DOWLER CHRISTMAS LETTER 2014
Well it has been quite the
year with the big wedding happening as the first wedding of this generation of my
family. Updates on everyone are below…...
Phil – Well he has had a crazy
year following his mention last November of wanting to improve the Hanoi campus
of RMIT. He moved to Hanoi to start as
Head of Campus on the 24th of February and I was back and forwards
until the end of March. The job has been
rewarding but also very busy. Meeting
with heads of government, embassies, high schools along with the general
running of the everyday operations of the University. There is already an
amazing turn around in the culture and atmosphere of the place. RMIT has now committed around 1 million
dollars for improvements of the campus. It’s also official Phil prefers HCMC to Hanoi.
But don’t tell the people in Hanoi. Probably here for another 5 years…. Hopefully Leanne didn’t read that sentence……PHIIIIIILLLLLLLL!!!!!!!(from Leanne)
Leanne – After the move to
Hanoi I had some difficulty settling in, it was another big change and I had to
find new friends, a hairdressers, nail and massage places, it was hard! It did take the usual 6 mths to find my feet
but now I have a few friends, am teaching English around 7 hrs per wk and
volunteering as the volunteer coordinator 2 full days a week at KOTO (you can
google them - www.koto.com.au). I now
actually prefer Hanoi over HCMC.
Whitney – There was a lot of
focus on the wedding which was amazing. Whitney & Cameron did all of the
work and also paid for most of it, hence the limit on numbers, so a big thank
you to them for putting on such a great party!
We enjoyed our visit home in August for the event. Whitney, now living
in Brisbane, is working for JLL, a company that looks after shopping centres,
in her role as assistant property manager.
She also completed her Real Estate licence this year for her role. She is enjoying having family around her in
Brisbane.
Hannah – Started her first
year as a graduate with the ATO (Australian Tax Office). She moved around 3 different departments
during the year and was offered 3 full time positions for next year, some
people were not offered any. She has
decided on Trusts. She and her boyfriend
Zac share a townhouse with Whitney and Cameron which seems to be working out
really well.
Jaimee – Currently in India on
holiday with her boyfriend Will, she has just finished her first year at Swinburne
Uni in Melbourne studying Marketing. She is working mornings as a receptionist
at Future Eye a communications
company where she was working before she started Uni. Her and Will are going to move into their own
place in the new year after Will starts work at PWC.
So….that is the update. We are so grateful for our family, our
friends and our health. Without any of
these we would not be able to be doing what we are doing. We hope you have a great Christmas and New
Year and look forward to hearing everyone else’s news at some point.
from the Dowlers
