More About the Conference

This is the most chic conference I’ve ever attended, my friends. The first day of the conference culminated in a wine reception and then a banquet.

The banquet took place in a deconsecrated former chapel. The combination of stained glass, long banquet tables, wall statues, a huge pipe organ, candles in ornate candelabra, uniformed waiters who ask, “Shall I bring out pudding, ma’am?”, and a really good 4 – course dinner was very impressive. I’ve never been fed this well at any conference.

It’s curious how many Canadians showed up for this conference. This shows that Canada is doing quite well financially and universities can afford to send people overseas. Two Canadian scholars from different regions told me that their schools have recently gone from the 3:3 to the 2:2 teaching load. I was green with envy.

There is also a large group of Australians, which must mean that Australia is doing quite well economically, as well. Australian scholars shocked me with the really sophisticated quality of their scholarship. If anybody labors under the impression that Australia is an intellectual backwater, think again.

This is the college where I’m staying:

The lawn looks sad because it’s a habitual place for cricket players. And here’s a patio close to the college:

And one of the really cute buildings in town:

And here’s another one:

My life is hard because I found another enormous bookstore. And a really cute little bookstore that sells stationery and Venetian masks:

This is very temping! Credit cards crawl out of my pocket of their own free will, it seems.