A lovely essay by Damien Cave — New York Times staffer who opened that newspaper's Australia bureau in 2017, and who now is moving on to open a bureau in Vietnam. Cave's message appears in the NYT "Australia Letter" #373 (4 October 2024). It's titled "A Rest, a Reset and a Thanks for the Banter". Among the best bits:

In my experience, Australians tend to be a generous and rambunctious bunch. It’s a big part of what led me to write a book about my family learning to be more Australian, and I leave with gratitude for all the times that someone threw their arm around me and dragged my gaze in a new direction.

With the exception of many politicians, who have yet to figure out what to do with The Times in this still too-secretive country, I feel like my time here has been filled with versions of: “Mate, over here, you’ll want to see this.”

I am thinking of the small-town community leader who passed me a little blue book with the mobile numbers of everyone who lived there; the old and young couples who stopped to check on me when I had a flat tire; the billionaire who pulled back the curtain on a few of his peers; the scholars who shared research from decades ago that are still relevant today.

I could list 100 more examples. But rather than go through all of those, or traipse through old newsletters or stories and offer up my favorites, let me just say what journalists probably do not say often enough to those who help shape our work: Thank you. Thank you for it all, the trust, the help, the open-mindedness, the feedback good and bad.

Yes! – the spirit of optimism, friendship, and adventure — so important wherever one is, in the Universe and in Life ...

_{(Cave is the author of Parenting Like an Australian: One Family's Quest to Fight Fear and Dive into a Better, Braver Life — cf No Worries, Mate (2012-11-24), Mantra - She'll Be Right (2017-02-21), Mantra - Give More Praise (2019-07-28), ...) - ^z - 2024-10-04}