Wildlife

Hi All,

Time for another update on my life in Australia!

The recovery of my knee is going very well! Every day I can bend my knee a bit further and I am at 130 degrees now! I can walk 99% normal. Only in the morning and after sitting down for a while the knee gets very stiff and then I am limping the first steps to get the knee warmed up. I did my first walks along the Broadwater! Last weekend I went for a 4km walk and yesterday I did a 6km walk! But I can feel that that is enough for my knee at the moment. I have to build strength in the muscles of my leg further before I can walk faster or longer or before I can run. I also went to the pool on my bicycle yesterday! I did a 1km swim, mainly with my arms because the legs are not very efficient yet.

I am working again on my PhD since 3 weeks now. Every day 8am to 4 or 5pm or longer. I am happy to be back into it and I had a very inspiring meeting with my supervisors last week.... Lots of ideas, lots of work to do.

Here are some things I did during the weekends:

BBQ with PhD's

We had a BBQ at the Broadwater Parklands with the PhD students of our department to celebrate the successful completion of the PhD of 2 colleagues. On the Gold Coast there are lots of public BBQs along the Broadwater and along the beaches, so everyone brought some food and we spent the afternoon all together. Here are some pics

Yanguwah show @ Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

I went with Katrin (a German Friend) to a Yanguwah Show at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. This is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dinner and show. The show started with a welcome ceremony and a nice didgeridoo performance. Then we had a Kup Murri (a traditional method of cooking in the earth) demonstration. We saw the Tasmanian Devil, we fed the Kangaroos and we held a baby crocodile in our hands. Then we had an all you can eat buffet while we could watch an aboriginal dance show and a show of the Torres Strait Islanders. At the end of the evening I held a Koala in my arms! I wish I could take one home. They are so cute!

Kup Murri

Tasmanian Devil

Feeding the Kangaroos

Kangaroos

Baby Croc

Torres Strait Islander show

Torres Strait Islander show

Katrin and I with Torres Strait Islanders

Me holding the koala :-)

Coombabah Lakelands

On Wednesday I stopped working a bit earlier and I went to the Coombabah Lakelands with Katrin for a walk. The Coombabah Lakelands Conservation Area and Parkwood Reserves protect over 1,290 hectares of wetlands, Eucalypt forests, salt marsh and mangrove swamp habitats. We saw lots of Kangaroos during our walk! I could not believe this place is only 15 minutes from where I live and that we could see wild kangaroos there!

Boardwalk

Kangaroo 

More

More

Can you see them?

We could not stay very long because it is getting dark early now. Sunset is around 5pm unfortunately. It is also getting "cold" here! During the day it is around 23 degrees, but it gets colder around 4-5pm and at night it's only 13 degrees! Freezing! 

Sausage Sizzle for Toastmaster

Today we had a Sausage Sizzle for our Toastmaster Club at Bunnings (comparable with Brico or Gamma in Belgium). With our Toastmaster club (the public speaking club where I am going too every fortnight) we organised a Sausage Sizzle to raise money for our club and to attract new members for the club. So we sold sausages on bread with onion and cold drinks. I did a morning shift, so 8am till 11.30am, after that I needed a rest for my knee because the standing is quite exhausting! 

I havent mentioned Philippe in this blog because he is very busy studying for his CFA exam on the 3rd of June. Everyone, keep your fingers crossed! 

Bye bye!

Jessie

I am back!

Hi Everyone

It has been very quiet on my blog for a few months... I am sorry!

The reason is that I have had an accident with my motorbike on the 29th of February. Luckily I was not at fault. I had to stop for a car in front of me and as soon as I has put my foot down, a car crashed in the back of my bike. My bike was pushed against the car in front of me and I flew of my bike. The ambulance came to bring me to the hospital. Long story short: I broke my leg. I had a Tibia Plateau Fraction.

I had to wait 6 days before they could do the operation. I am now the owner of a plate and 4 screws and a big scar. I had to stay in the hospital 7 more days after the operation as I developed a deep vain thrombose (DVT) or blood clot in my broken leg. It wasn't easy in the hospital; I couldn't sleep well, painkillers made me drowsy and constipated... It was a hard time in the hospital. Luckily I had a lot of people visiting me and supporting me! Thanks Philippe, Berengere, Thibault, Zyncke, Candide, Katrin, Annabelle, Kaval, Adele, Byron, Stef, Deepak, Michelle, Ros, Beth, Denise........ And I also Skyped often with my family and friends in Belgium. Also thanks to my department at Griffith for sending this nice present:

And just now, I had two Belgian friends (Zyncke en Candide) who came to visit me (they were travelling around Australia). We had planned to go Surfing, to go to Byron Bay, to go hiking in the mountains... but they had to visit me in the hospital.

