I’ve had a few days here in the capitol before the conference gets underway. I’ve walked around the whitehouse, capitol hill and the pentagon not to mention spent a heap of time amongst the Smithsonian Museums. Everywhere I go the people are incredibly friendly and polite, and we could learn a bit from them. Actually I reckon we could exchange skills; Americans could teach us about hospitality and we could teach them about beverages, (coffee, tea and most importantly BEER!)

This is certainly a place where people take themselves very seriously which, as a generally apathetic Aussie I really noticed. It’s obvious in the grandeur of the buildings on Capitol Hill, the heavy security presence at the Capitol and the enthusiastic rendition of the American Anthem at the ice hockey game tonight. We really are a fairly cruisey lot.

Nuffield Contemporary Scholars Conference kicks off tomorrow. I’m very jetlagged and haven’t slept for more than 2 hours at a time in the last 4 days so hoping I can pull my head together tomorrow.