Robyn Dalziel
I went straight from Balwyn High to Melbourne Uni (BA, Dip. Ed. majoring in English Literature and History/Political Science) and then back to school again, to be precise Niddrie High School, where I taught English, English Literature and French. But although I enjoyed my teaching experience, as soon as I had worked the obligatory three years to pay off my studentship I headed for ‘the old country’ aboard the Fairstar.
I taught English in a Secondary Modern school in Stevenage, made several forays into Europe and then managed to land up in hospital with a collapsed lung. Thanks to the good old National Health the subsequent operation and lengthy hospital stay did not cost me a penny, even though I had been employed for only a few months. Afterwards I did various temping jobs (including tea lady at Glaxos!) before landing a clerical job at Australia House. I had left Australia with no intention of returning home any time soon, but did so in 1972 because my father was gravely ill. After his death, I moved to Canberra where I worked for the Department of Education & Science dealing with overseas (Colombo Plan) students.
It was in Canberra that I met my future husband, a Dutch diplomat.
We spent the next 15 years in a variety of overseas postings including New York, Geneva, Karachi and Istanbul. I loved them all, but have especially warm feelings for Istanbul and the Turkish people.
In 1988 my husband Jaap took early retirement and we returned to the Netherlands, where two of his three children from a previous marriage lived. By now I was fluent in Dutch and casting around for work. After a bit of teaching English as a second language I started to translate (Dutch to English), initially taking on anything that came my way but eventually specialising in architecture, design and art. Quite by chance I had found my true métier and gave free rein to my workaholic tendencies. In addition to translating books and articles, I worked as English copyeditor and translator for two Dutch architecture magazines.
When my husband died suddenly in October 2003 I had to decide whether to remain permanently in the Netherlands – which I still regard as my second home – or to return to Australia, where my mother was still alive and in need of support. Given that the Internet and email meant that I could now work anywhere in the world, I decided to come back to Melbourne, although when it came to choosing where to live, cosmopolitan Carlton won out over Balwyn. I continue to work for Dutch publishers and architects, although not as frenetically as in the past. I have taken up Italian and try to travel to Europe every year, mainly to the Netherlands and Italy.
I taught English in a Secondary Modern school in Stevenage, made several forays into Europe and then managed to land up in hospital with a collapsed lung. Thanks to the good old National Health the subsequent operation and lengthy hospital stay did not cost me a penny, even though I had been employed for only a few months. Afterwards I did various temping jobs (including tea lady at Glaxos!) before landing a clerical job at Australia House. I had left Australia with no intention of returning home any time soon, but did so in 1972 because my father was gravely ill. After his death, I moved to Canberra where I worked for the Department of Education & Science dealing with overseas (Colombo Plan) students.
It was in Canberra that I met my future husband, a Dutch diplomat.
We spent the next 15 years in a variety of overseas postings including New York, Geneva, Karachi and Istanbul. I loved them all, but have especially warm feelings for Istanbul and the Turkish people.
In 1988 my husband Jaap took early retirement and we returned to the Netherlands, where two of his three children from a previous marriage lived. By now I was fluent in Dutch and casting around for work. After a bit of teaching English as a second language I started to translate (Dutch to English), initially taking on anything that came my way but eventually specialising in architecture, design and art. Quite by chance I had found my true métier and gave free rein to my workaholic tendencies. In addition to translating books and articles, I worked as English copyeditor and translator for two Dutch architecture magazines.
When my husband died suddenly in October 2003 I had to decide whether to remain permanently in the Netherlands – which I still regard as my second home – or to return to Australia, where my mother was still alive and in need of support. Given that the Internet and email meant that I could now work anywhere in the world, I decided to come back to Melbourne, although when it came to choosing where to live, cosmopolitan Carlton won out over Balwyn. I continue to work for Dutch publishers and architects, although not as frenetically as in the past. I have taken up Italian and try to travel to Europe every year, mainly to the Netherlands and Italy.
