This is another short note to let you know that I'm still around. Today was our trip to the Australian Zoo -- that's the one owned by the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. I'll upload a post to it as soon as I can.
We leave tomorrow for Townsville, so I am not sure when I'll be near a computer again. We will be on the train for 24 hours, and will be in Townsville itself for only a couple of hours before getting on the ferry for Magnetic Island. I do not know what conditions I'll find there. But, I will keep up on the writing, and post entries as soon as I can.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Friday, May 05, 2006
Several days into one
There are svereal days here. This is the first day I could get to a machine.
May 2-4
Canberra
Partly sunny and cool
This was a day of travel, from Sydney to Canberra. Our drive was about six hours, leaving at 9 and arriving a little after 3. We made a few stops: at Berrima, at Goulburn, at Lake George, and at Mt. Ainslie. We finally arrived at the City Walk Hotel, where I am writing this.
Berrima is a pleasant village off the Hume highway, about 90 minutes south of Sydney. When driving in to the town, you could easily imagine that you were in a New England town in the autumn, as there are so many deciduous trees about. What makes this surprising to me is that the native trees in Australia: eucalyptus, banksia, paperbark, etc., are all evergreen. There should be no fall, no fall color. Yet, there it was, all around us. I don't know that the importation of the European species of trees has had a deleterious effect on the ecosystem in the same way as the introduced animals have, but it may well have. In any case, the upshot is that there is fall color here.
We stopped for lunch at a McDonald's just off the highway in Goulburn. The similarities and differences between McDonalds in Australia and in America are evident: there's a pastry shop built into the store, as well as a deli section. And of course, the burgers have a nice slice of beetroot on them. I don't know how that got started, but it's an interesting taste. One student pointed out that the beet adds a sweetness similar to ketchup. I think it's more like sweet pickle relish, but the idea is the same.
After lunch, we made our way down to Canberra. We stopped for a few minutes along Lake George, a dried-up catchment for the surrounding mountains. It is not so many years ago that the lake was full; one can find photos from the 50's of boating on the lake. The coach driver told me that there had been a few inches of water here and there last year after a winter storm, but that was the exception. The stations lease the lakebed for grazing; as we drove by we could see many sheep wandering about. The entire area is so very dry. They have been in the grip of a drought for several years now, with little sign of it abating. There are numerous water usage restrictions in place in the Goulburn area. It seems to be a very different situation from that which we've run into in the Alice Springs area. I do wonder if Australia is a continent in transition, with arid and arable regions interchanging.
Our hotel is the City Walk, a very nice budget hotel right off the central shopping area in Canberra. It's going through a remodeling right now -- hence the delays in posting these journal entries (no internet). But it's very clean and fairly roomy, so I think we'll be using it next year.
. . .
It's now May 4, and we are waiting at the Canberra airport for our flight to Brisbane. I thought I'd catch you up on our activities from yesterday: Parliament House, the U.S. Embassy, and the ANZAC War Memorial.
We began our day tour at Parliament House, the seat of Australian government. It is a striking building, with architecture laden with symbolism. You can see it from anywhere in Canberra, it seems; four angled aluminum struts like boomerangs supporting a large Australian flag. The building itself though is mostly below ground, with parkland above it -- so the people are above the government, not the other way 'round. The interior of the building is very beautiful, with a freshness to its design appropriate to a young country.
Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable, not only of his own government but also of our own. Australia's government is similar to ours in that it is bicameral, with a house of representatives apportioned by population, and a senate equally apportioned by state. It is unlike ours in that it is a parliament. The party that controls the house forms the government, with the party's leader becoming the prime minister. So, there's no real separate executive branch.
Oddly enough, I found a star guide with aboriginal constellations and legends at the souvenir shop. Seemed like an odd place to find such a thing, but I'll take it.
Our next stop was the U.S. Embassy. Now I'll frankly admit that this is a part of the tour that makes me the most nervous -- I don't think anything bad will happen, it's just that foreign policy stuff not my thing at all, so I assume that the students will be bored to tears by it. But the fact is that the students respond very well to the officers' stories, and I think we usually get a few students who begin thinking about a career in the Foreign Service after this meeting. We had brief presentations by three section heads: public affairs, economics, and political. These were followed by a question-&-answer session in which the students acquitted themselves very well, coming up with questions that I would not have thought of.
