10.10.2012
Hello hello!
I hope this finds all of you well.
It's been just over two weeks since my last email and boy, has it been eventful. Luckily, I'm managing to keep up with my daily journal (thanks Lu!) so I have a reminder. It's definitely been a fortnight of discovery, as one would expect. I won't bore you all with the details but just maybe the best bits and a snapshot (obviously, I've documented everything with my new camera).
Moving on
My arrival also meant the departure of Patty, the former ODI fellow, so we celebrated this throughout her last week (my first week at work). This culminated with a grand Central Bank party on Thursday. It was a Goodbye Patty and Welcome Kenn Party - very nice indeed. This continued on into the evening at Xtreme, Honiara's finest nightclub (was actually fine). Anyway, much fun was had throughout the week and a good send off for Patty, who left Friday of that week.
Moving in
After Patty's departure, I then moved into my place, which is just a lovely size. Although a little lonely at times, the house is currently being painted and improvements made so I'm able to tailor it to my taste. I also brought my green gingham table cloth and other important Kenn accessories such as my Filipino flag, my favourite blanket (thanks Flick), and a few photo frames (thank you contributors). Showers are always cold so often find myself psyching myself up every morning to take the blasted thing - a refreshing start to the day to say the least. Water shortages and power cuts are regular but I have my trusty torch (thanks Cladam).
Settling in
I've made lots of new friends here so that's helped with the settling in process. A few important characters include 1) Hanna - my Filipino big sister (not by genetics); 2) Carlos - my ODI buddy and; 3) Jenny - my CBSI work friend and general Solomon Islander guide.
There is a significant Filipino diaspora here and Hanna is gradually introducing me to all of them. Free food and free drinks as well as reminiscing about the homeland has been very much welcomed. Carlos has introduced me to the expat life consisting of Friday work drinks, weekday sporting events, and the regular weekend expat parties (courtesy of the Aus and NZ high Comms - thank you kindly). Went to my first Kaleko party (charity shop clothes party although you can't really buy new clothes here), which was just hilarious. I donned my life jacket number, as you do. Jenny has been great - She has helped me to sort my bank out, my house, my uniform (she's the HR lass - young and cool) as well as helping me to find the best bargains at Central Market and Chinatown (there's a huge Chinese population here).
Also, experienced my first Catholic mass here - much more singing! Very intriguing to see the integration of indigenous culture and beliefs with Catholic worship. Reminds me very much about how Catholicism has also had to adapt to Filipino culture and its previous belief system. Finally, I've had my first swim. Am probably going to learn how to dive - I'd be crazy not to here given there are so many idyllic diving sites with all of the sunken WWII warships and planes.
Work is going well. Still plenty to learn and lots of deadlines already. The pace, surprisingly, is still as fast as previous jobs with some perceived expectation of working at weekends. Trying to mitigate this with a little with more planning and understanding the processes better before doing the tasks (thanks Aphra). I also made my first Monetary Policy Committee debut at last week's week monthly meeting, which was awesome. I even said a few things and provided some explanations for our analysis. Learnt a lot about the views of certain members for future reference. Next week, the IMF mission will be arriving to question us on our economic forecasts so all the teams are busily preparing. Attached is a picture taken at work during my first week. It contains the all important Cladam work mug (Ni Hao Guandong) and Kenn's very own central bank with teabags (thanks Defra team).
Starting up
I couldn't go without mentioning sport. Although I'm starting to cope with living on my own and lots of quiet time (Sundays in particular), I'm always super excited about the weekday sporting events. I've just started playing badminton again. That's on Mondays usually. Then it's a first for frisbee. Had my first game on Tuesday and loved it - very similar to netball rules (windfall gain), which brings me nicely on to netball. I've just started coaching the CBSI netball team in preparation for the next Solomon Islands netball season starting early next year. Watch this space but very excited - I brought my cones and skipping rope and the Bank has plenty of equipment.
Well, my fingers are a little tired and work to be done so best sign off now. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks to those for your updates.
Much love,
Kennton x
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