Post #180 31 August 2018

Gentlefolk,

This post describes some of the activities in which we were engaged in August 2018.

Personal highlights in August included Vera's operation and then our visits to Nambucca, Brisbane and Sydney.  Watching Jay-Jay taking her first steps was exciting, a milestone.

Here are photos of some of our activities in August 2018:

On 1 August I attended a talk by Associate Professor Anthea Roberts on "Is International Law International?" She has returned to Australia after teaching in the USA and UK. She argued that International Law is interpreted differently, depending on individual bias, and gave the example of the annexation of Crimea by Russia.  Most Western legal experts said that it violated international law, but Russian lawyers said that as 90% of the population voted to join Russia, the action was clearly in line with accepted democratic principles and international law: lawyers looking at the same laws came up with completely different conclusions depending on their basic assumptions.  It was a very interesting presentation and discussion.

Andrew visited after Vera's "lumpectomy" at Canberra Private Hospital; Dr Carolyn Cho was the surgeon.  Vera was in hospital for 2 nights.  

Vera with Dr Carolyn Cho, breast cancer specialist.  This photo was taken at the post-operation consultation, two weeks after the operation.  Dr Cho thinks she got all the cancer - actually, later Dr Cho called to say that she wants to take out a little more, so Vera will have another operation in early September.  Furthermore, Dr Cho recommended that, as a precaution, Vera should undertake a course of radiation therapy, which she will do in October when we get back from Bali.

We took to opportunity of Andrew's visit to celebrate his 41st birthday, with lunch at a Thai restaurant. 

My niece, Lelani Labutte was in a performance  of "Cinderella" put on by by her ballet school. Lani was the Stepmother, one of the main characters.  The participants were all 12 - 15 years old, and displayed impressive dancing skills.

The program listing the main actors/dancers in "Cinderella".

A big cast of dancers made for an entertaining production of "Cinderella". Lani (the Stepmother)is in the blue dress on the left side of the stage, standing between her tow daughters. Jacqueline Mi as Cinderella is on her toes in the centre. 

Even Little Nouvelle (Lani's sister) made a cameo appearance.

Vera, Angie, Lani, Britt and little Nouvie who had a walk-on part.

The star of the show, Jacqueline Mi, with her parents. Jacqueline is a real talent - keep an eye out for her name.

Celebrating my 72nd birthday on 15 August 2018 (stopped counting years ago ... ). Time to reflect on what has been "A Fortunate Life" and, with my lovely wife beside me, still going strong.

That night I gave a talk on "Aspects of Chinese Culture" to the Australia China Friendship Society.

Yours truly giving the talk on "Aspects of Chinese culture" to the China Society.  

A photo with my beloved at the China Society talk.

I attended a presentation by the Lowy Institute to introduce their interactive "Pacific Aid Map" which they have compiled in conjunction with DFAT.  They identified 13,000 non-military projects supported by foreign aid donors between 2011 - 17.  

Between 2011 - 2017 some of the beneficiaries of foreign aid were: PNG $846m; Solomon Islands $189m; Samoa $116m; Tonga $101m; Cook Islands $35m; Kiribati $35m; Tuvalu $25m.

Top five donors were: Australia $795m; New Zealand $192m; Japan $180m; World Bank Group $143m; China $113m. Recent weeks have seen some quite alarmist reports in the media alleging that China is rapidly increasing its "footprint" in the Pacific through increased aid, but these figures refute these assertions.  Australia is by far the largest aid donor (45% of total), while China is only a minor player (about 8%). An example of a media beat-up based on China phobia!

Following Vera's operation we decided to drive up to Brisbane for some warmer weather and to see Jen & family; enroute we stayed in Sydney with Niniek and Paul Milton and then in Nambucca Heads with Siri and Bob Morrison.  Nambucca has a break-wall (locally known as the "V Wall" ) to stabilise the mouth of the Nambucca River.  This popular walkway has recently been upgraded and looks great.  Many people have painted messages on the big rocks - see below.

As I was walking along the V Wall I saw this man, Tony Didio, doing a video for his Facebook page, Didio Country2Coast Fishing.  His wife told me that he has about 150,000 followers on Facebook, including many in other countries.  Tony seems like just a regular, older guy who is passionate about fishing, and he can now share his knowledge and experience through social media.

