NCV Christmas Service

Some of the residents who attended

The 2011 NCV Christmas Service was held in the Main Common Room on Monday 12th December. This provided an opportunity for residents to gather and consider the meaning behind the Christmas season. The Master of New College and New College Village, Prof. Trevor Cairney, spoke on Luke 19:1-10, not a passage which people regularly associate with Christmas but one that speaks directly to the reason for Jesus’ earthly ministry . Trevor drew some important conclusions from the passage, challenging residents to look beyond the Christmas narrative and instead to consider the person of Jesus and the claims that he made.

The Master adds the star to the tree

During the service the Dean of NCV, Dr John Quinn, also gave some historical background to the traditions around Christmas time: the use of conifers as Christmas trees, the tradition of decorating trees with baubles and lights, and the origin of the term “carol” to describe Christmas songs. NCV’s always-able musicians led the residents in some well-known Christmas carols: “Silent Night”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, “Once in Royal David’s City”, “O Holy Night”, “Joy To The World” and “O Come All Ye Faithful”. To finish the evening residents joined together in decorating the NCV Christmas Tree and enjoyed some traditional Christmas food: pannetone, Christmas cake, and fruit mince pies. Two residents, Tim Amos and Laura Sharpe brought along a most impressive gingerbread house which they had made to share. It was an impressive structure, and delicious, too! As always, the NCV Christmas Service was a great way to start the holiday season with the NCV family!

NCV Christmas Service

Thanksgiving at NCV

Some of the residents enjoying Thanksgiving

NCV is home to students from all over the world, including quite a few from the United States of America. At Thanksgiving time (25th November), a group of our residents (led by Melissa Duell and Michael Sturm) put together a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner for the NCV community. This was of great interest to the local residents, as Thanksgiving is not really celebrated in Australia. The dinner had all the Thanksgiving essentials: turkey, cranberry sauce, roast vegetables, sweet potato, pumpkin pie and apple pie. Pumpkin pie is a rarity in Australia, but once residents overcame their apprehensions they enjoyed a delicious treat.

Dr Quinn enjoying Thanksgiving

This was our second Thanksgiving dinner at NCV, with the event becoming something of a favorite on the NCV Social Calendar. As last year, Thanksgiving at NCV gave some fantastic glimpses into American culture – yet another benefit of living in a diverse and enriching community.

Thanksgiving at NCV

NCV Formal Dinner

Three times each year NCV residents gather for a Formal Dinner. These events involve a three course meal, a musical item (or two) and a speech on a topic of interest to a higher education community. The evenings typically go into the night as residents enjoy coffee and conservation, not to mention a photograph or two!

Professor Jane McAdam

At the last Formal Dinner for the year on 13th October 2011, the guest speaker was Professor Jane McAdam. Prof McAdam is a prominent Australian legal academic with research interests in international refugee law, international human rights law, forced migration, and displacement due to climate change. In addition to her duties at UNSW, Prof McAdam is also a consultant to the UNHCR on the international law aspects of climate-related displacement. She has also worked on a variety of projects for the European Union, Green Cross Australia, the Refugee Review Tribunal, Amnesty International and the Refugee Council of Australia. Having Prof McAdam speak to the NCV community at a time in Australian history when both climate change and asylum seeker policy were in the news was a great privilege.

Prof McAdam began her talk with some reflections on the importance of research and the benefits of pursuing a research career. She went on to talk about her own research, giving residents a window into some of the important and interesting questions around environmental refugees. The talk generated a lot of interest, prompting a number of questions from the floor and spirited after-dinner conversation.

At the dinner we were also fortunate to have resident Christopher Chen play the piano for us. Christopher is a graduate of the University of Melbourne and is currently completing postgrad studies in information technology at UNSW. On the night, Christopher demonstrated his considerable piano skills by playing the Edvard Grieg’s Sonata Op. 7, 2nd Movement.

NCV Formal Dinner

NCV Music Night

Asst Dean Viv Shek on Cello

On Friday 19^th August the NCV community gathered in NCV’s Main Common Room for the second Annual NCV Music Night. The evening was organized by the NCV Music Association which oversees the NCV Choir and NCV Chamber Orchestra.

To open the night we were treated to a medley of songs from Les Miserables, performed by the NCV Choir.  After this resident Armin Chitizadeh performed a piece called “Morning Bird” on a santour, a Persian instrument played by striking strings with very fine hammers.  You could see people all around the room craning their necks to catch a glimpse of this unfamiliar instrument and Armin’s elegant striking. 

Next up were residents Joni Mok and Serena Ma, who played a lovely piano duet arrangement of Mozart’s  “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”.  After this the evening switched (briefly) to contemporary music, with resident Kevin Phang playing three pieces on guitar (Andy McKee’s “Heather’s Song”, Tommy Emmanuel’s “Mombassa” and JZ Moolman’s “Jay’s Tap”).  Kevin is a completely home grown guitarist, having first picked up the instrument while a resident at NCV.  On top of this he also played a piece written by a former NCV resident in JZ Moolman. 

