What a weird week it’s been in Melbourne. I think we’ve all got some understanding of what it feels like to be discriminated against, at the moment being a Victorian with other states not wanting us to visit. I can also understand and think we’d be doing the same thing if there was a second COVID-19 peak happening interstate but it’s definitely a strange feeling to have all this going on here.
The winter sun has made things bearable as well as the freedom to exercise outside and I’ve managed to almost return to my pre-self isolation weight although I’m getting pretty tired of eating tuna and kaleslaw for lunch. The next fortnight is traditionally the coldest two weeks of the year so we should all relish our time in the sun when it is out. Mr Rosanna has been enjoying the return of footy and I stood outside at the local oval today watching the Banyule Bears train in 5 degrees! It was definitely beanie and puffer jacket weather.
This coming week sees the opening of many of Melbourne’s cultural institutions and if you are having a staycation these school holidays like most of us – it’s nice to know they’ll be open even with social distancing measures in place. While I’ve felt a bit reticent returning to public spaces, it’s been interesting to know that it’s been more family gatherings and house parties, which has resulted in spreading the virus.
Home is where the heart is for those of us lucky enough to be living with other people in functional relationships and healthy family dynamics. I think the pandemic has forced many people to re-appraise their lives and what’s important. I’ve been reading about people spending more on homewares and furnishing their living, dining and outdoor areas given the amount of time most of us are now at home. I do have a house obsession and have enjoyed seeing what The Block’s Kyle&Kara have done with their forever home in Sydney’s northern beaches (that spiral staircase!), while closer to home I think the renovation done by the builder owner at 19 Dwyer Street in Macleod has been a masterful one – very now and very wow!
I’ve had a pretty full on week at work to end the financial year with La Trobe University announcing voluntary redundancies and staff agreeing to take a pay cut for 12 – 18 months in order to save over 200 jobs. Sadly, there will still be forced redundancies to come but hopefully conducted more strategically, rather than indiscriminately, now that the Uni has bought itself time to determine how best to move forward. Interesting too to see the price hike for arts and humanities degrees on par with law and medicine – I do wonder if there will be unintended consequences in doing this.
Mr Rosanna and I are both proud Arts graduates and our degrees have allowed us to hone our critical thinking, problem solving, relationship building, communications and many other skills that have well and truly set us up in our careers and our lives. I met a former Pro Vice Chancellor last year who also had ‘only’ an Arts degree as do many of our leading politicians and journalists – their accessibility and inherent value can’t be underestimated.
On a much brighter note, I will be happy to see our new ‘Reunions’ brand campaign air on TV tonight if you’re watching Master Chef and I had a small part to play in helping select and introduce a number of our best and brightest young alumni who feature in the campaign to my colleagues in Marketing & Recruitment. They did an outstanding job filming everyone on campus with our agency the week COVID-19 hit and we all went into lockdown – I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Miss Rosanna 