We broke for lunch at the city's central area, actually not far from our hotel. Most of the students opted to buy lunch in the food court on the lower level of the main shopping area. I had a kebab plate from a Turkish place, very good. It included tabouli salad and some humus, one of my favorites. There was a little boy and his mum sitting nearby us, and the boy kept his eye on me the whole time. The exotic American. Probably, I just had food in my beard.
Our last stop for the day was the ANZAC War Memorial. For me, the War Memorial is always a bit of an emotional stop. I do not think that there's one bit of romance to war, and it a testament to just how stupid we are as a species to get ourselves into these bloody debacles. But having said that, I have found in recent years a fascination with the strategies and tactics of battle, and the way that the will of the troops seems ultimately to be the deciding factor in who will carry the day. It seems that the best military leaders understand this, and the best troops will seek these leaders out and fight beyond their strength for them.
There's an example of this showcased at the ANZAC War Museum that involves US and Australian troops cooperating for perhaps the first time. In WWI, US troops were under orders not to take commands from the Australian General Monash, who they had heard was an excellent and unconventional tactician. So, they went to his camp. took off their US uniforms, put on the ANZAC's, and fought with Aussie troops in a successful battle in France (and I will look up the battle for you, gentle reader). It was the first of a series of cooperative ventures that would culminate in the ANZUS treaty.
Australia was attacked by Japan in WWII, and their troops were away defending British interests in Africa. There was very little to stop Japan from occupying at least the northern half of Australia -- except us. At least one objective of the Battle of the Coral Sea was to push Japan away from Australia, and Australians viewed our entry into that battle as a rescue. Australians have not forgotten that, and have stood with us ever since, even when they don't like our actions.
I found The Black Diggers at the ANZAC souvenir shop, too! I had read some at the NSW library, but am very happy to have my own copy now. When we're at Magnetic Island, I might take the ferry back into Townsville to do some more work on my project.
We are currently on the flight to Brisbane, and are about to start our descent, so I will sign off for now.
. . .
It is now May 5. We returned from Lone Pine Koala sanctuary awhile ago, and I wandered about until I found this Global Gossip location on Edward St. near the Eagle St. Pier. I am pretty impressed with Global Gossip, and will try to find them wherever I can.
Lone Pine is a wonderful sanctuary. If you've ever watched the Animal Planet channel and have seen a show on koalas, it's likely that it was filmed at Lone Pine. The sanctuary is committed to protecting the koala, which these days is very endangered due to loss of habitat -- that means that people are cutting down the eucalyptus forests to build more. It's probably a losing battle, but they're fighting the good fight.
But there's so much more at Lone Pine: kangaroos that you can feed by hand, emus, wombats, sheep and sheep dogs, injured birds that are cared for, dingoes, and many other Australian animals. We were there for over 2 1/2 hours, and the students could have stayed for the rest of the day.
The one disappointment was that the flying fox colony was gone! We always take the Mirimar Cruise up the Brisbane River to see the fruit bats, a huge colony that covers an entire island in the river. but as we approached the spot, the boat pilot told us that the bats had flown away a few days before. As we left the boat, I asked him what was going on, and he said that the bats had been leaving in the winter for the last few years, but they had never left this early. I wonder if this signals a change in their behavior. If so, that would be pretty sad; seeing the colony on the cruise has always been a high point.
I'll post some photos of the last few days at Flickr. We are at the Australian Zoo tomorrow -- that's the one run by Steve, the Crocodile Hunter. Then we leave Sunday for Townsville and Magnetic Island. If you don't see a new post for a few days, it's because I'm in transit. But I will write when I can.
May 2-4
Canberra
Partly sunny and cool
This was a day of travel, from Sydney to Canberra. Our drive was about six hours, leaving at 9 and arriving a little after 3. We made a few stops: at Berrima, at Goulburn, at Lake George, and at Mt. Ainslie. We finally arrived at the City Walk Hotel, where I am writing this.
