propose

/prə'poυz/ v.i. to make an offer of marriage.

Rachel and I are engaged! About a week ago, we had a really fancy dinner at the Sir Stamford Hotel dining room in Circular Quay. The restaurant was very nice, but there weren’t many people there for a Friday night. The food was great, and the restaurant was very accommodating. I’d rung ahead to book the table, and asked if they could make sure there were some gluten-free options for me. When we arrived, there weren’t any issues at all! I had some very tasty pork ribs with potatoes, and a wattle-seed brûlée for dessert. Delicious!

After dinner, we went for a quick walk down along the harbourside, and that was quite pretty, because the city was all done out in bright colours for the “Vivid” light show; all the buildings were shifting through the spectrum, there were fairy lights in the trees, and the opera house was being splashed with different colours. (Don’t think I’d planned that! It was all a lucky coincidence! As we were driving in to the city, I was thinking to myself, Wow! This is pretty cool, and great timing!)

As we sat down in front of the opera house, looking out at the harbour bridge, the water, and across to Kirribilli and North Sydney, I asked Rachel to marry me. She said yes! The weather was icy cold, with a chilly wind blowing. Rachel (who’d had an inkling that it was going to be “the night”) had brought her camera along. The photo turned out all right, which is a bonus, since I could barely keep the camera still because I was shivering so much!

Since then, the past week has been a whirlwind of discussion and the beginning of organisation. There’s a lot that goes into a wedding which I hadn’t realised. We’ve been talking about churches, reception venues, dates, themes, guests, music, ministers, dances, food, photographs and photographers, cakes, travel, the honeymoon ... the list goes on! At the moment, things are in the very early stages, but we’re looking at narrowing down our choices for reception and service very soon. That’ll help us start to organise some of the other things we need to do. We’ve already chosen our bridal party, so that’s very exciting. Rachel’s very happy with the ring. It had to be resized, but that’s all finished now, so I’ll take it back to her tomorrow.

We’re heading for a January 2011 wedding date. That’s not too far away! Stay tuned!

uncertain

/Λnˈsзtən/ adj. 1 not known with certainty; not finally established; in doubt; dubious. 2 not sure; doubtful. 3 likely to change; not to be depended upon; not reliable. 4 not constant; varying. 5 not clearly identified, located, or determined; vague; indefinite. 6 not settled or fixed; indeterminate. 7 that may not happen.

I’ve been back in Sydney about a week-and-a-half.

It’s been good to be home. I’ve been catching up with the relos, and some friends, and have really enjoyed spending time with my family and Heather and Gary. We’ve had some good chats about all sorts of stuff … life, family, travel, Fiji, Australia … the list goes on. I’ve spent a fair bit of time doing some mundane stuff, like Christmas shopping, tidying up, getting my driver’s licence replaced (the old one was stolen during the robbery), “un-suspending” my health insurance, and all that kind of stuff. I seem to have fallen back into the routine of living the Australian life pretty easily. Is that a good thing? I’m not so sure …

Mum, Dad, Heather, Gary, and I had an awesome weekend away in Dubbo, which I really enjoyed. It was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me, taking me back to the days when Dad would take us out west on his country sales runs. We went through the Blue Mountains, Lithgow, Bathurst, Wellington, Dubbo, and Mudgee. It was pretty hot out there, and there are noticeable differences in the landscape. I always remember the Megalong Valley as being a picturesque, green place, but now it’s just parched, brown, and tired-looking. The scenery continued like that most of the way. The contrast between the “outback” I remember from childhood and the drought-ridden countryside now is amazing.

Despite being home, I’ve been a bit restless … and I haven’t been able to put my finger on exactly why. I was certainly sorry about the way we had to leave Fiji in such a rush. But people have been asking me, “So, what are you going to do now?”

The answer is, “I don’t know.” I’m not really sure what I want to do. The volunteer experience has opened my eyes to a whole lot of different people, experiences, opportunities, and adventures, and right now I’m just not sure what path I want to follow. I do feel that some of the things I had as priorities before, aren’t so important to me now. (In my first week back, my Nan started asking me about when I was going to start getting into the real estate market. I certainly wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be talking to her about it then, but even now, I think my priorities may be a little different to hers … not to mention that with the Sydney real-estate market the way it is right now, there’s very little chance I’d be able to afford “something of my own” any time soon. I think that perhaps “owning my own home” just isn’t as important to me as it was before). I really enjoyed the “fresh start” Fiji gave me … I was able to “begin again” in a way … meet new people and do things I’d never done before … all without prior knowledge, history, baggage, and the rest. I probably didn’t appreciate it while I was there, but now — as Heather pointed out to me — I realise that there are things that are different about me, or ways in which I’ve changed, but to everyone back home, things are just the same. This may take some time to reconcile.

I have been saying to people, “I’ll just wait and see.” I really would like to just hold out for a bit and see what God’s got in store for me, but I also will eventually need to start thinking about whether I want to take on any new activities or commitments in 2007.

It’s all very confusing, and there aren’t any clear answers just yet. But let me change the subject and end this post with a few lists:

Things I don’t miss from Fiji:

• The poor roads


• The stray dogs running everywhere


• UHT milk. You just can’t beat full cream, 100% dairy, homogenised, pasteurised milk. Especially on cereal in the mornings!


• Sales staff in shops. If you say to someone in Australia, “I don’t need any help, thanks; I’m just browsing,” then that’s the end of it. Not in Fiji!


• Traffic pollution, and littering. At least in Australia we’re a little more environmentally aware. (I’m surprised that solar power hasn’t caught on more, though … But that’s a whole other blog entry!)

Things I miss from Fiji:

• The friends I made, and the people I worked with


• Being involved with the Deaf community


• Having an independence I’d never had before, and having to cook, clean, etc. etc. for myself (and others! I miss being the “chef guy” of Team Veiuto!)


