that was some fun reading - Sans the cat fight. Having spent more time than I can remember on-site, I would guess that the one thing that would become evident is just how short one week really is. A couple other things:
How the scale of the site changes as different tasks are accomplished. For instance, laying out side by side golf house in an open field and it 'feels' like they are right on top of one another but clear 100' in a forest and you would think you have "all the room in the world to play in".
How many times what looks to be completed work is torn up to install more stuff - drainage, irr, etc.
How serine and beautiful a site is after the topsoil has been floated prior to seeding and the sun is setting over the landscape and all the shadows come out.
Alas, it takes more than just a week to take it all in. I would suggest at the least 4 weeks, one every couple months, just to get a sense of the magnitude of the undertaking and the metamorphis that the site goes through.
I realize it is far away from most (Ville Nurmi is the only local GCA'r I know of), but I will on-site shaping in Helsinki starting the end of Aug if anyone wants to stop by. Wish I had something closer but... not in this economy.