I have been reminded to continue posting by an anonymous reader, so I will. Much has happened since my last post...
In my work life, there were interesting times. I was able to convince my program, my DFAIT manager and my Finance manager to let me stay on at DFAIT for an extra month in order to prepare for and attend the ASEAN Regional Forum and Post-Ministerial Conference in Singapore. Even after the work I had put in for the other ASEAN meeting I attended in may, I was surprised at the amount of work involved in preparing for this meeting. On the one hand, it was a bit of a pain to get home after dark in June, but on the other hand, I must say that there is something gratifying about having enough time-sensitive work to keep me busy for ten to twelve hours per day. Unfortunately, I am now a few months removed from the situation so I can not provide deeper insights.
The trip to Singapore its self was very enjoyable. It had been about two years since I had been there and I guess it hadn't changed too much. Singapore was my home for a year when I was there on exchange, which was when I started this blog. I had lots of good times there and the place holds many good memories. Luckily, I also still had a few friends there - Chris and Caryn - and a Singaporean friend from undergrad - Sam - was living there too. Before and between the actual meetings work, I was happy to get to see them and to see the life they are leading as young adults. Chris, in particular, was interesting to see because he is also a public servant. I found it interesting that he was working on public consultations, even though he is not actually a Singaporean citizen. I am not sure that this would be the same in Canada.
Many of my favorite places in Singapore are still there. The Esplanade, new Asia bar, lao pa sat, the quiet walks in Chinatown, PGP, were all pretty much as they were. Going to PGP brought back strong feelings. I was half expecting to see Anna, Vincent, Willi, etc... in the air con canteen or just waiting on the steps to go on a trip somewhere. There were, of course, new exchange students there populating the residence along with the Singaporeans and foreign students as usual. All was physically the same, but the place was different. On a less nostalgic note, the food was amazing and I ate pretty much everything that I had wanted to eat... mmm... laksa, char kuay tiao, hor fun, murtubak, nasi lemak, nasi goreng, carrot cake....
The happy coincidence of my trip was that Noah moved to Singapore while I was there. He has decided to do a Master`s at NUS and, as their semester start`s early, we had a few days of overlap. He was excited to be there, but still very much in the state of transition. We had a good time going around the city, seeing the sights and eating the food.
Upon my return, I started a new position at the Department of Finance in the labour markets group. I have been enjoying this job quite a bit. I had the good fortune to move into this group just after the immigration analyst had retired and her file was vacant. Having studied immigration in school, and having taken a keen interest in the subject in general, it has been hugely gratifying to be involved in the policy process (MCs, etc..) for immigration. The working environment at Finance is also a plus. The department is populated by smart people who are quite reasonable with work. Now that the election season is over, things are picking up...
On the domestic front, Kate moved out at the beginning of August and Egor moved to Toronto at the beginning of September. They were replaced by Ashley and Don. Egor, in particular, has been missed around the house and at dinner. Ashley, of course is always fun to be around. In late August, we had a fun `goodbye Egor, hello Ashley` party. Also on the domestic front, it appears that the end of an era is upon me. The landlord has put the house up for sale and I will move out at the beginning of December. The circumstances around the house sale have been less than ideal, but then now is also a less than ideal time to sell a house... I will be moving in with a friend of a friend a few blocks away and life will go on.
The weather is getting colder. This bothers me mostly in that I can no longer comfortably spend time outside going for walks or riding my bike. Biking has become a bigger part of my life in recent months, I spent many a pleasant afternoon in the fall biking around the city or up and down the canal or river. Brian even dragged me up to Gatineau a few weeks ago... which convinced me I need a new bike.
The financial crisis has cemented my confidence in having made the right career choice. What job is more secure than the government? At the same time, I realise that perhaps this is just self-re enforcing - I think I made the right choice because I am seeing fewer opportunities to change my mind and move out of Ottawa... Perhaps it is the distance, but Asia is seeming ever more remote in my mind. Even though I make some effort to maintain my Chinese, my language skills are visibly slipping and my connection to the region is weakening as my experience there becomes dated. Making a `Hong Kong or bust` type move just seem rash to me right now. Why would I want to give up what I have here?
Weather notwithstanding, Ottawa continues to be pleasant. It is truly like a small town. One of my simple pleasures is to go for a walk on a sunny weekend and run into people I know out on the street. In centretown, it is unavoidable. Of course, this also points to the deliberately geographical limited life many of my friends and I lead. There are very few reasons for me to go anywhere I can not walk within 25 minutes, and most of my friends live within this radius of my home.
Ottawa social circles are also quite interlinked and permeable. It is a common occurrence to meet people at parties and discover unexpected connections. Naturally, this has a lot to do with the circles in which I travel - government economists and policy analysts, mostly - but also it has to do with the limited number of government feeder schools (Queen`s, Dal, U Manitoba, Carleton, etc..) and government departments. As I have often said, at some point this village lifestyle might be constraining, but at the moment I like it.