Berrima is a pleasant village off the Hume highway, about 90 minutes south of Sydney. When driving in to the town, you could easily imagine that you were in a New England town in the autumn, as there are so many deciduous trees about. What makes this surprising to me is that the native trees in Australia: eucalyptus, banksia, paperbark, etc., are all evergreen. There should be no fall, no fall color. Yet, there it was, all around us. I don't know that the importation of the European species of trees has had a deleterious effect on the ecosystem in the same way as the introduced animals have, but it may well have. In any case, the upshot is that there is fall color here.
We stopped for lunch at a McDonald's just off the highway in Goulburn. The similarities and differences between McDonalds in Australia and in America are evident: there's a pastry shop built into the store, as well as a deli section. And of course, the burgers have a nice slice of beetroot on them. I don't know how that got started, but it's an interesting taste. One student pointed out that the beet adds a sweetness similar to ketchup. I think it's more like sweet pickle relish, but the idea is the same.
After lunch, we made our way down to Canberra. We stopped for a few minutes along Lake George, a dried-up catchment for the surrounding mountains. It is not so many years ago that the lake was full; one can find photos from the 50's of boating on the lake. The coach driver told me that there had been a few inches of water here and there last year after a winter storm, but that was the exception. The stations lease the lakebed for grazing; as we drove by we could see many sheep wandering about. The entire area is so very dry. They have been in the grip of a drought for several years now, with little sign of it abating. There are numerous water usage restrictions in place in the Goulburn area. It seems to be a very different situation from that which we've run into in the Alice Springs area. I do wonder if Australia is a continent in transition, with arid and arable regions interchanging.
Our hotel is the City Walk, a very nice budget hotel right off the central shopping area in Canberra. It's going through a remodeling right now -- hence the delays in posting these journal entries (no internet). But it's very clean and fairly roomy, so I think we'll be using it next year.
. . .
It's now May 4, and we are waiting at the Canberra airport for our flight to Brisbane. I thought I'd catch you up on our activities from yesterday: Parliament House, the U.S. Embassy, and the ANZAC War Memorial.
We began our day tour at Parliament House, the seat of Australian government. It is a striking building, with architecture laden with symbolism. You can see it from anywhere in Canberra, it seems; four angled aluminum struts like boomerangs supporting a large Australian flag. The building itself though is mostly below ground, with parkland above it -- so the people are above the government, not the other way 'round. The interior of the building is very beautiful, with a freshness to its design appropriate to a young country.
Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable, not only of his own government but also of our own. Australia's government is similar to ours in that it is bicameral, with a house of representatives apportioned by population, and a senate equally apportioned by state. It is unlike ours in that it is a parliament. The party that controls the house forms the government, with the party's leader becoming the prime minister. So, there's no real separate executive branch.
Oddly enough, I found a star guide with aboriginal constellations and legends at the souvenir shop. Seemed like an odd place to find such a thing, but I'll take it.
Our next stop was the U.S. Embassy. Now I'll frankly admit that this is a part of the tour that makes me the most nervous -- I don't think anything bad will happen, it's just that foreign policy stuff not my thing at all, so I assume that the students will be bored to tears by it. But the fact is that the students respond very well to the officers' stories, and I think we usually get a few students who begin thinking about a career in the Foreign Service after this meeting. We had brief presentations by three section heads: public affairs, economics, and political. These were followed by a question-&-answer session in which the students acquitted themselves very well, coming up with questions that I would not have thought of.
We broke for lunch at the city's central area, actually not far from our hotel. Most of the students opted to buy lunch in the food court on the lower level of the main shopping area. I had a kebab plate from a Turkish place, very good. It included tabouli salad and some humus, one of my favorites. There was a little boy and his mum sitting nearby us, and the boy kept his eye on me the whole time. The exotic American. Probably, I just had food in my beard.
