The Queen and My Toilet Crisis

I wrote this blog entry over a year ago and forgot to publish it. Probably not very funny at the time but it's really funny looking back at this now. Haha, poor me!  

Sometime in October 2011

I'm sitting on my bean bag with a sigh... finally. Now that Floriade is over I felt like I could breath for a bit and tell you a story about when the Queen visited Floriade. The garden opens 4 days extra to accommodate the Queens visit and as a volunteer I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to 'view' her in the park. I could be more excited, but personally I don't care too much for the Queen, or the Duke of Edinburg. You may sneer at me all you want but when William and Kate got married I was exactly where I should be- on my desk making jewelry... or something responsible like that.

Greg and I felt so special we dressed up for the event. Greg even took the morning off work just to come with me. But then the event seem to die down drestically while Greg and I waited behind a fence in Floriade like everyone else to catch a glimpse of the Queen while the rest of the public waited around Lake Burley Griffin while the Queen ride on a boat ride to Floriade. We waited for 1 and a half hour in the sun and although it seem boring, it wasn't all that bad for me. We chatted to other fellow volunteers, and we also got free ice tea and magnum (expensive) ice cream. Woo!

I can't believe the length they had to go through to prepare for the queen to simply walk through a bit of the garden. Some say they planted new tulips in the garden to replaced the dead ones. Security is covered from the vicinity of the water, land and sky. And of course, the press is absolutely everywhere. They've also got a live string quartet playing just as the Queen about to walk through.

As my sister in law said, this photo looks like the bass player had fallen off the stage, but just like all professional musician, the others kept on playing...

And then it happened. I suddenly felt a very strong urge to go to the toilet. And maybe because the Queen had arrived and I was very nervous. But it was too late. The fence that we were standing behind is shut and just like that... I am trapped. I walked up and down agitated. I finally went to a security guard and asked him ," If I go to the bushes, would you kill me?!" He was like, "No, just go, go!" But I didn't. I hold it in. I was motivated by the thought that if a camera somehow caught an image of me from the helicopter, I would became the news sensation of the 7pm project or Hamster Wheel and I would have to move out of this country forever. I couldn't wait for the queen to just hurry up, get in the car and just GO AWAY so that I can go to the toilet!!!

With that being said, I had the nerve to pose in front of the queen and Greg to photos of me.

Turns out I wasn't the only one who had that experience. There were people queuing for the toilet complaining the same thing. Oh man... so much for the experience of seeing the Queen. It felt like I was just there to burn in the sun for 2 hours and now I know what it feels like to almost loose my kidney. And since the Queen will never ever come to Australia ever again, this will make an interesting story to tell my kids and their kids. yay... 

My First Market

On Sunday 11 of November, I have finally hit a milestone in my jewellery making career and put myself out there to sell in the markets. I've spent a very long time getting ready for this, almost a 2 years now. It is very silly, but the perfectionist in me wouldn't let me do it otherwise.

On Sunday morning Greg and I got up at 8am which is unheard of for both of us. We've packed up the night before so it was easy to pack everything in the car. But even then we had to go back home once because we forgot a few things. We aimed to be at the market at the 9am for 10am start. We got there at 9:30 in the end because of remembrance day traffic. I freaked out a bit because at 9:30am, there were people everywhere and I thought I was late! The jewellery stall next to me is already set up and full of people. So Greg and I frantically tried to set up everything as fast as we could. From the looks of the morning weather, it looks like it's going to be a nice day. 

I felt a bit nervous in the beginning. I wasn't so sure what to expect. I even bought 2 camping chairs and a bit of wire just in case I have time off and there aren't very many people around. Turns out I wasn't nervous for very long at all. Our first visitor is a friend that I met while working in the florist. This man had just turned 60 the day before and he came to visit me with his wife. He is probably the most extroverted 60 year old I will ever met. I told him that I felt a bit nervous so he decided to man the stall with me while his wife walks around the market. While he was with me, he was shouting "Good morning!" to (and I'm not exaggerating) absolutely everyone who walk pass. At one point he managed to pull 5 people to my stall and he doesn't even know what he's selling. I smacked my forehead in disbelief and felt a bit embarrassed, but it was really funny at the same time. He was there for not more than 15 minutes before his wife dragged him away from my stall. Hehe... 

It wasn't long that things pick up after he left. I must've got into the 'zone' and the selling skills I had in he florist starting to come out. I'm starting to realize the stall-holder etiquette and finding things to say as people browse through my items. Throughout the day I had friends who gave me a surprise visit and it made me jumped around in excitement. I also met people that I've met online and have been looking forward to meet face to face for the first time. The support that my friends showed me is really unbelievable and humbling. It really meant the world for me to have them there. I really wished I took photos of all of them who came, but it will just have to be a mental picture in my head now.

