Aussie Christmas Gratitude

Merry Christmas all!

Despite the persistent 85-degree weather and a distinct lack of commercial bombardment, we are getting into the spirit of Christmas. Thanks in large part to our friends here in Australia who lavish us with well wishes and holiday cheer.

One of the sweetest expressions of the Christmas spirit came from our friends Grantley, Samantha and their little boy, Lucas. Grantley has been battling cancer for several months, but now seems to be in the clear. His chemotherapy combined with a little boy Célia’s age has kept them preoccupied and stretched to their limits. Despite these challenges, they still found the time and energy to make us a beautiful gingerbread house.

Imagine the detailed work on this.


Samantha stopped by a few days ago and dropped it off as a way of saying thanks for the help we’ve given them during her husband’s illness. It was a magnanimous gesture for such little assistance rendered. It was also one of the rare moments in his life that Brian was speechless. He couldn’t find the words to express how humbled he felt for their gratitude.

We wish them a Christmas of joy and pray that their New Year will be one of good health and lots of laughter.

May God bless you all with a Merry Christmas and that you feel of our love all year long.

Brian, Carolyn and Célia Marie


P.S. Status report on the gingerbread house: the structural integrity was quickly compromised. Imagine our surprise when we found that the inside was stuffed with all sorts of Aussie candy, including Brian’s favorite marshmallow banana thingies! (Carolyn prefers the chocolate covered caramel fencing.)

Sniffles and Professional Development

Today is my Dad’s birthday. I wonder if he is watching his grandchild grow. If he is, he had better pay close attention, because Célia Marie is growing fast. It seems like she is trying to turn 16 before she turns one.



We’ve had a bit of a rough patch since we last wrote. Célia came down with a virus and had a high temperature for several days. We took her to the hospital, but they weren’t able to do much except suggest an over-the-counter fever medicine. She’s fully recovered. But Carolyn has come down with a flu three days ago and is still struggling to shake it.



We’ll see if she is in good enough shape to attend the Christmas party at Church today. I’ve been asked to be the Master of Ceremonies. I’ve never MC’ed a Christmas party before and am not very prepared. Originally, I had been asked to play Santa (Yes, I have put on a bit of weight, but I didn’t think it was that much), but the first MC choice dropped out just two days ago, so I’ve been reassigned.

In case you’re wondering, I still haven’t heard officially if my Statement of Intent has been accepted or not. But that's okay by me, for as they say, “No news is good news!” The presentation went fairly well. I think most attendees were pleasantly surprised to hear Célia’s input. It sounded like she was well pleased with what she observed, but I suspect she was actually excited about all the raisins her mother fed her to keep her in one place. Otherwise she would have probably gone rifling through everyone’s bags.





This week saw another important milestone in my professional development when I presented a paper at the Australian National University for a conference titled “Dialogue across Difference: Governance in a Multicultural Era”. My paper discussed the role cultural difference can sometimes play in mediation by inhibiting communication or compounding the conflict. I presented a case study and then proposed two ways for mediators to assess the impact of cultural difference on their work. It was well received overall. The paper can be found here:
http://deliberativedemocracy.anu.edu.au/dadconf_prog.php#P2

I had a good time at the conference and it feels good to have taken this step. But the best part of the trip was the afternoon I spent with the Gordons. They are friends from Brisbane who moved to Canberra and it was good catching up with them and playing rugby, Frisbee and cricket with their little boy, Dechlan.