Monday 12 February – Westfield, MA

Working in Westfield all week, which is a town about 2 hours west of Boston. The length of time that I’m meant to be out here is anywhere between 3 and 5 weeks. It’s probably not the preferred option to be working so far out of Boston, especially for such a significant portion of the secondment, but by the same token don’t think I’ll be complaining too much and throwing a tantrum. It will complicate the travel that myself and Libe are looking to do for the rest of February though.

Its over a month into our secondment now – 49 days since we left home- the time has just flown. I think both myself and Libe are slightly missing home, but there’s probably a few factors in play there. Certainly the colder weather has played a bit of havoc with us, I’ve had a fairly strong cold for a little while now that appears to be clearing up, while Libe’s had a shorter illness but was more off-colour than myself. Also the fact that we’re both working quite long hours, and haven’t seen as much of each other in the last couple of weeks, will contribute to that. There’s been plenty of things I’ve grown to recognise since leaving Oz. I’ll try to remember as many as I can here.

• How much I appreciate the work / life balance ethic at PP. I think the people at Vitale are trying to get a similar kind of balance in, however it might need a stronger push from the top down. There are people at Vitale who are in the best years of their life – generally in their 20s – whose life revolves around work. At a minimum six, often seven days a week. I wonder whether these people are more likely to have a mid life crisis than someone who works 5 days and who spend their weekends removed from the office, doing the things they enjoy. I just hope PP never gets to this; although I believe that since I’ve started work the demands on managers at 15 William have gone a little too far (which could be supported by recent resignations).
• The whole Saturday culture at Vitale is quite surprising. As a grad (a first year staff member - or a ‘new hire’ here) you’re expected to go into the office on a Saturday even though there may not be anything for you to do. It’s all about being seen. Why give up a huge part of your weekend just to be seen to be working hard? I’ll call this work ethic ‘live to work’.
• It’s now that I’m glad for the times when you’re in the PP office at 6 and someone like Mark Harrison walks past on his way out and asks why you’re still there. I’m also really grateful for time in lieu. I don’t think it’s something that PP’s culture could survive without in hindsight. There’s might be some partners (no names to be mentioned) who have been pushing to remove it for quite a while, knowing that it will put a little more cash in their wallets. Irrespective of the business implications – I think the loss of time in lieu would cause significant departures from the office anyway and thus would be a dangerous business decision – I think most (if not all) PP partners care about their staff and want them to have a well balanced life, thus I’m confident that the worst won’t happen.
• Since arriving, I have become so much more a ‘work to live’ person, as opposed to ‘live to work’. Since getting out of the normality and routine of a 9 to 5 job in Melbourne, I’ve just woken up that there is just so much more to life to experience than earning a heap money, and than a highly paid position. True, I’d still like to have a well paid position down the track. But I will never let myself get to the stage where it takes 60 hours a week of work to do so.
• Before lifting off the Tullamarine tarmac, I couldn’t gauge how good Melbourne was because I had no basis on which to judge it. Since leaving, I well and truly appreciate just how good a city it is. The award that it regularly rates highly in – the ‘World’s Most Liveable City’ – isn’t a fallacy. Boston is a great city. New York is just magnificient. But sitting on the banks of the Yarra at Southbank on a warm summer night, looking over the city, is a good as it can get. Being able to go to the footy and get so close to the action – which is so hard to do here – is not just a right in hindsight, it’s a privilege. The Spring Racing Carnival. It’s as good as any city in the world.
• Sydney is an hours flight away. Leaving work on a Friday at 5:15, I could be in Sydney within hours. The magnificent scenery of Tasmania – which I’ve always wanted to get back to since I was last there with Pop – is an overnight boat ride away. The Great Ocean Road is at my doorstep, yet I’ve never been. Since getting into Boston, we’ve been able to get ourselves to foreign places, using transport systems we’re not familiar with, with little hindrance at all, all because our time here (in the US) is limited. Who said our time in Australia isn’t limited? I’m not going to take these places for granted from now on and just think that because they’re an hour away I can go whenever I want. I can’t stress that enough to anyone who lives in Australia- appreciate what we’ve got and just get there. I admire the approach of Ross Carroll who just packed up and went around Australia with his van – I’d love to follow in his footsteps one day. If the Cats win their first NAB Cup game and get to go to Darwin for a second round match, I’ll be a little envious.
• I’m starting to miss footy. The longer I’m away, the more I’m appreciate the role I’ve got with the footy club and how much I enjoy it. Although I don’t want this period of travel to end, by the same token I can’t wait to get back into the box for the R12 game against Adelaide (hoping I’ve still got the job when I get back, but won't be disappointed if I don't – I’m certainly not taking anything for granted and going to assume that things can’t change at the highest level of footy, because they do). This time of year is a great time in the footy year, because there’s hope for all involved. At the moment, because I’ve got time to think about footy, I’m missing it. The home and away season kicks off exactly the same weekend as our 2-and-a-bit months of non-stop travel does; I doubt that I’ll be thinking about how much I miss footy then because I won’t have time to think that, we’ll just be so excited by each new day of discovery.

I’ve just read over my whole blog to date. Apart from the fact that it’s as big as a New York phone book – big enough for it to apply to be a contestant on The Biggest Loser - perhaps the one thing that struck me most is that most of what I’ve said about the US has been a little negative or critical. In hindsight, probably over critical. Reading all this, plus the thoughts above, you would think I’m ready to jump back on the next plane to Melbourne.

That couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s a lot of great and wonderful things about the US. In terms of cultures, I’m sure that they are closer to ours than most others. I’ve been lucky to meet a lot of great locals, particularly those who work at Vitale. The people here are very similar to us in how accepting they are of foreigners, perhaps even more so. I’ve loved Boston and New York, two places I’d love to come back to and see again, particularly in their summers when the different climate would provide a sharp contrast to the cities we’ve experienced so far. And I’m sure that compared to places coming up for myself & Libe’s tours, such as Peru and Egypt, the US is going to be so easy to communicate effectively and to get ourselves around in.