With Christmastide in full swing, there comes that other great holiday tradition, that of the office Christmas party. This year, because of the more restrictive financial situation, the official ACTTAB Christmas function was a little more spartan. Instead of a lavish dinner at a fancy hotel, we had an outdoor barbeque at a local country club. Not that it wasn't lovely and Christmas barbeques are something of an Australian tradition. The event was attended mostly by Head Office staff, most of whom I didn't know, with only a few staff from the outlets. It was somewhat bizarre as the office and outlet staff segregated themselves into discrete groups. There was some mingling, but not too much. There was entertainment, an open bar and food all on ACTTAB's tab. I find food always tastes better when paid for by someone else.
On a slightly more unsettling note, one of the ACTTAB outlets, the one in Erindale (a southern shopping center), was robbed a few nights ago. From what I gathered, someone came in to the outlet and brandished a knife demanding money. The person on duty obliged, no one was hurt and the matter would certainly be in the hands of the police. The person on duty, James, I had met at the Christmas barbeque. As a result, security guards have been posted at outlets operating after 17:30. I've always felt safe at the outlets and it would be very difficult for someone to actually point a knife in your face; they would have to climb over the counter which is usually either crossed by wires or has plastic dividers. I'm now dreading what may be the inevitable communication from my mother asking about this. On the plus side, the family's off to Cuba for a bit of a holiday so maybe there won't be time.
At Fenner, the contractors came through and recabled my room. I now have a brand new ethernet and telephone port but I still can't use them. It wasn't very pleasant being woken up by drills at 09:00, but I just had to bear it. Over the course of 2 or 3 days, the contractors finished with my floor and moved on. I can only hope it's worth it in the end.
Also, I found myself on the receiving end of some minor censorship. I prepared a very short radio piece on Stepan Bandera (bahn-DEH-ra), a Ukrainian nationalist (and terrorist), for Ottawa's Ukrainian radio program. I stated that despite being more closely associated with SUM (Ukrainian Youth Association), Bandera was actually a member of Plast and is rumoured to have received 4 reprimands. The producer said that she wouldn't air it unless I included other information about Bandera so as to less offend his supporters, known as "Banderivtsi" (bahn-deh-REEV-tsee). If it sounds like I'm bitter, I'm not. I actually sort of intended to ruffle a few feathers but if you really should not be able to take offence to something like this. I like sticking it to various fidgety factions within the Ukrainian community when I can.
I went out to buy a Hawai'ian shirt the other day as part of a New Year's Eve costume for camp. You would not believe how hard it is to find one in this city. I went to all the major outlets (David Jones, Myer, Target and Big-W) and even a few smaller ones but none had Hawai'ian shirts. They all had floral pattern shorts but not the shirts. I finally found some at a little discount store called Ivan's and I bought one. I'm now the proud owner of a proper Hawai'ian shirt. The rest of the outfit will consist of a pair of Hawai'ian shorts and a panama hat, I think. The costume is supposed to be jungle themed, but I'm doing it at a degree of separation by going tropical, as jungles exist in the tropics. Hawai'ian shirts are actually worn to occasions such as weddings and are seen as a mix of casual an business, but really only in tropical places like Hawai'i and Darwin. Tropical locations seem to have a relaxed atmosphere regarding the pace of life. To that end, if I get an interview with the Northern Territory DPP, I think I'll go in my Hawai'ian shirt. What do you say to that, mom?
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