Friday 8 January 2021

Dear Friends 2021

Adelaide, January 5th 2021

Dear Friends,

First of all we want to wish you a happy and healthy 2021!

While it was disappointing we could not do all the travelling we wanted to do and see our (extended) family this year.. We have a lot to be thankful for.  Here is a little overview of our past year. 


We started 2020 in Durham North Carolina together with Steve’s family. Even though it was for a sad reason (memorial service for Steve’s mother who had passed away in October last year) it was wonderful to spend Christmas and New Year’s together after many years. When we got back home to Adelaide our friends Maryse, Jeroen and Lasse from Brisbane were here to greet us and we had a wonderful time with them too. So that was a good start of the year!


In March we got to go to WOMAD (World of Music, Art and Dance) for the first time. -a 4 day festival in Adelaide. Which we loved!! It was right in time because after that COVID changed everything. Daniel still went to Brisbane and back to see his friends there but then we were all stuck here for a while. 


Steve’s dad had planned to visit us in April and we had planned to travel to Victoria together but of course that did not happen. Daniel and Nynke had planned to go to The Netherlands in August which of course did not happen either.. 


We did have some nice short road trips though and got to see a bit more of South Australia. Steve and I went to see the Southern Right whales at the Head of Bight in August which was incredible! And later, in October, Steve, Nynke, Wytse and Arwin went to Arkaroola and the Flinders Ranges which was a great trip too. Arkaroola is a whole different world. Very dry and dusty but very special and it feels very remote. We really enjoyed camping out there, going on walks and 4W drives and seeing the endangered yellow-footed rock wallabies. It is a dark sky area but it was full moon when we went  - We want to go back in April in a week with a new moon so we can see a few more stars!  And it was fun to do some 4 wheel driving and put in practice the skills we had learned at a 4WD course in August.


Stephen: 

  I got the tiny house finished up - at least the outside - in time for the winter, as you see here. (June-August, the rainy season here, not really winter).  We still have a ways to go to make it something we would really live in - it needs a kitchen, bathroom, table, storage, etc.  But I’ll take it slow and do that at a more leisurely pace since at the moment we’re just using it as a bedroom.  It does have the great advantage of getting us away from the noisy teenagers and gives them all their own bedroom (we only have a 3-bedroom house now).  

  The tiny house of course became my home office as soon as COVID hit, and after some adjustment I became really productive working from home.  So productive that I can’t figure out how I ever found time to commute, and like so many other people, I plan to continue working from home quite a bit more than I ever used to.

  Work has been incredibly intense this year for me - there are so many new opportunities and projects in the space industry in Australia and I’ve found myself very much in the middle of CSIRO’s space efforts.  We are finishing up the construction of our first satellite, started our new lab in downtown Adelaide, and we have hired now two full time staff to run the lab while I run around trying to write proposals and get more funding for future satellites.  I could not have dreamed of a more interesting or challenging career at this point!  I hope that through my work I can express my gratitude and help create opportunities for my colleagues equal to the luck that has come my way.


Nynke : I started the year in a new job that I ended up not liking. It was a job in disability support in a badly managed organisation. I quit right before the first ‘lockdown’ and was happy I did. It ended up a really relaxing time we got to spend with the family and getting lots of exercise. We went on a lot of very long walks and read lots of books. And of course I had a lot of time for gardening as well. I decided to start looking for a job again in the second half of the year and I have been working for Kalyra since August. Kalyra is an (well managed) aged care organisation and I work as a home support worker helping people wherever they need help. I have met a lot of wonderful people already (clients and colleagues) and really enjoy the variety of people and work I have to do. I currently work 2 ½ days per week which works out well. I still have enough time for gardening (see before and after photos above!) and also I am enrolled in the Diploma of Sustainable Living at the University of Tasmania (online studies) so that occupies my time as well and I love it! On top of that I am doing ‘end of life doula’ training and I have still been needing to drive Arwin around a bit for his activities. He will have a driver’s licence soon though!


