The Xmas Letter. The Xmas Letter is meant to be a communication device, an expression of one’s self to those whom they love who are far from them at a time of family, closure, reflection, and pause. It is with grandiose vision in mind, that I’ll try to lead you through my life as it has been lived this year. I will try and share what I can of myself to make up for what have not been able to share with most of you because of distance. I’ll aim for the goal of imparting to you the essence, feeling, flavours and my reality, but will settle for someone actually getting to the end of this email Like the State of the Union address, this is a State of the Soul letter, and as it unfolds you will see my thoughts and environment are invariably intertwined. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for Letters back home
Leaving the Motherland
Sometime towards the end of last year I am told I applied for a job via an internet mailing list I had subscribed to. I don’t remember doing it, but apparently I did, because now I have been offered and have accepted that job starting 18 August 2005. It’s a 5 month contract in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Aceh was devastated in the December 2004 tsunami in Asia. I will be working for the Grameen Foundation USA with two local Indonesian NGO’s who are establishing microfinance initiatives. I will be responsible for implementing, documenting and providing training for the financial information system that the NGO’s will run. Read the rest of this entry »
University life
The highlight of the first semester was a rare campus sighting of Barry Cossar, father of Melbourne socialite Al Cossar (love your work Al). In fact it is up there with the time I saw the band members of Blur coming out of the bFM radio station studio. Yes it’s true, the only people I know at university are the fathers of the people I studied with the first time around. And before you say it, I should remind you that it’s not nice being called names, although I have been called worse things than a “mature student� before. The comment inevitability comes up when I reveal my university ID number, you know, like at parties and stuff, and people realise it is in the elite 2 millions, rather than the 4 millions like recently started students.
So what has been on the academic agenda? I have been taking papers in Sociology, Politics, and Economics. These are the questions I have written about, and what I wrote about them: Read the rest of this entry »
Return to the womb
It’s that time of year again, when you sit back and think to yourself ‘I’ve changed directions, I’ve moved back home, maybe I should let my friends know what I’m up to?’. Well that time of year was back in January, and I am finally getting around to actually writing to you. Read the rest of this entry »
Update on where and whats about
Hello y’all,
Let me start where I left off in my last email, way back in April. At that time I was about to go to Vietnam. Well I went to Saigon and the Mekong Delta (all in the very southern part of Vietnam) and the top 3 impressions I come away with were: Read the rest of this entry »
Happy Khmer New Year 2004
April 13-15 is Khmer New Year, the most celebrated annual event in Cambodia. With only a week to go employee attendance has started to drop off and the noise level at night increase. Read the rest of this entry »
Questions
A question of great importance has been weighing on my mind lately. You know those type of questions? The ones we all have to face at some time or another in our lives. Questions of existence. Questions with different answers for different people in different times. Questions debated fiercely. The question bothering me lately is such a question: Read the rest of this entry »
Cambodia Stage Two
Working in the environment sector, I am realising how much time us usually city dwellers spend indoors! Lately my work, and leisure, has been taking me into the outdoors. Read the rest of this entry »
Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia
Last you heard I was in Strasbourg, France. I made it to Germany, down to Switzerland and Italy then across to southern France. I had a fantastic time in Europe thanks to many of you.Now I have taken up the position in Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia. Arriving back in Cambodia was a shock to the system after ultra-developed France. It is like two completely separate worlds. Read the rest of this entry »
Update/The Continent
After travelling through SE Asia & Sri Lanka, I arrived in the UK in May where I stayed with Dave & Emma and their South African flatmates for several weeks. Read the rest of this entry »
Bangkok pt 2
I think most of what I described in my last email is characteristic of the area I am staying in, Banglamphu which houses the backpacker hub Khao San Rd. Read the rest of this entry »
Hello from Bangkok
Sup y’all?
I have arrived in Bangkok saftely. This place is crazy. Read the rest of this entry »
