The only thing is though, since we entered the contest under Joy’s name, I’m not really allowed to attend the Summit conferences... only their social events.  Darn.  I guess I’ll just have to go explore Sydney and play. 

In the end, I got to go to one day’s session with these global health gurus, which was very nice.  I felt a little out of place, thinking, “Um… I’m just a kid who wants to make movies, and teaches children how to play in a rock band on the side.  Anna [my best friend who is getting her Masters in Public Health] should be here, not me.”  

Nevertheless, it’s been exciting meeting people from countries such as Australia, Serbia, UK, Japan, Singapore, Kenya, India, Netherlands, Tunisia, and more.   Sometimes it’s hard to fight the stereotype of the “dumb American,” because I’m not going to lie – most of these people know more about American history and politics than I do, whereas I don’t even know where some of their countries are located – but everyone is incredibly friendly and open because we all share the same cause of trying to promote a healthier world.  Of course, I haven’t told them that Joy and I went to eat at McDonald’s last night... 

As incredible as it’s been to be a part of this huge world venture, I’m not exactly complaining about being excused from sitting in business rooms all day.  So most of my time I’ve been spending by myself, reeking havoc in Sydney.  I’ve been running around everywhere, purposely trying to get lost, but always finding myself at another tourist site by default.  It’s also fun trying to speak with an Aussie accent, especially since there are so many Asians here! Joy and I also got to meet the Van Daals, who are family friends of our LA friend, Beth Winton.  What a lovely family...

(a)                                                          (b)
Fig 1. a) Fast food!  Look familiar?  b) random pic: No Furbies allowed on Qantas Airlines!


Fig 2. An Aussie immersion: visiting the Van Daals.

Fig 3. Birds at the park.  I prefer them over pigeons...

 
Fig 4. Shots of the Sydney Opera House.

Amidst all the exploration, I’ll have to admit – I was pretty bummed yesterday.  I lost my video camera.  What is a filmmaker without a camera??  …especially when the worth of the camera is almost 40% of all you have.  I felt really dumb, because it’s technically my fault: I left it on the plane.  BUT I realized it right after I stepped out of the airport, but couldn’t go back for security reasons, so I called them immediately.  Even with that, and calling every day since we have arrived, there has been no lead.  I’ve spent nearly a total of 3 hours on hold, only to be told that at this point, it probably won’t show up… that what most likely happened was that they threw it out with the blankets since it was wrapped in a T-shirt... except that my shirt and the blankets are totally different colors.  It still doesn’t completely make sense to me, so on once hand, I still wanted to fight.  But there comes a point in all tough situations where we must confront the decision between losing hope and letting go… and at this point I needed to let go.

I was pretty down and Joy had just left for the conference so I’d be alone all day… so I decided to run and take pictures.  Run to where, I had no idea.  After about 2 hours of running, I realized that my beloved mini tripod had fallen out of my camera bag… another loss.  The run wasn’t really helping my mood, plus I was tired, so I sat down to watch a soccer game… the red team made an awesome pass, the forward got ready to shoot, and it went over the goal… way over.  In fact, the field was on top of a parking structure actually, and so no one knew where the ball went.  As tired as I was, I decided to secretly try to find the ball for them – although I was sad about my own losses, maybe I could at least help some others from losing something too.  Yet after exerting all this energy in searching, I still could not find it. 

After losing a good number of things in these past few months – from time and energy, to hard drives, to projects, to money, to loved ones – it sometimes can be overwhelming.  However, as I sit here in this 5 star, world class hotel, I wonder once again, “What have I done to deserve this?”  I get an amazing view, mini bar, HD flat screen, 1 minute walk to the Royal Botanic Gardens, 7 minute walk to the Sydney Opera House, free breakfast on the rooftop… I could go on.  I realize that we hate losing because it is oftentimes equated with waste – the conclusion that what was spent can never be gained back.  But nothing great was ever done without losses.  “To lose is to gain…” 

And at least I haven’t lost my mind (completely).

Life is never perfect, but it’s really up to us whether or not we want to focus on the ups or downs.

Tomorrow is our last day at the hotel, and then off to the Blue Mountains and search for koalas.  In the meantime, please send me updates on your own lovely lives!  Cheers!

Dolce

(a)

(b)

 
(c)
Fig 5. a) Pondering in the hotel, b) the hotel room, c) breakfast on the roof
 

Fig 6. Cheers!