ACT update... with pictures!

Yes, this one even comes with pictures!

So, we’ve been here a month, and are starting to get vaguely settled. Apart from the freezing cold, things are falling into place. We moved into our flat a week ago, and my dream of house-husband is almost realised! Without a job (yet) I’m cooking, cleaning and decorating. If only there was a garden! With a few garage sales, and some of Julie’s aunt’s surplus furniture, we’ve managed to scratch together reasonable furnishings. My favourite are 4 delightful old suitcases we picked up from a church, and use as storage and decoration:
The block we're in is old, but the unit itself is really nice, and has been recently redone. I especially like the kitchen sink, and cabinets with downlights in them. The light helps to accentuate my great Edward Monkton mug that my brother sent to me from London! Thanks Matt! ;)

our only plant, the kitchen, and my mug and classy wine glass

We’ve made some friends with the Quakers (we stay two houses down from the meeting house), and we've also met quite a few SA folks who came here in the 70’s and 80’s in exile. It’s been refreshing to hear their stories, and have people who understand where we come from. Most of the people here are civil servants, or linked to the University. I’ve begun to network some with people from the Uniting Church, as well as some developmental agencies. I was wandering around ANU last week, and looked around their courses. I’m quite interested in their Masters in Developmental and International Economics, and may try to get one of those while I’m here ;) During my wanderings I carried on through the campus to the National Museum of Australia - a rather impressive building on Lake Burley Griffin where you can see Civic (the city) and Parliament over the water.

a collage of abstract museum shots

the city, ainslie hill, and the commonwealth bridge over Lake Burley Griffin

I am enjoying the relative peace and security here - being able to walk around at night, and not worrying about hijackings when you stop at traffic lights! Sometimes I do wonder if I’ll get ‘soft’ though. I have met quite a few ‘activists’ who are saying and doing things about social justice, but in a sense it’s just not the same if you are not living with the injustices in your face. Mind you, the ‘grass-is-greener’ saying is not true, there are problems and dis-eases here in Aus too. Our flat has an alarm system, and the council houses are known for crime and drugs. From a surface level, the problems may seem petty, but there are big issues to deal with: youth suicides in the rural areas, shocking history with the natives, big environmentally un-friendliness etc. So, there are some dangers, plenty of work, and quite a lot to learn from the people here.

Oh, I’ve also met a Dutch Reformed minister from Stellenbosch here, and have really enjoyed chatting to him about Canberra, South Africa, theology and life. He followed his wife here 5 years ago, and then found a Uniting Church to minister at. He has a PhD from Holland, and a good take on the city. He’s been very encouraging about me finding a position in the church here. My question now is to discern whether that is the work i want to do just now.

sad frisbee news...

It’s about time I let my blog in on some sad news… After nationals I was chosen as part of the SA team to go to Worlds in Vancouver in August. Worlds! Like where all the best ultimate players in the world go. I started training and strategising and all. BUT, in my last game in Cape Town, I hurt my ankle rather badly (read: torn ligament). Pants! I had hoped that I would recover in a few weeks, but it’s been 6 and I still can’t run properly. So, last week I had to call the captains and cancel. Big downer.
There’s not much I can do about it, but I would have given my left ankle to play at Worlds. Quite a few of the players all started playing with me about 4 years ago, and I would have loved to play alongside them. All I can do now is wish them luck, and make sure I fix my ankle and play in all the tournaments I can here in Aus. Hopefully I’ll stay in shape and in 4 years time I’ll still be good enough for the SA team. That is debatable though, as there are some really skilled young players coming up through the LoveLife program and schools’ leagues. Good news for SA ultimate, but bad news for (what will be) and old fogey like me in 4 years time. We shall see!
Good luck to the rest of the team… they leave in under a month for Canada.

American Incongruity

"The earth, reeling as it is, produces more than enough food to feed plentifully every man, woman and child on the planet. There is enough food; yet, our economic system produces murderous scarcity. A few have more than they can consume, so much that garbage disposal is a critical problem; while millions perish in sight of plenty. One nation, containing a tiny fraction of the earth's population (the majority of whom think of themselves as Christians), consumes half the earth's resources, yet it still manages not to feed its own hungry."

Theodore Jennings, Jr. - Good News to the Poor

bungendore...

