ADS Pre-departure Briefing

I've passed the Australian Embassy a thousand times, and it's very near my house, yet somehow this morning, I ended up in front of the Japanese Embassy instead. Only when I called another ADS candidate - one of my former students - did I start to realize I was dead wrong reading my way! What an embarrassing experience! Could be because I did not get sufficient sleep last night in the hospital looking after my grandpa.

The Australian Embassy is well-positioned and spacious. The briefing started with a welcome speech by the ADS Team Leader, followed by the diplomatic and political officer.

Each of us was then awarded an official ADS Certificate and had a photograph taken, unfortunately only by courtesy of some well-prepared candidates in the audience. The organizers should have hired a professional photographer to do that picture-taking, which was not a frequently repeated occasion in our life.

The first session was rather useful, with some interesting presentations about Australia and things to keep in mind before starting a new life. The information exchanges from three ADS alumni gave us both fascinating information and a good laugh.

Lunch was a lackluster moment. The food was not fairly good, but I did not want to try anything heavy, so I had several bowls of lichee sweet soup, which tasted really nice, especially on such a blistering day like today.

I talked to Ninh, and got told off for lying to her about my availability some months ago when she had the goodwill of introducing me to a girl she thought could be the right one for me. I remember telling her at that time that I already had the apple of my eyes and had no intention of looking for another.

I felt really embarrassed calling a lady sitting in the front not by her name, but by yours, just because she had the same family and middle name with you. I don't know if Ninh or anyone who knew me there recognized how much I betrayed myself then. Anyway, that suddenly prompted me to think about you and suddenly felt sad.

The afternoon session was horrible. The presentations were way too out-of-topic. Also, with us having no siesta after lunch, I fell asleep halfway through the second presentation when that lady from UNWomen started to pontificate about gender issues beyond the interest of not only me but also others.

The final photo session was also a disappointment. I wondered why no professional photographer was called in for such an occasion. The positioning was poor, and I guess many would not find their faces in the upcoming photo.

We were told, at the end of the session, that flight might be due as early as 20 May. Felt sad. It's something that I am not very much looking forward to.