Hi Marlis,
It’s really
past the time for it and I know you don’t care much for the tradition anyway,
but: Happy New Year! I hope you are well and are not to bothered by those 30+
weeks you seem to be having in the ACT. So far Melbourne is trying really hard with
the summer vibe, but aside from 2 stifling hot 39 degree days, it’s all a bit
ordinary.
I am writing
this in Warrnambool (South Coast), being Yumi’s chauffeur today as she needed
to do some work at the local TAFE from 9am to 4.30pm here and I thought it be a
nice opportunity to spend some extra time together. It’s been a busy two
months, with lots of excitement and developments, so here we go!
Cycling
I’ve been much
more serious with my cycling for the past few weeks, clocking 90-140 kms per
week. In the ACT I was lucky to get 60-80 kms in per week, but as long as I am
not working, I vowed to go cycling every day to get out of the house. My bike
had sustained some injuries, so I brought it in for a thorough service, paid a
lot of money and now it has a new wheel, new gears, a new chain and it all runs
a bit smoother. Good times! I’m finding my way across Melbourne and the outer
suburbs more easily now and have established some good routes for 15, 20, 30
and 60 kms that are not too dangerous. Some of them have real challenging inclines,
so that helps keep me in shape. I’ve been as far as 30 kms up and down the bay
and plan to still clock 80-100 kms in one day this summer. The most I ever did
in the ACT was 66, so that might be a bit of a challenge J.
Job search
In December, I
did a short stint for Yumi’s work in the strategy and change management space,
designing two workshops for organisations that need to get ready for NDIS. Good
pay and good feedback, so now I get to deliver the first 2x2 sessions as well.
1 in Gippsland and 1 in Warrnambool and then 2 weeks later the follow up, yay!
Might be doing 2x4 more across Victoria, but we’ll see how it goes. Just this
morning on the drive in talking to Yumi, I concluded that my dream of working
in a more socially engaged environment will need to follow a different route. It’s
just not coming together and I am now convinced that I need to take a few steps
in between, so it will be a few years perhaps. It’s still a bit disappointing
that I feel I have so much to offer but they are just not interested, want what
they always had or there’s just better candidates that might not have my
enthusiasm and commitment, but their profiles and experience are a much better
match. Fair enough I guess. I’ve started looking for new opportunities around
10 January, so I should hope to have a job somewhere mid-March , beginning of
April, which is fine, because summer is over than anyway J
Roadtrips,
Roadtrips, Roadtrips!
To make sure
we get out of the city every now and then, we’ve been on the road quite a bit
to see what’s going on in Victoria. This past weekend we made a trip down to
Phillip Island and Wilson Promontory and it was pretty awesome. It’s only a 2.5
hour drive (see, we’re becoming true Aussies!) and you’re in a whole different
world of woodlands, beach and flies, lots and lots of flies, hahaha. We had a
dingy motel because we were cheap and have now learned not to do that anymore
for the next road trip, noisy, musty, dated, dingy, no,no,no! Four weeks ago we
also went to Walhalla, a historic gold mining town that has been very well
conserved and signs throughout the small village tell the tales of the people’s
lives, hardships and adventures. A very nice way to learn more about Australian
history. They had an unusual cemetery that was situated across and up a
hillside. Amazing how some of the grave markers had withstood the test of time
virtually untouched while others were nearly gone. Equally amazing that lots of people died
before 50 and there we’re so many very young children, different times, I know,
but it must have been pretty rough all the same. Our third trip was on Boxing
day where we went to Silvan (50k out of Melbourne), where there’s heaps of
fruit farms because Yumi wanted to pick her own berries and cherries. So we got
about 4.5kg of cherries and 1.5kg of berries and ate it all in a week! It’s very
similar to what we did in Tasmania once, even the droves of Asians were there
to complete the experience. Man do they love their fruit picking!
