I suppose the biggest news recently has been the arrival of my parents in Australia. They decided to pop on down for a visit before heading off to New Zealand to visit my brother. They're also travelling around Australia with the Jakubows, family friends (the same ones that were down in June, minus my friend).
My parents arrived on Wednesday, October 22nd after enduring what essentially amounted to 3 non-stop flights. They flew Ottawa to Vancouver to Sydney to Canberra, all in one go. Although they had a lengthy layover in Vancouver, this was a marathon flight schedule. And what awaited them when they landed, the coldest October day in Sydney in 16 years and a not much warmer day in Canberra. Luckily, because of the flight times, neither of my parents seemed to be suffering from the effects of jet lag.
Their first night here, I took them to Kremlin Bar, a Soviet-themed bar on Northbourne Avenue. I had a feeling they would find it particularly funny. Afterwards, we went to dinner at Hogsbreath Cafe a little further away. My parents then came to Fenner Hall to see for themselves the abject squalor in which I live. The next day, my parents went walkabout around Canberra, seeing many of the landmarks, particularly Parliament House, we then met up later and went to the Solomkos for dinner. After dinner, we all went to see the Ukrainian museum that the Solomkos have on their property. It includes exhibits on Ukrainian culture and dress, among much else.
On Friday, we took a bus to spend the weekend in Sydney and my mom managed to score a room at the Holiday Inn right outside Kings Cross Station. Kings Cross is a fascinating place, vibrant and exotic at all hours, as any red light district should be. But don't be completely misled, there is much to see besides. For example, we all had an excellent and inexpensive lunch at the Sydney Swans Club, which I think must be new. We then strolled around the neighbourhood and retired to our room a little later. As it turned out, our room hadn't been ready on time due to an airline examining the rooms for longer than was expected and so, as an apology, we were given free breakfasts for our entire stay at the hotel restaurant. I think it was a fair trade. I also managed to get a great leather coat that was being held for me by the parents of Andrew Bilinsky, the husband of Sonia Mycak, both of whom I first met in Canberra. This jacket is my favourite as it has a great look and works well with any combination of dress. I'm only sorry I didn't have it in the winter. No matter, from now on I'll be stylin'.
The three of us spent Saturday and Sunday exploring the city. On Saturday we spent a great deal of time in The Rocks looking at the market stalls. I also had a chance to climb up Observatory Hill and managed to get some great shots of the old observatory and the view over the Parramatta. We then walked to Hyde Park and had a look around before calling it a day. On Sunday, I helped my parents with their baggage to the Westin on Martin Place, another fabulous location found by my mom. The room was amazing and modern, by which I mean there was a lot of glass. The best part, though, was that the widescreen LCD TV has a welcome screen with your name on it on the hotel's channel. About half the day was also spent at the Australian Museum, an interactive museum about various aspects of Australian culture. I lost about an hour in the dinosaur exhibit alone and I was pleased to read that this museum has a partnership with the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, AB. Also, in a presentation by an Aboriginal man, I found out the Aboriginal name of the didjeridu, "yiraki" (yih-rah-KEE). To be more precise, it's the name given to the didjeridu by one particular group of Aboriginals, but don't ask me which one. It's used in music but also to simulate in ceremonies the sounds of the Australian bush and outback. Following the museum, we went for Chinese food in Chinatown in a little place which had the TV set to a Chinese soap opera. It was set a few hundred years ago and my dad and I had some fun trying to follow the storyline.
I had to leave on Sunday to get back to Canberra for the final week of studies. Exams are coming up much sooner than I'd like. For my parents, their journeys are only beginning. Their driving with the Jakubows to Melbourne and then to Adelaide. If it's true what they say about friendships and long car trips, I can only hope that everyone doesn't end up killing each other by the time they hit Mount Gambier in South Australia. From Adelaide, my parents hop on the Indian-Pacific all the way to Perth and then from Perth, they go back to Sydney and then to New Zealand. For a vacation, it's pretty full on.
