Olympic Feats

There's actually quite a lot to get through this week. As student life returns to Fenner Hall, I have been fairly busy. There has been a multitude of things to do and see in the past week. Along those lines, there's a poster all over the ANU which features two friends of mine, Jason and Alice. Funnily enough, it's for international orientation even though Alice is from Canberra and Jason is from Tasmania (which is almost another country). It's a candid photo taken of them working on a park table but if you know who they are, it's quite ironic.

Canberra's multicultural festival ended last Sunday. I went down to Garema Place to see what was on, and it's mostly a food festival. There were hundreds of people in Garema Place lining up at various tents to sample the cuisine of the world. There were also performances by cultural groups from around the world, and the buskers making a small living off their talents. Busking, a tradition as old as entertainment and street corners.

Later that day I biked down to EPIC to watch the running of the Canberra Cup for harness racing. Luckily there was no admission and I walked around talking to people I knew. This year it was nowhere near as hot as last year, thankfully, so many more people showed up. Although I didn't get a chance to work, I enjoyed watching the races; the direct descendant of chariot racing.

On Monday, although I had a training session, I managed to catch most of the Superbowl and I was ecstatic that the New Orleans Saints finally won one. It was a pretty close affair until that last interception. Although the Colts weren't entirely out by that time, it was clear that unless they pulled something very good off, they were defeated. I don't know why exactly I cheer for the New Orleans Saints. I've never been to New Orleans nor do I know anyone who lives there. I guess it's just one of those things. Because I was working I didn't have the chance to make myself some popcorn, chicken wings and nachos, but I'll try next year.

The weekend saw the beginning of the first class of the new semester, that being a postgrad course on freedom of information and privacy. It's not easy getting up at 09:00 and going until 17:00 on Friday and Saturday, but it's what you have to do. Most postgrad courses are run this way to accommodate working people who do this as part of their training; virtually everyone in this course is a public servant. The content is interesting but you have to sort of force yourself to enjoy it. I get to do it all again in a few weeks time. I hope to do really well.

The 2010 Winter Olympics have started in Vancouver and I wish everyone success. Actually, if I wasn't in Australia, I'd be with my family in Blaine, WA just across the border. I'd stay with them and drive up to the venues. I'm kind of sad that's not going to happen but I hope that they are having fun, at least. I've also heard that due to the warm weather, it has been necessary to truck snow to some of the venues. I'd never thought I'd hear of the day that there was a lack of snow in Canada but that's what you get for holding the games in western BC.

In other festivities it's Chinese New Year, starting the Year of the Tiger and St. Valentine's Day, the holiday brought to you by the greeting card companies. Even if you realize what it is, woe betide you if you have a significant other and not get them something.

Today and yesterday saw large rainfalls in the area with flood warnings in effect and even Sydney had roofs collapse due to too much water. I maintain that the drought is slowly breaking and the next decade will see wetter conditions around Australia. I think Australians can start preparing for an end to their long suffering as Australia is moving from a drought-dominated to a rain-dominated period.

I'll also just mention that I'm off to Perth Tuesday and I'll be back on Saturday. I'll see when I can update my blog after that.