Roll on 2011

Well the last week or two have been absolute social whirlwind. Who would have picked that the social scene in Honiara would be far more busy than anything that I have experienced in a long time. Christmas was awesome, a real kiwi Christmas (even though there were only 4 kiwis present the rest of the group being from Austria, Taiwan, Wales, Spain, Australia and India). My experience was only marred slightly by the fact that I had a a ripper of a flu and this took the edge of my ability to communicate. Since Christmas day there has been poker games, dinner parties, movie nights and a few days spent at Savo Island for New Years period.

On Savo Island it was me and five women. Now spending New Years with this many women may sound daunting to most guys, but it was actually a surprisingly good time and we shared a few good yarns and one very informative game of spoons (truth or dare). For me the highlight of the trip was the walk to the top of this volcanically active Island. It was approximately a four hour round trip and at the summit it became clear that Savo Island is still a very active volcanic area. It served as a brilliant reminder that the Solomon Islands are a geologically dynamic Island group and this is one reason why they are biologically so diverse.

The time on Savo has had me thinking more about my assignment in the year 2011. Many people are surprised when I tell them the duration of my assignment. But for me, less than the two years I have been assigned would not allow me to build the connections and relationships that I really need to be successful and longer than two years would be quite a long haul indeed and may have social and career implications. Not having the access to such a social network in my assignment location as ex-pats have in Honiara is also something else that had me wondering if I would have been better to accept an assignment based in Honiara. But I keep coming back with the same answer and that is that I have a very unique assignment in a very unique location and I love the fact that this will be my life for the next two years. I also think that this assignment will define me and lead to more personal development than another assignment would in a location where I could unintentionally surround myself with ex-pats rather than local people. I also think about those great people out in Choiseul and specifically my Island where I live, they are my community and I am going to fight tooth and nail to help them in whatever way I can.     

So roll on 2011, no doubt there are going to be more challenges than I can possibly anticipate. But one things for certain, 2011 ain't going to be a repeat of 2010 and for that I will be grateful.