Our last stop for the day was the ANZAC War Memorial. For me, the War Memorial is always a bit of an emotional stop. I do not think that there's one bit of romance to war, and it a testament to just how stupid we are as a species to get ourselves into these bloody debacles. But having said that, I have found in recent years a fascination with the strategies and tactics of battle, and the way that the will of the troops seems ultimately to be the deciding factor in who will carry the day. It seems that the best military leaders understand this, and the best troops will seek these leaders out and fight beyond their strength for them.
There's an example of this showcased at the ANZAC War Museum that involves US and Australian troops cooperating for perhaps the first time. In WWI, US troops were under orders not to take commands from the Australian General Monash, who they had heard was an excellent and unconventional tactician. So, they went to his camp. took off their US uniforms, put on the ANZAC's, and fought with Aussie troops in a successful battle in France (and I will look up the battle for you, gentle reader). It was the first of a series of cooperative ventures that would culminate in the ANZUS treaty.
Australia was attacked by Japan in WWII, and their troops were away defending British interests in Africa. There was very little to stop Japan from occupying at least the northern half of Australia -- except us. At least one objective of the Battle of the Coral Sea was to push Japan away from Australia, and Australians viewed our entry into that battle as a rescue. Australians have not forgotten that, and have stood with us ever since, even when they don't like our actions.
I found The Black Diggers at the ANZAC souvenir shop, too! I had read some at the NSW library, but am very happy to have my own copy now. When we're at Magnetic Island, I might take the ferry back into Townsville to do some more work on my project.
We are currently on the flight to Brisbane, and are about to start our descent, so I will sign off for now.
. . .
It is now May 5. We returned from Lone Pine Koala sanctuary awhile ago, and I wandered about until I found this Global Gossip location on Edward St. near the Eagle St. Pier. I am pretty impressed with Global Gossip, and will try to find them wherever I can.
Lone Pine is a wonderful sanctuary. If you've ever watched the Animal Planet channel and have seen a show on koalas, it's likely that it was filmed at Lone Pine. The sanctuary is committed to protecting the koala, which these days is very endangered due to loss of habitat -- that means that people are cutting down the eucalyptus forests to build more. It's probably a losing battle, but they're fighting the good fight.
But there's so much more at Lone Pine: kangaroos that you can feed by hand, emus, wombats, sheep and sheep dogs, injured birds that are cared for, dingoes, and many other Australian animals. We were there for over 2 1/2 hours, and the students could have stayed for the rest of the day.
The one disappointment was that the flying fox colony was gone! We always take the Mirimar Cruise up the Brisbane River to see the fruit bats, a huge colony that covers an entire island in the river. but as we approached the spot, the boat pilot told us that the bats had flown away a few days before. As we left the boat, I asked him what was going on, and he said that the bats had been leaving in the winter for the last few years, but they had never left this early. I wonder if this signals a change in their behavior. If so, that would be pretty sad; seeing the colony on the cruise has always been a high point.
I'll post some photos of the last few days at Flickr. We are at the Australian Zoo tomorrow -- that's the one run by Steve, the Crocodile Hunter. Then we leave Sunday for Townsville and Magnetic Island. If you don't see a new post for a few days, it's because I'm in transit. But I will write when I can.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
A quick note
May 4
Brisbane
Sunny and Warm
This is a very quick note written on a machine at which I cannot upload my extensive journal entry about our Canberra trip. I will try to find such a place tomorrow. I'll suffice it for the moment to say that Canberra was cool, and the weather threatened the entire time, but never really stormed. The places we visited: Parliament House, the U.S. Embassy, and the ANZAC War Memorial, were all very well-received by the students. In general, our students this year have been pretty willing to engage the course and get from it what we hope they will. Time will tell, of course, but I've been pleased at what I've seen so far.
Our flight to Brisbane was uneventful -- the best kind. Once we had arrived at the TinBilly and got the rooms straightened out, my colleague and I went off to the South Bank Parklands, an extensive park area on the Brisbane River. Tomorrow is the Brisbane celebration of Buddha's Birthday, and we plan to be right in the middle of it -- we have reservations for the group at a Greek restaurant nearby the main arena where the big events in the celebration will be held. It should be a very nice experience for the students.
I am about out of time, so I will be off.