Nambucca Heads, like many other coastal towns, gets a lot of visitors; many paint messages on the huge rocks which form the breakwater.  I call it "modern rock art".  See images below.

In Brisbane we had lunch with Kristine Cant and Ross Stewart who were on the tour of Iran back in April.  We all admired the picture-book compiled by Phillip Huntley.  Our trip to Iran seems almost like a dream now. President Trump  pulled out of the Nuclear Agreement (UK, France, Germany, Russia and China were also signatories and have stayed in the Agreement because they believe Iran has met the conditions) and American sanctions are impacting the Iranian economy - the currency, the Rial, has lost more than half its value in the last 4 months.

We had a family dinner in our favourite restaurant, My Thai. Always great service and delicious Thai food.

Jen & Tom's sons, Kurt (13), Nate (11) and Sid  (9) with Moritz (the grandson of my cousin in Germany; Moritz is on a 12 month "Working Holiday" visa. He is an impressive young man who finished an apprenticeship with BMW before coming to Australia. He has been in Brisbane 3 months and seems to have fallen in love with the relaxed way of life in this city.

Playing basketball with Nate; he surprised me with his ability to shoot baskets from a long way out; a natural ball-player.

The boys play rugby for the GPS Rugby Club (colloquially known as "Jeeps"), which is based in Ashgrove, about 6 km from their home.  GPS traces its origins back to 1887. They have been Brisbane Premiers 6 times, the most recent success being last weekend when they beat University - their first flag in 22 years! The three boys are all keen on rugby.  Nate has done especially well this year as he was selected to represent Metropolitan North Brisbane (MetNorth) in a State-wide tournament held in Cairns 2 weeks ago.  His team came third, a very creditable result.

Jen demonstrating sushi-making to Vera.  Their kitchen was in the process of being renovated - huge new bench-top.

After 4 days in Brisbane we headed south again.  Stayed with friends Siri and Bob Morrison in Nambucca.  Australia is blessed with so many beautiful coastal / beach areas.

A view of the mouth of the Nambucca River from up near Bob's apartment.

We then had three days / nights in Sydney staying with Caz & Andrew in Surry Hills. Here is Vera watching a video on her phone with Fast Eddie (4.5 years) and Little Jay-Jay (1.5 years).  Both good kids.

Jay-jay enjoying an ice cream. She has just started to walk - so wonderful to witness this huge milestone in her development. Jay isn't talking yet, but seems to understand most of what is said to her.  Early indications are that she will have a strong, determined character; time will tell.

Back in Canberra. The courtyard-garden of our apartment complex with blossoms evident on trees (when we left Canberra 2 weeks ago the buds were just appearing), so Spring is around the corner. It's still cold - nights below 0C and daytime temperatures around 12 - 14C. We haven't had any meaningful rain for months - everything is very dry - farmers are suffering; the whole of the State of NSW has now been declared in drought (although we have had good rain today, as I am writing this blog post).

Dinner with Aniko & Peter Carey at the Ainslie Football Club. We are standing in front of a Fiat Bambino mini-car.

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As background for my talk on Chinese culture I re-read Chang Jung's wonderful book "Wild Swans".  It describes developments in China in the period 1909 - 1978 through the experiences of her grandmother, her mother, and herself.  I also read "Strange Stones" by Peter Hessler (published 2013). It is a compilation of articles Hessler wrote for The New Yorker magazine about his time in China and on return to the US.

John McCain (1936 - 2018) Navy pilot and Senator died 25 August 2018. An American hero; may he RIP.

On 21 August Malcolm Turnbull won a leadership contest with Peter Dutton (48 - 35); but he was mortally wounded and decided not to participate in a subsequent ballot on 24 August.  In that contest Scott Morrison defeated Peter Dutton (45 - 40), was elected leader of the Liberal Party and became Australia's 30th Prime Minister (since Federation in 1901). 

Extraordinarily Australia has had five Prime Ministers in 5 years: Julia Gillard; Kevin Rudd; Tony Abbott; Malcolm Turnbull; and now Scott Morrison - none of these has seen out a full three-year term.  For decades politics in Australia were relatively stable and predictable, but not any more. 
This new habit of changing leaders mid-term is ridiculous; we should also change to fixed four-year terms.

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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Alex Olah and Vera Olah
Canberra, Australia
Friday, 31 August 2018