Post #165 28 February 2018

Gentlefolk,

This post covers the period 6 - 28 February 2018.

Quite an eventful 3 weeks. Some major events:

14 February, 17 killed in a mass shooting in a high school in Florida.  For the first time young people started pushing for greater gun controls.

22 February, Billy Graham died aged 99.  He was the first modern evangelist.  More than 200 million attended his rallies in over 100 countries (in Melbourne 143,000 attended in 1959). Amazing man.

23 February, Barnaby Joyce, leader of the Australian National Party and Deputy Prime Minister, resigned over an affair with his media advisor.  Michael McCormack replaced him.

24 February, the Royal Bank of Scotland reported a profit of US$1 billion in 2017 - the first profit in 10 years (accumulated losses totalled about US$70 billion).

25 February, the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics finished.  Norway topped the medal count (14 - 14 - 11 = 39), followed by Germany, then Canada, USA, and The Netherlands.  Australia came 22nd with 2 Silver and 1 Bronze.

25 February, Transparency International (www.transparency.org) published its Corruption Index for 2017.  New Zealand was listed as the least corrupt nation (onya, Kiwis!), followed by Denmark; Australia #13 (we dropped a couple of places - bad); USA #16; China #77; Indonesia #96. Somalia was rated the most corrupt of the 185 countries surveyed.

Here are some photos of events in which we were involved in this 3 weeks.

The "Canberra Classic" women's golf tournament was held at beautiful Royal Canberra Golf Club 9 - 11 February 2018. Shin Ji Yai (Korea, world ranking 26) was the winner with minus 19, followed by Lee Min Jee (Australia,  world ranking 17) on minus 13. Cheyenne Woods (Tiger's niece) tied 34th.

The signage at Hole #10 at Royal Canberra Golf Club.

Hitting off at the 10th Hole. The course was in great shape and the weather was great too.

A group putting on the 18th green.

We attended Marika Taylor's 70th birthday celebrations. From left: Bill (husband), Adam (son), me, Marika, Angie (my sister), and Chrissy (daughter).  We lived in the same street as Marika while growing up in Cooma - very old friends.

We checked out the paintings entered in he 2018 Bald Archy competition. Of course many political leaders came in for cartoons and caricatures, especially Barnaby Joyce.

 

Chinese New Year was on Friday 16 February 2018 - welcome the Year of the Dog!  I am a "Dog" (1946), so does that mean this will be a lucky year for me? Hope so.

We attended the banquet organised by the Australia China Friendship Society to mark Chinese New Year.  This photo shows the President, Carol Keil, welcoming everyone.

One of the many delicious dishes in the banquet.

Another dish.

This dish was called "Kimchi Chicken", not something one usually finds in a Chinese banquet.

Everyone received a "hong bao" red envelope with 20 cents inside!

 Vera and I at the Chinese New Year banquet.

The annual Canberra Multicultural Festival was held 16 - 18 February.  Vera and I helped selling sate on the Indonesian stall.  The biggest pavilions were from China and India, reflecting the largest ethnic communities in Canberra today.

Vera with workmates selling Indonesian sate. From left: Vera, Yuni, Maria, Demsi, and Nanik.

Adrian and I barbecuing chicken sates.  

A shot of the crowd near the Indonesian stand - there were many, many people around.

The Saudi pavilion, one of many pavilions selling food and promoting their culture.

Pure orange juice, anyone?

The "Chinese Village" was one of the biggest, and had a continual line of performers.

Me with a group of Chinese dancers.

The Brazilian samba dancers in the parade attracted a lot of attention.

Chinese dragon in the parade.

Vera befriended a Chinese temple dog in the parade.

A group of Indonesian dancers from Solo, with elaborate costumes.

After the Festival, Nanik and Adrian hosted dinner at their home to thank all the helpers.  Almost 3,000 sate sticks were sold during the day!  The proceeds will go to charities.

The Australia China Friendship Society runs a Lantern-making Workshop and then a Lantern Festival every year.  I joined the Committee of ACFS last November and so was involved in planning these events. 

Vera and me at the Lantern-making Workshop on Sunday 25 February 2018.  

Some of the parents and kids who participated in the lantern-making Workshop.

More participants in the Lantern-making Workshop.  The kids, and adults, enjoyed the process of making lanterns.  The Lantern Festival will be held next Saturday 3 March.  Traditionally, the Lantern Festival is held 2 weeks after Chinese New Year and marks the end of the celebrations.  There will be displays of Chinese music and dancing, and of course a Lantern Parade along the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.

Vera & I belong to a gym called the Southern Cross Health Club in Woden.  We re-joined when we returned from China, and have gone 3 or 4 times a week for the last year or so.  It has been a big part of our lives here in Canberra.  Well, the old gym (pictured) closed today and the brand new gym, called Stellar, will open tomorrow.

The foyer of the Southern Cross Health Club.  It closed today, and we will transfer to the new Stellar gym.  We'll miss the old gym - spent many good, healthy hours there. Out with the old, in with the new!

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That's it for this post.

I read memoirs of three former colleagues from the Trade Commissioner Service: Gerry Watkins, Bruce Nicholls ("A briefcase in transit") and Bill Barry ("Of home politics and world trade"). All were interesting - we were fortunate to have such great jobs which led to many wonderful experiences around the world - but I identified most with Bill Barry's commentary.  I worked with Bill at the Australian Embassy Bangkok in 1973 - 74.  Our boss was John Holmes (fabulous guy!), and it was a very happy and productive office.

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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Alex Olah & Vera Olah
Canberra, Australia
Wednesday 28 February 2018