Monday, January 29, 2007

The home stretch .. or perhaps the runway

For whatever reason, I view the long weekend just gone as the official start of the marital/Italy home stretch. It was a fantastic long weekend spent bbq-ing, cricketing, tennis-ing and community radio-ing with friends, including some friends visiting from Melbourne. It was one of those weekends you know you will appreciate in a couple of weeks time, when the almighty todo list begins to dominate your every waking hour.

I am happy to say that Monday morning has seen both Aff and I hit the ground running. First stop was the Italian Embassy, where I began what is likely to be one of the most stressful activities for February - obtaining an Italian Visa. This will be no trivial exercise as the Italians are pretty hung up on a foreigners ability to cover their own expenses. Fair enough I suppose, although it would be nice if I could just sign a piece of paper saying "she'll be right mate!"

Another thing that will start happening from now on in, is the winding up of my involvement in various things. Sunday morning was my last Fuzzy Logic show for the year. I do enjoy my radio contributions, but without adequate time to prepare, my contributions end up being a little less polished than I would like. Hopefully when I return at the end of the year, I will have more time to give it.

The postgrad association is another commitment that will be coming to an end in a couple of weeks time. Unlike the radio, this one will most likely be for good. In truth, I have only stuck around for as long as I have because numbers are so low, and there is very little experience on the council. With some new recruits hopefully on the way, this situation will hopefully ease. PARSA has undoubtedly been a roller coaster ride. In many respects, it has been the most rewarding thing I have done since arriving in Canberra, but by the same token, it has been one of the most draining. When I come back, I do not plan to get involved again. It needs new energy, and new ideas, but most of all, more student support.

So it's a busy time, but also an exciting time. While we will be coming back to Canberra when we return from Italy, it does feel like life as we have known it these last two years is coming to an end. Whether this is really true is not clear, as we will be back here for sometime after, and will probably slip back into Canberra life fairly easily .. who knows.

Life is certainly not dull.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Glad you guys has such a great weekend - sounded wonderful! Certainly sounds like it's all happening. I echo your feelings regarding PARSA and think you've made the right decision.

Take it easy,
Mands :)

1/29/2007 02:04:00 PM

 

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