Hi everyone!
Abunai!con is just past us and it was an event. The lack of a warm-up/preparation post might have been a give-away of this, but I didn’t enjoy the last month volunteering for them. It is disheartening to spend a year coming up with and executing ideas, only to be ridiculed and reduced to an object by a staff member. Hence I will not return to volunteer, unless requested and I can make some demands as well to protect my own energy. Most people are fine and some are great, so I don’t hate the organization. Just one person messed it up big time.
I really hope the visitors didn’t notice, because you/they don’t deserve that at all. <3
Anyhow, here’s how my weekend went:
I arrived on Friday, bought a coffee and was requested to start decorating the outside Matsuri (a tiny “fair” where small games where hosted and prizes could be won). Which I did for a few hours with only one Gopher (Thomas, you’re amazing!). I want to note that it feels ridiculous that in the last month there were multiple other volunteers criticizing decorations etc. and then don’t show up to make it in their vision. They went to the opening ceremony instead to “promote” the Matsuri. I don’t do well with people who are only talk and refuse to work hard when needed, so if I sound harsh, you get why.
In that time, I had a quick shower, dressed up in my Matsuri outfit and opened the stand I was assigned: goldfish scooping. Which was plastic fish in a kiddie pool and rice paper scoops to get them out of the pool. Luckily, lots of people loved the goldfish scooping and it was busy, so I focused on the lovely visitors and made small talk.
At the end of the day, I had spent 9 hours working my ass off and I arrived at around 10:30… Oh yeah, there was no food or drinks available for anyone hosting at the Matsuri.
The Saturday was another long day in the sun. Woke up early, had breakfast, changed into my outfit and went to the Matsuri again. I spent my day outside with my back in the sun. There were pitchers today, but no cups. And due to how crowded it was, a break was difficult to get. Which also was a blessing, because I wouldn’t have had enough to distract me and keep going. Another lucky thing was that my stand partner was a really cool person. (Shout out to Lotte!) So while I handled the social part, she managed the stock of scooping nets. We also made sure to reapply sunblock, but I missed a spot. 🙁 It does seem to recover well. And Fhant was amazing to get me a few cool items from the dealer room while I was working at the Matsuri, so I did have loot. 😀
After the Matsuri, I had a late and tiny dinner, went to my room to shower and change into Fern to roam the convention a bit for myself. Played some Exploding Kittens in the hotel room and that was Saturday.
On Sunday, I put most of my luggage back in the car before eating breakfast. Changed in the outfit for the last time and hosted Goldfish scooping for the last time. This time there were drinks and food, so that got me through the last day. After the Matsuri ended, I immediately changed back into normal clothes and roamed the con grounds a bit to pick up some stuff, see people and do last-minute shopping. Then I finally drove home, ordered my favorite big meal from a local fried chicken place to share with Fhant and crashed. It was great to be back home and hug Dalischa. I missed my cat so much.
Today, I am back at work. My luggage has been put away and it is time to look at the future. One sub-par event is not going to kill my love for this hobby and fellow enthousiasts. I hope to see y’all again soon at Gameforce, RINcon Halloween or who knows where else? <3
Keep on crafting!
Amirine