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Mongolia only have 5 SL Interpreters for between 9 - 13,000 Deaf people. FIVE, & none of them are paid for their work, they have other jobs, sometimes 2 or more, which they do, so that they can interpret. Any spare time that they have, they are interpreting. It’s not about the money, although some payment would obviously help.

One of the Interpreters, interprets the news every night on Mongolian TV.

No offense but how many Interpreters from Western Countries would do the same & interpret so that there is some form of equal access, without thinking of their pocket books. I know that it is hard & you need to make a living to survive, but wow, you can really learn a lot from interpreters like that - it would be great if Sonia could go to an ASLIA National Conference. Needless to say, with only 5 interpreters & no National Accreditation Board for SL Interpreters there opportunities for PD just aren’t there.

I would love to go back there & help out, with whatever I could, even if it was just my time. It would be fantastic if some other countries like Australia could become more involved in helping out countries like Mongolia. The Deaf society, Helping Hands, relies heavily on donations in order to improve the lives of Deaf people in Mongolia & are currently looking for help in trying to raise enough funds for a project to try to have interpreters in the classroom & train new interpreters & standardise MSL. They want to be up to the same standard as they see the rest of the world being at.

There are several artists who come to Helping Hands to dabble in the arts that they enjoy, be it painting or movie making. They used to have computers, which some used for Graphic Arts, but they no longer work. We managed to see a DVD of some of the performances that the Theatre of the Deaf in UB have had & it was really interesting.

I think that western cultures tend to get all caught up in money, which I understand happens because in the end you usually need money for things to get done, but that isn’t how it has to be necessarily. The Deaf theatre for example doesn’t seem to get that much money, yet it still runs, there. We met a couple of Deaf guys who want to have their short films in the the Deaf Short Film Festival & their determination is such, that I eagerly await seeing their films at the Short Film Festival in the USA.

After being  given 2 Sign Language dictionaries, he couldn’t charge me, as they were free to begin with, we had to help out in some way. When we saw all the art that Deaf artists had made, we of course bought one & made a donation to Helping Hands. Just like I had tears in my eyes when I was given the sign language books, out of happiness, it was a similar reaction when we told (the manager of the Helping Hands) that we were making a donation to help him out. It would be great if more people could help out - coming from a western country, we really do have things a lot better than others do.

My working week was going to finish as of this afternoon, but I received a job on Friday (which is great, coz I/ we need the money), so now I have tomorrow off, work Friday, then have Saturday & Sunday off (kinda). Saturday & Sunday will be spent selling more stuff off. We have listings on ebay that finish on Friday, so people will be picking up stuff on Saturday. Then we might be going to a car boot sale early Sunday morning, selling a few more things - then up to Brisbane to go a friends party & also do a little bit of work.

We have been fairly busy, the Easter long weekend, which we originally planned to go camping with Geoff’s dad for, was spent packing, sorting & listing things on ebay instead (& there is still a bit more to do). We are both fairly over it - been getting rid of a lot of things that we shouldn’t have as well, but such is life eh?

Tonight I have to do a bit more packing, cook some dinner & pick up Geoff from Touch Football, so much for me not having any late nights over the holidays. I have a regular job late Wednesday nights, so I was looking forward to a couple of weeks without having to do that, but it seems to be back-firing on me, which is a bit of a bummer.

Brea (the dog that our friends have at the place we are house-sitting) has me wrapped around her finger. She knows that I can’t stand her whining & will feed her. She must have been hungry, because she devoured the bones I gave her immediately, instead of burying them as she normally does. She then managed to convince me to feed her, her dinner (the one meal she gets a day) a couple of hours later. She makes this horrible noise like she is being hurt & seeing as the neighbours are so close I just had to feed her. She loves to have a pat & a play, but I can’t touch her, so feeding her is a challenge, but I get there. Brea is an outside dog, she is a big German Shepherd & has a lovely personality, so happy that she is an outside dog though. When we first started staying here I was taking antihistamine at least twice a day, but now I can sometimes get away with one or none - pretty awesome. I still can’t really be too close to her or play with her, but at least she can be around, not sure that I would want to be taking antihistamine everyday or nearly everyday like I have been for an extended period of time. I certainly don’t feel 100%, but I can cope.