On the 13th of March I was discharged from the hospital. I had to wear a big brace around my knee and walk on crutches. I was happy to be home, but I needed a lot of assistance. I could not even lift my leg myself to put it on a chair. I had to sit on a chair when taking a shower, I needed a special chair over the toilet, I needed a wheelchair to go out... Luckily I had lots of friends around who could help me. 

Two weeks ago I started physiotherapy which is helping me a lot! I could start to take of my brace at home and now I have to do lots of exercises to increase my range of motion of my knee. When I took of the brace after 6 weeks, I realised that my muscles where gone and I could only bend my knee 70 degrees... But now, after 2 weeks of physio I can start walking without the crutches! In the morning I still need my crutches because my leg is so stiff in the morning and also for longer distances, I have to use my crutches. But finally I can use my hands and start to do some things at home without crutches! I still see the physio twice a week and have lots of home work exercises. The revalidation will take a long time and is taking a lot of energy from me. I hope I can walk normally soon... And hopefully I will be able to play tennis, surf and run again.

Even though I was on my crutches, I tried to work at home for my PhD and to go out and to do some things. I was getting so bored at home! So here are some things I did the last weeks, on my crutches or in the wheelchair. Nothing spectacular...

 Relaxing at home

Having a nice dinner at home with our guests Zyncke, Candide, Berengere and Thibault

Going to the Q1, Skypoint and enjoy the view of level 77

We went for a drink at Fishermens Wharf with a view on the boats on the broadwater

I went to a wedding on the beach of my German friend Annabelle! Yess... with my crutches on the beach!

We did a BBQ at Main Beach with Berengere and Thibault for their last night

I went with Katrin to a Wildlife Sanctuary (I was exhausted after walking on the crutches)

Going the the Q1 during the day

View Q1 North

View Q1 South

Because of the accident I had to take a break from my PhD. Now I started working again for my PhD. It is difficult to get back into it, but I am trying really hard.

 Philippe has been taking care of me very well! I was very lucky with that. At the same time Philippe is very busy with preparing for his CFA level 1 exam in June. He is studying all the time and hardly gives himself a break. Last Sunday I took him out of his office for 2 hours. We went on a boattrip that I had bought with Groupon. We went around Chevron Island, and we went on the Broadwater. It was a very nice trip!

What a long post! But now everyone is up to date again :-) 

Cheers, Jessie

Surfing

Hi all,

We have been very busy with work, PhD, Toastmaster, tennis,... So not a long post today, just a short video.

Phil and I are getting into surfing and we made a short video of our surfing adventures of last weekend:

Jess & Phil surfing @ Surfers Paradise from Jessie Brouwers on Vimeo.

Have a good week!

I can't wait till our next surf on Saturday!

Jessie

Chinese New Year

Last Friday I went with some PhD students and Philippe with the train to Brisbane to celebrate chinese new year. We had lots of Chinese food and during the dinner we saw some Lion dances with lots of noise/loud music. In a lion dance, the lion is operated by 2 persons who are in the costume. The Lion Dance is performed accompanied by the music of beating of drums, cymbals, and gongs instruments synchronise to the lion dance movements and actions. For me it sounded like lots of noise... 


Here what I found about the lion dances on Wikipedia:


"During the Chinese New Year, lion dancer troupes from the Chinese martial art schools or Chinese guild and associations will visit the houses and shops of the Chinese community to perform the traditional custom of "cai ching" (採青), literally means "plucking the greens", a quest by the 'lion' to pluck the auspicious green normally 'vegetables' like lettuce which in Chinese called 'cái'(菜)that sound like 'cái'(财)(fortune) and auspicious fruit like oranges tied to a "Red Envelope" containing money; either hang highly or just put on a table in front of the premises. The "lion" will dance and approach the "green" and "red evelope" like a curious cat, to "eat the green" and "spit" it out leave it in a nice arrangement, like an auspicious character but keep the "red envelope". The lion dance is believed to bring good luck and fortune to the business and the troupe is rewarded with the "red envelope"."


Some pictures:

Chinatown

The lion dance

We took the train back home and as we passed the veggie shop on the way home we decided to do groceries. Very convenient a 24h veggie shop!


On Saturday, Phil and I did not manage to wake up for the Parkrun at 7am :-( BUT, we did wake up a bit later to go to the surf lesson at 8am! We had a great surf! After a good hour of surfing we had breakfast at the Surfers Paradise Life Saving Club and then we rented a surf board to practice a bit more and to take some pics:

On Sunday afternoon it started raining... and raining and raining. Today, Wednesday it rained a lot here. Some roads were flooded and some water got in our garage, but everything is ok. It's wet season here...I hope the weather gets better soon.


Today we went to the church because the ashes of Barry (our neighbour at Robina) were put in their final resting place. We miss him an our thoughts are with Beth and their daughter Denise. 


Tomorrow it is Australia Day, the National Day of Australia but of the festivities are cancelled because of the rain... Not sure yet what we will do... Maybe work :-) Lots of work to do!!!! 

