15 posts tagged “australia”

Sat., Dec. 22, 2007, 1:08 A.M. EST (06:08 UT), marks the solstice—the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere/summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

The December solstice celebration marks the origins of Christmas. In the fourth century Pope Julius I declared Christmas to be on December 25, and Jesus' birth was conveniently attributed to this date .

When I was at home, in Canada, I celebrated Winter Solstice, more so than Christmas. I have really been feeling that living in the Southern hemisphere has rather altered, and dare I say, further dislocated my sense of order. With no real expectations, I stayed up last night to see the sunrise (which began about 5 past 4 a.m, and finished at around 4:45 a.m., when the sun was fully in the sky).

 I meditated for a bit, not on the passing of the longest night the way I would do at home, but rather on the shortest - and in the end, was struck by the dawning realization (pardon the pun) that perhaps all things do unfold in a timely  and ordered way in my life - even when they seem on the surface to be entirely, upside down.

I've always seen Summer Solstice as a carefree time (which I am not connecting with so much at the moment) and had to work more so to remember that the knowledge of life is also, even if by default - the knowledge of death,  all things are transitory. At the moment, I'm feeling very out of touch with the 'carefree' energy of Summer Solstice - and find it easier to consider 'after harvest' the waning of energy as opposed to the waxing of it. Ironically, this is exactly what Litha invites.

So, here, in Australia, in keeping with the reversal of astronomical/weather patterns, I'm celebrating Litha today - Summer solstice. Litha symbolizes beauty, love, strength, energy, rejoicing in the warmth of the sun, and the promise of the fruitfulness to come.  I will use today to celebrate life, and the triumph of light, but to also acknowledge death and the passing away of that which has served its purpose, and must be released.

Burning some cedar oil and wishing a Merry Litha to you all!

I cannot believe I haven't written about this .... I guess I was just too damn upset to want to be still and write about it.
For those who have been tracking my "Move to Australia" saga ...you will know that we have had MAJOR problems with our moving company, Fleet World Wide Shipping, now forever known as Fleet World Wide Pirates ..


After waiting nine long months - we finally had a partial shipment of our goods delivered to Australia from England at the beginning of July. There was wild familial applause as it meant we could at long last actually sleep in beds, have a selection of clothing, and enjoy some of our nice things. Sadly, like everything else associated with this move - the ideal and the reality didn't quite coincide.

First off, we had been told that the majority of things had been sent, barring 'a few boxes of books". The reality? We received a lot of bits and pieces of things .... for instance; the head board and foot board for my bed arrived, with no side rails to put it together. My son's bed got the side rails, no head board or foot board. The china cabinet arrived, with no shelves or doors. This is only the tip o' the iceberg by way of examples.

Next, the amount of breakage was heart breaking. Our main television, which was only a year old arrived looking like this ... the outside pkg-ing was in pristine condition - but the t.v looked like it had been (imagine this) kicked in by some angry Pirate.

There were many other precious bits - broken beyond repair, including this, a favorite piece of Italian Glassware.  Tho I have  successfully moved that piece many many times - it was unable to survive the TLC of the Pirates. Several items that had belonged to my Granny that held huge sentimental value - also gone the way of the Dodo.

  In an effort to save money, hubby had decided we would forgo insurance and hope for the best - after all, FWW claimed they had charged us 3x more due in part to the  "special deluxe packaging' ... yeah, no insurance ... yet another decision we now deeply regret.

So here we sit, still minus much of our belongings ... and now being charged storage fees on the balance which remain un-shipped in England!! Lemme tell you my darlings, piracy is alive and well in the year 2007

I desperately wish I had a lawyer in the family - cuz it would give me unbelievable pleasure to sue the asses off the Pirates and end this once and for all.

On the upside - life is more comfortable - even with only part of our things being here and some of the things I desperately needed (personal documentation being right up there) has made its way here. I only wish I could feel more positive about things - but even writing this little bit about it has me in tears. It's been a hard ol' time these last months - and the party isn't over.