Well, after setting up our new bank account, I think that I am nearing the end of having to inform everyone I work for of my new details. At first I started asking for the agency specific paperwork to update my banking details, which was taking ages for me to receive, so in the end I decided to send out a “form letter” of sorts with my new banking details on it, which seems to have worked for most agencies, which is great, then we can get rid of Suncorp - wohoo!!!

Today I have a NABS job, last one for the month, I anticipate. I had a good run there for a while, this month (including today) I have had 6 NABS jobs, last year I had a total of 13 NABS jobs, so I have almost reached 1/2 my quota in a few weeks. I quite enjoy NABS jobs, it’s a different vibe to the jobs that I do for QLD Health in the public system, which is refreshing, there doesn’t seem to be as much in-equality happening. Perhaps the fact that NABS is government funded and the Dr’s surgery’s etc don’t have to pay for an interpreter to be there helps too. You are facilitating the communication without anyone involved needing to put forward any additional effort, other than organising the interpreter to come, which is pretty cool when you think about it.

Wow, Woodford & X-mas are creeping up fast, it’s next weekend - holy shit! I had at least started some of my x-mas celebrations preparation before I managed to get 2nd degree burns, but being out of action for the last couple of weeks after it happened has certainly put me behind - I wish that I had done more before it happened. We aren’t even sure if Geoff’s dad is still coming up for x-mas day or not - which to be honest is kinda stressing me out. David has a dog, Benny (fox terrier) who needs to be looked after whilst he is away & he doesn’t really want to ask his neighbours, so he might only come for a day or two. If he does come, I will only see him for a day or so, as I am headed up to the Sunshine Coast on Boxing day so that I am ready for interpreting on Monday, when it officially starts.

I have decided that I won’t be camping at Woodford this year for a couple of reasons 1/ everyone who is going and camping with the dancing hands group, will be bringing hay bales (which I am allergic to) 2/ my burns need to be kept clean & I don’t think that camping there is going to be all that good for me in that respect. So instead I will be staying with Heather & Maree on their farm/ property (although with them now having goats it probably is becoming a bit more of a farm). Maree said that it will probably be good for me too, as I can have some time to myself to really relax, which is a fair point, so I can be either working or not, not in the middle most of the time like I was last year. Plus I can probably eat a little better as well. I think that I will miss being fully immersed in Deaf culture for the week, but my burns are really important to get them healed. I need to stop injuring myself!!

In other news, we setup our  x-mas tree - FINALLY tonight - holy crap, I thought that it would never happen - it was pretty quick to setup - it kinds felt like the express x-mas tree setup, taking us about 10 min to do everything but, at least it’s setup. Hard to believe that there’s only 10 days left til x-mas.

I am quite excited about dinner on Friday at the Deaf Services QLD X-mas Party. I have been conversing with the Sticks Restaurant Manager, Will & they have come up with a really nice menu for me. It’s a 2 course meal, here is what I should be having….

Main

Fillet Mignon & Seared Langoustine

Lemon Garlic Spinach • White Truffle Potato & Sautéed Asparagus

To Finish

Cocoa Fondue

(with Soy Milk)

Red wine Poached Pear •Kiwi Fruit •Berries • Banana & Passionfruit Marshmallows

They even have a wine that I can have (only one was ok, but at least they had one - which is awesome), Redbank Pinot Grigio, which they confirmed with the winery didn’t have any milk or egg in it (they didn’t have it listed on the label, but just to make sure they checked with the winery directly) - wohoo!! Finally, I can go out and have a few drinks during the night, usually I go with the idea of being able to have a few drinks (leaving the car at home) and then end up staying sober the whole night, as there isn’t anything for me. I should be a good night.

This year should be interesting. This is the first year that parts of the Woodford Folk Festival program have been formally organised to be Auslan interpreted. There will be Dancing Hands performances as well. In previous years, there has only been a few off the cuff performances that have been interpreted, so this is quite exciting.

The only issue is that they stuffed up one of the events, they were told not to organise 2 events to be interpreted at the same time & they did on Tuesday - Spirituality the quadruple bottom line with Professor Sohail Inayatullah & Bob Hawkes talk, Political Bigotries and Statesmanship both at 12 -1pm, which is extremely disappointing as there is no way that everyone can be at 2 places at once & when there was a limit to the number of events that could be interpreted - bummer!!