In my work life, there were interesting times. I was able to convince my program, my DFAIT manager and my Finance manager to let me stay on at DFAIT for an extra month in order to prepare for and attend the ASEAN Regional Forum and Post-Ministerial Conference in Singapore. Even after the work I had put in for the other ASEAN meeting I attended in may, I was surprised at the amount of work involved in preparing for this meeting. On the one hand, it was a bit of a pain to get home after dark in June, but on the other hand, I must say that there is something gratifying about having enough time-sensitive work to keep me busy for ten to twelve hours per day. Unfortunately, I am now a few months removed from the situation so I can not provide deeper insights.
The trip to Singapore its self was very enjoyable. It had been about two years since I had been there and I guess it hadn't changed too much. Singapore was my home for a year when I was there on exchange, which was when I started this blog. I had lots of good times there and the place holds many good memories. Luckily, I also still had a few friends there - Chris and Caryn - and a Singaporean friend from undergrad - Sam - was living there too. Before and between the actual meetings work, I was happy to get to see them and to see the life they are leading as young adults. Chris, in particular, was interesting to see because he is also a public servant. I found it interesting that he was working on public consultations, even though he is not actually a Singaporean citizen. I am not sure that this would be the same in Canada.
Many of my favorite places in Singapore are still there. The Esplanade, new Asia bar, lao pa sat, the quiet walks in Chinatown, PGP, were all pretty much as they were. Going to PGP brought back strong feelings. I was half expecting to see Anna, Vincent, Willi, etc... in the air con canteen or just waiting on the steps to go on a trip somewhere. There were, of course, new exchange students there populating the residence along with the Singaporeans and foreign students as usual. All was physically the same, but the place was different. On a less nostalgic note, the food was amazing and I ate pretty much everything that I had wanted to eat... mmm... laksa, char kuay tiao, hor fun, murtubak, nasi lemak, nasi goreng, carrot cake....
The happy coincidence of my trip was that Noah moved to Singapore while I was there. He has decided to do a Master`s at NUS and, as their semester start`s early, we had a few days of overlap. He was excited to be there, but still very much in the state of transition. We had a good time going around the city, seeing the sights and eating the food.
Upon my return, I started a new position at the Department of Finance in the labour markets group. I have been enjoying this job quite a bit. I had the good fortune to move into this group just after the immigration analyst had retired and her file was vacant. Having studied immigration in school, and having taken a keen interest in the subject in general, it has been hugely gratifying to be involved in the policy process (MCs, etc..) for immigration. The working environment at Finance is also a plus. The department is populated by smart people who are quite reasonable with work. Now that the election season is over, things are picking up...
On the domestic front, Kate moved out at the beginning of August and Egor moved to Toronto at the beginning of September. They were replaced by Ashley and Don. Egor, in particular, has been missed around the house and at dinner. Ashley, of course is always fun to be around. In late August, we had a fun `goodbye Egor, hello Ashley` party. Also on the domestic front, it appears that the end of an era is upon me. The landlord has put the house up for sale and I will move out at the beginning of December. The circumstances around the house sale have been less than ideal, but then now is also a less than ideal time to sell a house... I will be moving in with a friend of a friend a few blocks away and life will go on.
The weather is getting colder. This bothers me mostly in that I can no longer comfortably spend time outside going for walks or riding my bike. Biking has become a bigger part of my life in recent months, I spent many a pleasant afternoon in the fall biking around the city or up and down the canal or river. Brian even dragged me up to Gatineau a few weeks ago... which convinced me I need a new bike.
The financial crisis has cemented my confidence in having made the right career choice. What job is more secure than the government? At the same time, I realise that perhaps this is just self-re enforcing - I think I made the right choice because I am seeing fewer opportunities to change my mind and move out of Ottawa... Perhaps it is the distance, but Asia is seeming ever more remote in my mind. Even though I make some effort to maintain my Chinese, my language skills are visibly slipping and my connection to the region is weakening as my experience there becomes dated. Making a `Hong Kong or bust` type move just seem rash to me right now. Why would I want to give up what I have here?
Weather notwithstanding, Ottawa continues to be pleasant. It is truly like a small town. One of my simple pleasures is to go for a walk on a sunny weekend and run into people I know out on the street. In centretown, it is unavoidable. Of course, this also points to the deliberately geographical limited life many of my friends and I lead. There are very few reasons for me to go anywhere I can not walk within 25 minutes, and most of my friends live within this radius of my home.
Ottawa social circles are also quite interlinked and permeable. It is a common occurrence to meet people at parties and discover unexpected connections. Naturally, this has a lot to do with the circles in which I travel - government economists and policy analysts, mostly - but also it has to do with the limited number of government feeder schools (Queen`s, Dal, U Manitoba, Carleton, etc..) and government departments. As I have often said, at some point this village lifestyle might be constraining, but at the moment I like it.
1 Comments:
thank you
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