Glynis (Julie's aunt) took us to Bungendore yesterday. It's a little farming/artist town 40 minutes out of Canberra. It also has a fun name, that rolls off the tongue rhythmically. It reminded Julie of Howick, and reminded me of Dullstroom. Quaint little red brick houses, antiques, brick-a-brack, art and good food. All rather scenic and picturesque and all. Everybody seemed to be enjoying it, from the bikers on their breakfast run to the elderlies on their community outing. We even enjoyed it! We saw some fantastic wood sculptures at Bungendore Woodworks, and mesmerising aboriginal art at a beautiful old house. The aboriginal story is something we are trying to learn more about. How's this painting:
Here's the local hotel and a bookstore:
And here's the road on the way to Bungendore. After a few hills and eucalyptus forests (no Koala Bears unfortunately), you come out into this pastoral scene. Very similar to SA scenes.

soul food

Here's some more thoughtful poetry that's been sitting with me for a while... 'cause it's good for the soul.
Mull over them, ruminate on them, sit, listen and enjoy.

Rumi
Too Full to Talk About

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase 'each other'
doesn't make any sense.

The Enlightened Heart, an Anthology of Sacred Poetry

Mary Oliver
Wild and Precious

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed,
how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

The Summer Day

As always, the pertinent poets come from inward/outward.

the (new) state of gareth...

... is now in ACT.
(Australian Capital Territories, that is. Technically its a Territory, and not a state, but who's being technical?)

Julie and I arrived here two weeks ago. It all happened so fast, so i guess i can back-track some:

The Canberra Journals #1: The prologue
We were exploring working overseas for a bit, tried Seattle, went and got jobs, but the not-so-friendly Dept of Homeland Security wouldn't play along when it came to Jules' visa. So, in the midst of our despair, Julie's cousin (a famous/infamous rugby player) happened to give her a call. "Hey Cuz, we've been looking for someone for our company, the Aussies are not good enough, and we want YOU!" he said, sounding a lot like pre-war Uncle Sam posters. So, we thought about it, and fought about it, and wished it were anywhere but Aus-land.

In the end I got over my issues with Australia, we appeased our shocked friends, and decided to give it a go. The tome of visa papers went in, and 10 days later we had an email in our inbox telling us we had a 2 year 457 working visa. Wow. We weren't too sure what to do with it intially, as it came so soon. But, being the intrepid adventures that we are, we looked at our calendars, Julie resigned from work, I finished CPE, had a week at home with respective parentals, said goodbye and boarded flight Quantas flight QF64 to Sydney on June 1 2008. (phew)

The Canberra Journals #2: The arrival
We disem-boarded in Australialand 17 hours later.

The Canberra Journals #3: First steps
And here we still are! The first few days we allocated to sight-seeing. We covered all the sights in an afternoon and then slept for the next 3 days! I'm exaggerating a bit, but it is a small city and after a few days we pretty much had the inner north, south and civic sorted. Julie started work Monday last week with Healthfutures, and that left me to deal with the cut-throat world of the Canberra rental market. It's crayzeeee! On Thursday we secured a nice little apartment for a not so nice price (prices here are exhorbitant) in Turner - a suburb in the inner north, a couple of block from the city centre, and two houses down from the Quaker meeting house! We move in there on the 24th, sans any furniture or anything! We will start with a matress on the floor and paper plates. Things can only get better from there so watch this space!

At Ease?

At Ease

Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself.
Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;
a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.
Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?
Listening to the night rain on my roof,
I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.

Ryokan, The Enlightened Heart, an Anthology of Sacred Poetry

Hmmm... what an enticing picture. Reminds me of the 'perfect plan' that Gus constructs in David James Duncan's The River Why - living in his self-sufficient little hermit cottage in the woods fishing for 8 hours a day. I often wish I was less driven and 'responsible' and ambitious and could just 'be'. Let the world take care of itself.
Some wise fellow at Quaker meeting in Canberra last week said this:

"The most dangerous people in the world are those who claim to know what is wrong with the world and how to fix it".

Hmm. I'm challenged by how to balance Ryokan and this wise Quakers' thoughts with the calling I seem to have that encourages me to change/save/enlighten myself/society/the world.
E B White seems to capture my struggle:

If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.

E B White, Planning the Day, Notes and Comment, the New Yorker

G'day mate.

Hello...

... from Canberra. ACT. Australia.

Yes, it's true. This is coming to you live and not-so-loud from the planned, not-so-sprawling metropolis of Canberra, ACT, Australia. It's like DC - a planned capital city with its own state - but not. It's small and quiet and clean and full of bush. Not W. Bush, small 'b' bush. They call Canberra the 'bush capital', because its a city built into the surrounding nature. It's rather pretty, athough cold and dry at the moment. The suburbs remind me of 1960s farm towns, the horses and hills remind me of the Natal midlands and the bush reminds me of the Eastern Transvaal. The kangaroos are just wierd, and i'm still getting over the fact that people actually plant bluegum trees here!

So yeah, that's where i am. Canberra. Hello.