• Cheap haircuts. I don’t care what anyone else says, nobody flamboyantly waving some scissors around my head for ten minutes deserves to be paid $18–$20. It’s practically daylight robbery.


• Altruism. There’s not too much of it here.

Anyway. That’ll do for now. I hope to put another entry in here around Christmas, so make sure you check back.

Cheers,
Andy

evacuate

/i'vækjueιt/, v. 1 to leave empty; withdraw from. SYN: quit, vacate. 2 to withdraw from a place in danger or that has undergone some disaster.

This blog post comes to you from my home city of Sydney. Yes, that’s right. I’m back in Australia.

I was enjoying the clean-up process at school on Thursday … All the students had gone home for the holidays, and the teachers were scheduled to have a Christmas party the following day. Suddenly, at about midday, my mobile rang. It was our in-country manager. “Andrew,” he said, “you have to let your housemates know you are all being evacuated to Nadi this afternoon. You are allowed to take one piece of hand luggage and a 20kg suitcase. We’ll meet you at 2pm.” So I headed home. With two hours to go, the packing was a mad rush of me trying to fit all my belongings into the suitcase (which ended up weighing about 25kg). Of course, it was going to be impossible, so then I had to try and decide what to leave behind. We had no idea how long we would be away, or anything.

We were bussed around to Nadi that afternoon, and that evening had a visit from the regional manager. She told us we would all be sent back to Australia the next day.

They put us up at a backpacker hotel on Thursday evening, and paid for our dinner and breakfast on Friday. Friday morning was spent wandering the streets of Nadi, trying to madly cram two weeks’ worth of sightseeing and souvenir shopping into a few hours. Then, on Friday afternoon, following some very hasty goodbyes to friends and flatmates of the last 5½ months, we were on planes headed back to various cities in Australia.

As you’re reading this, please spare a thought and a prayer for the other volunteers on our programme. Some of them had only been in Fiji a few months, and were just starting to get the hang of their assignments and living in Suva. Others still had about six months to go. I have been fortunate, in that I was almost ready to start packing up anyway. I think, in my head, I was already back in Australia (if that makes sense). But for other people, the news was stressful and upsetting. There are some Aussies who now have no jobs and no homes. We have also been told there’s no way they can advise them when they’ll be returning to Fiji … if at all. I guess there’ll be a fair few people with their eyes glued to the TV and internet, watching closely to see what happens over the next little while in Suva…

Since then, I’ve had a bit of a chance to catch up with family and friends (although I still have much more of this to do), do a bit of shopping and mundane household-y organising type stuff, and unpack my suitcase. I have a long list of things that I also need to try and organise in Suva (not the least of which is getting the rest of my stuff — sheets, some clothes, books, painting things, papers — shipped back to Australia). I also want to check up on the people back in Suva, to make sure they’re doing OK.

Thanks for checking the blog regularly. It’s not over yet! Stay tuned to the news, and see what’s happening in the place I’ve called “home” for the last 5½ months!

Cheers,
Andy

marriage

/ˈmærιdʒ/ n., 1 the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc. 2 the state, condition, or relationship of being married; wedlock. 3 the legal or religious ceremony that formalises the decision of a man and woman to live as husband and wife, including the accompanying social festivities.


Last week was fantastic. After a long bus ride from Suva to Nadi /'na:ndi:/ I caught an even longer flight back to Sydney. It was awesome to see my family and friends again.

One of the highlights of the week was catching up with my good friends Heather and Gary, from the United States. They have just finished a tour of the US and Asia, and are now staying with my parents for the next few months. They are also keeping a blog of their adventures … If you get a chance, check it out at http://www.xanga.com/newlywednomads. Heather and Gary have been great family friends for a long time now, are honorary Aussies, and I really enjoyed their friendship and conversation over the week. I’m only sorry I didn’t have longer to hang out with my “brother and sister”. Don’t worry, mates, I’ll see you at Christmas.

I also had a nice long phone conversation with my best mate, Phil, who is teaching in Thailand. It was good to chat with him after not being able to hear how he’s been going for so long.

My sister’s wedding on the Sunday was beautiful. Both Tania and Belinda are princesses. The day started out looking a bit grey and blustery, but it all blew away and turned into a beautiful sunny day. Everyone spruced up really well, and overall it was a really happy time. Belinda and my new brother Mat are honeymooning close to the NSW/Queensland border. Again, I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone in December. The reception was just as beautiful, in a picturesque location overlooking Darling Harbour.

A couple of my relos told me I had lost weight, so I obviously look thinner. But, for the record, I would just like to advise everyone that I have officially lost only 2-3kg, which is not really that bad!

After finishing the reception at about 11:00pm, we went home and I finished packing my bag for the flight back to Nadi. I was done by 3am, and had about an hour’s sleep before Dad came and woke me up at 4am to drive to Sydney airport. It was really tough. After spending a fantastic week with friends and family, then being able to share in the emotion of my sister’s wedding, and being so tired on Monday morning, it was really hard for me to get on the plane. Realistically, it would have been better for me to relax for an extra day in Sydney. I ended up arriving back in Suva at about 9:00 at night, and I was dead tired.

I’ve had a few good nights’ sleep since then, though, and have recovered, and worked my way back into the swing of things here in Fiji. Jim, the director of the school has arrived from his overseas trip, and it has been good to finally meet him. I have started taking a class in basic Fijian too! Au sa via sara yaloyalo, ia au sa osooso! (I really want to watch a movie, but I’m busy)!

The next big exciting thing on the agenda is when my parents arrive in October to help me celebrate my birthday, so I’m really looking forward to that. I hope everyone who visits this site is happy and healthy. Please check back regularly.


Cheers,
Andy