SES
This Monday the
6th February I am starting my volunteer trainee ship with the State
Emergency Services in Essendon (5km from where I live). I am a bit proud to be
selected as 1 of 12 out of 130 applications. I hope at some point I get to
wield some chainsaws and heavy machinery, but I’d be even more interested in
helicopter and boat patrol and community education. Now that it’s getting
closer I seem to see the trucks, cars and SES staff everywhere. I had to commit
to 1 year of Monday evenings for my training, but I am sure that will fly by. I
get my temporary orange work gear, sturdy boots and all the goodies first and
if I am not too embarrassing, I get my personal gear, how cool is that?! And
people dare to say I am high maintenance, go figure, pfffff J
Salvos Christmas
experience
I have been
soooo busy for Salvos from end of November to End of December, it almost felt
like a real job J. I have not even been out on the street collecting
for the Christmas appeal, but doing logistics work for support of all other volunteers
and some administration as well. The best part though was doing a gift
collection tour across the city. Me and my van, trying to figure out where to
go and how to get there, what a nightmare at the start. At some point, I was
behind my own schedule by 3 hours, but it all worked out in the end, by 4.45pm I
had delivered two vanloads (about 2,000 toys) worth 10.000’s of dollars from
all over town from the generous people of Melbourne to the Salvos building
where parents/carers could come and pick them up for the kids who are less
fortunate than most. I was exhausted by the end of the day, but felt great to
have been a part of it.
3 years in Oz
Monday the 6th
at 11.30am we’ll be in Australia for 3 years already. The past year was perhaps
even stranger and fuller than the first one. Saying goodbye (for now) to the
ACT and all the lovely people we met, starting a new chapter of life in Melbourne
in a new house, travelling around the globe, losing a cat family member and finding
our way around Victoria has been quite the experience but nearly all of it was
good, so we’ll call it a win for team Stamet-Kruidenier J. Social media and Skype
still do the job for keeping up with most contacts. This week I’ll speak to my
parents, my sister and 3 friends (not at the same time), all from the comfort
of my living room. I understand the technology, but am still amazed and relived
at how good of a substitute it is for real live interaction. Other than that
there’s not too much we really have to do without. We’ve found the Dutch
products we like since moving here and anything else people are always happy to
send over, bless them!
American
politics
I will admit I
had higher expectations of the US citizenry, but there you have it, Trump is
now the president. While there is nearly nothing funny about that, I find it hilarious
how outraged everyone who is not a Republican (and even some of them don’t look
happy) seems to be. As if they could not imagine a world where that could
happen and now that they did not get their wish, they riot? Haha, that’s how
democracy works you dummy, even if you do not like it. The best part for me was
that all these protesters got asked if they voted. Not a single one had. Well,
I am not an expert, but I think that might be the issue right there…I cannot
really imagine how you must feel about a leader of this type with your history.
The things he says and does are very similar to the acts of some of the
scariest people from the 20th century I reckon and he’s not really
going to care about protesters and other people. I see a man who is living his
dream but let’s not forget, he did not elect himself, other people helped him
get there and now we’ll have to live with that. How many days until the next
elections…?
Living in
Melbourne
Yumi’s kicking
goals every day at work and plans to stay a bit longer, which is very much what
National Disability Services want as well, so that’s a win-win for all. She’ll
take on some state-wide and national responsibilities, but might also do some
travelling to the ACT if they win some big contract. I am still not in love
with the place. People still act all shocked when I tell them that I am just
not that into the city and most of them vow to change my mind. Well, good luck
with that if you’re not into AFL or coffee. Fair is fair, there’s heaps more
opportunities here, I’ve met some great people and managed to make some new
friends, but I still prefer the ACT and it’s openness to the hustle and bustle
of Melbourne or the stupid hipster chic of Brunswick (my fault, could have
lived anywhere J). A nice side-effect of all my cycling is that I find
interesting laneways, new shops and beautiful nature around town, so that makes
it a lot more worthwhile but if we both got a good job offer in the ACT, I’d
seriously consider it. But then again, the thought of moving house again? Brrrrrr.
And who will take care of my beautiful lawn and sweep the streets then? Hmmmm,
maybe give it some more time. J
Family
Friends and
family are mostly fine, with the regular ups and downs, but some sad stuff
happened as well. My mum’s best friend of 45+ years, Grace, who was already
sick (cancer) when I still visited with you has passed away in January, a few
days after her birthday. She was beyond treatment and the medication was taking
away most of her quality of life so she opted for euthanasia (legal in the
Netherlands) which I think is very brave and gracious. It was so weird to send
her a final text message (she was deaf by that time so phoning made no sense),
knowing that it is the final message.
