I did some calculating over the last few days to try and take stock of how far I actually was from home. The answer, according to Google Earth is 16 092.05 km from room to room. It's actually not as far as I thought. Still that's about 80% to the other side of the world. Far indeed, but modern technology keeps it close. There are times that I have to remind myself that I'm not in Canada but that doesn't mean I feel homesick, lost or overwhelmed. In all my travels, home has not been where the heart is, but where I am. Unless, that is, I keep taking my heart with me wherever I go.
16 092.05 km is still not so far that I cannot exercise my democratic right and civic duty. Unlike Australia though, Canada does not have compulsory voter registration and voting, but I thinks it's fun nonetheless. The last time I was in Australia, Paul Martin narrowly averted an election and I was dismayed that I didn't get a chance to vote abroad. Luckily, Stephen Harper is a more divisive figure and he received a dissolution of Parliament from Michaelle Jean. I applied to Elections Canada as soon as the special ballot forms were available and received a kit by courier. For those who have never voted by special ballot, you get a couple of envelopes and a ballot paper where you mark the name of the candidate for whom you wish to cast a vote. It is your responsibility to find out who the candidates in your riding are and your riding is determined by what address you gave as your permanent address in Canada; I'm in Ottawa-South. Anyway, I filled out what was required, went down to the Canadian High Commission, stepped into the Consular Section and handed my special ballot. I'm kind of thrilled to have voted abroad and no, I'm not going to say for whom. The ACT elections are coming up soon and I'll detail the differences between Canadian and Australian voting procedures at that time; some are quite remarkable.
I mentioned previously of the Floriade festival of Canberra; think Ottawa Tulipfest. This year, the theme is Australian movies so each of the floral displays are arranged as representations of famous Australian films. Some are world famous, like Crocodile Dundee and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and others are well-known only here like Muriel's Wedding and The Dish. I went down on a beautiful sunny day to the park and got some great shots. The whole festival lasts 3 weeks, with some movie nights thrown in and it was great to have seen it.
Although it's only October, not even summer, the mercury has been hitting the mid 20s in the last few days and it will be 27 tomorrow. However, it's supposed to cool down to about 17 in the next few days when I'm in New Zealand. Hopefully, it'll be pleasant enough for all the students staying in Canberra for the break. I have a feeling I'll be seeing 30 degree heat by November and that's not even a summer month. I'm going to have to find a way to survive. Maybe I should live underground.
And finally for us tonight, you may be wondering at the title of my post. After doing some looking on the internet, I found that I have central heterochromia, a condition whereby the part of the eye around my pupil is a different colour than that of the iris; "heterchromia" is from the Greek meaning "different colour". Over that last few years, I've been wondering about my eye colour because even though I had always been told they were blue and have always listed them as blue on documents, they didn't seem particularly blue. My dad has blue eyes and I've seen other people with blue eyes and mine didn't seem to match up. Whenever I looked closely, they seemed to be a mix of blue, green and gray, and not really much of any of them. After doing some searching, I found out that my eyes are actually gray and that one of the features of gray eyes is that they change colour between gray, blue and green depending on light being reflected from clothing, ambient light and a myriad other factors. I have a feeling that my eyes used to be much more blue but that at some point they changed and I didn't notice. It turns out that gray eyes are a genetic marker from Eastern Europe so I guess I am Slavic.
As for the heterochromia, towards the pupil, the colour of the iris changes to a yellow-brown. I had always assumed that this was the case with most people but it turns out that it is a genetic quirk. It doesn't affect my eyesight in any way and was a point of conversation among schoolyard friends when I was younger. Nevertheless, I wish I had deep blue eyes, something like cobalt blue or ultramarine. I guess I'm stuck with gray and it's kind of nice to have uncommon eyes, even if the colour is a little dull.
I'll leave you with some photos I took at Floriade. For the floral displays, see if you can guess the movie.
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