The joys of (working) motherhood
So today started off well. I was attending an early meeting, then had some work planned, then as a group work colleagues were going to donate blood (this included a free lunch, very nice) then two more meetings then dash home to take the kids to their swimming lessons.
Now, that WAS the plan!
How did the day REALLY go?
About 11 am I got a call from a certain primary school. “Miss O 2 is in sick bay, can you please come and collect her. She has vomited once.”
BUT I HAVE A DIARY PACKED!!!!!! ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Working hard to build a new life
Following on from the refugee stories I highlighted yesterdayI’d like to share personal evidence that migrants, however they get here, do work hard to build their new life. Mr O is in his second last week (hurray!!) of his current course and during that time has participated in some special volunteer work as part of the practical side of the course. I can personally attest to the effort he has put in with his study and homework: staying up late working on Japanese Garden designs, learning botanical names in the car and getting the kids and I to test him on the names before exams. Like most adult students I know, even though English is his second language, he strives to get everything right on tests.
Appreciation Thomas Hogan
It is nice that he has received certificates of appreciation from places he worked at during his course.
I am sharing this precisely because I’m not a journalist reporting – I am a wife intimately involved on a daily basis with this man’s efforts to establish a new career and establish himself in a new country. I personally see the efforts he goes to every day.
Reporting Refugees
I was just browsing my Twitter feed when I noticed a hash tag of #reportingrefugees.
#reportingrefugees
The man my husband is
Today my husband demonstrated in a practical sense just how true his heart is. While my writing this will no doubt embarrass him terribly, I want to share this small event as to me it is just one of many things that prove just how wrong the DIAC decision maker was in her subjective opinion of the wonderful man who is my husband. I am so thankful the MRT member saw deeper into this man. I won’t discuss his asylum seeker days here: while extremely important, the partner visa is the focus at this moment.
The week before last Mr O had his second practical placement week for his course. He received a very good report and the company gave him a gift voucher, a lovely gesture of appreciation of his efforts for the week. Practical placement is unpaid work, part of the requirements of the course. This is the first time in a long time that Mr O has had any spending power that was entirely his own, earned by his own sweat. He could have spent it on himself, as surely he was entitled to do. I rather wish he had spent it on himself, as most of the spending we have done since they came home has been for the children, but I also know he simply could not do that.
Instead, he insisted I get myself some things and he bought a new top for each of the children. In total, he purchased about thirteen or fourteen items: only four were for him. It is the little things that often say the most.
His good heart is one of the many reasons I love my husband.
Us in Qatar
The Immigration Museum Submission
Regular readers will recall some time ago I submitted a summary of our story in 350 words to the Victorian Immigration Museum. Readers gave valuable feedback on drafts (see related links below)! Thank you! The other day I went looking for it on-line, but couldn’t find anything. Strange, I thought. I wrote to the Museum to check they had received it.
Today I received the following lovely response!
Dear Robyn,
Thank you for your enquiry regarding your family’s story, which you submitted to the Immigration Discovery Centre.
We certainly did receive your story. I have just checked and it is published on our Share a Story database. This database is available on all the public computers in the Immigration Discovery Centre and is very much enjoyed by our visitors. Unfortunately Share a Story is not yet available online.
Your family’s story is a fascinating one. Thank you for contributing it to the Share a Story database.
Kind regards,
[Name Removed]
Operations Coordinator, Discovery Centre
Museum Victoria
The reason I couldn’t find it was that part of the museum is not on-line, available within the museum only!
Now you want to break up?
So you went through all the drama and forms and interviews and prying into your private life, you got your provisional partner visa and now you want to BREAK UP? Avoiding your spouse?
This article was inspired by a couple of recent search terms that arrived on this site such as “how to cancel a temporary 309 visa“, plus a question I saw on a migration forum about a week ago. The question was from one partner of a couple on a temporary visa, who has children with the spouse, saying they don’t want to be together any more and asking what steps to take.
Fighting
Couples fight more than 300 times a year
Even if you are the same nationality or ethnicity, the very fact you are on a spouse/partner visa means one or both of you are in a new country and a new culture. Possibly a totally different climate. Different currency, food, TV, language. You are without your family – in some cultures family is a very important support when marriages hit bumps. You are dependent on your spouse to feel safe in this new world. You may be studying or working hard, it may have cost you all the money you had to get the visa and relocate, so you may be experiencing financial pressure.
We are really not ungrateful wretches
Fellow writers award other writers awards from time to time. There has recently been debate about the merits and rules of awards on the Off Topic forum: Blog Awards, Your Thoughts? Those of us who are little time poor expressed a desire to see the “requirements” modified a bit! So in the spirit of putting my money where my mouth is, I’m modifying the rules as I pass on the awards we have recently been awarded. I express my appreciation on our Awards page, so please pop over there for the full details!
The lovely authors of the following sites (yes, I have an aversion to the “b” word) have awarded Love versus Goliath between September 22 and November 21 (I’m late, yes, I am late):
Thank you all very much! It is really flattering to receive awards. Passing them on is always problematic for me, as I have said before as I hate making the choices and leaving anyone out. Lately I have been SO time poor I really haven’t been reading as many of the sites I love as much as I would like too either.
So what to do? What to do?
Here is my rule change. Each person who reads this page may take the awards (links to the details may be found on our Awards page) and award them, not to yourself, but to another author whose work you enjoy and feel fits the spirit of the award. That means you also should visit the writer who awarded us to find out the criteria! I’m setting up a networking event here, you see! All I ask is that you chose authors who are starting out and deserve a boost! Leave a link to that person’s home page in a comment below!
A very BIG thank you to all the above writers! While I’m at it, Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate!