I mean, most
of us get no date and time for when we go, so that’s at least some form of
control she could still exercise over her own life. Sad enough in itself, but
in a freak turn of events, her older sister visited one last time and either
was unwell before or after she fell down the stairs on her way out from the
visit and she passed away because of that fall later that night. Following the advice
of counsellors and doctors Grace was told a white lie that she had a concussion
and was in the hospital, but can you believe it?! Life is strange. My mum is
dealing very well with the aftermath of things, she’s a tough one but still I
worry a bit, mostly because I cannot imagine what it must be like. As we often
discussed, time heals most wounds, but the scars can bring back memories, we’ll
just have to give it time I guess.
Bourke Street
tragedy
From one sad
thing to the other then. You’ve seen this on the news for sure, would have been
hard to miss it with all the drama and sensationalist reporting but it was so
surreal. Not 24hrs earlier I was there, parked my bike there, had a coffee
catch up date, crossed that street and walked in that exact same spot. Turns
out one of Yumi’s kendo buddies lost her husband (Matt), we did not know them
very well at all, but saw them at the Kendo Christmas lunch and now he’s just
gone. Wow. It was even sadder when I predicted to Yumi what would happen next
in the media, on social media and in the streets and I was 100% right. People
going feral, calling for the death penalty (yeah that’ll work, kill more people),
blaming authorities, $100,000’s worth of flowers that get thrown out a week
later and plans for a memorial. All good, whatever helps people deal with it
but I was really disgusted by those who just made it about them and their sorry
lives who just grabbed the opportunity to get in front of a camera and act all
distraught. Ridiculous, you didn’t even know them, what’s wrong with you! I don’t
see anybody erect memorials for the 100’s who die every day in warzones around
the world. Apparently they are worth less… Sorry, I’ll stop ranting now.
Blood bank duo
In a much
happier category, I finally convinced Yumi to join me in donating blood again.
I’ve now gained extra credits for also giving platelets, which is not for
everyone because it takes forever. Okay not forever, but about 2 hours, while
blood takes 30 minutes and plasma about 50 because the machine needs to run
slower. Platelets are much more complicated, but it’s also the most sought
after product because leukaemia patients who match my blood need it for their
recovery. Well, as long as I have the time, I’ll just keep going, blood, plasma
or platelets, just take whatever you need J.
Reading
All this free
time does allow for a lot of reading and I had built up quite the pile of books
and articles. I got to read up on professional and sciencey posts and articles
(too boring for you, I’ll skip thatJ), found a great book about
storytelling for business, which I think is a talent I have but never really
used at work intentionally and I just finished ‘Sapiens, a history of humankind’
and that could very well be the smartest book I have ever read. Now that might
not be saying too much but I think it’s pretty impressive if you can cram
70.000 years of history into 450 pages and tell a gripping story of how we
evolved as a species, but also question the constructed reality of today’s
society without it getting boring or scientific. Somehow it reminded me of the conversations we
had where we both wondered what everybody got so excited about or fooled
themselves into believing because the tv commercial said so. On that topic, you
might enjoy a tv show on channel 32, Adam ruins everything, the facts behind
things we think are true but really aren’t. It’s not always fun stuff, but very
informative and it keeps your brain active.
Gaming
I finally did
it! I made a list of all the video games I remember ever playing. Okay, maybe I
am the only person really excited about that. Turns out that it’s about 200 and
I’ve been gaming for 20 years, so that’s an average of 10 games a year. I still
need to do the math of how many hours I spent on it, but would not be surprised
if I find it’s between 4.000 to 5.000 hours. Maybe more. Some games lasted only
30 hours, but some lasted 200+, when I am
really, really bored I will figure it out and let you know. Just imagine what I
could have done in the meantime. In 5000 hours, I could have cycled 100.000 kilometres,
read 500 books or gotten a PhD in physics (if I was smart enough). Oh well, I
had a good time for most of it, so that’s something.
I am about to
head to the beach because it’s a 3 hour drive back in 4 hours from now and I
want to stretch my legs a bit, maybe sit in the sun and do a bit of reading in
my latest find “You’ll find it’s a bit more complicated than that” which I’ll
tell you about later for sure.
I hope this
letter finds you well and that by the next edition I’ve found a new job and
things are still as good as they are now.
All the best!
Gilbert
