The latest scoop

Fall is approaching here in the northern hemisphere, which means the terrible cold of Australia's winter is turning the corner towards milder weather. By "terrible cold" I mean an average high of about 18 Celsius in Perth. Sounds like tough living.

I haven't had much to do with regards to our anticipated move over the last little while, so I've just been keeping tabs on the weather during the Perth winter. Coming from Canada originally, and currently living in Korea, I'm all too familiar with winter temperatures dropping to negative double digits. In fact, I once experienced a windchill of -49 in Toronto. So, YEAH, I'm looking forward to going to a place that doesn't actually have winter weather. Perth winters are more like May in Canada -- cool at night, pleasant during the day.

Since I posted a link to this blog on a travel website, I have received a couple emails from other people around the world who are also planning to move to Perth. Just the other day, Tami from South Africa emailed me regarding her family's plan to move there next year so that she may go to school. And a couple months ago, I was contacted by Shaheen in Dubai, who works in the oil and gas industry and wishes to move to Perth. It is pretty cool that I'm able to make potential contacts with like-minded individuals who are planning to move to Australia.

I guess the other interesting tidbit that I should post is the fact that I have changed my focus for my studies. While I am still applying for the same program at ECU, Master of Professional Communications, I am going to change the specialty that I will study: instead of Interactive Multimedia, I now wish to study Film and Video. I actually made this decision many weeks ago, and it is based on the fact that I feel interactive multimedia is more a field where I feel like a consumer rather than a creator. Film and video lets me indulge in something more to my liking creatively, and the opportunities for employment range from working in television to becoming a filmmaker.

Consequently, I have been looking at information concerning filmmaking in Australia, and I am pleased to see that there is a big push towards this field, particularly in Western Australia. For instance, the organization Screenwest promotes documentary filmmaking in Western Australia by providing funding. They tend to be more supportive of Australian filmmakers, so I guess I'll need to get citizenship. ;-)

Another organization of interest to me is the Australian Film, Television, and Radio School (AFTRS), which provides excellent training for Australians but is not open to international students (full-time programs). Even though I do not qualify to attend AFTRS, I have recently downloaded some podcasts of short films made by AFTRS students. I'll admit that the movies are offbeat, perhaps reflecting the unique Aussie sense of humour. Nonetheless, it is a good opportunity for me to learn what kind of trends in filmmaking exist in Australia.

So, that is the latest scoop on our planned move down under. I expect within the next month or two to send in my application. I'm counting the months to when I quit my teaching job in Korea -- seven months to go. And I'm inviting friends to come visit us in Australia.

One final note: I was saddened, like so many others, by the death of Steve Irwin on September 4th. I hardly knew of him, certainly not like many others around the globe who watched his shows regularly. But I did know that he was an animal lover and charismatic individual. He obviously touched millions of people with his enthusiasm. Not to be curt about it, but I think his death at the hands of a wild animal may have been strangely appropriate, because he was doing what he loved when he died. I doubt he would have felt any bitterness towards the stingray that killed him. In any event, it's sad for the rest of us to lose a great Aussie like Steve Irwin.