What this is all about

I suppose I should set the scene a little to cover the miniscule possibility that I haven't already spoken to you (whoever you are) and burst out with, "OH MY GOD GUESS WHAT I AM DOING THIS YEAR?" etc.

I've been offered - and accepted - a job as a medical trainer on the Thai-Burmese border, teaching new community health workers from two refugee camps. I'm not sure exactly what this will involve yet, but it sounds like it's going to be quite busy, and then I'm hoping to pick up some clinical work as well, either in the camp health centres or in one of the centres in town. We'll see; my medical defence organisation is happy to cover me for that clinical work but I'm waiting to hear from my employer. The photo on the right is of the region where I'll be living and working. One of the camps is mostly Karen, the other is mostly Karenni. For those of you unfamiliar with Burma/Myanmar, it's one of the most ethnically diverse (and sociopolitically corrupt) countries in Asia, with over 100 ethnic groups recognised. Have a look at Wikipedia's Myanmar page for a bit of a general overview.

It all starts with 5 weeks of learning Thai in Chiang Mai (I've never been to Thailand but everyone I know who has, loves Chiang Mai) before I head off to the border. I think I might take another course whilst I'm there, maybe meditation or relaxation or something (whoops; when typing "meditation" just then, I typed "medication" instead!). Hopefully I'll also meet some interesting people, eat great food, have a bit of a look around, shake off some of my general apprehension.

At the moment life is in a bit of upheaval, so this all seems a bit distant and crazy still. I'm not leaving (or being "dispatched", as they say) until the end of May, so there's a while for it to sink in there and even if it hasn't hit me by the time I leave, well - I have 7 months to process it all.

I'm not sure what to do with my last month in Melbourne. I'm still torn between spending as little time in Melbourne as possible (due to other - ahem - issews) and trying to see my friends and family as much as possible. I've got loads of things to organise, which I think is a good thing as I need something to focus on. I'm locuming in central NSW at the moment but I don't plan to work again after this week. I'm thinking that I'll have enough to fill my time. I hope.