This week’s musical inspiration is a bit of throwback – “On My Way” is a song written by Phil Collins for the movie Brother Bear, which was released when I was approximately half the height that I am today. However, I can think of no better lyrics for my past 10 days.
The first major event to occur was another Tourist Tuesday. In light of a busy past weekend and another packed one approaching, I decided today’s landmark visit would be more low-key: the infamous Sappho Books and Cafe. Admittedly, the cafe may not be as well known as I claim it to be, but I do have a certain standard to uphold for my Tuesday activities. The cafe seating was in a private courtyard that was the perfect place to catch up on work and enjoy a hot chocolate. I ended my time at the cafe by exploring the impressive record collection it had for sale. The vinyls were by no means in mint condition, but it was still cool to hold iconic albums like The Beatle’s Abbey Road. I then made my way back to campus, and on the way explored parts of the city along a road named, coincidentally, Broadway.
Only thing missing was Wi-Fi
Seemed a shame to even drink this, but then I remembered I was cold
Wednesday was mostly spent going to classes and preparing for my weekend trip. The trip was the Global Leadership Symposium: a 4 day endeavor to broaden understanding of international relations and current global issues. The Symposium was held in Australia’s capital so on Thursday at slightly past o’dark thirty, I boarded a bus to Canberra, along with the 24 other students on the trip. The three hour drive was a pleasant glimpse at the Australian countryside – which included far more dead Kangaroo than in my dreams.
After arriving, and eating lunch at The Pork Barrel (naturally, the local jew hangout), our first stop was Parliament House, home of the Parliament of Australia. We received a tour of the chambers of the upper and lower house, as well as a briefing about current media issues from an ABC reporter in the building. After sitting the studio I realized that one major media issue is that I’m not an anchor yet! Our final activity of the day was a visit to the U.S. Embassy. Driving through embassies, it is noticeable that most are modest homages to the classic architecture and culture of their home countries, but then of course among all the rest is a massive complex of brown brick and colonial white – welcome home! The briefing at the Embassy was with Foreign Service Officers so it was interesting to hear about the life and responsibilities of career diplomats. At the end of the briefing we were all given pens, but like many things associated with the U.S. Government they didn’t work.
This aesthetic is complimented by the retro, institutional 80s clocks on the inside
Coming soon to a TV near you
On Friday we began our day at the Aboriginal Cultural Center. There, we received briefings from two different non profit agencies: CARE Australia, which works to promote various development projects worldwide, and Companion House, which offers supports to refugees in Australia. Incidentally, my watch battery had died the week before so I was without it for the trip, and though the briefings were certainly interesting, after being in the same room all morning I was greatly missing the ability to know just how long I had been “interested” for. After a break for lunch we made our way to the High Commission of Canada, the inter-commonwealth equivalent of an embassy. The meeting with the High Commissioner was easily the highlight of the trip, not only because his governmental giveaway worked (ok, admittedly maps don’t really break) but also because of his casual attitude, his interest in our group, and his humor (ask him about the time an inuit, a moose, and a jar of maple syrup walked into a bar).
*unfortunately there are no pictures from today because of embassy security*
Saturday morning we went to the Canberra Writers Festival where we heard from previous government departmental staffers discuss their views on the successes and failures of various administrations. Given that I had never heard of these various administrations I mostly spent the time listening for buzz words (there weren’t many). However, the next talk of the day, held at the National Arboretum, was far more engaging. To give you a snapshot: the woman speaking to us was able to start one of her sentences with “the time I co-lead a group of 140 organizations to lobby for a treaty banning mining in Antarctica.” At this point in my life I’m really only able to tell of “the time I co-lead a group of 6 friends to lobby for Chipotle for dinner instead of Noodles,” so needless to say I found her advice about leadership and success invaluable. We then went to a lookout within the Arboretum to have lunch with a view (and hurricane-force winds). The final event of the day was perhaps the most anticipated of the trip: we got a tour of the National Zoo complete with the opportunity to feed a lion. The feeding was guided by a zoo staff member, and the lion was fed with tongs through a fence, but of course the version I will tell my kids is that I encountered a lion in the Australian outback and he ate right out of my bare hands (why no pictures? umm he ate my camera too).