To view the parts of the program that have been officially organised to be interpreted into Auslan click here

There is an online preview only version of the Woodford Folk Festival program book which you can view by clicking here

You can download a program timetable online here

There is also a Festival Map & Directory that can be viewed here as well & can be downloaded & printed

If you are viewing the program online or if you get the actual program book, look for the little hand symbol to show which events will be interpreted in Auslan

In other news, because we have such a large group this year, we are not camping in the normal full week performers area, we will be in the overnight performers area. Hopefully it will be a little cooler, as we are over the hill or on the hill (not really sure on that one), only problem is that you have to catch a bus to & from the camp site to the main festival area, so you are restricted by the bus schedule, but there should be a little more room I hope & perhaps some flatter camp grounds too (will try not to get my hopes up too high on that one) as long as it isn’t like last year, when we had to prop up the mattress & it was still on a slope, which made sleeping interesting.

Well, today was interesting.

I did my good Samaritan thing today, helping out a poor women who was the victim of car park rage. She had a huge camper van style car, which she parked at Southport Library & due to it’s size she had to consume almost 2 car spaces, which apparently she has done in the past, without any issues (I don’t see why she should have any issues anyhow). Then today, a guy decided that he had to have one of the spaces she was parked in (despite the wide array of other spaces available) & was screaming at the poor woman.

I could have just continued to walk past, but decided not to, I calmly asked him what the problem was & he started screaming at me & complaining about how she had taken up more than one car space - my response - “she has a bigger car & needs the extra space, so that she isn’t blocking the car park” - he kept screaming & I kept telling him not to scream & calm down - at which point he made some comment about how he wasn’t (bull shit, everyone in the car park could hear him) so I kept telling him to stop screaming, over & over again & re-iterated the fact that she had a bigger car & needed the space, there were plenty more spaces available - apparently he has some sort of a love affair going with that specific car park. I was pretty sure at one stage he was going to punch me (he might have gotten a surprise if he did touch me), but perhaps my arm braces convinced him not too, I am not really sure. This went on for about 10 minutes & then he took off into the library.

The poor woman was very distressed - he had banged on her window & the side of her car - there were a couple of dents on the side. She took his license plate number & we exchanged numbers, as I was a witness & helped her out. Jerk off took photo’s with his phone camera of her car & us - which is funny as he is actually liable for hitting her car - she didn’t touch his.

Some people are jerks.

Then this afternoon, I arrived to an appointment & asked how many people would be involved in a meeting, so that I had an idea of how many I had to interpret for, I was told 10 & a guy who was a part of the meeting told me - Hang on, NO, you only interpret for 2, I don’t need an interpreter. My response, Ok, well, I am interpreting what is said by A & B from Auslan into English & I will also interpret to A & B what is being said by everyone in the room from English to Auslan, so I am the interpreter for everyone in essence. He was none to pleased with that & said Well, I won’t say anything & I said Ok, if you want to, makes it a bit easier for me with a nice smile on my face - at which point I was asked - “How are you paid, by the hour?” I just nodded & he said Well Shut Up.

Nice …. I know your job sucks, but a little bit of courteous behaviour goes a long way - Boy was I happy when he moved over to chat to some other women (part of the 10) to chat them up & even happier when the job was done - oh well, such is life eh?

Here are a few caption bloopers from the Mental Health Congress 28-30 Oct 2009. I started writing down a lot of them, then but then I realised that I could be writing all day, so gave up. I realise that it’s all typed phonetically& I certainly couldn’t do it myself, but it was kinda amusing. I noticed that they omitted a few things either because of chatting amongst themselves or they didn’t want to venture a guess about how to spell it - which was amusing when you consider the mistakes they made when they apparently heard it properly. So here goes it …

Caption : What it should have said

Bend it : Benefit
Cock Lee ar Implantees : Cochlear Implantee’s
Cochlear Important : Cochlear Implant
Efficocy : Efficacy
Impants : Implants
Surgeery : Surgery
Do main : Domain
Undersfanings 6 : Understandings
10 Pearls : 10 Parents
Famaeldz : Families
Rebe hab i will taiges : Rehabilitation
Implanlted : Implanted
Xhild : Child
This Motor : This Mother
F that : (not sure?)
Piss in pants : (not sure?)
Tony Blair : (not sure? - nothing even close was mentioned)

I have had one of those weeks where you just have to laugh or else I would be screaming all week.

