Result!

Oh wow.

Oh Wow.

I have been selected as MCVPTM & LC Development of AIESEC OE Iran for 09-10!

I've had a couple of days to think about all this, so I've just about come out of the coma of shock and beer. This is amazing. I can't believe how lucky I am to be beginning a new adventure.

There has already been so many warm wishes from members over there, and I just can't wait to meet them all!

I already booked my ticket - a one-way flight no less! I will be jetting off into the sunset on the 23rd of May. There will be a mass gathering the weekend before, no doubt, and all are invited!

Now to organise transition, insurance, a passport (!), visas, money exchange, what do do with my shit, collect money, say goodbye, pack, learn, learn and earn.

This role is going to be sooooo challenging, soooo incredible. For those non-AIESECers in the crowd, I'm moving to Iran to start a new job. It's a year long position, and I'll be working on the National Board, responsible for HR and Training for the whole country! I'll be expanding our member base from one Committee to three, and doing a whole of of I'm not sure what yet!

haha - how awesome does that sound translated out of AIESEC-speak? The National HR and Training Manager for an international NGO.... yeuh!

ok, well, I'm just going to try and wipe this gigantic smile off my face now and focus on work.

Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

When I was in high school, I wasn't the most friendly creature. I was often rude and disruptive in class. I drove my teacher to distraction, and often ended up in the co-ordinator's office.

Jim Jackaman was the co-ordinator. A very well respected teacher at the school that would always deal with students in a firm and positive way. He recognised something in me. Instead of my trouble-making leading to suspensions etc, he put me up a year level - he could see (even if I couldn't) that the reason I was acting up so much was because I was bored.

He got me out of a class of people I hated into a class with fresh faces and new challenges. I grew and acheived so much because of him.

Jim Jackaman passed away on Tuesday of a heart attack. He leaves behind his beautiful wife, who was a primary school teacher of mine, and two beautiful children.

I truly don't understand how someone that continued to change people's lives could be taken like that.

And a short critisism of Web 2.0: I found out that Mr. Jackaman passed away through the Facebook news feed. What is that?

Fire

So this blog is always about me me me. But not today.

The Victorian bushfires have been making international news for a week. CNN, BBC and even Al Jezeera had it front page.

I'll be honest when I say I can't relate well to numbers...when 'they' say 181 dead, I think, damn.

When I see Joe Bloggs on TV crying because of everything he's seen and the people he hasn't, I cry. and cry, and cry. It's been so horrible watching all of this unfold here on my computer - what must it be like to see it happen before your eyes?

I think everyone knows someone that's been affected. My cousins were visiting their dad for his 50th birthday, and suddenly they had 15 minutes to leave. They are safe, evacuated to Yea, but still. Ugh.

I have so many happy memories of my nanna's old house in Narre Warren. I used to told off for sliding down the stairs on my bum, and getting way too close to the semi-tame koalas that lived in the backyard. I don't know if that house is still there.

I grew up in a fire-prone area. Our block was savaged in the '83 fires. Even now there are blackened stumps around the place. My family is a Country Fire Service family. We all jump when we hear the siren, mum carries her uniform and helmet in the back of the car, and I know what to do if I'm on the back of the firetruck and there's a flashover. Thankfully, I moved to Adelaide before I was old enough to go and fight fires for real.

I don't know. It's hard being familiar and removed at the same time. I hope everyone who is truly affected is supported and that their wounds heal soon.

The Red Cross is collecting donations: www.redcross.org.au.

Application Submitted.
Interview Tonight.
Announcement Friday.