News ...news ... where do I begin?

Well my quest to establish working status in Aussie continues. I've now plunged into dealing with Queensland Social Services directly - and joy of joys, it seems they may actually get this social working, therapy thumping chick back into the saddle. Cross fingers, say prayers, throw pennies into your local wishing well!



All this said, I reckon there may be a reason why Social Services is eager to assist me.

From an ideological place, this is not a great time to be heading into Child Protection in Australia. The Howard gov't here has implemented a new strategy to 'help' aboriginal families and communities, as of June 25th or so. Ostensibly, the legislation is an initiative to stop the 'epidemic of child abuse' in aboriginal communities in the Outback/Northern Territories but the entirety of these initiatives is very invasive/paternalistic - well fuck it, I have to say it's down right RACIST! and is of course, likely to impact people's perceptions about aboriginal people, communities and problems (if not the actual policies and services).

Firstly, John Howard (it's possible that George Bush has a twin brother) is sending the military into aboriginal communities and increasing police presence (more like inventing a police state) supposedly to encourage a sense of safety that will allow women and children to disclose their abuses (!?). (It goes without saying the witch hunt has already begun).


All pornography and alcohol is to be banned in these aboriginal communities. The next part of 'the plan' is to withhold all welfare cheques to families who there is reason to believe have substance abuse problems AND to impose medical examinations on all children under the age of 16!! Somehow, all of this (not surprisingly) ties into land claims - what sorta turns my stomach is that the aboriginal community seems to be limiting their outrage to this aspect of the changes - or perhaps it is more accurate to say, the news is reflecting this aspect of aboriginal outrage, more so than any other. I would expect to see (want to see) massive outrage and screaming about the challenge to aboriginal rights and freedoms across the board.

It will be serious fun and games for social workers who will be called to police these social/political and legal sanctions - to withhold money from already impoverished families, to enforce medical examinations of children, to remove children from these homes. It's so over the top and beyond the pale, I cannot believe it is happening. Literally, I am gob smacked.




  I don't know how these bits of legislation will impact my personal and professional integrity as a social worker. Suffice it to say - I have concerns.

If you are interested ...

Australia imposes draconian restrictions on Aboriginal communities;
BIG READ: Charge of the Band-Aid Brigade;
BIG READ: The Charge of the Band-Aid Brigade Part Two;
Little Children Are Sacred report.

The upside to all of this is no one is going to want to do social work, and there won't be enough people to fill the need - and hopefully this means that I will be able to find myself a job.


Who says there isn't a silver lining to every story?

I'm having a fantasy ... it's utterly sublime.

It all began when hubby messaged from work to tell me he'd been talking with the movers. Apparently our stuff is here, in Australia. It must have cleared Customs, and it did for sure go through quarantine cuz all my wicker baskets needed to be treated , along with two pairs of shoes. (Aussies don't want none dat UK/Canadian soil on der soil)

So, in spite of my well earned cynicism, I am getting turned on by the idea that I may, very soon, after eight loooong months of separation ... be reunited with ...

It's so great to be the bearer of some good news fer a change! As I reported in an earlier post, the lad is back in school as of last Thursday and seems to be easing into the swing of it all - he is off to play soccer tomorrow, and wants to do it - has to be a good thing. Missy Moo has her school interview on Monday and should be into school early next week! YAY both kids sorted ... sorta.

PLUS - hubby produced a letter from Immigration when he got home from work this evening - the waiver has been approved and I can now get on with applying for my change of visa without leaving the country! Fanfriggin'tastic - there is at last, movement!!

Now PUHLEEZE gimme my sofa!

I am quite pleased to announce, after five days with no fire - no stove, no oven - there will finally be a decent meal tonight.

I may be just that little bit closer to appreciating why my cave sisters were so darn stoked about fire.