Welcome to the choose and collect festival.

That’s right folks, it’s a good old Aussie election. Which not only is a chance to wow you with my literal translation of the Burmese word for election (see title), but is also a great excuse to post this:

Which is not the best Radiohead song, but it’s still pretty great.

This is all by way of an overlong introduction to the main point, I have been working (yes, paid employment) for the last two weeks as an issuing officer, thus fulfilling my two lifelong dreams: 1) working at an election; 2) wearing shoes for the first time in months.*

So working is ok, but I wouldn’t want to do it long-term. It has been interesting seeing the various people who come in and vote, from Myanmar nationals who can barely speak a word of English, but who take their democratic right very seriously, to lovely but misguided expats who ask me who to vote for as they have been out of the country for a long time, to—of course—smelly backpackers who don’t know if they are enrolled, or where, or who any of the parties are.

I have one last half day of taking votes tomorrow, then the polls close, we have a lot of annoying admin, and finally we join the rest of the embassy and broader Australian community in Yangon for a traditional democracy sausage at the Australia Club. It’ll be fab.

*No, seriously. Our cleaner is so unused to me wearing shoes that she washed my socks and put them in Esther’s drawer.