Today, I already sat an exam, though this one was administered by the Canadian federal government. I applied for the Foreign Service and had to sit the Foreign Service Exams today at the Canadian High Commission. I took the bus down and met up with 4 other who were also taking the exam --- 1 guy and 3 girls. The guy was studying International Relations at Bond University on the Gold Coast and we had much to talk about since I had finished much the same degree at NPSIA. Also, as he was down for the weekend, we all gave him suggestions as to what he could do and see in Canberra. 1 girl was in her final year of law at the University of Melbourne and she was just down for the day --- again, something in common. The 2 other girls both lived in Canberra; one was teaching at the ANU, I think, and the other was working at Parliament House. We were all about the same age group and it was nice that there were only 5 of us, giving us a chance to really talk to each other.
The Foreign Service Exam consists of 3 parts: a general knowledge test, a situational judgement test and a comprehension test. They weren't as nerve-racking as I thought they would be, though the math problems were needlessly complex. It actually was a lot of fun. The tests started at 08:30, lasting about 1.5 hours each, and we got about an hour's break in between. Also, the test administrator was the chief trade advisor for the High Commission. He's a very friendly and easy-going man who was eager to help us with any questions we had about the Foreign Service. And in case anyone was wondering, he was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. I hope I did well as a career in the Foreign Service does appeal to me, at least now. I think I'll finish my law degree first, though, and get admitted to practice just in case things don't work out in diplomacy. You never know, in my first 6 minutes as a diplomat I may end up causing 12 countries to declare war on Canada, but I hope not.
An important holiday just passed by, Halloween. All I can say about it is that it is not really celebrated in Australia. There may be parties where people get dressed up , but there's no trick-or-treating. It's a shame really, how can you pass up a chance for free candy?
I also noticed the the Christmas decorations have gone up. This is 2 full months before the holiday. At least in Canada, most places have the good sense not to put up decorations until mid to late November. Maybe it's the fact that we have Thanksgiving in October, but the Aussies have Labour Day around the same time, so maybe that's not the explanation. I'm still looking forward to Christmas, which is a summer holiday Down Under. I'm not sure how I'll take such a shock to my system.
My parents arrived on Wednesday, October 22nd after enduring what essentially amounted to 3 non-stop flights. They flew Ottawa to Vancouver to Sydney to Canberra, all in one go. Although they had a lengthy layover in Vancouver, this was a marathon flight schedule. And what awaited them when they landed, the coldest October day in Sydney in 16 years and a not much warmer day in Canberra. Luckily, because of the flight times, neither of my parents seemed to be suffering from the effects of jet lag.
Their first night here, I took them to Kremlin Bar, a Soviet-themed bar on Northbourne Avenue. I had a feeling they would find it particularly funny. Afterwards, we went to dinner at Hogsbreath Cafe a little further away. My parents then came to Fenner Hall to see for themselves the abject squalor in which I live. The next day, my parents went walkabout around Canberra, seeing many of the landmarks, particularly Parliament House, we then met up later and went to the Solomkos for dinner. After dinner, we all went to see the Ukrainian museum that the Solomkos have on their property. It includes exhibits on Ukrainian culture and dress, among much else.
On Friday, we took a bus to spend the weekend in Sydney and my mom managed to score a room at the Holiday Inn right outside Kings Cross Station. Kings Cross is a fascinating place, vibrant and exotic at all hours, as any red light district should be. But don't be completely misled, there is much to see besides. For example, we all had an excellent and inexpensive lunch at the Sydney Swans Club, which I think must be new. We then strolled around the neighbourhood and retired to our room a little later. As it turned out, our room hadn't been ready on time due to an airline examining the rooms for longer than was expected and so, as an apology, we were given free breakfasts for our entire stay at the hotel restaurant. I think it was a fair trade. I also managed to get a great leather coat that was being held for me by the parents of Andrew Bilinsky, the husband of Sonia Mycak, both of whom I first met in Canberra. This jacket is my favourite as it has a great look and works well with any combination of dress. I'm only sorry I didn't have it in the winter. No matter, from now on I'll be stylin'.
