Saturday 13 December 2014

Christmas Letter 2014

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 

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