While I was busy chatting with friends and serving customers, suddenly the amplifier of the market sounds really loud reminding us that the time is 11am. That day happens to be our remembrance day, and exactly at 11am, for one minute, the entire market stops and everyone fell into silence. I've seen clips like this a lot in youtube, but it was so awesome to actually be in it. It felt so incredible... I think I will remember this moment for a long time. 

My stall was completely busy for a few hours after that I felt a bit overwhelmed by the interest of the crowd. As busy as I was, I tried to sms my dad letting him know that I'm over the moon. I kept thinking that I was going to run out of stock even though I wasn't. I felt a lot of joy striking conversation with people and letting them understand what's involved into making my jewellery. Another the personal highlight for me was when the dancing club, jumptown was just around the corner. Oh, how I wish I could be there to watch the dance, but just listening to the music makes me so happy already.

And where was Greg all this time? Initially I thought he'd be bored to death, but after doing a few errands he stayed with me until I finished. He also helped by getting me treats through out the day. Orange juice, apple cider, bottle of water. The food in bus depot market is always sooo good! Things are starting to die down after lunch time and Greg got me a couple of curry puffs and a basil chicken stir fry with some rice. It was sooo yummy but I couldn't really stomach it since I felt like I don't really deserve it yet.     

By 2:30pm things are starting to slow down. I was chatting around with Greg and my friends Steve and Glen. I had a few people taking a look at the stall and had a descent chat with them about the jewellery which I enjoyed immensely.  One highlight was when I had 3 Indonesian girls visiting me. It was super awesome to talk in Indo again. And for some reason, when you talk in Indo, we laugh at everything. We were laughing so loud about nothing when there's really not that many people around us anymore. It was ridiculous how much fun i had with my customers I almost can't believe that I'm at work. 

After I finished serving my last customer, it was the perfect timing to pack up and go. Unfortunately it wasn't the end of the day for Greg and I. We are both on duty at church that night and Greg is leading the service for the first time. We head back home to drop our jewellery things and picked up sounds equipments and we're off again. It was clearly a very big day for me and Greg, and we were so proud of each other to pull off these massive challenges in one day. We were one of the last ones to leave church as part of our duty is to wash and pack up everything.

When we were driving home, I was so incredibly tired I don't have the energy to think of what to do for dinner. After suffering the Melmoth family curse of indecisiveness we finally settled on our favorite Japanese place. A $2 miso soup had never tasted so good, ever.    

3 days later, I still feel like I'm dreaming. I still can't believe people actually like my stuff. Clearly I have a major self esteem issue. I've been working so hard for a long time without much credit and suddenly everything just took off in one market. I have 2 more markets lined up for the next couple weeks... Looks like the next few days is going to be very hectic, in a great way of course. =) 

It's 1:25am. I don't like going to be before midnight if I don't have to. My mind seem to spark at this time of the night. Maybe it's because everyone else is dreaming. I will have my first market on Sunday. It feels very strange. This is everything that my mind had set out to do for a few years now, but I feel like a crazy person. One part of me just can't stop making and doing things to the point that I feel like this is what I'm here for. The rational part of me is still confused of why I'm doing this because so far, it is a hollow and empty investment. I've poured thousands of dollars and a lot of hours to do this properly. I've exhausted my poor husband who constantly has to do me favors... I wonder if I've created enough things to prove justice to all that effort. I really hope that I have.  

Sometimes my husband relates to me with 'pretty things'. Depending on my perspective at the time, 'pretty things' means a lot of work and I get exhausted just by looking at it. When that happens, I'm taking beauty for granted. I forgot how and why beauty draws people. I've become a business owner and not an artist. In the past few months I learnt that when I decided to take business seriously, I became a making machine. 85% of the time I probably ended up doing things that I'm less interested and only have 15% to do actually what I want to do if I were an artist. I often wish to be left in Greg's parents farm and have a few weeks there where I can bring my piles of sketches to life... perhaps winter next year.

Nevertheless, the display is sitting pretty in my living room and I'm very excited about my first appearance in public. My biggest hope for the jewellery stall is to meet and talk to people. I hope people will enjoy looking at the stall and be inspired somehow. My biggest fear, is to have someone telling me that they think my stuff is ugly. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that situation just in case that ever happens so that I won't cry on the spot.

I have to say that I'm very not like myself tonight. Usually on a moment like this I would be so stressed to the brim and over think everything. But I feel so relaxed... and it feels so weird! I feel so grown up being able to overcome the feeling of stress. Not just that but I am so excited I have a feeling I will get very little sleep tonight. Some of my friends are coming for a visit tomorro- and there is no treat like having friends visiting you while you're at work. I feel so incredibly blessed already.