The three of us spent Saturday and Sunday exploring the city. On Saturday we spent a great deal of time in The Rocks looking at the market stalls. I also had a chance to climb up Observatory Hill and managed to get some great shots of the old observatory and the view over the Parramatta. We then walked to Hyde Park and had a look around before calling it a day. On Sunday, I helped my parents with their baggage to the Westin on Martin Place, another fabulous location found by my mom. The room was amazing and modern, by which I mean there was a lot of glass. The best part, though, was that the widescreen LCD TV has a welcome screen with your name on it on the hotel's channel. About half the day was also spent at the Australian Museum, an interactive museum about various aspects of Australian culture. I lost about an hour in the dinosaur exhibit alone and I was pleased to read that this museum has a partnership with the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, AB. Also, in a presentation by an Aboriginal man, I found out the Aboriginal name of the didjeridu, "yiraki" (yih-rah-KEE). To be more precise, it's the name given to the didjeridu by one particular group of Aboriginals, but don't ask me which one. It's used in music but also to simulate in ceremonies the sounds of the Australian bush and outback. Following the museum, we went for Chinese food in Chinatown in a little place which had the TV set to a Chinese soap opera. It was set a few hundred years ago and my dad and I had some fun trying to follow the storyline.
I had to leave on Sunday to get back to Canberra for the final week of studies. Exams are coming up much sooner than I'd like. For my parents, their journeys are only beginning. Their driving with the Jakubows to Melbourne and then to Adelaide. If it's true what they say about friendships and long car trips, I can only hope that everyone doesn't end up killing each other by the time they hit Mount Gambier in South Australia. From Adelaide, my parents hop on the Indian-Pacific all the way to Perth and then from Perth, they go back to Sydney and then to New Zealand. For a vacation, it's pretty full on.
Today, I already sat an exam, though this one was administered by the Canadian federal government. I applied for the Foreign Service and had to sit the Foreign Service Exams today at the Canadian High Commission. I took the bus down and met up with 4 other who were also taking the exam --- 1 guy and 3 girls. The guy was studying International Relations at Bond University on the Gold Coast and we had much to talk about since I had finished much the same degree at NPSIA. Also, as he was down for the weekend, we all gave him suggestions as to what he could do and see in Canberra. 1 girl was in her final year of law at the University of Melbourne and she was just down for the day --- again, something in common. The 2 other girls both lived in Canberra; one was teaching at the ANU, I think, and the other was working at Parliament House. We were all about the same age group and it was nice that there were only 5 of us, giving us a chance to really talk to each other.
The Foreign Service Exam consists of 3 parts: a general knowledge test, a situational judgement test and a comprehension test. They weren't as nerve-racking as I thought they would be, though the math problems were needlessly complex. It actually was a lot of fun. The tests started at 08:30, lasting about 1.5 hours each, and we got about an hour's break in between. Also, the test administrator was the chief trade advisor for the High Commission. He's a very friendly and easy-going man who was eager to help us with any questions we had about the Foreign Service. And in case anyone was wondering, he was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. I hope I did well as a career in the Foreign Service does appeal to me, at least now. I think I'll finish my law degree first, though, and get admitted to practice just in case things don't work out in diplomacy. You never know, in my first 6 minutes as a diplomat I may end up causing 12 countries to declare war on Canada, but I hope not.
An important holiday just passed by, Halloween. All I can say about it is that it is not really celebrated in Australia. There may be parties where people get dressed up , but there's no trick-or-treating. It's a shame really, how can you pass up a chance for free candy?
I also noticed the the Christmas decorations have gone up. This is 2 full months before the holiday. At least in Canada, most places have the good sense not to put up decorations until mid to late November. Maybe it's the fact that we have Thanksgiving in October, but the Aussies have Labour Day around the same time, so maybe that's not the explanation. I'm still looking forward to Christmas, which is a summer holiday Down Under. I'm not sure how I'll take such a shock to my system.
1 comment:
We have passed Mount
Gambier
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