firmly on British soil. What’s really painful is that we’ll only miss each other by margin of two days! It’s not only me that’ll struggle with her absence; our team is bound to fall to pieces without her expertise and constant support. I must admit though, my thoughts were mostly selfish. She has been absolutely incredible throughout my whole placement; I can’t even explain how much she’s helped me with all the practical stuff, as well as being the kindest, loveliest lady I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. I feel a little bit teary just thinking about it! I’m going to leave a bunch of flowers and a card on her desk for her to come back to to say thanks, but I really wish that she could be around in my last weeks to come to farewell dos and such. On the bright side, her children live in the UK so there’s a greater chance of seeing her in the near future than Alex.

So there you have it; the goodbyes have begun!