The new year has brought many great changes to my life and the lives of others. With my time in Canberra nearing an end, I am anxious and nervous about starting my new life in Katherine. I find it hard to believe that I've been in Canberra nearly 4 years. The time seems to have flown by so quickly and tomorrow morning my stay in Canberra ends as I get on a plane, destined for Australia's tropical north.
In the last month, there have been some extraordinary events, though. The first was the opening celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Plast (Ukrainian Scouts). The larger ceremony will be a world gathering in Ukraine in August but as Australians get their summer now, the Plast executive decreed that the first celebrations will be in Australia. I was a counsellor for the scouts and they had a very interesting camp program over 9 days. I think, though, the highlight must have been the 3-day hike through the Australian Alps. Starting in a valley, the group I was with, the advanced group, hike some 45 kilometers across very mountainous terrain to the very top of Australia, the summit of Mt. Kosciuszko. Named after a Polish war hero, Mt. Kosciuszko is 2 229 meters above sea level. The scouts had been divided into beginner and intermediate groups as well and all 3 met up at the summit. It was truly a spectacular hike. Both nights, though, were very cold and frost formed on the inside of the fly sheet. Even though I was bundled up, I froze.
The camp was held in Canberra's Camp Cottermouth, a Scouts campground in the ACT just west of Canberra. There we had various activities including something called the Golden Guitar, a music competition, which the scouts ended up winning with a remake of the Gorillaz hit Feel Good Inc., involving more scout-related lyrics. They even had a scavenger trip around Canberra. It was nice to get so many people together in 1 location as typically troops have their own camps each year. In December I plan to be at the Melbourne camp but I hope to make it to the big celebrations in Ukraine and possibly see some of my friends there too.
After camp, the next big even was my admission as a lawyer on January 13th. I arrived at the Supreme Court and found my friend, Rohan, who had agreed to move my admission. Once inside we were approached by the Deputy Registrar, the person who starts off the ceremony and happened to be a fellow Aussie rules umpire, and we went inside the court room. I had expected it to be fairly sparse but there were quite a few people there: myself, Rohan, the Deputy Registrar, the clerk, the judge, the judge's associate, 4 corrections officers, the Admissions Board secretary and 3 other lawyers there on separate matters. The whole ceremony lasted only about 10 minutes once the judge arrived. I was happy to find out it was my favourite ACT judge, Justice Richard Refshauge, one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Well, the Deputy Registrar called for admissions, Rohan moved it, the Deputy Registrar administered the affirmation and the judge ordered that my name be entered on the roll. The judge then had a very brief speech and then I went up to sign the roll. Normally there can be 20-40 students in this process but because of my special circumstances, I got a personal one. I felt very proud and relieved to have finally finished the process. Afterwards, myself, Rohan, Roland (a friend from law school), Kendra (another friend from law school) and Amy (Rohan's friend) went out for lunch and dinner to celebrate. It really was a great day.
A week later and another milestone passed, I turned 29. I only have 1 year of "youth" left and although I am very rapidly approaching 30, I do have 2 small consolations. The first, the interpretation of the Mayan calendar may be right and the world will end in December, the second, if the world doesn't end, 2012 is a leap year meaning I get 1 extra day of being young. We'll see how this year goes.
Of course the biggest news for me is that I'm starting my new job in the Northern Territory. I'm all packed up and ready to go. I've shipped most of my things via Greyhound's freight service. I'll pick it up in Katherine. Hopefully I won't be without permanent accommodation for long. Packing up was quite the challenge and it took some 16 items to pack everything up. Luckily NAAJA is paying for it so it's not too bad. The great joy will be having to unpack everything again once I'm settled in.
By coincidence, my brother will be starting a new job in a remote area as well, Iqaluit on the same day. My brother has moved to the Arctic and I to the tropics. He'll be starting a teaching position up there and, I'm very jealous, but will be making more money than me, at least before taxes and expenses. It seems that things are changing for many of us as the Earth turns and makes another trip around the sun. I just hope the changes are for the better and that great things will come of them.
In the last month, there have been some extraordinary events, though. The first was the opening celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Plast (Ukrainian Scouts). The larger ceremony will be a world gathering in Ukraine in August but as Australians get their summer now, the Plast executive decreed that the first celebrations will be in Australia. I was a counsellor for the scouts and they had a very interesting camp program over 9 days. I think, though, the highlight must have been the 3-day hike through the Australian Alps. Starting in a valley, the group I was with, the advanced group, hike some 45 kilometers across very mountainous terrain to the very top of Australia, the summit of Mt. Kosciuszko. Named after a Polish war hero, Mt. Kosciuszko is 2 229 meters above sea level. The scouts had been divided into beginner and intermediate groups as well and all 3 met up at the summit. It was truly a spectacular hike. Both nights, though, were very cold and frost formed on the inside of the fly sheet. Even though I was bundled up, I froze.
The camp was held in Canberra's Camp Cottermouth, a Scouts campground in the ACT just west of Canberra. There we had various activities including something called the Golden Guitar, a music competition, which the scouts ended up winning with a remake of the Gorillaz hit Feel Good Inc., involving more scout-related lyrics. They even had a scavenger trip around Canberra. It was nice to get so many people together in 1 location as typically troops have their own camps each year. In December I plan to be at the Melbourne camp but I hope to make it to the big celebrations in Ukraine and possibly see some of my friends there too.
After camp, the next big even was my admission as a lawyer on January 13th. I arrived at the Supreme Court and found my friend, Rohan, who had agreed to move my admission. Once inside we were approached by the Deputy Registrar, the person who starts off the ceremony and happened to be a fellow Aussie rules umpire, and we went inside the court room. I had expected it to be fairly sparse but there were quite a few people there: myself, Rohan, the Deputy Registrar, the clerk, the judge, the judge's associate, 4 corrections officers, the Admissions Board secretary and 3 other lawyers there on separate matters. The whole ceremony lasted only about 10 minutes once the judge arrived. I was happy to find out it was my favourite ACT judge, Justice Richard Refshauge, one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Well, the Deputy Registrar called for admissions, Rohan moved it, the Deputy Registrar administered the affirmation and the judge ordered that my name be entered on the roll. The judge then had a very brief speech and then I went up to sign the roll. Normally there can be 20-40 students in this process but because of my special circumstances, I got a personal one. I felt very proud and relieved to have finally finished the process. Afterwards, myself, Rohan, Roland (a friend from law school), Kendra (another friend from law school) and Amy (Rohan's friend) went out for lunch and dinner to celebrate. It really was a great day.
A week later and another milestone passed, I turned 29. I only have 1 year of "youth" left and although I am very rapidly approaching 30, I do have 2 small consolations. The first, the interpretation of the Mayan calendar may be right and the world will end in December, the second, if the world doesn't end, 2012 is a leap year meaning I get 1 extra day of being young. We'll see how this year goes.
Of course the biggest news for me is that I'm starting my new job in the Northern Territory. I'm all packed up and ready to go. I've shipped most of my things via Greyhound's freight service. I'll pick it up in Katherine. Hopefully I won't be without permanent accommodation for long. Packing up was quite the challenge and it took some 16 items to pack everything up. Luckily NAAJA is paying for it so it's not too bad. The great joy will be having to unpack everything again once I'm settled in.
By coincidence, my brother will be starting a new job in a remote area as well, Iqaluit on the same day. My brother has moved to the Arctic and I to the tropics. He'll be starting a teaching position up there and, I'm very jealous, but will be making more money than me, at least before taxes and expenses. It seems that things are changing for many of us as the Earth turns and makes another trip around the sun. I just hope the changes are for the better and that great things will come of them.
