Tags: aborigine, australia, didgeridoo, geelong, indigenous, music, study abroad
Here in Australia, we’ve had two wet, rainy days. Though nothing compared to the flooding going on in Queensland, this kind of precipitation is apparently very unusual for this area at this time of year. The rain is a good thing for me, since it means the sun isn’t out to further destroy my skin. I’m happy to report my sunburn is improving, though my chest and my back are still in more pain than I’d like them to be.
Yesterday we had an excursion to Melbourne to visit three museums: the Melbourne Museum, the Immigration Museum, and the National Sport Museum at the famed MCG (Melbourne Cricket Grounds). Because the day was so jam-packed, we didn’t really get to look around the city, but what little I did see has gotten me excited for my planned trip to Melbourne this Saturday.
Though we have to write a paper on one of three topics concerning our museum visits, the day wasn’t all work. I actually really enjoyed the Melbourne Museum, and wish that I could’ve spent more time there. Also, since I hadn’t picket the Sports topic, at the sports museum, I headed straight to the game room, which was kind of like a free arcade. You could kick a ‘footy’ (the ball they use in Australian rules football; it’s also the colloquial name for the game itself), a soccer ball, ride a bike, practice your archery, play a full sized version of whack-a-mole with lights instead of moles, etc. I was joined in the game room by most of my classmates, so I guess very few people are writing this particular paper on sport.
Today we had class as usual, learning about Australian landscape and then Australian politics, and then we went on yet another academic excursion, to the Narana Aboriginal Cultural Center. Because the essay topic I chose doesn’t concern this particular institution, I got to sit back, relax, and enjoy the visit. It was a cool place, with a lot of aboriginal artwork and artifacts. An Aboriginal man who works at the center sat with us for about an hour, answering any and all of our questions about Aboriginal life. He demonstrated how to throw a boomerang in theory (he couldn’t throw it because we were inside, and unfortunately he couldn’t take us outside to show us because of the pouring rain). He also performed for the class, playing the didgeridoo. He was amazing! I didn’t take a video myself, but my classmates did and I’ll see if I can get a copy or link to post here. In terms of my academic workload, I polished up my first paper and accompanying power point presentation tonight. I present tomorrow, though it’s only five minutes long. After that I’ll being work on my field report that I mentioned above.
Despite the rain, the weather has been in the high 70s. I can’t believe NYC may be about to get more snow. I’m getting much too used to wearing shorts…
Cheers!
Sounds like fun. Any warnings about the dangerous fauna Australia is famous for?
The water’s too cold where I am to be worried about sharks, jellyfish, or any other scary sea creatures. I was surprised when I heard that, since the water feels great to me! But it’s true. Of course, Kangaroos and Koala’s aren’t as friendly as people might think/hope, so we’ve been reminded that those are WILD animals, and if we see them, to resist our urges to run up and hug them 🙂 We’ve also been warned about a red backed spider (I forget the name) that IS poisonous (there are alot of bugs and spiders and creepy crawleys here, inside and outside, but they’re all harmless for the most part) but that we probably won’t ever see.
The biggest warning has actually been about swimming. We’re constantly reminded to swim between the yellow and red flags – the patrolled areas of a beach. All drownings in Australia have have occurred when people swim outside those areas. Those areas usually look really calm compared to the swimming areas, but they actually have a very dangerous undercurrent.