TASA Conference Eve

Well here I am in Melbourne. Had a pretty good flight from Newcastle with only a 30 minute delay while we waited for a crew member to arrive...maybe it was the pilot in which case the wait was totally justified! I looked over the choices for the concurrent sessions that will be running from Tue to Thu - so many papers and sessions to choose from - I am spoilt for choice! Some really interesting topics about a wide range of sociological topics - I'm sure they will all be interesting.

On arrival at Tullamarine I grabbed the Skybus to get to town - great service - they bring you right into the city and then transfer you to a smaller bus and take you to your hotel - all for $28 return...bargain! I am staying at The Victoria Hotel - a lovely old hotel that has perhaps seen better days but is very comfortable and certainly centrally located.

I got here in time to see the Jets second half - how awesome is Taggart? Then went for a walk through Chinatown which is nearby, grabbed a bite to eat, a bottle of wine to bring back to the room, bought a Myki card to access public transport tomorrow, and then back to the room to settle in for the night.

Tomorrow is the start of the TASA Conference with Postgraduate Day. Thankfully they also let poor undergraduates such as myself attend - I can't wait. The program says it is all about "Becoming a Sociology Practitioner" as opposed to being an academic sociologist. I think there will be presentations from employers and some working sociologsts. Should be very interesting.

My first challenge for tomorrow will be to negotiate the Melbourne public transport system, find Monash Uni, and then find the venue for the conference...wish me luck!