This post describes some of the events in our lives in June 2018.
Two big international events this month.
First, the on-again, off-again summit meeting between President Trump and President Kim Jong Un of North Korea in Singapore on 12 June. A lot of razzmatazz, President Trump clearly loved the limelight and all the attention.
But what will actually result from the Agreed Statement is anybody's guess - the DPRK has signed at least three similar Agreements in the past and reneged on all of them. Certainly Trump's assertion that the North Korean nuclear threat has been removed seems premature.
The other major event was the month-long Football (Soccer) World Cup hosted by Russia which kicked off on 14 June. Like the Olympics, the World Cup is a truly international event with a huge following around the world - when we lived in China we were surprised at the widespread interest in the World Cup even though China is only just emerging as a soccer nation (it has only made the World Cup once).
Australia (world ranking #36) was in Group C, together with France (#7), Peru (#11) and Denmark (#12). A difficult challenge and that is exactly as it turned out - despite a valiant effort by the Socceroos, we came last in our Group.
The biggest surprise in the Group Stage was the elimination of Germany, the current Champions, beaten 2-0 by minnow South Korea in their last game. Other surprises were penalty misses by Messi (Argentina) and Ronaldo (Portugal) - although both teams advanced to the next stage.
The next two weeks will be fascinating - which teams will be in the Final?
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Here are photos of some of the activities we were involved in during June.
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| On our way back from Brisbane we stayed with Bob & Siri Morrison in Nambucca Heads on 1 June. Took a drive to Bowraville where we had lunch at the old Bowra Hotel. Nice countryside of green, rolling hills; then through Macksville and on to Scott's Head a lovely seaside village. We can see the lights of Scott's Head from Nambucca, but had never been there. Very nice beaches (as seen in the background in this photo). |
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| It is difficult to see them but there were several surfers catching the waves off this point at Scott's Head. |
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| Watching the surfers at Scott's Head. |
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| These two posters show some of the beautiful farming country in Northern NSW. |
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| This poster shows the town of Taree (population 25,000) on the banks of the Manning River. It is 20 km inland from the coast (Forster-Tuncurry) and 370 km north of Sydney. We love the 1,000 km drive from Brisbane to Sydney along the Pacific Highway; a much improved road these days. Several large, impressive rivers, beautiful rolling hills. |
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| June 7, dinner with Sharon and Ian Loiterton to celebrate Sharon's birthday. I first met Ian at University way back in 1965 and we became fast friends. We lost touch for a while, but were delighted to re-connect and now see them often - a wonderful, caring couple. |
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| The Canberra Old Time Dance Club had a big weekend of dancing: Friday night 8 June (above) a Pre-Ball dance, then the annual Ball the following night (see below). It was a lucky night for us as Vera won two raffle prizes - we rarely win one, let alone two!!! |
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| The 38th Annual Ball of COTDC was held on Saturday night 9 June 2018 in St Benedict's school hall in Narrabundah. One hundred people attended. We do "New Vogue or Sequence Dances" - all get in a big circle and do the same steps (like the Pride of Erin or the Swing Waltz). It's not as easy as it sounds, because there are literally hundreds of dances. |
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| This photo features two couples who are stalwarts of COTDC: Bill & Maree and Bob & Kay Stoddard. |
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| Yours truly taking a break between dances. We normally dance at least once a week, usually on Thursday night; we are glad to have started dancing again in the last 6 months - it is a nice social activity and involves music and exercise as well. |
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| The music was provided by a talented organist - he came all the way from Shepparton in Victoria to play for us. |
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| I attended three talks at the Australian Institute of International Affairs during June. The first was by Thomas Albrecht, the UNHCR representative in Australia; the second was a panel discussion on The Commonwealth by HE Menna Rawlings, British High Commissioner and Dr Justin Lee from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (see photo above). Of course they talked it up but my instinct is that The Commonwealth has passed its use-by date. |
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| The third AIIA event was another panel discussion this time on the Trump - Kim Summit in Singapore by Prof James Cotton and Assoc. Prof Brendan Taylor (see poster in photo above). I was in two minds about going, because the Summit had been done to death in the media, but the two academics had interesting perspectives and it was a very worthwhile discussion. |
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| On Friday 15 June the Indonesian Ambassador HE Kristiarto Legowo and his wife Cecelia invited Canberra's Indonesian community for lunch to mark the end of the Ramadan fasting month (about 90% of Indonesians say they follow Islam). The photo shows the Ambassador and his wife with some guests. |
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| The crowd spilled out into the Ambassador's garden. It was a cold day, about 8C at 12 noon, but fortunately the sun finally broke through the clouds and it was quite a pleasant afternoon. |
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| Vera with some of her friends at the Ambassador's lunch; a good looking bunch, don't you think? Many women wore traditional Indonesian garb. |
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| On Saturday 16 June the Australia China Friendship Society had a lunch to celebrate Duan Wu (in English known as Dragon Boat Festival). The photo shows President Carol Keil welcoming everyone and providing some background on this important Chinese festival. |
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| Vera about to hug a new friend! |
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| Five friends have lunch every Wednesday; from left: Neale Emanuel, me, Paul Flint (two other regulars David Evans and Noel Cock were away). This tradition started about 12 years ago when we all found ourselves retired and with time on our hands. We go to different restaurants every week - it is good to stay in touch, and also try new venues. |
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Three friends passed away in June: John Allgrove, Ivan Potas, and Marta Fabri. May they rest in peace!
We want to acknowledge American chef Anthony Bourdain who died by his own hand on 9 June. His wonderful travel programs focused on food around the world. He once noted that Iranians were the friendliest people he had ever met. A sad loss. RIP.
On a positive note, we were delighted that old friend John Milne received an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for services to Australia - Thai relations. Congrats, John; well deserved.
I have joined a University of the Third Age (U3A) course called "Why is it so?" organised by Dr Ron Wells on Thursday mornings. He invites retired professors to talk about subjects close to their hearts. These are clever people, experts in their fields. I've found it a very thought-provoking course.
I'm a regular at talks at the National Library of Australia (NLA). Perhaps the most interesting in June was a panel discussion related to a "What if ..." book launch. The book speculates on what might have happened if certain events had taken a different course; for example chapters cover:
What if Western Australia had not joined the Australian Federation in 1901?
What if the ANZACs had won at Gallipolli?
What if the Socceroos had won the 1994 World Cup?
What if the Cold War had turned into a hot war, and Europe was destroyed?
Apparently "What if ...?" has become a bit of a fun approach amongst some historians in recent times.
During Q & A the audience suggested the following possible "What if ..." subjects:
What if President John F Kennedy had not been assassinated?
What if Robert Kennedy had not been assassinated?
What if the Zionists had been able to acquire Tasmania to create a Jewish homeland?
What if Captain Cook's ship had sunk on the Great Barrier Reef?
What if PM Gough Whiltam had not been sacked by the Governor General in 1975?
During June I read two autobiographies by former colleagues, the first from DFAT and the second from Austrade: "Driven" by Richard Broinowski (published 2009) and "Never carry your own briefcase" by John Allgrove (2015). Both entertaining reads.
All-in-all an interesting month.
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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Alex Olah & Vera Olah
Canberra, Australia
Monday 2 July 2018
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