Brisbane
Sunny and Warm
This is a very quick note written on a machine at which I cannot upload my extensive journal entry about our Canberra trip. I will try to find such a place tomorrow. I'll suffice it for the moment to say that Canberra was cool, and the weather threatened the entire time, but never really stormed. The places we visited: Parliament House, the U.S. Embassy, and the ANZAC War Memorial, were all very well-received by the students. In general, our students this year have been pretty willing to engage the course and get from it what we hope they will. Time will tell, of course, but I've been pleased at what I've seen so far.
Our flight to Brisbane was uneventful -- the best kind. Once we had arrived at the TinBilly and got the rooms straightened out, my colleague and I went off to the South Bank Parklands, an extensive park area on the Brisbane River. Tomorrow is the Brisbane celebration of Buddha's Birthday, and we plan to be right in the middle of it -- we have reservations for the group at a Greek restaurant nearby the main arena where the big events in the celebration will be held. It should be a very nice experience for the students.
I am about out of time, so I will be off.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Placid Monday
May 1
Sydney
Sunny and pleasant(again!)
Today is a laundry day for me. We leave tomorrow for Canberra, so I want to get all my stuff in order.
I thought I'd write a little more about the group activities of the first two days: the Hyde Parks Barracks, the Australian Museum, the Taronga Zoo, and the Sydney Aquarium.
The very first thing we do after dropping our bags off at the hotel is to walk about a kilometer to the Hyde Park Barracks, one of the locations that housed the Convicts. You'll note the capitalization; the term 'Convict' in Australia refers only to those men and women that were sent to Australia from Britain for crimes (like stealing bread or being Irish). We like to make this our first stop; the students have just been through a 30-hour jaunt and might therefore feel some sympathy for the Convicts who had so much greater an ordeal.Our tour guide for the Barracks is different every year, and my colleague and I have noticed that each tour guide has a different aspect of the Barracks that they like to emphasize. One year it was the various uses of the Barracks, another year it was the more general history of immigration into Australia. This year, our guide concentrated on the punishments that the Convicts received. It was a little gruesome for my taste, but several of the students told me they thought it was great.
After the Barracks, we gather for a moment in Hyde Park to orient the students to the city. The park is beautiful, as are many of the parklands in the vicinity of Circular Quay and the Opera House. The students then have about 90 minutes for lunch and changing money before we move on.
Our next stop is the Australian/ Museum, where the students visit the exhibit on the indigenous peoples, the Aborigines and the Torres Strait Islanders. The exhibit includes both artifacts and testimony, and gives a fairly accurate perception of the state of affairs between white Australia and native Australia. After this visit, the students are on their own for the rest of the day.
The second day introduces the students to the fauna of Australia as we visit the Taronga Zoo and the Sydney Aquarium. We get to both via subways and ferries, so this is also a day to get the students familiar with these. Our hotel is very close to the Kings Cross subway station on the Eastern Suburbs line. Someone traveling to the end of this line would find themselves at Bondi Junction, where one could board a bus to get to the famous Bondi Beach. But we go the other way, toward the main loop. We make one transfer, which takes us to Circular Quay (pronounced "key"). It's one of those memorable moments in our course when the subway goes above ground, makes a turn, and the students get their close-up view of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. We usually take a few moments on the platform so the students can snap a few photos, then we move down to the wharf and take the ferry to Taronga Zoo.
Taronga Zoo is one of the better zoos I've seen. The animals are very well cared for; the exhibits are clean and informative, and there are daily shows all over the park. The zoo is on a hillside. We begin at the top after a picturesque ride in a cablecar; most of the rest of the visit is a slow walk down the hill. My favorite part of the zoo is the free flight bird show, an engaging introduction to some of the birds of Australia. I was only slightly disappointed this year at the echidna exhibit, as it was hidden. On the other hand, there was a wombat out and about. I think I've a photo of it; I'll post it if I do.
