Change Is In the Air!

2015 has been a busy year so far, and it's only now, four months into the year, that I've taken some time to reflect on what has been going on, and what may be to come. Every year marks a season of change, and although many people dislike it, development cannot happen if there is no change.

Barely had the year begun and I was back into the thick of teaching Academic English Studies (AES) at Deakin. Unlike most universities in Australia, which operate their academic year in semesters, Deakin University operates in trimesters, along with the University of Canberra and Bond University.

After another intake of teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP), I decided on a change of scenery and chose to teach General English (GE) for the following intake. As you might be able to tell from the course name, GE is not as academically driven as EAP. There's more emphasis on grammar and everyday English, and the pace is slightly more relaxed. In some ways, GE resembles teaching at primary school; every day, lessons include a spelling test and 15 minutes scheduled silent reading time.

Another change to happen already this year is that after four wonderful years singing with MUCS, I've decided to jump ship and join the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir (here after referred to as RMP). Thankfully, because MUCS has worked so closely with RMP over the last few years, the change hasn't been a drastic one. I was pleased to hear from my singing teacher Helena that Andrew, the conductor at both MUCS and RMP, has been impressed with the improvement in my singing. Our first major concert this year is with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in May, when we perform a re-enactment of Beethoven's epic 1808 Vienna concert. You can find more details about that here.

My relationship with Vanessa has been steadily growing, and ever since our siblings got married last year, people have started asking when will it be our turn. However, as we've said, we're not going to rush things but wait for God's proper timing. We are now starting to see each other most weekends, and I'm glad to see Vanessa gradually becoming more involved at my church. We've been able to tick off a few more relationship milestones so far this year, big and small: the biggest one was introducing our parents to each other on Australia Day, and I think it's fair to say that the meeting was a success. As for a small but significant trust-building milestone, we recently went on an Easter holiday retreat with church friends near Wilsons Promontory in south-eastern Victoria, and on the way home, I let Vanessa drive part of the way back to her place. It was her first time driving my car, and given the difficult road conditions, she handled it well.

Yet another significant change that may be about to happen later this year is a move to the UK to teach for one year. There's a lot to cover about that, so I'll leave it for my next post.

Cheers and God bless!