Activities!

PhD


I have been working long days last week. I am working on a paper. I had feedback from two reviewers on a paper (2nd review) and they require again some major changes in the paper. It is a difficult process and very frustrating sometimes. I have been changing the introduction and literature review of the paper over and over... but it is difficult to make a very clear argument. I will keep re-reading it and try to change it.... Hopefully the will accept the paper.
After making all these changes in the paper based on the comments of the reviewers, I have to write a letter for the reviewers stating whether I agreed with their comments, why, and how I exactly changed this in the paper. Also not easy!

Anyway! I also need to relax and do some sports, about what I want to write a bit in this post!

Toastmasters

Last Wednesday I went with Phil to a toastmasters meeting. Here some more information about toastmasters:

Toastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development. Today, our membership is 270,000 strong. These members improve their speaking and leadership skills by attending one of the 13,000 clubs that make up our global network of meeting locations. 


A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a no-pressure atmosphere. 

Source: http://www.toastmasters.org/

We enjoyed the meeting and had a lot of fun! Lot's of jokes and laughing was part of the meeting too!
First everyone had to introduce himself and we had to try to talk about "having a chance" and to include the word enrich/enrichment/enriched (meaning improved) in our introduction. Two of the members of the club had to do a 7minute speech and after the speech they got feedback from the other members. Then there were also some prompt response games which is good to practice your speaking when you don't have much time to prepare your answer. In two weeks we will go to the next meeting and if we enjoy that too we might sign up. It would be a great way to improve our english and our public speaking!


Tennis

Last week I went to play tennis with Philippe a few times. He is a good student and improving very quickly! It would be nice if he could improve a little more so that he can join the social competition on Wednesdays. Last weekend I also had a long hit on Saturday and Sunday! And every Monday and Wednesday I play at the social competition at the Queens Park tennis club, close to our place. Sometimes I play from 7pm till 11pm! Most of the time it's doubles, but sometimes also singles. Last week I met a German girl at the social competition and I am training some more with her!

Running

I still try to go for a run 2 or 3 times a week! Last week we went to the 7am Parkrun at Main Beach again and Phil and I both had a personal best time! Also today (this morning) I went to the Parkrun (Phil couldn't make it today because he had a Skype meeting). Again I did a personal best time: 29.40! First time that I managed to stay under 30 minutes!

Surfing

After the morning run today, I went to surfers paradise to join a morning surf lesson! Only 15$ for one hour! I started at 8am so I had to hurry after the run, but I made it on time! I had a great surf! The waves were good and I managed to stand up on the board different times! Good feeling! Especially because the last 2 or 3 times we rented a board ourselves, I did not manage to stand up at all and I almost gave up on the surfing! But Katrin (the German girl from the tennis) told me about the surfing lesson on Saturdays, so I gave it another shot and it worked!

Swimming

Before I forget... Swimming! Last Thursday phil and I went for a morning swim at 7am! It felt good to wake up early and swim in the 50m outdoor swimming pool! After the swim it was working time at Griffith!

Conclusion: I am getting used to the Aussie Style of living! Waking up early and doing sports in the morning! I just have to make sure I can continue with it :-)... Only the "going to bed early" is still a problem...

So that was my sporty-update!

Regards,
Jessie

Brisbane International

Two weeks ago the Brisbane International tennis tournament was on. I went on Wednesday with Philippe and two other guys that I know from the tennis club where I play every monday and wednesday.

We arrived at 11am and we bought 2 ground passes (only $15, 12 Euro!!) and to tickets for the Rod Laver arena so that we could all see some action on the side courts and in the arena.

Phil and I started with a doubles match on the side court. Jamie Murray, Andy Murrays' brother was playing with Paul Hanley against Marach and Peya.

Murray-Hanley

Then we saw the second set of Gilles Simon (FRA) - James Duckworth (AUS) at Centre Court. Of course the French guy won :-)

Simon

Then we saw the first set of the match of Sam Stosur, but unfortunately for the Ausies she lost the match

Sam Stosur

Me @ Rod Laver Arena

After the game we went to the Circle where Philippe had some fun...

Philippe

Me

Then it was time for Serena's match! What a power!

2nd round - arena full!

Serena

After one of the very long rallies she twisted her ankle! 

But she managed to win her match (later she stepped out the tournament)

 Then it was time for the side courts again. We saw an awesome match between Dolgopolov and Andrev. Both of them were playing so well and the crowd went Crazy!

Dolgopolov

Andreev

Eventually Dolgopolov won the game with 6-7 (3) 7-6(9) 6-2. As you can imagine the second set and the tie-break were very close! Andreev had about 4 matchpoints but he couldn't finish it!

Awesome day! Unfortunately there is not enough money to go to the Australian Open again... Maybe next year!

Cheers,

Jessie