After cramming in my last few meetings with judges, journalists, mediators and parents who had been through the family law process in Australia it was finally time for me to say farewell to Sydney and as is generally always the case, the further I delved the more I wanted to know. Such a shame to leave as I feel Sydney has so much more to tell, however California beckoned and I departed on Saturday for LAX: possibly the most congested airport on the face of the planet- 2 hours queue to get through customs and even my English Stiff upper lip was faltering- the tutting began in earnest about an hour in and didnt desist until I was asked unceremoniously to slap my hand on a scanner and stare into a security camera like a half-mad, sleep deprived lunatic checking into an asylum. It was very strange to arrive technically before I had even set off-crossing the international date line wreaks havoc with the old body clock it would seem and I have been driving everybody mad with my incessant Spanish inquisition about what date / time it is. Oh dear. After arranging meetings in Pasadena suburb and mercilessly bullying my extremely lovely friend with an extremely jammy job in PR to let me sneakily steal her free hotel pass for the Langham there under the heading 'it would reaaaaaalllly help out, I need to budget and when are you ever going to get chance to use it anyway' I am feeling (un)surprisingly revitalized.
I am still surprised at the scale of it all here: the court in Pasadena is ENORMOUS- you could fit the entire RCJ into the East Wing! Furthermore, City Hall which is just down the road and where all marriages are officiated and recorded is extremely plush and idyllic, evidence I suppose of just how much money and how many people pass through the court system on a daily basis here.
Went into court today which was an extremely odd but informative experience: lots of emphasis on court etiquette which was strangely reminiscent of old episodes of Judge Judy which made me chuckle somewhat-so much of it seems like a parody of the English traditions but any suggestion of 'borrowing' was shot down quickly when braoched under the insistence of everything being done a purely organic 'American way'. National pride for you I suppose! In any event, I am extremely surprised at what a novelty the English accent is over here and I found myself hamming it up without really thinking about it. I even caught myself saying the words 'I am tremendously grateful', pretty sure I'd have even Hugh Grant cringing at that one. All in all I had an extremely entertaining day, not least contributed to by a rather surreal moment spent discussing the ins and outs of Seal and Heidi Klum's relationship with a court usher. Funny times.
Also paid a visit to the LA County Department of Child and Family Services which was extremely useful. However, I almost got lynched trying to take a photo of a Child Interaction room as it is apparently against Federal law to photograph any confidential department. Oh dear: would be just my luck to break the law whilst trying to research it (and I'm pretty sure being arrested isn't a terribly ambassadorial activity) Oooops, must remember to be less of a hopeless tourist in future!
Am headed to downtown Los Angeles as of tomorrow for more meetings. Am meeting with a Child and Family Therapist tomorrow and shall be speaking with Child Support Services about mediation services later in the week. Am also planning a trip to discuss referral of high parental conflict cases with a P.A.C.T administrator and hopefully shall get some more court time if the cases don't settle (as this is what happened at the court doors today: obviously good for the parties and for the children but unfortunate for me!) As always I shall keep you posted with my progress!
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