The Sydney Aquarium is a very good way for the students to get a close-up look at several animals, some of which they may or may not see at all in the wild, and others that they may want to not see so closely. The Aquarium has platypuses, penguins and great white sharks (those are the animals the students will likely not see in the wild); reef fishes (that they probably will see) and a nice large saltwater crocodile (that they would not want to be near). There are two oceanariums that have walk-through tunnels. one is for the sea lions; the other is for the sharks and rays. It's this second one that I find the most fascinating, as the behavior of the rays is very striking. Their motion is distinct from both swimming and flying; it is more an undulation. They also seem to like to lay atop the tunnels; the largest covers the entire top.
. . .
It is now much later in the afternoon. I spent a good portion of the time at the library again, doing more research, and I came across a very nice short movie, Harry's War. This is a short movie about an Aboriginal ANZAC soldier fighting in New Guinea in 1942, his relationship with his mates, his family, and his totem animals. It's a sad story -- as the film finished I was getting a little choked up, probably not a good idea in a public place like a library. The man who played Harry is David Ngoombujarra. He has a wonderful deep voice -- I suspect we've heard him in voiceovers from time to time. All the performances were good. The dialogue was a little preachy at moments, though the restrictions of a half-hour time slot might create that possibility. The direction and editing was okay. All in all, it was time well spent. I'll probably see about getting it in the USA. AT the moment, the TV here at the hotel lounge is showing Spiderman II, so I think I'll stop for now and enjoy the movie's end.
Sydney
Sunny and pleasant(again!)
Today is a laundry day for me. We leave tomorrow for Canberra, so I want to get all my stuff in order.
I thought I'd write a little more about the group activities of the first two days: the Hyde Parks Barracks, the Australian Museum, the Taronga Zoo, and the Sydney Aquarium.
The very first thing we do after dropping our bags off at the hotel is to walk about a kilometer to the Hyde Park Barracks, one of the locations that housed the Convicts. You'll note the capitalization; the term 'Convict' in Australia refers only to those men and women that were sent to Australia from Britain for crimes (like stealing bread or being Irish). We like to make this our first stop; the students have just been through a 30-hour jaunt and might therefore feel some sympathy for the Convicts who had so much greater an ordeal.Our tour guide for the Barracks is different every year, and my colleague and I have noticed that each tour guide has a different aspect of the Barracks that they like to emphasize. One year it was the various uses of the Barracks, another year it was the more general history of immigration into Australia. This year, our guide concentrated on the punishments that the Convicts received. It was a little gruesome for my taste, but several of the students told me they thought it was great.
After the Barracks, we gather for a moment in Hyde Park to orient the students to the city. The park is beautiful, as are many of the parklands in the vicinity of Circular Quay and the Opera House. The students then have about 90 minutes for lunch and changing money before we move on.
Our next stop is the Australian/ Museum, where the students visit the exhibit on the indigenous peoples, the Aborigines and the Torres Strait Islanders. The exhibit includes both artifacts and testimony, and gives a fairly accurate perception of the state of affairs between white Australia and native Australia. After this visit, the students are on their own for the rest of the day.
The second day introduces the students to the fauna of Australia as we visit the Taronga Zoo and the Sydney Aquarium. We get to both via subways and ferries, so this is also a day to get the students familiar with these. Our hotel is very close to the Kings Cross subway station on the Eastern Suburbs line. Someone traveling to the end of this line would find themselves at Bondi Junction, where one could board a bus to get to the famous Bondi Beach. But we go the other way, toward the main loop. We make one transfer, which takes us to Circular Quay (pronounced "key"). It's one of those memorable moments in our course when the subway goes above ground, makes a turn, and the students get their close-up view of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. We usually take a few moments on the platform so the students can snap a few photos, then we move down to the wharf and take the ferry to Taronga Zoo.
Taronga Zoo is one of the better zoos I've seen. The animals are very well cared for; the exhibits are clean and informative, and there are daily shows all over the park. The zoo is on a hillside. We begin at the top after a picturesque ride in a cablecar; most of the rest of the visit is a slow walk down the hill. My favorite part of the zoo is the free flight bird show, an engaging introduction to some of the birds of Australia. I was only slightly disappointed this year at the echidna exhibit, as it was hidden. On the other hand, there was a wombat out and about. I think I've a photo of it; I'll post it if I do.
