Next Decade/Year

Very strange that those of you off in the islands are already in the New Year. I really wish I were celebrating with you out there and not in cold (6F) snowy Colorado. Of course if I were I'd be nursing a headache already. Next Year Palau! (or Fiji, or the Solomons, or one of those beautiful places. )

Edited by: 5Waldos

It looks like everyone is having weird weather this year. Solomon islands has been hit by a flu epidemic, and like Australia, Guadalcanal has a flood (not unusual at this time of year in a normal wet season.)
We used to get regularly stranded in Honiara when the rivers rose and cut the North West road.

ooh- flu epidemics on islands are not good things for sure! And I have to go find where Guadalcanal is- read the G. Diary many years ago- it was wet and hot if I remember through the entire book.

This is really not wierd weather for Colorado- what has been weird is that until day before yesterday it was near 60 most of the time. Australia is having a bad time of it for sure- we were watching people being carried out of the floodwaters. And a poor kangaroo stuck in the middle of wht looked to be deep water on a rock (do they swim?)

Climate change. And some say it doesn't exist. Bah Humbug.

Happy New Year Ozzie- may all your island dreams come true in 2011.

We had 40C in Melbourne yesterday !

I don't think kangaroos are built to swim! Guadalcanal is the island in Solomons where Honiara, the capital is situated. It was moved there after WWII because of the airsrtip, and because the old capital, Tulagi, had been virtually destroyed.

Wish I was you-know-where as well, not here (Vancouver) waiting for what is forecast-ed to be the worst January in 50 years. So far, so good, but our weather is so changeable anything can happen. The 2010 Winter Olympics held here in February coincided with the warmest February we've had in 150 years, and now we're slated for the worst, not at all normal, not even during the La Nina. So what else can it be but climate change? ...

I can't go anywhere this year either, but as I have a friend from Solomon Islands coming our for 3 months, and a relative of his with his wife who will be here for a week or so, I can't complain. Well, not too much anyway.

I'm a bit like you Watsoff. I'm collecting the Head Sister (an old friend) in Brisbane for an overnight visit on Wednesday, on her way to a meeting in Canada (are you anywhere near their HQ? - Sisters of the Church, that is).
In March, I will be hosting a "Look and Learn" Mothers Union group from Kia in Isabel for 2 weeks.
I may get to the islands in July or October if the credit card is paid off.

Ha to both of you- I have a live in Palauan. Also 2 live in Tibetans- well, ok, only one living in at the moment. But the other in close contact. Have had now for getting close to 18 years. ;-)))

Ozzie - If the Head Sister is coming to Vancouver, please let me know; if she is I'd be delighted to meet her.

5Waldos - sounds like a fun household! Unfortunately my apartment is far too small, although I did have 6 Islanders staying here once. Lucky for me they traditionally sleep on the floor, because that's all I could offer 5 of them, there's only a single bed in the 2nd bedroom. The mess left behind when they returned to the islands wasn't anything a backhoe couldn't handle :-))

Well- as I think you know- we brought them back as permanent souveniers- we adopted them. Didn't think of it at the time but now we can buy land in Palau. Or my son can at least.

We occassionally have some Palauans turn up- the most recent when the Jehovahs Witnesses came just before Christmas. Took one look at one of the guys and went through the entire- Where are you from? Which island? Which family? He was completely astonished when my own Palauan son stuck his head out. Claimed they weren't related but since they both had connections with Peliliu I think he just didn't really know. Only time I've ever been pleased when he JWs came by.

You are fortunate you were allowed to legally adopt. Adoptions in Solomon Islands tend to be kustom only, meaning, for example, students coming to study in Australia can't bring adopted children to Australia.
However, I would have trouble if all my "adopted" Solomon family wanted to come at once.
Watsoff, I can relate to the 5 sleeping on the floor - I had half a dozen ladies in my basement once for a couple of nights. Good thing it wasn't cold.
Sisters' address in Burlington Ontario. My Canadian geography is a bit lacking, as I have yet to travel to the Americas.

5Waldos: you certainly are lucky to be able to legally adopt. Like Ozzie, if my 'adopted' (very) extended family dropped in on me in all at once the apartment building would collapse.

My lot of island visitors comprised 2 females (actually, the CUSO co-operant and her daughter) and 4 SI males. The females got the bedroom, the males got the floor in the living room, which is why the living room ended up looking like we had sponsored a mini-riot. The bedroom was unscathed. Bear in mind I live in a rather small apartment. It was terrific fun having them here, though. Previously I had one male SI visitor (a wontok of one of the 4) who stayed here for 3 months; he would only sleep on the floor, he refused to use the sofa bed.

Ozzie: we have a Mothers Union in North Vancouver, but if your visitor is going to Ontario then that is a tad too far to meet for a chat. Toronto (where Burlington is) is roughly 4,492 km from Vancouver, a little longer than the 3279 km between Sydney and Perth.

Yes- I was lucky. Although our attorney- the public defender- had concerns about the entire thing- the Palauan was ok, it was the other two that he just kept scratching his head. Adoptions there are a formalization of the traditional ones- we had to promise to tell either the mother or the father, before or after the adoption, what we were doing. And were in the islands long enough to get special regulations bringing the kids back to the US.

So we do have "real" family in Palau which is fun when we go back to visit- nearly everyone is either my son's relatives or my previous work buddies. But we have had very few visitors here in Colorado. We have to go back to get the real experience.

Watsoff, I knew my Canadian geography was a bit iffy.
Your 4 young men in the living room sounds like the time I met the Solomons athletics team in Brisbane, and 4 of them (all men) decided to come home with me for the night and next day. The coach and his son (a competitor, who has since been in 2 Commonwealth Games - got to see him run live in Melbourne) are family, the other 2 wantoks. 2 took the spare room and got some sleep, but the two in the living room had a lovely night with the TV and video.
But the funniest part was meeting them at the airport, as the team included a pole vaulter, complete with pole. (I think they were on their way back from Canada). Even the maxi-taxi couldn't work out how to carry the pole. Fortunately, I was driving a borrowed mini-van, as I had transported another group back to the airport, and it not only had roof racks, it had octopus straps, as well.
Next, we had to get it up to a 3rd floor motel room (outside, through the window).

LOL Ozzie, I can just picture it. I gave the 4 lads that stayed here (on and off for 6 weeks) my two bicycles to take back with them ... they're from Bellona. It was quite something to see startled passersby at the airport watching them carve their custom names into the two boxes the bicycles were packed in, along with the ensuring arguments as to whose name went where.

Actually, these guys were musicians and it was quite hilarious one evening when I drove one to a night club where they were to perform (for free); his buddies were being driven there by the CUSO co-operant. Anyway, my passenger and I arrived first, I parked the car in the car park, he got out and began practicing his haka moves just as another car drove in. You should have seen the looks on the faces of those in that car, absolute shock as our SI lad - a very well-muscled Polynesian - was in the tongue-sticking-out mode. The car beat a hasty retreat and went elsewhere; I couldn't stop laughing.

I can imagine that might be a bit of a shocker! Wonderful stories both of you.