You can find the second part here: http://thedailydaysofanasperger.blogspot.nl/2012/09/abunai-2_3.html
The next
day I handed in my wheelchair, because I could walk again. I was still very
weak and I couldn’t walk for too long, or my leg would cramp up again, so I
just walked a tiny bit and then sat down again to rest up. That was good enough
to do my duty, as there were enough places to sit in-between on my way to my
section for that day. In my section there were also plenty of chairs. This
meant that I could be of much more use, as long as I made sure to sit
in-between walks and rest up on times that I wasn’t needed.
Now read
back… I didn’t say ‘my section for SuperGophering’, I said ‘for that day’. Now,
what do I mean by ‘that day’? On Sunday I had a Japanese bread baking workshop
to give with one of the Staff members. We’ve given this workshop together last
year too, which went great, and we couldn’t wait to give it again! Our workshop
was completely sold out and it went great. There’s nothing that I would’ve
changed. Both us and the visitors had a great time! There were even a few
visitors sticking around afterwards to ask some more questions and/or just have
a small chat. Even cleaning everything up went much faster than last year. I
also had plenty of moments where I could sit down while still being very
useful.
Feeling on
top of the world (but a little tired), I went to my room to put some stuff
away. Then I went on my way to the entrance to hand out the bread, that the
Staff member who I worked with baked while I was cleaning up. The way to my
room PLUS the way to the entrance was longer than I thought. I miscalculated in
resting up and got to the entrance quite exhausted. Because of this I wasn’t
quite aware of the people around me and a misunderstanding quickly escalated to
some annoyances. After some talking it over, we sorted it out. I’m sorry! This
person probably knows who I’m talking about. I’ll make sure to properly rest up
the next time.
After we
said sorry to each other, I was in a better mood again and I went on my way to
the ending ceremony. Some part of me knew that Abunai was about to end, but
since I was still in the middle of it all, I didn’t really feel it yet. In
fact, I would be staying there until Monday, so it wouldn’t be over for another
day for me! The ending ceremony ended, as is tradition, with a big picture of
the crew on stage, and after that most visitors went home, so the usual hugging
goodbye commenced.
After that,
the hotel soon cleared out. It was strange seeing a building, once so alive,
suddenly so empty. You’d think that I would’ve gotten used to that by now, but
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that. I had some mixed emotions, as I
needed my rest a lot, but I would also miss Abunai. I was absolutely exhausted,
so I rested up for an hour in my bed, while my sister drove someone to the
train station.
After my
sister came back, we went to have dinner and then we headed to the Gopher
Lounge. This is the place where Gophers can eat, drink, talk and rest up
before, during and after the convention. The Gopher Lounge wasn’t just full of
some Gophers who were still around to help with cleaning up, but also some
Staff members, Stewards and friends. Almost all of us knew each other and we
were basically a group of friends talking about our convention experiences. We
had a lot of fun.
Eventually
we were all needed for cleaning up and we all ran (shouldn’t have done that! My
leg! It hurt!) towards the place where we were needed with a good friend of
ours in front with a cavalry tune coming out of his Ipad and the Steward
Manager next to him with a megaphone, screaming “CAVALRY INCOMING~!” This was
very funny! My leg didn’t agree with this, so in the end I could hardly help
(stupid me), but it was worth the fun.
That
evening we all hung out in the bar as one big and happy group, sharing some
more convention experiences and sharing a lot of laughs. I also had some
serious talks with a few people, but after that I had some more fun! That was
truly a night to remember. I can’t wait for next year! Okay, I can wait a bit,
I need my rest, but a whole year? That’s just too long! I’m sure the Staff
doesn’t agree with me though, as there’s plenty to do for them the whole year
around. Good luck everyone!
The next
day we had breakfast with the remaining group and had a pool party afterwards
with a part of that group. The pool was great on my leg. Afterwards everyone
went home, except for my sister, a friend who was going to travel back with us,
and me. I paid for a late check-out, which I was now grateful for, as I didn’t
want to leave yet. The three of us rested up a bit. The combination of the pool
and the resting got me enough energy to help clean up the hotel room. Then we
went home.
I’m already
missing Abunai and am pretty down about it. I miss being around my friends, I
miss feeling useful, I miss feeling like I can take on the world… I miss Kansas. (again, the
definition of Kansas:
http://lifeontheothersideofthewall.blogspot.nl/p/glossary-of-life-on-other-side-of-wall.html
)
Most of the
people who go to conventions (or who know the feeling of Kansas) know this feeling. Us
convention-people call this the after-convention-depression. It’s okay, it’s
positive in a way. Every high has a low. Having something to miss THIS much,
just means that there’s something WORTH missing this much, which basically
means there’s something great in my life. I wouldn’t give this up for the
world. On to the next convention!
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