Real estate entered the property without 24hrs notice early Tuesday morning & the GCCC finally got back to me about a parking fine that I received months ago (was in an interpreting job at the hospital at the time, so stated my case) & they have told me to pay up or else - if I had just ignored it I would have been ok, as the fine wasn’t even written correctly - wrong rego - so now have to pay that - IDIOT comes to mind, I only noticed after I appealed it - BUGGER!

The fact that they didn’t even accept my explanation was a heap of crap really. I can’t leave an interpreting job in a hospital just to move my car  especially when things took an unexpected change for the worse & the appointment dragged out - “excuse me but I have to move my car, so can you guys just hold everything for a few minutes” - it was indeed a medical emergency & out of my hands - arrogant paperpushers comes to mind - & it took them 4 months to get back to me - very disappointed to say the least - thing is they would get out of it no worries if that happened - I wasn’t being lazy I just couldn’t leave, but they don’t get that, apparently everything goes on hold so you can move your car - what planet do they live on???????????? Excuse me, stop dying for 10 min, until I get back…

Then I had a job today where an agency told me that it was only an hrs job, when it was infact 2, which I only discovered when I told the client that I had to leave at a specific time as I had another job. I had to do a bit of apologising to the 2nd client - who was already testy before that happened. Funnily enough the Deaf person was fine, it was the hearing people that were a little peeved about it all.

Tomorrow I have a job down in NSW & it’s our wedding anniversary, so who knows what will happen then

Wow, I have had a busy couple of days.

Tuesday I finally managed to get another brace for my right wrist exactly like the one that I currently have, for my left one. It’s actually really cool to have braces for both of my wrists. I had an all day job in Brisbane about a month ago, where I noticed that my right wrist started to go a little funny, so I pretty much worked out that I needed to get another one to try to protect it, a preventative measure, if you like.

Tonight was awesome though. Great to see that it improved, after I had, had a rather ordinary day. I went into see an organisation to fill in some employment paperwork (joys of being a freelance interpreter/ having your own business in essence), overheated & ended up vomiting in the middle of the interview. They were really good about it, but boy did I feel like crap - sometimes you have to hate wearing all black, spending the morning out in the sun, then later in a stuffy office - oh well, guess I can tick that off the list (not that I ever really had that one on my list to start with). Anyhow, I called a friend, Kristina, who is an interpreter on the Gold Coast to say Hi & she invited me to come over. We had a late lunch (round 2/ 2.30) & chatted etc, I ended up leaving her place at 11pm - I was a little shocked when I saw the time. But, what a great night!!!

Kristina showed me her corset that she bought from the new corset shop in Brisbane, which only opened a couple of months ago. She even let me try it on, even though it was a little too big for me (felt pretty snug to me), I have fallen in love with corsets. I always liked the idea of a corset & I like the whole period costume idea, which goes well with Geoff’s interest in Medieval things, so it’s not a huge surprise that I like corsets. I just have to get one for myself, although apparently they aren’t that cheap, a couple hundred dollars at least. The support that you get from one is AMAZING though. I wish that I had a photo of me when I was wearing it, but I don’t so bad luck eh? I haven’t decided what type I would like, you can get different patterned corsets or ones with or without a tongue at the back, I was thinking of black - might go really GOTH, I do like a bit of Goth, colour isn’t bad either, but I am a little bit Goth & apparently it is becoming more & more noticeable by others that I am that way.

I also did my first tarot reading for Kristina. It was a little nerve wracking, but apparently I did really well & am quite a quick learner. I was brought up to believe that the tarot cards were fairly evil & demonic, but really it’s just a case of working out what is happening in your life & looking at the similarities (which you can find in most things, if you look hard enough. Kristina has told me that every time I come over I can practice, which I think will be great, I might even have to get a deck of tarot cards. There are heaps of different ones to choose from, so might have to do some research to work out which type, which may take a while, but I reckon that it would be really good. Kristina also did a quick reading for me, which was lots of fun, it’s only the 2nd time I have had my cards read, the first time was by Sophie (Kristina’s daughter).