The latest happenings
Is that another month gone? Yes. This will have to be a catch-up then on the happenings of the last month.
There was the Easter break which was a bit of a nightmare for me because I had an essay due the following Thursday. It made for a stressful few days because the essay was in the back of my mind the whole time. We did have a delicious Easter lunch and chocolate feast at Andrew’s mum’s place though on the Sunday and a big market shopping trip with Andrew’s sister on the Saturday in preparation. The highlight was a spectacular cake which Andrew’s Mum ordered from Brunetti. It was a chocolate cake with huge swirls of pure chocolate arranged on top like a flower arrangement. Decadent.
The weekend after I handed in that dog of an essay, we went to Sydney and caught up with lots of people. That was great fun. We mainly hung around the inner west area with dinner on Saturday night then lunch on Sunday. It was a beautiful sunny weekend which was glorious after chilly Melbourne and it was good to be back in a familiar city again.
After that I realized that it will take a while to settle in properly down here. I really enjoy Melbourne, my work and everything on offer but it’s going to be a long process to build up friendships and really feel at home I think.
Had a three day workshop at uni the week before last which was excellent – met a lot of people including a Cambodian/Australian guy who will head over to Cambodia to teach next year. It was on International Project Planning and Design with lots of group work including practical exercises. It is always interesting hearing about other people’s experiences working overseas and in Australia. Both of the facilitators have worked all over the place including Vietnam and Africa.
Received some good news last week at work – it has been confirmed that my contract will be renewed for 6 months until December 1. This takes pressure off me to look for new jobs at the present time. I’m very happy about it because I like the team and the work.
Last Saturday afternoon I headed down for a session at the St Kilda Writers Festival which was interesting. Writers who have been sponsored by Asialink performed readings of their work. Asialink provides residencies for Australian artists in countries throughout Asia to pursue their work including visual arts, performing arts, arts management and literature. It was inspiring to hear a wide range of different writers read creative and interesting pieces they had written while living in Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Japan and Korea. I would like to do something like that at some stage.
Andrew moved house last weekend which was an upheaval as always and tiring for him. He and his flatmate worked hard last weekend, hiring a truck and moving everything. I helped a bit with packing up and unpacking. They are getting settled now into the new place and it’s looking great. Luckily it was just up the road so they didn’t have to go far.
So good to read your latest happenings. I admire your dedication re the study/essaywritng. Your hard work will reap benefits to be sure. You would enjoy the Writers Festival. The Byron one is being advertised now and usually gets booked out very quickly. I think the one you went to would be most interesting with the Asian flavour.
The Easter feast sounded decadent and great for the chocoholics!!
Great news re the renewal of contract.
It has been a hectic few weeks for both of us. It is good that you only have a couple of assignments left and then a bit of a break. It is fantastic about the contract renewal, although I always knew you would get it
The moving house has been both a frustration but also a good bit of fun. The new place is really starting to feel like home, especially now that everything is unpacked. The last couple of months in the old place felt cluttered because Micah was unable to unpack (given that he had just moved in and would have to move out again). Having to repaint the laundry this weekend was not much fun, but it turned out well anyway.
So are you going to move to the Sunshine coast Rose? We should be heading up that way later on in the year (we have to go to Byron again at some stage). Easter was very decadent and we have only just finished going through all of the chocolate that was given to us
Thanks to both of you for the comments. As Andrew said it has been hectic and I’m looking forward to getting the last assignment in for this semester on June 1 then I’ll have a bit of break before semester 2. With Andrew in the throes of moving house, uni work and waiting to hear about the contract at work it was an intense few weeks so hopefully it will quieten down a little bit now. Looking forward to holidays later in the year too.
It will all work out in the end. You have gone through many changes in the last few months….like a little butterfly!!
Can’t wait to see you and Andrew again here or there.
Congratulations all round on your extended contract! It’s a relief. Sean was made permanent last week and is over the moon.
The Writer’s Festivals are great. I always used to go to the Sydney one and when I was able when Judah was smaller, to the Brisbane one. Sean and I are collaborating on a writing piece at the moment. It’s hard to find the time to fit it in. We have been holidaying for a week on the Gold Coast in a seaside apartment - instead of writing, I got Sean to teach me to play chess. I am hooked now.
New cities and new places take a while to really grow on you, I think. The friend factor can be strange at first. I used to feel very despondent about the fact that all my contacts were in NSW and I knew no one here. Now I can say that after 5 years I am probably closer to some of the friends i have made in Brisbane and while the old friends of Sydney will always be close, some of them have fallen by the wayside a little. I guess that’s life. I also note that I am probably closer to friends who are childless or have a child but still have a life! I don’t think I was ever born to be the real mother hen type of person.
Yeah I remember you saying that it took a while to get to know people when you moved to Brisbane and I keep that in the back of my mind. Had a few social outings this weekend with a friend from Sydney who has met some people down here because he comes down here regularly. We went to see The Whitlams in St Kilda. I’m not big fans of them but they were really good live and the support bands were good too. Last night we went to visit my old flatmate from Allawah (seems like eons ago) and her husband who have built a house 45 mins out of Melbourne. It was great to catch up with her after about 5 years or so.
I agree totally about finding the time to write - it always gets pushed to the bottom of the pile and bascially with study and work I can’t fit it in right now. I’m itching to do some more though.
Your gold coast holiday sounds relaxing - I have played chess a couple of times but can’t say I’m an expert - it’s a great game though and I can see how it could become addictive.
The Whitlams! Do you recall that party we had at Bellevue Hill -the housewarming that blew out to about 50 guests? That Dylan loon that Jimmy knew, had invited the Whitlams - or at least Tim Freedman andone of the other mermbers to our party and like a fool I said ‘ Who are these people? Some silly Uni band? Forget it!”
So you could have been Whitlams Groupies!!!! Oportunity missed!
I agree with you about it taking time when you move to a new city to settle down and gain new friends. I am still settling in, although I am starting to get to know some people now… I am lucky in that my Mum and brother are down here.
Really? Ha ha! That’s funny - yes, because around that time they were playing round the unis. That could have been our claim to fame.
I was adamant that they must be some pathetic little mob that played the uni bars!!! They probably were in those days. Besides, any recommendation from Dylan was usually dodgy. Those parties at Bellevue Hill were great fun. From the police to half of the KCH - bizarre!!
Somebody tell me - completely off the topic here - when does Kath and Kim return????? I know they have the repeats on.
I don’t know if they are going to do another series. I just watched the repeat tonight though…for about the 10th time! Andrew saw the Da Vinci Code tonight. I refused to go and see it with him - I just couldn’t do it after hearing too much about those catholic conspiracies from people I used to know (probably completely different but I’ve developed an aversion). Andrew said it took itself too seriously anyway.
It was fun to see though. It was kind of a good puzzle solving movie. Haven’t read the book so it was interesting to see the concept. Had to laugh at all of the Catholic Church saying “don’t go and see this movie!!! Boycott it it is balsphemous!” etc. etc. etc…. I really did have a good chuckle at the end of the movie as I was thinking how great an advertisement for the movie it was that the church was denouncing it
I refuse to see it too. It looks ridiculous. It’s bizarre when you read the transcript from the recent case against Dan Brown - Baigent and Leigh v Random House. The Judge has set out his judgment in a coded format! He must be a fan of the book. I totally agree abotu the Catholic conspiracy rhubarb!! I recall having an argument with one of those people from the past about how the Jews are trying to take over the world and cannot be trusted!! Crazy stuff.
The book seemed to me like sh–y drivel so I diodn’t bother after chapter one.