Can you tell it’s winter at the arboretum?
Vincent, the Lion Whisperer
Sunday was our last day in Canberra. We began the morning at the National Australian Museum, which was essentially a giant science museum. The coolest exhibit at the museum was a presentation that combined the history of Australia with the history of technology, so as the years progressed so did the screens that we were viewing the information on. We then made a quick stop at Mount Ainslie for some last panoramic and group photos before proceeding to the Australian War Memorial. This was no doubt the most emotional part of the trip – I know of no other war memorial that seeks to honor every war a country has engaged in. The exhibits in the memorial begin right before 1911 and take you through history to modern engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan. The details and artifacts were so elaborate that not only was it was impossible to finish in the time we were there, but it was also impossible not to feel the heavy burden of war. After leaving, we stopped by some markets to comfort ourselves with food before getting on the road back to Sydney. I am forever grateful for the friends and memories from this trip.
Modeled after none other than Washington D.C.
No words, just silence
Monday was mostly spent recovering from the weekend, but Tuesday it was time for another Tourist Tuesday. Today’s destination was the National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour. One of the exhibits in the museum gave the history of travel between the US and Australia – the pinnacle of which was a voyage of 54 days (guess I won’t complain about my 12 hour flight home). Another exhibit that made me appreciate my flight was titled “Lost At Sea: The Quest for Longitude,” which gave accounts of European attempts to find accurate ways to set courses and measure distances, with mixed success rates (again, guess I won’t complain if we have to circle the airport a few times – at least we know where it is). The museum also had on display entries for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. Seeing nature captured in some of its most awesome and rawest forms was breathtaking, and I certainly have a lot of respect for the photographers behind the images. The picture credits said that some photographers waited for days at a time for their shot; considering I barely have the patience for instant rice sometimes, I can’t imagine I’ll have anything on display there anytime soon. I ended my museum visit by touring the HMAS Vampire, a destroyer; the HMAS Onslow, a submarine (and a decent way to find out if a person is claustrophobic); and the HMB Endeavor, a replica of the ship that James Cook captained when he found Australia.
Definitely not the size of a typical museum artifact
Picture credit to the museum website
With school picking up, the rest of my week was mostly dedicated to academic work and things around campus. On Friday, along with other kids from my program, I set off to ANZ Stadium for my first rugby game. Seeing the stadium was in itself a fulfilling activity because it was the main stadium used for the Olympic games in 2000. In fact, considering my current work at Maryland Athletics, and my complete lack of knowledge on the rules of rugby, I was probably more interested in the stadium and its operations than the game itself. Nonetheless, I got a free team scarf and can now say I’ve seen an Australian Rugby match so it was a good night.
Incredible to think what it must have been like 16 years ago
Put me in coach
It’s a little embarrassing to write, but the next day (Saturday) was a lazy day for me: I didn’t do much except watch Netflix and eat food – a welcome break from the constant activity of past weekends. However, one day inside was enough for me so on Sunday a friend and I made our way to a part of the city we had never been before. Our primary reason for picking the area we did was to check out an outlet mall we had heard about. I must say it was quite a shock to see an enclosed outlet mall – except for prices there wasn’t much differentiating it from a normal mall. In a way this was a little disappointing, but perhaps I was only hoping to find something like the Twin Cities Outlets just to experience a little piece of home. After leaving the outlets we explored a rather impressive nearby park, which was dedicated in honor of Australia’s bicentennial, before making our way back to campus.
Not captured: the obnoxious sounds of Australian waterfowl
I asked them to pose
I’d like to take these last sentences to thank everyone for keeping up with my blog posts. As the song for this week goes, “I’m loving every step I take” and I’m truly grateful that so many people are continuing to virtually walk with me. Until next time please enjoy this picture of me in front of a giant ram.
Happy because so many people read my blog
LEVIN DOWN UNDER 