Following a short interval where residents enjoyed some drinks and nibbles, resident Hsuan Tan played two pieces on piano: Paul de Senneville’s “Triste Coeur” and “Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You” (by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin).  Hsuan is a talented pianist who is currently undertaking a Master of Optometry.  Following Hsuan, Master of Design student Kay Chen gave a great recital of Bach’s Sonata 1035 in E minor on flute.  For her performance Kay was accompanied by Vivian Shek on piano.

Performers on the night

The next items were vocal.  Friend of NCV Steven Chikazawa sang his own composition called “Providence”, and was accompanied by his cousin Tino on guitar. After this resident Theresa Crossing sang the Rick Founds song 'Lord I lift your name on high', accompanied by Vivian Shek on piano. 

To finish off the evening, the NCV Music Association Chamber Orchestra played two Mozart pieces: "Oboe Quartet in F major, K.370 1st movement and Symphony No, 40 in G Minor, K550 1st movement.

At the end of the formalities many residents stayed on in the MCR, playing together, getting to know one another and generally having a good time.  A great night was had by all.

NCV Music Night

NCV Formal Dinner Aug 2011

Three times each year NCV residents gather for a Formal Dinner.  These events involve a three course meal, a musical item (or two) and a speech on a topic of interest to a higher education community. The evenings typically go into the night as residents enjoy coffee and conservation, not to mention a photograph or two! At NCV’s August Formal Dinner on the 4th August, the guest speaker was Mr Ton van Amerongen. 
 

Mr van Amerongen is currently the CEO of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre (SCEC), a position he has held since 1994.  In addition to his responsibilities at the SCEC, Ton is also a former director of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce and is an advisor to Business Events Sydney. He is also a founding director and the current treasurer of the Darling Harbour Business Association, and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

At the NCV Formal Dinner, Ton spoke about his extensive career in hotel management, which had taken him to cities all across the world. He also gave an overview of his current role as CEO of the Conference and Exhibition Centre, explaining the importance of the SCEC to Sydney and NSW. Ton encouraged residents to make the most of the NCV community’s cultural diversity, arguing that the ability to work with people of many and varied cultures would stand them in good stead for the future.

We were also fortunate to have resident Wayne Yang give a piano recital for us.  Wayne is one of the original members of NCV, having moved in when the building opened in 2009.  On the night, Wayne showed beautiful touch playing Mozart’s Variations on "Ah! Vous-dirai-je, Maman". It was a delightful performance.

NCV Formal Dinner Aug 2011

2011 Harbour Cruise

Friday 22^nd July (the end of Week One) saw NCV’s annual Annual Harbour Cruise, with over a hundred residents setting sail on the “Simply Magistic” for an evening of drinks and canapés.   

We did this differently to 2010 (where we had a sit-down meal), and the cocktail format seemed to work well.  Residents enjoyed a selection of satay sticks, samosas, mini quiches and other canapés, with beer, wine, soft drink and juice were also included in the ticket price. 

After enjoying the drinks and food, residents hit the dance floor and partied the night away.  

2011 Harbour Cruise

O'Weekend was a great success at NCV

At the start of each semester the NCV community welcomes its new residents with an O’Week program.  The aim of the O’Week program is to help students familiarize themselves with Sydney, the University, and, most importantly, the NCV community. For Semester Two 2011 an O’Weekend program was held from Friday 15^th July – Sunday 17^th July. The program included a Trivia Night, a day trip to Circular Quay and Manly, our Annual Cultural Night and an afternoon of sports at the University Gymnasium (indoor soccer and badminton). 
 

For the Trivia Night, residents were divided into teams alphabetically, and their knowledge of entertainment and pop culture, sport, music, history and geography was tested with a series of quiz questions.  As an example, residents were challenged to name seven South American capital cities, the three types of blade used in Olympic Fencing, and the first names of cycling’s Schleck brothers.  Residents’ aural skills were also tested, the challenge being to identify artists as diverse as Kate Bush, Moloko, The Jackson Five and Kelis with only a 10-20sec excerpt.

The day trip took students through the CBD to the popular tourist destination and transport hub of Circular Quay.  After a few snaps in front of the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, residents took the famous Manly Ferry to the beachside suburb of Manly, for a short walk and some hot chocolate.

The Cultural Night was a real highlight, with students showcasing their various cultures through food, dress, general info, and music.  Countries represented were Australia, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, The Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.  A separate post on this event will appear soon. 

On the Sunday afternoon those residents keen on sports gathered for a game of indoor soccer and badminton at the University Gymnasium. This provided an opportunity both to meet NCV’s other keen sportspeople but also to check out some of the University’s sporting facilities. 

O'Weekend was a great success at NCV