London Calling

In my last blog I explained what intermission meant to me. Well I am pleased to say intermission is finally over. Boredom has been replaced by excitement, fun and laughter and enough energy to turn my life from staid to chaotic in a moment of seconds. Yes be careful what you wish for folks because you do get what you ask for. I am happy to say intermission is over and life has begun and I am loving it. I want to spend the time I have left (no I'm not ill, just getting older by the minute) enjoying every moment and experiencing new things. The journey has begun.

Let me explain. I applied for the British Council Accelerate Indigenous Australian Creative Leadership Program and I was offered a placement. Accelerate is a program developed by the British Council in partnership with the Australia Council and supported by the states. Indigenous Australians who get into the program are identified as being future leaders in their chosen field of career or study and are offered an opportunity to fly to the UK to develop professional skills, meet other successful people working in the same sector or industry or field of study and to build working relationships. And it is so wonderfully amazing. We have had the opportunity to attend two works shops in Australia both of which had a profound effect on me and I have to say I am now directing my career into pathways that open windows of opportunity and allow me to grow in the way that I wish to move rather than being locked into the 'comfort zone'. I don't like the comfort zone, it is boring.  If you stay in the 'comfort zone' you don't get a chance to challenge yourself or to step over the threshold into the unknown. And the good thing about stepping over the threshold into the unknown is that you face new challenges that make you grow. Challenges are a bit frightening, however, they are also fun because you get to try new things and by trying new things you develop new skills. As you know I love learning and I am passionate about education. Education is the answer to freedom (Paulo Freire, Sociologist). Education is not just about text book learning, it is about experiencing new things, new places, new people. It is about immersing yourself in someone else's culture other than your own and learning from the experience.

My new experience is that for the first time I have stepped outside of Australia. Yes folks I am in London on the 3rd Stage of the Accelerate program and it is wonderful. We arrived yesterday. I have travelled with 5 other talented Aboriginal people from around Australia and the Director of British Council Australia, Nick Marchand. The journey itself was an experience. 22 hours in a plane is a bit much but here we are. In London. Arrived yesterday. And it is amazingly dark. I realise I haven't been here long but so far I love London. You know you get a feel for a place as soon as you hit the city and generally you can tell whether you are going to like it or not. Even though the sun only shines for a short time during the day, 

London is magical.

We had a few hours to kill before checking into our rooms so we meandered around the block to find somewhere to eat breakfast. We found this fabulous cafe called Elliotts that is across the road from the Burough Markets and the food was to die for. All fresh and organic. Best breakfast I have had in a long time, or maybe it was just because we had been chewing on airline fare for a few hours. Either way it was an experience and new and fun and exciting. 

London is truly, magical. I mean there is a lane way called Charles Dickens Lane, how exciting is that. This place is full of history and it is magic. 

Today I am going exploring, off to rediscover history, shall let you know how it turns out. 

Life is good!