The Sydney Aquarium is a very good way for the students to get a close-up look at several animals, some of which they may or may not see at all in the wild, and others that they may want to not see so closely. The Aquarium has platypuses, penguins and great white sharks (those are the animals the students will likely not see in the wild); reef fishes (that they probably will see) and a nice large saltwater crocodile (that they would not want to be near). There are two oceanariums that have walk-through tunnels. one is for the sea lions; the other is for the sharks and rays. It's this second one that I find the most fascinating, as the behavior of the rays is very striking. Their motion is distinct from both swimming and flying; it is more an undulation. They also seem to like to lay atop the tunnels; the largest covers the entire top.
. . .
It is now much later in the afternoon. I spent a good portion of the time at the library again, doing more research, and I came across a very nice short movie, Harry's War. This is a short movie about an Aboriginal ANZAC soldier fighting in New Guinea in 1942, his relationship with his mates, his family, and his totem animals. It's a sad story -- as the film finished I was getting a little choked up, probably not a good idea in a public place like a library. The man who played Harry is David Ngoombujarra. He has a wonderful deep voice -- I suspect we've heard him in voiceovers from time to time. All the performances were good. The dialogue was a little preachy at moments, though the restrictions of a half-hour time slot might create that possibility. The direction and editing was okay. All in all, it was time well spent. I'll probably see about getting it in the USA. AT the moment, the TV here at the hotel lounge is showing Spiderman II, so I think I'll stop for now and enjoy the movie's end.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
NSW Library
April 30
Partly sunny, afternoon clouds
Sydney
I am sitting in the State Library of NSW with my new library card! It's 'blue level' Reader's Card, which will allow me to request material from the stack. I cannot borrow anything, of course. I am not sure if it will help me with my project, but it's a start.
Last year, I picked up a book on the history of the Djabugay people, an aboriginal group in Tropical North Queensland. It was an unusual text in that the account is from the point of view of the Djabugay themselves. In the book, the author tells about the time during W.W.II when black American soldiers were stationed in Queensland, and were befriended by the Djabugay. To the Djabugay, the soldiers were remarkable and inspiring. They were just as dark-skinned as any Aborigine, yet they were accorded a level of respect by the white soldiers that was not even imagined by the indigenous people. My objective during this trip is to learn more about this period and the interactions that took place then. I suspect that black soldiers in W.W.II would not say that the treatment they received by the military was all that great. We all of us know that we have had a rough road to social equality and that there's lots left to do. And I would not want to make any sort of argument that smacked of relativism. It just sounds like a neat story to me, and I hope to learn more about it.
So anyway, that's what I am about here today. The library is a very well-used place; I even had trouble finding a place to sit down to write this. The stacks are closed; one makes requests for materials, which are then delivered to bins nearby the circulation area. There are people of all ages and races, researching all manner of things. I am currently sitting nearby the Family History section. I suppose that this would be a place where one could find out a lot more about the Convicts.
. . .
It's about 30 minutes later. I have requested two books which should be retrieved from the stacks in about 20 minutes. I have asked for America's Australia, Australia's America and The Black Diggers: Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the Second World War. The titles sounded interesting, and I hope they'll lead to something. The library also has several works on Black Americans in the armed forces, and several other works on Aborigines in the military here.
I'm a little surprised at some of that, as I had thought that Aborigines were not allowed to serve at the time. Australian attitudes about the native people have evolved, though they have a ways to go, but I'm pretty sure that since Aborigines were not citizens, they were not allowed into the military. There's one rather humorous story worth sharing. Apparently, some of the Djabugay women were out one day and spotted unfamiliar faces climbing in the trees near Cairns. The men they saw looked enough like the pictures of Japanese they had seen that they were convinced that the Japanese were invading right there. (The idea was not far-fetched; the Japanese had already bombed Darwin; the Australian forces were stretched to the limit protecting British African interests, and there was in place a contingency plan to forfeit all of northern Australia to the Japanese should they invade. One of the big reasons that Australia always seems to back America so wholeheartedly is that America -- not Britain -- came to their rescue after the bombing of Darwin.) But the fact was that the men in the trees were from the island of Java, and were being trained as scouts.