Wytse (18): I believe South Australians have been exceptionally lucky in the pandemic, since we have not had any major outbreaks or lockdowns (besides a very short one). Because of these circumstances, my daily life was not impacted very much in the second half of the year. My main accomplishments in 2020 include finishing the UPP (University Preparatory Program) at the University of Adelaide, which allows me to start studying for the Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences in the first semester of 2021. For me, this required going through a lot of challenges, including studying only online for several months.


Outside of university, I have been able to keep up a number of other activities. Over the course of the year I have been taking clarinet lessons, which has helped me a lot with playing with the Adelaide Youth Wind Orchestra (AdYWO). In the second semester, playing with AdYWO has been very enjoyable for me, but I have also enjoyed rehearsing and performing with the Unley Concert Band during the last few weeks of the year, and I may continue to do so. I have also been reading a lot when I have time to, and after a long time, I finished reading the Divine Comedy. Through the UPP and the groups I have been playing music in, I met a lot of interesting people, and this last year was very good for my social life overall. In the new year, I hope to refine my time management and researching skills to accomplish more at uni, and I plan to get together with a small group of musicians (possibly my dad and brother) to do some busking.


Daniel (18): I think 2020 was pretty crazy for everyone. We all had our plans ruined, but new ones popped up in their place. If the pandemic hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have started studying halfway through this year, after a very boring half gap year (I’m now studying environmental policy and management at Adelaide Uni). I also probably wouldn’t have found the summer job I have - spa cover manufacturing has been busier than ever this year - or started practicing mandolin.


One of my challenges coming out of high school was finding myself as an individual. Joining uni clubs helped with this, as did the in-class university tutorials that came with living in relatively covid-free South Australia. One focus I rediscovered this year was reading and writing. Currently, I’m halfway through Robert Jordan’s amazing but long Wheel of Time series, which I’ve been reading while taking a creative writing minor for my degree. I also joined Brett McKay’s Strenuous Life this year, an online program which helped me challenge myself constantly and finished off with a night sleeping in a cave next to a waterfall. I’m improving fast as a rock climber, I got a lot of money from my summer job, I’m getting more confident with lead climbing, and my weekends have been getting more and more adventurous. Bring on 2021!


Arwin (16): 2020 Was quite an odd year. It had an average start for me, up until March. When we went to WOMAD, I got a djembe - an African drum. I also saw some inspiring musicians and bands. When the pandemic hit, I didn’t have a problem with self-quarantining, as I was already in an online school. During the first half of the year, I continued to play guitar and sing with my dad. I stopped doing drama classes, as the show was called off due to the pandemic, and I was not very interested in the shows to come.


School got a lot harder for me in the second half of the year because of a loss of interest, as I turned my attention to music. I managed to get through school, and I busked at the farmer’s market with my dad. It was a lot of fun, though it was nearly four hours. I plan to busk a lot more in the new year, as I continue to improve my singing and guitar skills. Some of my resolutions are: To learn piano or harmonica, to start a YouTube channel, and to read at least 12 books.


Lyra (9 ¼):  I like the beach, or anywhere I can play in the water, and hanging out with my people, and riding in the car, and rocks!


Coda (2 1/2 year): I love cuddles and people (especially jumping up and licking them!) and running around like crazy together with Lyra. I hate being in the car - I get sick everytime.


Book of the year:

Steve: The Great Divorce (C. S. Lewis)

Nynke: The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)

Arwin: Northern Lights (Philip Pullman)

Wytse: The Odyssey (Homer)

Daniel: The Shadow Rising (Robert Jordan)

Movie of the year:

Steve: Tree of Life

Nynke:  A Serious Man

Arwin: 1917

Wytse: Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Daniel: Death to 2020 (2020)


Happy & Healthy New Year and Love from all of us, 

Nynke, Steve, Wytse, Daniel, Arwin Lyra, Coda and chickens


2 Medina street - Aberfoyle Park SA 5159 -Australia


Nynke: nynke.vanderburg@gmail.com  +61 410 938 709  Stephen: stephen.gensemer@gmail.com +61 424 240 031  Wytse: wytse.gensemer@gmail.com  Daniel: daniel.gensemer@gmail.com  Arwin: arwin.b.gensemer@gmail.com