. . .
It's now early Monday morning. I spent the rest of yesterday continuing to reserach my project, and walking about the Royal Botanical Gardens. One of the most striking features of the gardens in the flying fox colony, thousands of fruit bats hanging in the trees. Though they are relatively inactive during the day, there were still several instances where the bats would fly about. I didn't get a good picture, but will try again today. There is also a flock of sulphur-crested cockatoos that fly about and squawk a lot -- I wonder if there's some tension between the species.
I wanted to mention my photos at Flickr. If you want, you can go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/chazjac/ and take a look. It might take a little bit if you're using a dialup account. I'll try to upload at least one photo every time I post, so you should frequently see something new. Occasionally, I'll post photos directly in the blog, too.
Partly sunny, afternoon clouds
Sydney
I am sitting in the State Library of NSW with my new library card! It's 'blue level' Reader's Card, which will allow me to request material from the stack. I cannot borrow anything, of course. I am not sure if it will help me with my project, but it's a start.
Last year, I picked up a book on the history of the Djabugay people, an aboriginal group in Tropical North Queensland. It was an unusual text in that the account is from the point of view of the Djabugay themselves. In the book, the author tells about the time during W.W.II when black American soldiers were stationed in Queensland, and were befriended by the Djabugay. To the Djabugay, the soldiers were remarkable and inspiring. They were just as dark-skinned as any Aborigine, yet they were accorded a level of respect by the white soldiers that was not even imagined by the indigenous people. My objective during this trip is to learn more about this period and the interactions that took place then. I suspect that black soldiers in W.W.II would not say that the treatment they received by the military was all that great. We all of us know that we have had a rough road to social equality and that there's lots left to do. And I would not want to make any sort of argument that smacked of relativism. It just sounds like a neat story to me, and I hope to learn more about it.
So anyway, that's what I am about here today. The library is a very well-used place; I even had trouble finding a place to sit down to write this. The stacks are closed; one makes requests for materials, which are then delivered to bins nearby the circulation area. There are people of all ages and races, researching all manner of things. I am currently sitting nearby the Family History section. I suppose that this would be a place where one could find out a lot more about the Convicts.
. . .
It's about 30 minutes later. I have requested two books which should be retrieved from the stacks in about 20 minutes. I have asked for America's Australia, Australia's America and The Black Diggers: Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the Second World War. The titles sounded interesting, and I hope they'll lead to something. The library also has several works on Black Americans in the armed forces, and several other works on Aborigines in the military here.
I'm a little surprised at some of that, as I had thought that Aborigines were not allowed to serve at the time. Australian attitudes about the native people have evolved, though they have a ways to go, but I'm pretty sure that since Aborigines were not citizens, they were not allowed into the military. There's one rather humorous story worth sharing. Apparently, some of the Djabugay women were out one day and spotted unfamiliar faces climbing in the trees near Cairns. The men they saw looked enough like the pictures of Japanese they had seen that they were convinced that the Japanese were invading right there. (The idea was not far-fetched; the Japanese had already bombed Darwin; the Australian forces were stretched to the limit protecting British African interests, and there was in place a contingency plan to forfeit all of northern Australia to the Japanese should they invade. One of the big reasons that Australia always seems to back America so wholeheartedly is that America -- not Britain -- came to their rescue after the bombing of Darwin.) But the fact was that the men in the trees were from the island of Java, and were being trained as scouts.
. . .
It's now early Monday morning. I spent the rest of yesterday continuing to reserach my project, and walking about the Royal Botanical Gardens. One of the most striking features of the gardens in the flying fox colony, thousands of fruit bats hanging in the trees. Though they are relatively inactive during the day, there were still several instances where the bats would fly about. I didn't get a good picture, but will try again today. There is also a flock of sulphur-crested cockatoos that fly about and squawk a lot -- I wonder if there's some tension between the species.
I wanted to mention my photos at Flickr. If you want, you can go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/chazjac/ and take a look. It might take a little bit if you're using a dialup account. I'll try to upload at least one photo every time I post, so you should frequently see something new. Occasionally, I'll post photos directly in the blog, too.
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